Elected official makes six figures but doesn't show up for work

When you do business at the Pasco Courthouse it will eventually involve Jed Pittman the Clerk of Court.

[starving]

If I don't work I don't get paid. I lost my job due to government budget cuts.

[Diane]

Out freaking rageous. And did you see how cocky he was about it on the news?

[Denny]

I don't know why I am surprised at this. The fact that Pasco County has a "temporary" freeze on county jobs because of a lack in revenue, and according to one of the local employment agencies Pasco also has one of the highest unemployment rates in Florida. Yet this idiot is collecting two huge checks for nothing. Amazing!!! Way to go Pasco County.

[clb]

Looks like the little people can run the office just fine without him. No need to keep the position, cut it and save Pasco some money!

With the condition of his health, he probably won't live long enough to enjoy his retirement and pension anyway.

[Tori]

I'm not one bit surprised. I worked for a state university and faculty were making BIG BUCKS and very rarely ever in their offices. People would probably be truly p'ed off if they knew the truth.

[PC of New Port Richey]

The Clerk's office is not a part of Pasco county government. They are totally seperate. The Clerk's get their funds from the fines & fee's you paid to the courts. They do get taxpayer's money also. What is so sad is they are pushing thier employee's to work harder, getting rid of people due to budget cuts and here he is cocky, thinking that he deserves his pay. What would happen if you would decide not to go into work because of health issues? You would find youself out in the street. No job, homeless, carless, in trouble with the law and if you had kids they would be in foster care. Is this so fair? We the taxpayer should expect them to go to work just like everybody else, clock in & out and do a 8 hour day. Everybody else does. What makes him so special? Stealing time is not acceptable on any job. Why is it acceptable with the Clerk of Courts? He is a crook in the worse way.
His health issue is due to his weight. It is funny they are self funded for Health insurance and he decides what is covered. You would have thought that he would cover weightloss in his health care. There are plenty of obese people that work there. They are expected to show up to work. He should too. If his health is an issue then he needed to have stepped down a long time ago. I can assure you that if you had the same issue you would be jobless in a heartbeat.
Oh this is election year. Just remember the people under are just as guilty as him. They covered it up. Hummm wonder what his managers are getting paid?
Do your homework before you vote for a new clerk. You have 2 choices for the next clek. Deputy Clerk of Courts or the Mayor of New Port Richey. 1 works directly under Mr. Pittman. The other the Mayor of New Port Richey. Too bad we can't select "none" of the above @ election time.

[Beerbo2294]

Hmmm, maybe that's why it's taken me 10 years and 4 court dates to straighten out all the typos and misfiled paperwork in Pasco with the Clerk of the Courts. You could train monkeys to do a better job then what I've seen up in Pasco. And not just this one time, this is like the 3rd time I've filed has been lost, mis-entered into their computer system, or just not handled till I have to go in and spend hours of my time get them to do their jobs.
And it's always no one's fault or you get that classic line, "our computer system is down".
Welcome to Pasco County.......

[Charlie]

Legal or not, this is a rip-off of the worst sort. What a scam. And a shame for tax paying citizens. Looks like just another person who believes the world owes him a living with no effort on his part.

[Scott at USF]

Back in the day the guy would have been dragged out of his office and town on a rail, if not worse. What a scumbag. He is a thief, plain and simple.

[Charles]

Just another item on the list of what's wrong with Florida. This kind of nonsense shouldn't happen in the first place, and should be stopped ASAP when it is uncovered.

[Allen]

Your insider is not much of an insider. Just another disgruntled employee who doesn't know what they are talking about. Your report is very biased and not very factual. In this day and age of Internet Access, E-Mail, Cell phones, etc. The Clerk does not need to be sitting at his desk to be doing his job. You did a hatchet job on a man that has given over 30 years of his life to public service and now that he is older and sick you want to ruin his reputation prior to his voluntarily leaving office. Shame on you. The pension issues are not loopholes, they are rules your legislature passed to feather their own nest. Maybe you should look into who in the legislature proposed the changes that give elected employees benefits in the pension plan that general employees don't get. While your at it, look at the supposedly high risk pensions to. Public works employees get hurt more often then the precious high risk group. Do a little research before you print nonsense.

[DiN]

Allen, you are either his buddy, another pocket-stuffing fat-cat, or an idiot. This is nasty and you know it.

Way to go Deeson! It's gonna take people like you to exploit this junk and plug the loopholes!

[FDR]

This is the Pasco County good old boys club and the old porkchop gang in Talahassee is alive and well. If you want change you must Go Out and Vote in 08 to Vote out Your Incumbents, put new faces in these positions if they don't do the jobs vote them out. Big money in Pasco County supports the Republican Party and controls the politics, think Democratic Party break the Republican stronghold.
YOUR EITHER PART OF THE PROBLEM OR PART OF THE SOLUTION! WHERE DO YOU STAND PEOPLE!

[Marsharie]

This kinda stuff will never stop unless their are policy changes. The Clerk of Courts should be required to be in his office way more than is contractually require now. You should not be able to un-retire and still collect retirement benefits. If these issues aren't changed there is nothing stopping the next guy from doing the same thing.

[Sam]

Allen sounds like another politician. No wonder Florida is in finicial ruin. If the people would kick everyone in office out when it is election time get some new crooks in office. Maybe they'd wake up and cheat the public a little less. I lost my job 7 months ago due to cut backs. If we are all out of work they will not be able to collect their unjust salaries.

[FYA]

This guy also has a county SUV that didnot suit him and he demanded that the county buy him the one of his chosing. VOTE HIM OUT Lousy thief

[1noteasilyfooled]

Allen wrote:

Your insider is not much of an insider. Just another disgruntled employee who doesn't know what they are talking about. Your report is very biased and not very factual. In this day and age of Internet Access, E-Mail, Cell phones, etc. The Clerk does not need to be sitting at his desk to be doing his job. You did a hatchet job on a man that has given over 30 years of his life to public service and now that he is older and sick you want to ruin his reputation prior to his voluntarily leaving office. Shame on you. The pension issues are not loopholes, they are rules your legislature passed to feather their own nest. Maybe you should look into who in the legislature proposed the changes that give elected employees benefits in the pension plan that general employees don't get. While your at it, look at the supposedly high risk pensions to. Public works employees get hurt more often then the precious high risk group. Do a little research before you print nonsense.

The dude is on the dole.. and you know it! so does he!.

[Roxanne]

This is great I'm disabled, have run out my cobra insurance and have been denied social security
benefits twice. And its not because I'm over weight. Maybe I can have his job for a year, that would catch up my bills and then some. This is just unbelievable! He's a waste and should be put out of office and pay back what he didn't work for!

[Jay]

I lost my $9/hour state job due to budget cuts, despite showing up every day. This guy makes an awful lot of money, and even if he showed up every day it would be too much.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

PC of New Port Richey wrote:

Too bad we can't select "none" of the above @ election time.

Run for office yourself. Find anyone and everyone who you think would do a better job, and get them to run. You are right that we need more and better alternatives. What we need to change is people's perceptions that for whatever reason they couldn't/shouldn't run for a political office.

Actually, I'd like to see a homeless person get the job next time around. They could use a job, and they can understand about the position people can get in during rough economic times. And they'd be happy to do the job on about $35K a year and really show up the "good ol' boy" club.