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some items from the PEER archive

Have You Been "Serviced"? PEER wants to hear from you!

In July 2001, Gov. Bush's administration was granted the power to fire-at-will any public employee in a senior management or program administration position. Prior to this, these employees enjoyed some measure of job security provided by the civil service protections afforded to all government employees.

PEER would like to hear from any employee who was summarily terminated after July 2001. Please tell us what job(s) you had with the Florida government, how long you served, whether or not you experienced any conflict as you did your job and if you were given any reason for your dismissal. You can e-mail your story and contact information to Kim McKeggie at kimm@peer.org . All communications with PEER will be kept confidential unless authorized by you. 

PEER works with and on behalf of resource professionals to effect change in the way government agencies conduct business. PEER promotes environmental ethics and government accountability. If you'd like to receive a free copy of our newsletter PEEReview, please e-mail info@peer.org. www.peer.org  9/13/02

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PEER: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a private, non-profit organization that protects government employees who protect our environment. Agency employees--scientists, land managers, law enforcement officers, and other professionals--are on the cutting edge of natural resource protection. PEER believes they represent our nation's most effective line of defense against abuse of public lands, wildlife mismanagement and threats to human health.

Rather than work on environmental issues from the outside, PEER works with and on behalf of these resource professionals to effect fundamental change in the way their agencies conduct the public's business. Above all, PEER promotes environmental ethics and government accountability.

PEER’S WORK IN FLORIDA: PEER has been extremely active in Florida for the last four years. PEER originally was asked to get involved in Florida at the request of federal employees at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since then, PEER’s work in Florida was for a time concentrated on working with Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) employees but gradually has expanded to public employees dealing with environmental issues at all levels of state, local, regional, and federal government.

PEER’S CONCERN ABOUT "SERVICE WORST": PEER has been and will be extremely active in monitoring the effects of Governor Jeb Bush’s anti-employee measures on the state’s natural resource agencies and on the public employees who make these agencies work. Stated simply, PEER believes that Governor Jeb Bush’s Service Worst program is the worst thing to happen to the Florida environment in a very long time. Service Worst is a polluter’s dream come true--politically vulnerable environmental professionals will be increasingly pressured to look out for their own backs rather than the public interest--and a nightmare for Florida’s future. Governor Bush should be ashamed.

In April 2001, PEER came out with a detailed report entitled "BIG BUSINESS’ STEALTH PLAN TO WEAKEN PROTECTION OF FLORIDA’S ENVIRONMENT BY WEAKENING PROTECTION OF STATE EMPLOYEES," which in detail documented some of PEER’s concerns. It, along with some other recent Florida PEER activities, may be viewed at PEER’s website, referenced below, under the Florida Chapter heading.

PEER’S CONTACT INFORMATION: PEER looks forward to hearing from you about what it can do to help fight the devastation of Service Worst. For further information about PEER, visit PEER’s website at www.peer.org, contact the Florida office of PEER at flpeer@peer.org, or contact PEER’s Headquarters or Florida office at 202-265-7337 or 850-574-6515, respectively.

Here are some interesting reports from the Florida PEER archives:

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