Swamp 2, Sharek 0; Swamp moves on to State Regionals
Venice Florida! dot com has obtained pictures and a better idea of what happened at Myakka River State Park on Tuesday, September 16, 2006, when city Utilities Director Robert "Chris" Sharek decided to go mudding with his father-in-law, Mark Biehl, through protected environmentally sensitive wilderness lands.What once was a bike path and an access road was thoroughly rutted in a destructive spree that, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Officer Louis Hinds, resulted in serious damage to their vehicles, including broken axles on both Sharek's Jeep and Biehl's Hummer.
Hinds' crime report reads like summary of a Three Stooges short film: "After off roading (mudding) inside the park all afternoon, the men got both their vehicles stuck in the park. It was at this time that the men called some friends to come pull them out... Once the friends gained access to the park, they also got stuck. Then even more people were called... By the time it was all said and done, there were 2 Jeeps, 2 pickups, 1 Hummer, and 1 tractor in an area closed to vehicles."
Below are the actual crime scene photos that Hinds took as evidence. The photographs were taken in daylight on the day after Sharek's team was defeated by the collective body of mud and swamp grass. Included are photos of signs that Sharek and Biehl would have passed along the way, damage to the bike and access trail that were caused by the pair of men, and the huge mud hole that the men created -- the same mud hole that subsequently killed and ate one of their vehicles. Also included is a screen shot of Sharek's outdated online trading card bio as taken from the American Society of Civil Engineers' web site.
CLICK ON THUMBNAILS BELOW FOR LARGER PICS
About those new city ethics standards
Sharek is a past chapter president of the ASCE. While Sharek's actions were apparently hunky dory with the city (he received "counseling," according to City Manager Marty Black), the ASCE is not so sure it passes muster for their Code of Ethics. According to spokeswoman Tara Hoke, the society's Committee on Professional Conduct will be taking a look at Sharek's mudding incident sometime in the next few weeks.
Sharek stated to the Herald-Tribune that he takes full responsibility for his actions while hinting that the damage was minimal -- Sharek noted that neither the park or the court sought any restitution.
But did Sharek take full responsibility? Despite Black's acknowledgement that Sharek reported the incident to the city manager's office within 24 hours, the public was kept woefully ignorant. Neither Black or Sharek saw any reason to disclose the information or make a press statement UNTIL AFTER the crime report was posted online on this web site.
When asked by Herald-Trib reporter Paul Quinlan if he knew that his actions were illegal, Sharek begrudgingly answered, "I suppose."
That comment eerily echoes Sharek's attitude from a few years back when this web site confronted him about the dangers he was placing his men in when he was ordering them to cut asbestos pipe with little to no protective gear, a practice clearly not in compliance with any laws surrounding asbestos handling:
Sharek admitted knowing that the EPA was the proper regulatory agency, but then stated, "Well, that's the way we're doing it and if we're wrong, oh well, we'll just pay the fine... We've been doing it wrong for so long, a few more times isn't going to hurt anything."
-- City hits regulatory wall, July 13, 2004
Under Black, the city has implemented a new set of ethics standards for it's employees, standards that would seemingly be violated by Sharek's behavior both in the past and here in this incident at Myakka State Park. Black's ethics program, code-named PRIDE (Productive, Responsible, Innovative, Dedicated, and Ethical), has resulted in a flurry of slick and impressive looking new documents explaining the program (example), as well as some nifty t-shirts that are worn by city employees once a week.
Black and Sharek maintain that the incident at Myakka River State Park has no bearing on Sharek's job as the city's utilities director (and, by implication, the city's lead environmental official under Black). The thinking is that since it all took place outside of the city on Sharek's own personal time and since nobody else on the city's payroll was involved, it's a personal private matter that has been taken care of by the courts and is thus exempt from Black's PRIDE initiatives.
While that line of reasoning defies any sense of logic, it is also a total denial of some facts that have yet to be disclosed by city hall or the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Some things that the Herald-Trib didn't tell you about: other city employees were involved
Sharek did apparently use city property and city influence during his romp in the swamp. Records requested by Venice Florida! dot com indicate that Sharek's city-issued cell phone was used to make and receive calls during the time that Sharek was trying to extricate himself from the Myakka mud. Whether those phone calls were to seek help is still unknown. An early unconfirmed report indicated that he was unsuccessful in reaching one of his employees, Ron Peyton. Peyton's number does not show up on Sharek's city-issued cell phone bill.
Another city employee, though, apparently was reached -- Wayne Ball, a utilities worker under Sharek's command and the son of former Venice Police Chief Vernon Ball. Both Wayne Ball and his father-in-law, Rodney Edwards, were at the park that night according to Edwards.
In a phone interview with Venice Florida! dot com, Edwards stated that Ball received a call from city utilities co-worker Ron Peyton asking for help in extricating Sharek and Biehl. Edwards was one of the total of six people cited that day for trespassing onto state land.
Edwards, with Wayne Ball as a passenger, drove his Jeep out to the site. According to Edwards, Sharek met him at the broken fence and led him back to the stuck vehicles through a back way into the park. Edwards and Ball then hooked up a chain winch to Sharek's Jeep, pulling it out of the mud. Edwards stated that Sharek's vehicle was too damaged to drive and also noted the broken axle.
Edwards stated that he and Ball were unaware and were never informed that they were on state land. Edwards stated that he didn't know that he was in violation of any law until he was driving back out of the park and saw the signs indicating where he was and what was allowed there. Edwards left by traveling a different route along a main trail, which is where he encountered both the signs alerting him to his predicament and law enforcement who were just arriving at the scene.
As to how law enforcement became involved, Edwards stated that sheriff's deputies later told him that some wild hog hunters on nearby land had seen lights going back and forth into the park and had made the call to 911.
Deputies from the Sarasota Sheriff's Office were the first to respond. Deputies detained everyone found at the scene and made a call to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. FFWCC Officer Louis Hinds, in turn, responded. Hinds stated that he was on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg when he got the call to assist deputies at the Myakka River State Park. He arrived at the park at 11:30 PM to discover the five vehicles and a Massey-Ferguson tractor.
In spite of earning a criminal record for trying to be a good Samaritan with no overt criminal intent, Edwards spoke charitably about Sharek, even noting that Sharek had paid all of Edwards' court-related costs stemming from the incident.
Wayne Ball was not cited for his presence on park land. Fish and Wildlife Officer Hinds stated that he chose only to cite the drivers of the six vehicles rather than everyone who was found at the scene.
The city is now currently seeking a new utilities director, with Sharek slated to be demoted to an engineering job.
V for Vendetta
Meanwhile, Sharek has engaged in what appears to be a municipal vendetta against Ralph Hamann, the president of AFSCME Local 1718, the union representing the workers that Sharek oversees. The city is currently facing approximately 20 union grievances, all headed for arbitration.
....to be continued
Tuesday in the park with Chris
