Dave Donnelly's Email To Jay Garlitz Demanding AC-EMWIN Equipment
Dave Donnelly, Chief of Alachua Co. Office of Emergency
Management, sent Jay Garlitz / AA4FL, the Faculty Advisor of the Gator Amateur
Radio Club, this email demanding that the equipment that belonged to Alachua
County SKYWARN be removed from the Shands' Dental Science Building and handed
over to him. He left me out of the CC, too, so that I would not know.
In doing this, Dave violated the law by using "Color of Office" to
intimidate the Faculty Advisor - who did not know all of the details -
using official sounding verbiage, into handing over the equipment under
implication of being the "proper authority" and also by what Jay called his
"official signature" at the bottom (which was actually a tagline that Dave
otherwise doesn't use very often), the implication that there could perhaps be
consequences if they did not comply. When Dr. Garlitz received this email
he considered it to be of the proper authority because it came from someone w
ho had a title in local government. As a result, he was actually going to hand
over the equipment.
However, I then threatened a lawsuit which forced him to actually question
Dave's actual authority.
Not wanting such a public conflict, or to be involved in such a way, Dave
backed down.
Had Dr. Garlitz handed the equipment over to Dave, I would have never
seen the equipment again. He would have handed it over to Philip Royce or
someone else and it would have been gone. Had that actually happened, I would
have actually filed a lawsuit while at the same time pressing charges against
Dave for using his authority to harass people who had no real clue into
handing something over that didn't belong to him. In other words...using his
authority to engage in theft. And since some of the equipment was computers,
I'm sure I could have thrown in some serous computer crimes-related charges.
According to Jeff Capehart, who later told me what had happened, Dave tried to
take advantage of confusion to TAKE something from someone else as a "favor"
for Philip Royce, who wanted the equipment for the ACOEM Amateur Radio Club.
Dave's Email:
From: DAD@alachuacounty.us (Dave Donnelly)
To: w4ufl@arrl.net (Jeff Capehart/ W4UFL)
CC: John.Fleming@em.myflorida.com (John Fleming, FDEM)
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:54:51 -0400
Subject: EMWIN Equipment at UF
Jeff,
I am requesting that you take down the EMWIN station that is
currently at the UF Dental Tower and deliver it to our office once
dismantled.
This should include, but may not be limited to the following: