Under a Sort-Of Hiring Freeze, PBSO Found $310,000 for Lobbying

Submitted by Nancy Smith on March 30, 2012 - 5:17am

Among the list of more than 2,500 utilities, telecommunications giants, trade groups, unions, developers, casinos and professional associations lobbying in Tallahassee during the 2012 session of the Florida Legislature is one curious participant:

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

PBSO spent $309,994. On what exactly, the office would not divulge. But on the list of the lobbyists' Top 100 Money-Spenders, PBSO came in at No. 39, spending $1 more than Florida Association of Health Plans Inc., but $5,001 less than Humana Inc.

Seems a lot of money to spend on lobbying for a department that routinely tells job applicants it's under a hiring freeze.

Said PBSO Public Information Officer Teri Barbera, "I have been told that we are hiring on a critical-need basis -- it's not necessarily a hiring freeze. This has been the case for a couple of years. And I do not have a future ending date."

Said Barbera, "I haven't been informed on what our department is lobbying for."

Critical-need basis? No, say folks who have applied for deputy spots, PBSO has a hiring freeze.

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