Poor Judgment: Two City Council Members Vote to Fork Over $4 Million to Our NFL Team, Leave Meeting to Go to Ruth's Chris With Team Execs

It is great that our newspaper here in Jacksonville is keeping a close eye on our city officials.

As we saw in Bell, California, there is no end to the shenanigans that will go on, if city officials think no one is watching.

Unfortunately for Councilman Richard Clark - a member of First Baptist Jacksonville - and Councilman Stephen Joost, Tia Mitchell of the Times Union was watching them Tuesday night.

And her story about them was on the front page of the paper this morning.

Tuesday night our Jacksonville City Council voted 13-4 to allow our NFL franchise, the Jacksonville Jaquars, to keep ALL of the $16 million from the new stadium naming-rights agreement recently signed with EverBank. You see, the Jaguars had agreed to give the city 25% of any revenue from such an agreement....but for a variety of reasons, our city leaders decided it was best to not hold them to that agreement, and let them keep our $4 million portion.

Here's the problem: right after Joost and Clark voted to fork over our portion of the $16 million to the Jags, both men showed the incredibly poor judgment of leaving their posts IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COUNCIL MEETING to wine and dine at Ruth's Chris steakhouse with the very same Jaquars executives who lobbied them in favor of the deal.

At least Joost got permission to leave early in compliance with city rules, but as Mitchell reported Clark did not. He just simply didn't show up after the 10-minute break following the vote on the naming-rights deal.

Both men missed two hours of council meeting, 10 votes, and a public comment period. They both are paid $45,000 annually for their part-time position that includes two monthly council meetings.

Good news is that the council president Jack Webb didn't seem too happy about it. "The council was in session," he said. "Social calendars do not trump council business. Period."

Amen, Jack Webb. Several other council persons critical of Joost and Clark were quoted in the paper.

Not surprisingly, Clark didn't admit he showed poor judgement. "I'm not going to constantly look over my shoulder and second-guess everything I do," he said.

Sorry, pal, but you're an elected official, and the Times Union IS looking over your shoulder, and I hope they do second guess every action you take...especially when you vote to give $4 million away and then immediately are found over at Ruth's Chris with the recipients. Kudos to Tia Mitchell and the Times Union for running the story.

Did I just say that? You better believe I did.

News on Ergun Caner, and the Fake "YouTube Ergun Caner"

Fake Ergun Caner is Gone....GAWN!

But the real Ergun Caner: not GAWN!

Rumors were circulating yesterday on Twitter that Caner had cleaned out his desk and had left Liberty. But Ray Reed of the News & Advance paper in Lynchburg has confirmed that Caner is still on LU staff, but will only be teaching online classes. A spokesperson says his fall schedule is not finalized - which is strange, given the fall semester is so close.

On more important matters, let's discuss the "Fake" Ergun Caner:

Our Ergun Caner impersonator friend from YouTube that produced some very funny, sharp parody videos on Caner in May and June, is bidding us all farewell. He posted a goodbye note here on the Watchdog earlier this week, and he has taken down the 7 or 8 videos he produced from his YouTube account. It is understandable he doesn't want to proceed with any new videos, but I sure wish he would leave the videos somewhere on the Internet for posterity sake.

He says he was not pressured into taking them down, but feels that he has had his say.

Please, Fake Dr. Ergun Caner, I hope you change your mind and leave the videos somewhere on the Internet. And you never know when you might feel the need to shave your head again and team up with "Charles" for another video.

And while you're at it, if you could do just ONE MORE video, a farewell video, and maybe sing us a farewell song in Arabic or Turkish, we would greatly appreciate it.

Tell "Charles" we thank him for his hard work on producing the videos. He needs to work on his screening of emails for the show, but I'm sure he is glad to get back to his music ministry full time.

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On a different note: I watched the live stream last night of Norman Geisler, who gave a talk at Bellevue Baptist Church on Calvinism. He is 78 years old, and looks younger than that, and his mind is still sharp. He went through many scriptures about how there is both a biblical doctrine of "predestination" and "free will", and they are not contradictory given God's full knowledge of time past and future. He gave numerous analogies to use to think of how they do not contradict. It seems like such a balanced argument. But I also like his style of preaching. Not flashy, no grand stories of himself. Just an old man teaching truth from the Bible. Too bad that's not good enough for churches anymore.

I truly believe Geisler for some reason or another has refused to examine the vast amount of evidence that shows Caner's embellishments, or else he would not vigorously defend him. He obviously is a very smart, learned man whose life work is spreading the gospel. So how he defends Caner with no reservation whatsoever just absolutely boggles my mind.

HP CEO Resigns: Too Bad We Expect More Integrity of CEO's than Our Baptist Leaders

It is now official: CEO's are held to a much, much higher ethical standard than that of Baptist seminary presidents.

Last week it was reported that Mark Hurd, the CEO of technology giant Hewlett Packard (HP), was recently investigated by his board of directors after they received a complaint against him of sexual harrassment.

While the investigation revealed Hurd had not violated any company sexual harassment policies, it did uncover the allegation that Hurd submitted numerous false expense reports in an attempt to cover his relationship with a female contractor.

And he resigned. He is gone. GAWN!

Let's consider the stark contrasts between how HP and Mark Hurd handled their scandal, and how Liberty University and Ergun Caner handled theirs:

1. HP didn't wait for the press to be involved: HP received a credible complaint from a female of sexual harrassment against Hurd. Unlike Liberty, they apparently chose not to dismiss it as long as they could, instead, they acted on the allegation in a timely fashion. Liberty was content on not doing ANYTHING, unless their hand was forced by the secular media. After all, Caner is "God's man", and there's that "touch not God's anointed" verse in the bible.

2. HP didn't consider the religion of the accuser in assessing credibility: Unlike Caner's most ardent defenders, HP didn't attack this woman and call her a liar because of her religion or her theological viewpoints. They didn't accuse her of trying to destroy "God's man". Caner and the band of pastors who have defended him dismissed the allegations against Caner because they came from a "Muslim" and from a "Calvinist", and in their warped world, all words spoken by Muslims are lies, and Calvinist Christian brothers can't be trusted.

3. HP conducted an internal investigation, and clearly reported the results to all who had an interest. HP did an investigation, and then issued a very clear statement as to what they did find, and what they didn't find, and the reasons of their ensuing action concerning Hurd. They knew this was their ethical obligation, to be truthful to those who have an interest in the future of HP. Liberty, on the other hand, was as vague as they possibly could be with their investigation results, not telling anyone what they found in any substantive fashion, leaving room for multiple interpretations of their actions that just fueled more controversy - which in the end is harming their university even more.

4. HP stated what Hurd did wrong, and cleared him for that which they believe he did not do. They did not leave their findings up to interpretation. HP said they found he did not violate the company's sexual harrassment policy, but that they uncovered numerous false expense reports used to hide his relationship with the woman, who was an HP contractor. Liberty on the other hand, in their statement did not address the decade long string of lies told by Caner to thousands of Christians over 8 1/2 years. They did address one specific issue which really was NOT one of the major complaints - whether Caner was or was not a Muslim at one time. On the more serious issues they kept their silence.

5. HP actually held their leader to their established standards of conduct. As stated in their press release, HP found that Hurd did not violate the sexual harrassment policy, but did violate the "HP Standards of Business Conduct" (click here to read them - it is a pdf file) that all HP employees must abide by. What a contrast to Liberty; as pointed out by Wade Burleson here, Liberty has clearly established policies of honesty and truthfulness applying to students and staff alike - that if fairly applied to Caner's conduct, it is hard to imagine that he would not have been found guilty of violating many of those standards. At Liberty, apparently your average run-of-the-mill professor and student are held to a much higher ethical standard than the president of the seminary. How sad is that?

6. Mark Herd gave a written statement, and he stepped down for the good of the organization: OK, maybe that is a stretch - he is getting a golden parachute of millions of dollars, but Herd did give a clear statement of admission of wrong-doing. He didn't address specifics of his sins, but did admit he didn't live up to the ethical standards expected of him. How refreshing, an admission of guilt. Caner, on the other hand refuses to say anything at all. Zippo. Herd's statement included the following:

“As the investigation progressed, I realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP and which have guided me throughout my career. After a number of discussions with members of the board, I will move aside and the board will search for new leadership. This is a painful decision for me to make after five years at HP, but I believe it would be difficult for me to continue as an effective leader at HP and I believe this is the only decision the board and I could make at this time."

7. Herd and his friends are not speaking and blogging about his "haters" trying to bring him down. And his friends are not attacking the woman who made the allegations because of her Calvinistic religious view points. Herd and his friends are not trying to shift the focus from his own actions, to the motives or religious viewpoints of his accuser. Apparently Herd doesn't hang out with blogging wannabe megachurch pastors like those who vigorously defend Caner. Good for him, he selects his friends well.

8. HP did not put the success and talents of their leader above the integrity of their company. OK, maybe they wanted to get rid of Herd anyways, who knows. But do any research on Mark Herd, and you'll see he was a wildly successful CEO of HP by almost any measure. He had the company on the right track: stock was up. sales were increasing even in this brutal economy. But the board apparently knows that the truthfulness and integrity of the leader is most important than these. Liberty did can Caner from the president's position (or maybe not, according to his defenders!), but one wonders if their slowness to respond and reluctance to take firm action is based on Caner's wild popularity and what his dismissal might do to their enrollment.

9. Finally, a Prediction: I'll go out on a limb and predict one of Herd's friends won't start a website devoted to telling us of Herd's integrity, attacking Herd's critics' religion, and soliciting input from other CEO's. Yes, Caner's friend Stormin' Norman Geisler has put up a site to try to defend Caner from the "false and defaming allegations" made against his friend that led to Caner losing his presidency at LBTS. Geisler and others continue to defend Caner by attacking the "Muslim" and "extreme Calvinists" behind the conspiracy to bring down Caner. That, my friends, is life in Baptist la-la land.

So there you have it: when you compare the ethical standards Baptist have for their seminary presidents to that of CEO's, it is not hard to see why there are so many blogs in Southern Baptist as compared to other denominations. There is no mechanism by which misbehaving ordained ministers are held accountable. Blogs will continue to fill that void.

And when you take a step back and look at this - is it any wonder Baptist leaders refuse to take any steps toward tracking the sexual predators in their midst? The free-wheeling, good-ole-boy, no accountability and no transparency culture of the SBC makes that completely out of the question.

But let's hope the SBC and its pastors can learn something from corporate American other than how to market their brand name. Thank you Jesus for our corporate boards that are showing the way of integrity and transparency as an example to our Baptist leaders. Amen.

City of Bell, CA - Servants Will Abuse Finances When There is No Transparency

If you haven't heard of the scandal gripping the City of Bell, California, you should take a close look to see what can happen when leaders who are supposed to be servants of the people operate with no transparency and accountability to the very people who give them the money, and whom they are to serve.

Those of you who are members of mega churches where the total compensation packages of your pastor and family members, and payments to former pastors are a closely guarded secret, take notice: there is a reason why they don't want you to know their salaries.

Because they know you would be absolutely disgusted to know the details of their total compensation.

Bell, California is a case in point: this small town of about 38,000 people, 90% of which are poor Latinos, has a corrupt city government whose leaders voted themselves gigantic raises. The city manager earned about $800,000 per year, the city manager's assistant earned about $375,000, the police chief a hefty $450,000, and the part-time city council members earned $100,000 per year each.

Now that the people of Bell know, they are ticked off. They are revolting against their government officials as well they should. The people trusted their leaders, and the leaders abused the trust by taking unbelievable sums of money from the people they were to serve in order to enrich themselves. Of course the Bell officials did this while the government sought to get even more of the people's money through higher taxes.

Sound familiar? Mega church pastors are notorious for preaching the legalist Old Testament tithing doctrine, that to be a good Christian you must fork over at least 10% of your gross income, undesignated, to your church. God requires it, they say - as a starting point. Then, your spiritual maturity is measured in part by how much you trust the leadership to spend it with minimal accountability. To ask questions about details of how the money is spent, especially on the wealthy pastor and his family, well, you aren't trusting Jesus.

When you read the details of how these clowns in Bell bilked the taxpayers for these outlandish salaries, you realize how absolutely important it is for there to be transparency and accountability when it comes to salaries and compensation packages for those in positions of public trust. Not just government, but non-profit organizations like churches where the income is derived from the generosity of people who trust the organization to spend their money for their chosen cause.

What is just as disgusting is the dollars paid to these people, is their attitude that they deserve it! As reported in the Los Angeles Times, city manager Robert Rizzo says of his nearly $800k compensation:

"If that's a number people choke on, maybe I'm in the wrong business...I could go into private business and make that money. This council has compensated me for the job I've done."

Right. Go out there, big boy, and see who will pay you $800k per year, then come back and tell us about it. Even the Bell mayor defends Rizzo's outrageous salary:

"Our city is one of the best in the area. That is the result of the city manager. It's not because I say it. It's because my community says it."

Unbelievable. They deserve it, they think. But make no mistake about it: these mega church pastors view themselves as talented rock stars, ordained by God himself, and think themselves deserving of the large incomes they draw from their churches, their speaking engagements, books, and gifts given to them by their star-struck followers. Ed Young, Jr, the jet-setting pastor of Fellowship Church views himself as the church's "franchise player", responsible for "raising" the millions needed by the church. Who can forget the image of Jerry Vines and Mac Brunson high-fiving and hugging on the platform during the 2007 FBC Jax Pastor's Conference when Vines was preaching about people complaining about preacher's salaries - and Vines' comment of "you don't pay me enough to be yo preacha, brutha" - easily one of the most uncomfortable sermon moments in FBC Jax history.

The solution? It's so easy. Public disclosure of ALL sources of income of people who are public servants. We do it in Jacksonville, Florida. With about 3 mouse clicks the salary and overtime pay can be obtained for any government employees. Any. From the mayor, to the sheriff, all the way down to the lowest-paid city worker.

The same should be for these "men of God". If they trust God so much, trust God to let their total comp be known. If they fear their salaries being made public, then they are absolutely earning too much. They are using their position to gain financially, wasting God's money that church members faithfully fork over. If they don't do it willingly, I hope the day will come when the IRS demands it.

And not just "salary" should be known of these mega church pastors, but their entire compensation packages. One of the ways the Bell council members were able to earn $100k a year was their "salary" was broken up by parts, a separate income from each board on the city they sat on. So we don't just want base salary of these mega church rock stars, but how much is their salary, housing allowance, travel allowance, clothing allowance, etc. etc. And please, disclose any large gifts you receive from your members, just like our Congressmen must.

One humorous side note on the Bell story as reported by the LA Times:

"Councilman Luis Artiga, who was appointed to the council 15 months ago to fill an unexpired term, said he had no idea how much he would be paid. When he received his first check, he thought it was "a miracle from God." Artiga, who is pastor of Bell Community Church, said he uses about half his salary to pay the church's mortgage."

Yep, praise Jesus, a $100,000 salary for part time work. And yes, Ed Young's jet, a miracle of God, too. And a land gift of $300,000 to Mac Brunson; praise the Lord.

I pray for the day when Senator Grassley or someone else in Congress will finally require these mega churches to disclose detailed financial records including pastor compensation. The day will come, I'm confident, the only question is how much money will be wasted in the mean time.

Lastly, I became aware of the Bell, California story over at SBC pastor William Thornton's blog, where he wrote the following blurb about it:

"Scenes of vein-popping outrage ensued when citizens of the obscure town of Bell, CA found out that its manager was being paid over $800k, police chief about half-a-million, and part time councilmen $100k annually. Rightly so. What would happen if Baptist Press published the total compensation package of all SBC entity heads (and don’t give me a ‘salary’ figure, most clergy are onto that game)? apoplexy? Raised eyebrows? Ho hum? Let’s do it and see. It’s our money."

I agree with William. It is our money. Let's see what the total compensation package for these men who lead the SBC agencies, and the mega church pastors also. Not just "salary" - total compensation.

If they don't want to, let them go with Bell's Robert Rizzo into the private sector searching for the $800,000 salary. The preachers will be shocked when they realize they have to compete in a cut-throat employment market, where no one kisses their hineys and calls them "God's man".

My Favorite Ergun Caner Story: Preachin' in NC Drunk on Moonshine!!

Below is by far my favorite Ergun Caner story that he has told over the years: how when he was a young preacher in North Carolina, around Christmas time, he had a bad cough on a Sunday morning and ended up that afternoon drinking a jar of moonshine thinking it was cough syrup, and getting up that evening in the pulpit drunk.

As the story goes, Mike, er, I mean Ergun, was too far away from a drug store to go buy cough syrup, so his father-in-law, head of the deacons of the church, told Ergun to come out to his truck as he had some "cough syrup".

Well, unbeknownst to Ergun, what he thought was "cough syrup" was pure grain alcohol in a jar...and Ergun said he drank the whole thing...and, well, listen to the story yourself...this is why I think he has a future in comedy, and could very well be the next Dennis Swanburg if things don't work out at Liberty.

I don't think for a minute that Caner, growing up in the midwest in the 70s, would have been fooled...a typical teenager from the 70's knows what pure grain alcohol is. Now if he was a devout Muslim Turkish immigrant who came here when he was 17 as he led his Ohio Free Will Baptist men's audience to believe during this conference, then maybe he wouldn't know any better. Hopefully Ergun has repented for imbibing an adult beverage, and for allowing himself to get behind the sacred desk inebriated. :)

But this makes for a great story, and it sure had the Ohio Free Will Baptist men rolling in the aisles when he told it.

But it must have been true, because you'll hear Ergun tell his audience, that the story is "God's truth".

Enjoy!

Ergun Caner - Drinkin' Moonshine! from FBCJax Watchdog on Vimeo.