Editing George Touart

{{Infobox Biography
| subject_name   =George Touart
| image_name     =Touart.jpg
| image_size     =175px
| image_caption  =
| date_of_birth  =
| place_of_birth =
| date_of_death  =
| place_of_death =
| occupation     =[[Escambia County Administrator|County Administrator]]<br/>[[Escambia County]]
| religion       =
| spouse         =Barbara Touart
| parents        =
| children       =Christy, Amber, Matthew, Jacob
}}
'''George Touart''' is the current [[Escambia County Administrator]], appointed on [[April 4]], [[2002]], by a unanimous [[Escambia County Commission]] vote in which he was selected over four other candidates.<ref>"Touart picked to lead Escambia." ''Pensacola News Journal'', April 5, 2002.</ref> He officially took the position on [[April 22]], replacing interim administrator [[Bob Halfhill]], who had served since the resignation of [[Tom Forrest]] on [[December 3]],  [[2001]]. 

Born in Pensacola, Touart previously served as administrator in two Mississippi counties, Jackson County (from 1989 to 2001) and Madison County (from December 2001 to April 2002). He was also a City Councilman in Pascagoula, Mississippi, from 1984 to 1989.

Touart received a Bachelor of Science degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Troy State University.<ref>[http://www.co.escambia.fl.us/departments/board_of_county_commissioners/CountyAdministratornew.php County bio]</ref> He and his wife [[Barbara Touart|Barbara]] have four children: Christy, Amber, [[Matthew Touart|Matthew]] and Jacob.

As County Administrator, Touart earns $155,252 annually.

==Controversies==
===Arety's Angels===
In February 2003, Touart's son [[Matthew Touart|Matthew]], 21 at the time, charged nearly $6,000 at local strip club [[Arety's Angels]] to a credit card he had stolen from his father. (Grand theft charges against Matthew were eventually dropped after he completed a "life skills counseling course."<ref>"State drops charges against county administrator's son." ''Pensacola News Journal'', October 15, 2004.</ref>) The club's owner, [[Arety Sievers]], was contacted on Touart's behalf by [[Escambia County Sheriff]] [[Ron McNesby]], who asked Sievers to forgive the charges. She refused.

After an [[October 7]] raid on her club by the [[Pensacola Police Department]], during which two dancers were arrested for illegal body contact with customers, Sievers accused Touart and McNesby or orchestrating the raid in retaliation against her.<ref>"Lounge owner blasts Touart." ''Pensacola News Journal'', January 9, 2004.</ref> Warrants for the raid, part of a sweep by the Department, were granted following "complaints of inappropriate behavior by dancers."<ref>"Two arrested after sting at local clubs." ''Pensacola News Journal'', October 8, 2003.</ref> The State Attorney's Office concluded on [[January 13]], [[2004]] that police did not selectively target Sievers' club, but "devoted far greater manpower and financing to the Arety's investigation than to the other five strip clubs following input from the Escambia County Administrator."<ref>"Arety's Angels wasn't unfairly targeted but got most attention, state report says." ''Pensacola News Journal'', January 14, 2004.</ref>

A grand jury convened on [[June 7]], [[2004]] to investigate the allegations, but declined to indict Touart or McNesby of any criminal wrongdoing.<ref>"[http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/11/State/Officials_not_charged.shtml Officials not charged in inquiry of strip club.]" Associated Press, June 11, 2004.</ref> However, a later story by [[WEAR]] revealed that the wife of one of the grand jurors was employed by McNesby at the [[Escambia County Sheriff's Office]].

After the story broke, the 21-member jury released a statement asserting that, "in an abundance of caution," the juror in question had disclosed his relationship to McNesby and sat out deliberations involving him (but not Touart). The statement added, "To imply that one person could exert such an influence over the other 20 of us demonstrates an ignorance of the process, diminishes us all and casts doubt upon the entire grand jury system."<ref>"[http://inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=78 Nice Watchdog]." Independent News, June 25, 2004</ref>

===Illegal hunting trip===
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===Connections to County land deal===
{{currentevent}}
On [[August 21]], following inquiries by the ''[[Pensacola News Journal]]'', [[Escambia County Commission]]er [[Grover Robinson IV]] and [[Escambia County Attorney|County Attorney]] [[Janet Lander]] halted the purchase of a 217-acre property off [[Bauer Road]], which the Board approved 4-0 on [[August 2]]. (Robinson was out of town at the time.) The property, almost 70% wetlands, was purchased for $1.41 million from [[Martine's Corp.]] to be developed by the County as ballparks for the [[Perdido Bay Youth Sports Association]]. 

The county administrator is required to obtain two appraisals for property purchases over $250,000, as well as an environmental site assessment.<ref>[http://www.co.escambia.fl.us/departments/purchasing/documents/PurchasingOrdinance.pdf Escambia County purchasing ordinance], page 30, "Sec. 46-139. Purchase or lease of real property by the county."</ref> The seller offered its own appraisal (from [[John Hufford]]) of $1.75 million,<ref>[http://www.ricksblog.biz/hufford.pdf Hufford appraisal]</ref> while the County obtained a second appraisal of $1.41 million from [[John Asmar]].<ref>[http://www.ricksblog.biz/Asmar.pdf Asmar appraisal]</ref> Both appraisals are significantly higher than the $328,420 assessment by the County's property appraiser.

The newspaper's investigation was related to business and social ties between Touart and [[Neal Nash]], vice-president of Martine's Corp., the extent of which were not disclosed to the Commission prior to the sale. Touart has also been linked to [[Ronald Swaine]], owner of [[Swaine & Company]], which negotiated the sale and stood to receive a 10% commission.<ref name="ties">"Touart's ties to seller delay county land deal." ''Pensacola News Journal'', August 22, 2007.</ref>

The following relationships exist between Touart, Nash and Swaine:
*The three men have a pre-sale contract to buy a [[Panama City]] condominium. Touart has cited financial difficulty stemming from his real estate investments<ref>"Touart's fiscal luck sinks with real estate." ''Pensacola News Journal'', August 22, 2007.</ref> and claimed the other two "agreed to buy me out at closure."<ref name="ties"/>
*Nash and Touart owned a 30-foot Grady White boat together, registered in Alabama under the name "Nash Touart." Touart later bought Nash's share of the boat, registering it under his own name in Florida in December 2006.<ref name="ties"/>
*Touart has an interest in four lots (his wife bought a fifth) at the [[Nature Trail]] subdivision being developed by Swaine & Co. with [[John S. Carr & Company]]. Nash is also a partner of the development's realty company. Asked by the ''News Journal'' about Touart, Swaine said, "To my knowledge, Nature Trail has never sold him any lots."<ref name="ties"/>
*Touart and Nash have taken several vacations together, in Alaska and elsewhere, with their families.

These relationships represent a possible violation of Florida state 112.313 (7)(a), which forbids public officers from having "any employment or contractual relationship with any business entity" that does business with their agency. An exemption is allowed if "there is full disclosure by the officer … prior to the purchase."<ref name="future">"[http://inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=5337 Commissioners discuss Touart's future]." ''Independent News'', August 23, 2007.</ref>

Several commissioners have criticized Touart's failure to disclose the relationships in light of a [[Soccer complex corruption scandal|previous scandal]], in which Commissioner [[W.D. Childers]] allegedly engineered the County's purchase, at inflated values, of two properties owned by his friend [[Joe Elliott]]. Four of the five commissioners were removed from office by Governor [[Wikipedia:Jeb Bush|Jeb Bush]] in May [[2002]], shortly after Touart began work as administrator.

Commissioner [[Mike Whitehead]] dismissed Touart's nondisclosure as "just an oversight," but added, "in this post-W.D. era, we just got to have disclosures on this stuff." Commissioner Robinson said, "The worst thing it did is we are trying to build trust with the people and this pushes us back and we've lost trust."<ref name="future"/>

On [[August 23]], [[2007]], the County Commission voted to cancel the land deal.  At the same meeting, the Commission also voted to put off until [[September 6]] any decision on reprimanding or penalizing Touart for his lack of disclosure.  The ''Pensacola News Journal'' has published an editorial calling for Touart's retirement.<ref name="retire">"Time for Touart to retire as county administrator".  ''Pensacola News Journal'', August 26, 2007</ref>

===Other criticism===
Touart's son [[Matthew Touart|Matthew]], of the Arety's Angels scandal, is currently safety inspector of [[Cantonment]]-based contractor [[Roads, Inc.]],<ref>[http://roadsinc.com/id2.html Roads, Inc. website]</ref> which is regularly awarded contracts by [[Escambia County]] government. Although no charges of favoritism have been raised, the situation could potentially present a conflict of interest for the elder Touart.

==References==
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{{incumbent succession box | before = [[Bob Halfhill]] (interim) | title = [[Escambia County Administrator]] | start = [[April 22]], [[2002]]}}
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[[Category:Escambia County employees|Touart, George]]