Changes
→Initiatives and Projects Implemented as School Board Member-2006-2016
Bergosh and his wife Sally have three children: Tori, Nicholas and Brandon.
==Education & career==
Bergosh is a 1986 Graduate graduate of [[Pensacola High School]]. After high school, Bergosh he moved out west to attend college. He earned , earning an Associates of Arts degree from Grossmont College (El Cajon, California) in 1990 and a B.A. from San Diego State University in 1994. Bergosh has earned a Master of Science in Administration from the University of West Florida. Before entering politics, Bergosh had a ten-year career as a retail business operator and facilities management specialist, retail business operator, and he had spent including about 1 1/2 years working as a cultural resource manager at [[Naval Air Station Pensacola]].<ref name="lookingout">"District 1 candidates looking out for students." ''Pensacola News Journal'', August 18, 2006.</ref> When his brother decided not to seek reelection, Bergosh said he was asked by [[Escambia County Superintendent|Superintendent]] [[Jim Paul]] to seek the office.<ref name="lookingout"/> He was elected on [[September 5]], [[2006]] with 5,110 votes — about twice as many as his closest rival, [[Todd Leonard]].<ref>"Escambia County School Board." ''Pensacola News Journal'', September 6, 2006.</ref> ==Initiatives and Projects Implemented as County Commissioner 2016-2020== {| class="wikitable"|-! Initiatives and Projects Implemented as County Commissioner 2016-2020|-| Restrooms at [[Beulah Park]] || Completed|-| Traffic light at [[Beulah Road]] and [[Mobile Hwy]] || Completed|-| [[Mitchell Avenue]] Sidewalks in [[Avondale]] || Completed|-| Drainage improvements and Sidewalks project on [[Merlin Road]] || Completed|-| 4-lane and sidewalk addition for [[Longleaf Drive]] from [[Pine Forest Road]] to [[Wymart Road]] || funded and currently at 60% design|-| $2.5 Million in Restore Act funding for District 1 Boat Ramp and park on [[Perdido Bay]] || Requested|-| $1.5 Million in D1 Restore Act funds utilized to help bring the $230 Million ST Engineering Aerospace expansion to Escambia County--1300 new jobs projected, || In progress|-| Acquisition of OLF8 in Beulah to be utilized to create mixed-use development and amenities for the Beulah community and an additional 300 jobs at Navy Federal Credit Union || In progress|-| Turn Lane at [[Woodside Avenue]] || Completed|-| Wilde Lake at Pine Forest Intersection improvements || Completed|-| [[Hwy 98]] resurfacing || Completed [[2018]]|-| [[Muldoon Road]] resurfacing || Completed [[2018]]|-| [[Mobile Hwy]] safety improvements, in Design [[2021]] || completion anticipated [[2022]]|-| 4-lane [[9-Mile Road]] with sidewalks and bike lane || Completed by Summer 2020|-| [[Bellview Park]] upgrades including new scoreboard || Completed [[2019]]|-|NW D1 Advisory committee for intelligent growth in [[Beulah]] || established [[2018]]|-|Escambia Youth Commission initiative || Approved and Established [[2019]]|-|District 1's first public library || funded and under construction Fall [[2020]]|-|[[Beulah Fire Station]] remodel || fully funded and under design Summer [[2020]] by Townes+Architects|-|4-Year pay plan for [[Escambia County Deputy Sheriff's Department]] || mediated and implemented [[2018]]|} ==Initiatives and Projects Implemented as School Board Member-2006-2016== *Implementation of a Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Hotline - Independently run *District-run health clinic November, 2010. This first of its kind in Escambia County Schools*Implementation of a multi-faceted Drug Eradication Strategy -- this includes canine searches and drug testing students that participate in extracurricular *Video Recording of all workshops and meetings of the School Board *School Board "web-presence" on the district's new web page. After a 16 month series of delays, the School Board's web page was put up in [[2011]] to increase transparency.*Addition of a Safe Harbor Provision in the District Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, as a balance to zero tolerance. This initiative to provide students and parents an additional layer of due process protections was implemented over extensive protests by district staff and administrators*Participation of the Escambia County School District in the MAP (Merit Award Program), a statewide teacher performance pay program to reward great teachers and grow student achievement. *Expansion of music programs at the secondary level, with the addition of a new High School Band at [[West Florida High School]] beginning in the 2010-2011 school year.*Initiation of the Establishment of a University Lab School in Partnership with the [[University of West Florida]]. School opened 2010-2011 school year.*Acceleration of closure and consolidation process to correct district inefficiencies. =="Godzilla" controversy==On [[October 4]], [[2007]], the ''[[Pensacola News Journal]]'' published an article by reporter [[Sara Rabb]] that revealed Bergosh had been posting comments on the [[pnj.com]] forums under the pseudonym "[[Wikipedia:Godzilla|Godzilla]]." Rabb purportedly noticed that "Godzilla's" posts were similar to the views expressed by Bergosh at School Board meetings, and she was able to confirm with the website's administrator that Bergosh's personal email address had indeed been used to register the account. Rabb requested an interview with Bergosh on [[October 2]], [[2007]], to discuss teacher salaries and merit pay. At the interview, Rabb confronted Bergosh with her findings and indicated that the ''News Journal'' wanted to run a story on the pseudonym. Bergosh admitted he was Godzilla during the interview, but then issued an official statement "unequivocally denying" the alter-ego.<ref name="whois">"Who is schools' 'Godzilla?'" ''Pensacola News Journal'', October 4, 2007.</ref> He has claimed this initial admission was made to Rabb "[[Wikipedia:Journalism sourcing#Using confidential information|off the record]]."<ref>[http://www.inweekly.net/article.asp?artID=5842 Bergosh Is Godzilla], ''Independent News'', October 11, 2007.</ref> Bergosh officially confirmed the online identity during an [[October 8]] "[[IN Your Head Radio]]" interview on [[AM 1620]].<ref>[http://ricksblog.biz/?p=2490 Bergosh=Godzilla]</ref>
===Reaction & aftermath===Bergosh was criticized via several subsequent articles, editorials, and cartoons in accused the PNJ for a number ''News Journal'' of the comments "outing" his identity on what he made using had believed was a pseudonym in safe outlet for anonymous opinion: "When the daily paper's 'Pensacola News Journal'' created an anonymous forum. All of , encouraging the forum posts presented in the PNJ articles were devoid use of context pseudonyms, as to let people take down their guards and therefore the true meanings could not be discerned. Among his posts were claims that schools speaking in the poverty stricken [[Escambia County District 3|District 3]] were a statistical drag on the rest of the district's grade as a whole. This post was made in defense of Escambia County's school system when compared to other nearby districts that do not have the same social frank manner regarding political ideas and poverty issues to contend with. In another postthoughts, I jumped at the subject of which was discipline and attendance issues among 16 and 17 year old students in the district who had not yet completed middle school that did not want to be in school and who were tremendous discipline problems , Bergosh suggested they not be compelled to stayopportunity. In that post Bergosh stated that governments should "do away with compulsory education beyond grade 8. … Build more prisons and get ready for the influx, but let's keep school a positive environment for students who WANT to come to school!!"<ref name="whoisstatement">[http://ricksblog.biz/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/jeff-bergosh.pdf Statement by Bergosh regarding Godzilla]</ref> Bergosh was critical The publication pointed out that their website's current terms of teachers' unions for use reserved "roadblocking districts every step of the way" referring right to identify you as the local teacher's unions threatened litigation over the implementation author of the state approved and funded teacher merit pay plan. In one (1) post out any of 135your postings or submissions by name, Bergosh referred to himself in the third person during a debate over merit pay for teachersemail address or screen name, a passionate volley meant to let people in the community know that 2.1 million dollars in teacher bonus money was about to be voted "out" of Pensacola and back to Tallahassee: "I know as we can count on Board member Bergosh to be there and vote to keep the bonus money here in Pensacola. I know he is not going to genuflect, bow down and kiss the union ring, and give the union what they want."<ref name="whois"/> When the School Board voted 4-1 against the existing merit pay plandeem appropriate, Godzilla said he could hear their "spines breaking in unison."<ref name="outing">[http://www.cjrpnj.orgcom/behind_the_newsapps/outing_godzillapbcs.php Outing Godzilla: An Internet crack in the Chinese walldll/section?Category=TERMS pnj.com Terms of Use] </ref> although this policy may have been altered since Bergosh initially registered.{{fact}} Bergosh asserted that he "never divulged any 'in-house'Columbia Journalism Review''secrets or committed ANY crime" and that the left-leaning newspaper had engaged in "[[Wikipedia:yellow journalism|yellow journalism]]" as retribution for his conservative opinions, October 16, 2007prompting him to "fight for my right to freedom of speech."<ref name="statement"/ref>
[[Image:BergoshPNJCartoon.jpg|thumb|right|[[Andy Marlette]]'s cartoon & winning caption]]
[[Image:BergoshSchneiderCartoon.jpg|thumb|right|Bergosh's cartoon response]]
Hostilities continued when the ''News Journal'' held a contest asking readers to submit captions for a cartoon of Bergosh wearing a Godzilla costume. (The winning caption said, "All the School Board costumes were taken!"<ref>[http://pnj.com/graphics/opinion/cartoon_101407_winner.jpg Final cartoon]</ref>) Bergosh countered by offering alternate captions critical of the newspaper's online policy (for example, "Deception <u>is</u> at the core of '<u>anonymous</u>' blogs!!"<ref>[http://jeffbergosh.net/cartoons.html Bergosh's parody cartoons]</ref>) and drawing a caricature of editor [[Dick Schneider]]:
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Escambia County School Board members|Bergosh, Jeff]] [[Category:Pensacola High School graduates|Bergosh, Jeff]]