CareerSource Pinellas calls emergency meeting to discuss future of leader Ed Peachey

Zachary T. SampsonTimes staff writer

 

Published: January 30, 2018

Updated: January 30, 2018 at 11:27 AM

 

Board members of CareerSource Pinellas have called an emergency meeting for Wednesday to discuss the future of leader Ed Peachey.

Peachey, the CEO and president of Career Source Pinellas and CareerSource Tampa Bay, has been under the microscope since state leaders called for investigations into whether the agencies inflated job placement numbers they report to the state.

Last week, Gov. Rick Scott called for the boards of directors at both agencies to convene emergency meetings and “consider appropriate disciplinary and administrative action” against CareerSource leadership.

The Pinellas County Commission had already called a meeting for 1 p.m. today to discuss how it wants to move forward. County Attorney Jewel White is expected to tell the county commissioners, who must approve all of CareerSource board members, what other powers they can exercise over the jobs center.

The Hillsborough County Commission plans to discuss CareerSource on Thursday, with a report from the county attorney, said Commission Chair Sandy Murman, who is also on the board for CareerSource Tampa Bay. She said the executive committee for the Hillsborough job placement center was still trying late Monday to schedule a meeting, potentially this week.

Additionally, House Speaker Richard Corcoran has ordered a House committee to investigate the same issues. U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, called for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, to investigate because Florida received $286 million in federal workforce funds to operate the agencies in fiscal year 2017.