Governor’s chief of staff admits he lied on resume in previous job

[thelakelander]

From the Miami Herald:

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE -- Adam Hollingsworth, the chief of staff and closest advisor to Gov. Rick Scott, admitted Friday that he lied about earning a college degree on his resume with a former employer.

Hollingsworth, who worked for CSX Corporation from 1995-2000 and again from 2002-2004, told the Herald/Times that he regrets inflating his resume with the transportation company by claiming he had received a bachelor's degree in 1990, but he denied it contributed to his departure from the company a decade ago.

"For many years, I publicly stated that I was a graduate of the University of Alabama, however, I did not complete my degree until 2009,'' Hollingsworth said in a written statement given to the Herald/Times. "I am not proud of this and I deeply apologize for this misrepresentation. I have learned from this failure in judgment and know that, over the last several years, my life and character have and will continue to grow from this."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/06/3802497/governors-chief-of-staff-admits.html#storylink=cpy

[mbwright]

Hard to believe someone involved with politics and government lied.   

[simonsays]

Governor Scott has usually been very hard on ethical issues, but it looks like Adam still has his confidence. this is very bad press, though:

"Hollingsworth has shown he'll keep a lie secret until caught"

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/hollingsworth-has-shown-hell-keep-a-lie-secret-until-caught/2156170

[civil42806]

Very high paying jobs with no college degree. It's not what you know it's who you know.

absolutely its a never ending game of the "public servants"  You get in good with a politician and it perpetuates itself.  Look Adam Hollingsworth, never had a productive job in his life.  He move effortlessly from politician to politician, regardless of party or opinion.  He is your new prototype for the ruling class.  the highly educated non talented (sort of like dear leader) that has the ability to suck it up and take it.

[civil42806]

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=3046.0


an oldie but a classic metrojax posting, its the usual thing.

[Stephen]

I think its funny as hell when politicians speak about "public service". None of them look as if they have missed a meal and all of them get paid a lot more than most people. I've always known Rick Scott was challenged ethically but it looks as if his staff is too

[CityLife]

I don't think you should make blanket judgments about all public servants based on a few bad seeds. Just like you shouldn't judge all private sector employees based on bad seeds at Enron, or Goldman Sachs, or wherever.

That said, there are definitely a lot of clowns in the political realm that got where they are based on networking, cronyism, or working on a campaign for free. I just met a legislative aide last week that couldn't carry a basic policy conservation and who clearly got where he was from schmoozing...and sure enough I looked at his LinkedIn bio and was not surprised at his lack of knowledge. Another big factor that leads to poor public servants is that often times people at management level will not hire a talented, competent person that they know will be a threat to their job or can shake things up...I've personally seen this happen numerous times locally.

Many times this leads to a job ending up with a friend of a friend, or someone that politicians or management know they can trust and will be no threat to them. Not really the issue here though. Hollingsworth basically committed fraud to further his career. That actually happened in both the private and public sector and he should be held accountable for his lies. Would he have gotten where he was in his career without the lie? Probably not, but does it make his current job performance any different? Probably not. Don't know that he should be fired, but he should have to issue formal apologies and fess up for doing so.

[thelakelander]

^The article talks about CSX benefiting from the approved Sunrail commuter rail deal. Where is the information coming from about CSX opposing HSR?

[tufsu1]

In any case, approving the purchase of CSX rail usage could be considered in the same terrible light.

Although if you remember from our talks with Adam during the Peyton years about the issue of commuter rail using CSX track, he was very firm that CSX shouldnt be expected to donate the use.

It was when he was downstairs with Ron Barton and all of us at the big table we set up at Boomtown.

I wonder if our discussions about CSX rail usage for commuter rail here in Jax influenced his realm of possibilities.

it isn't just a Jacksonville issue...TriRail operates on CSX tracks in SE Florida under an agreement....as noted by SunRail, discussions have been going on in Orlando for decades...Tampa has also been talking about using CSX tracks...and now this from SW Florida

http://www.marcoislandflorida.com/article/20131205/BUSINESS/312050041/Southwest-Florida-on-the-fast-track-for-proposed-railroad-corridor?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

that said, the deal with CSX that allows for SunRail to happen shifts trains from the line down US 17 through downtown Orlando to the line that parallels US 301....and some of the money went to upgrades (such as overpasses) along that line that still allow for reasonable traffic flow on a very important intrastate corridor.

[tufsu1]

I'm just saying that Jax. isn't the only place that was discussing these issues.  So I think its more likely that all of the statewide discussions influenced his realm of possibilities.

[thelakelander]

In any case, approving the purchase of CSX rail usage could be considered in the same terrible light.

Although if you remember from our talks with Adam during the Peyton years about the issue of commuter rail using CSX track, he was very firm that CSX shouldnt be expected to donate the use.

It was when he was downstairs with Ron Barton and all of us at the big table we set up at Boomtown.

I'm in firm agreement with Adam's position that CSX shouldn't donate their revenue generating property or openly expose themselves to higher liabilities for free.  All of us would expect to be compensated for such a purpose.

Personally, I know Adam was against HSR.....because he told me right after they killed it. However, I see no strong link between HSR being killed in favor of the CSX/Sunrail deal getting approved. From his DNA, he probably would have wanted both killed if he were totally in charge.