By Lisa ZahnerVERO BEACH — On Tuesday, defense attorney Bobby Guttridge called a long-time friend of County Administrator Joe Baird to the stand. Today, four or five more “friends of Joe” are set to testify on his behalf.In his opening arguments, Gurrtidge told the jury they would be hearing from local businesspeople and said “these are very credible folks.”However, yesterday’s witness is also an architect whose firm does substantial work for the County on the public dime, which Assistant State Attorney David Dodd brought out in cross examination. Dodd went so far as to ask John Binkley if being a friend of the County Administrator was good for business and Binkley answered an unqualified yes.Amongst today’s witnesses are Barbara Schlitt Ford, executive director of Youth Guidance, the organization which hosted the May 16 fundraiser at which Baird was observed drinking at least two beers and after which he was stopped by Vero Beach Police officers and arrested for DUI. Youth Guidance is a County program, funded to the tune of $142,074 in fiscal year 2008-2009 and budgeted to receive $89,638 in 2009-2010. The program is listed on budget line item 001-213 under the Board of County Commissioners, placing it and its budget squarely within Baird’s authority. The introduction letter to the 2009-2010 budget workshop agenda packet — which includes Schlitt’s line item — was delivered to Commissioners under a hand-signed letter from Baird.Another witness scheduled to testify about Baird’s “normal faculties” including, potentially his so-far undocumented claim to have vertigo, is Karen Deigl. Deigl is not only Baird’s girlfriend who picked up his Jeep Cherokee after he was carted off to the Vero Beach Police Department and then spent the night in jail. Deigl also serves as the president and CEO of the Senior Resource Association Inc. (Formerly the Council on Aging), also called the County’s Community Transportation Coordinator.The Senior Resource Association is listed in the budget as a Quasi-County Agency, meaning that the agency is not an official County department, but fulfills and manages a public need on behalf of the County. SRA operates the Go Line bus service and, according to the 2009-2010 Budget Workshop packet, received $1,059,057 from Indian River County taxpayers in the 2008-2009 fiscal year.Deigl submitted and signed a funding request to the County on April 22 asking for $584,947 for program expenses in the coming year. Contained in that proposal is a spreadsheet of staff salaries showing that Deigl makes $90,436 per year as president and CEO of the SRA and that she’s scheduled to get a 3 percent increase in 2009-2010 to $93,149.This is during a budget year when the County is cutting by 22 percent overall. Baird’s recommended budget includes plans to eliminate 39 positions, furlough workers in at least one department and ask County employees to forego any and all cost-of-living increases for a second consecutive year.Testimony is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. in the courtroom of Judget David Morgan at the Indian River County Courthouse. The case is expected to be given to the jury for deliberation by this afternoon, so a verdict may come today.
