There are a couple more letters from the public about the Acevedo situation.

Here’s one from Kay Thacker, who asks:

Why would Monroe County School Board members even consider Randy Acevedo for this position as an assistant football coach at Key West High School to our vulnerable students, especially after he looked the other way while his wife virtually looted the school system, even stealing the cookie money raised by the children?

I have no idea.  It makes absolutely no sense.  These are high school kids.  They know how to google.  They’re going to figure out who this guy is and what he did.  What message does this send to them?  How does the school district expect to restore the confidence of the taxpayers with a decision like this?  Or do they even care about that?

And here’s one from Edwin O. Swift III, who says of Acevedo.

His life was turned upside down. His career went down in flames and he also paid in his shame and contrition for his cover-up. Now he has served his punishment and is attempting to rebuild his life here and to do the community good; who among us should cast the first stone? I say let him coach, let him contribute, let him re-apply his efforts and expertise to help the kids and win games for Key West High. We owe it to him and he owes it to us and we ought to allow him another chance.

Awww, poor baby.  Let’s not forget that Mr. Acevedo is living in a hell of his own making.  The taxpayers didn’t put him in this situation.  He did.

I’m not completely unsympathetic here.  I actually do agree that people deserve a second chance.  Mr. Acevedo has gotten that.  He received a lenient sentence considering the gravity of the crime.  And he’s got a decent job with the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority which lots of folks would love to have.  If history is any guide, he’ll be making $90,000 in a year or two.  He’s doing just fine.  He’s doing better than most people who’ve been convicted of much less serious crimes.

Mr. Acevedo does not need to coach high school football especially in the same school system that he and his wife took for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  This is not about forgiveness.  This is about the credibility of the school district and the integrity of the people who serve the public.

The taxpayers owe Randy Acevedo nothing – not forgiveness, not a job, not a volunteer opportunity.  The notion that they do is offensive.