Article published Mar 20, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - James McDonough may be one of the few state agency chiefs with a resume that includes "author."

One of the three books he has written was made into the movie, "Platoon Leader." He was also the principal author of the U.S. Army's field manual on operations, a non-fiction work that requires writing in minute detail.

Now McDonough has begun collecting information that he thinks would make another good book, but he's concerned his editors and publisher will erroneously classify it as fiction.

"Who would believe all this?" McDonough said, referring to the extraordinary scenario he has been dealing with since being appointed secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections in early February. Most amazing to him? An infatuation with softball that has led to the end of many DOC careers due to fights surrounding tournaments.

"I try not to get surprised. I am a strategic planner," McDonough said. "But I have never seen anything like the glorification of softball in this department. That was stunning."

McDonough, 59, who served as Florida's drug czar for seven years, was appointed interim secretary of the prison system in February. He replaced James Crosby on the day federal and state investigators conducted an inventory of Crosby's office in Tallahassee. No one will say what they were looking for or may have found.

For months, investigators have been seeking information about allegations of improperly awarded contracts, steroids abuse and the improper use of inmate labor and state property. Along the way, investigators uncovered possible cronyism, nepotism, bullying and favoritism.

During the past week, McDonough fired nine top administrators and brought back a former department secretary to be a top administrator. In his phone calls to those who were fired and in press releases, McDonough gave the same reason for letting the men go - lack of confidence and trust in their leadership. They were replaced by employees that McDonough characterized as "senior leaders who carried on, who kept their integrity, who kept their honor and who did their duty."

As the first person without any prison experience hired to run the prisons in about 50 years, McDonough knows there are skeptics and Crosby supporters waiting for him to make a serious misstep. He also jokes about his qualifications for the job.

"When I was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, our house was about 200 feet from the prison," McDonough said.

On his left hand next to his golden wedding ring is McDonough's West Point cla*sof 1969 ring with a blue stone.

As a U.S. Army Ranger, McDonough led troops into combat in Vietnam, Bosnia and Rwanda. His actions earned him all kinds of awards and honors, including a Defense Service Medal, two Legion of Merit awards, three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. He has held jobs at the national level, including an appointment in 1996 as director of strategy for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Gov. Jeb Bush hired him in 1999 to head up Florida's drug program where he served until tapped to oversee the state's embattled prison system in February.

Many employees have said the Crosby administration penalized them for not conforming to a prison culture developed by Crosby's top managers - an intense fascination with interagency sports, the hiring and promotion of relatives and favorite employees and other behaviors, including pressuring staffers to contribute to employee club activities.

Employee clubs were intended to be the social and civic outlet for prison employees. They were designed, for example, to help foster youth sports programs in the communities where the prisons were located.

The approximately 50 clubs established at prisons around the state have an estimated combined $1.5 million in various bank accounts.

Some employees have voiced concerns about how club money was accounted for - or not accounted for - and others opposed spending money on items that would not be available for general club membership use, like $400 softball bats that were only available to tournament players.

To determine exactly what has gone on with employee clubs, McDonough has halted all social events, preventing any money from being spent. He has previously expressed concern that employee clubs had become centered on athletic teams that benefited only a few. Audits are under way to determine exactly how much money is involved.

A committee assigned to investigate employee clubs and ways to allow them to continue operating with stricter oversight is expected to submit a report within days.

McDonough said Friday that inmates had been used in the past to generate money for the clubs, an activity he said will end. Inmates may have constructed items that were later raffled off.

And he also said that a small percentage of each prison's employee club's funds will be used to pay for additional oversight.

McDonough has set three criteria that must be met to "be sure there's no hanky-panky going on with any of these clubs and their money" before the clubs will be allowed to resume their activities. He wants no corruption, transparent operations, and activities that support the morale of all club members.

Despite the firing of close Crosby associates, some employees have said they remain concerned about repercussions if they disagree with management.

"Life goes on. You can be scarred, but that doesn't mean your life is over," McDonough said. "I have brought people I trust into leadership. It is contingent on me to let the professionalism take full flower."

McDonough is resurrecting at least one program - drug dogs that inspect prison parking lots and property. "I need to get it back," said McDonough of the drug dog program.

The program was disbanded a few years ago after a dog sniffed what may have been drugs in a car belonging to the family of Crosby protégé, Allen Clark.

After the incident Kevin Dean, the former head of the prison's drug dog unit, said he was transferred to another prison and given the least desirable shift.

Clark resigned in August without citing a reason for his departure.

Prison employees can also expect drug testing to become a regular part of their work life. It will be random, equitable, secure, cost-effective and have a treatment component, he said. "We are going to do it top to bottom, beginning with me," McDonough said.

Two months into his new job, McDonough's office remains a somewhat barren place. The only personal items on display in his office are three photographs of him with his wife and three sons and the seven grandchildren who are scattered around the globe.

Also in the office is a computer, one that received virtually no e-mail in the first few weeks he was on the job.

Now he is getting e-mails, phone calls and letters, including some that begin or end with a phrase saying something like "I cannot tell you who I am because I fear for my family but I want you to know . . . "

"As an experienced leader you tend to sense when morale is shifting," McDonough said.

Sun Tallahassee Bureau reporter Joe Follick contributed to this story.