looking out for your boss
Seminole Heights permalink | categories: citizens, county, crime, news, tampaby Seminole Heights @ 8:34 am
Tommy previously wrote about the developing story with Doug Belden and his making unwanted adavances upon on a woman at a bar.
On Thursday Mr. Belden admitted the incident did occur and apologized. He blamed a drinking problem.
What I found interesting in this incident was the following comment, made when the story initially broke, by one of his employees, a supervisor named Preston Trigg.
“I got a call Friday from the boyfriend who said Doug was hitting on his friend,” Trigg said. “I said, ‘That’s kind of funny, because I was there, I was watching Doug the whole time and didn’t see anything.”
“Going out with Doug is like going out with a professional athlete,” said Trigg. “You watch him to make sure nothing happens.”"
1. In light of the admission by Mr. Belden, was Preston Trigg mistaken or lying? If he was lying could he face charges of lying to investigators?
2. The tax collector compared to a professional athlete? Excuse me? How many of you have to watch your boss to make sure nothing happens? Did Trigg know Belden had an alcohol problem and was trying to keep him out of trouble?
Tags: citizens, county, crime, news, tampa
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October 28th, 2006 at 9:05 am
as one of the tax payers who pay both of these men’s salary, i call for their immediate resignation.
October 28th, 2006 at 9:51 am
if youve ever been around the better bars of downtown tampa and soho, youve run across belden. and warren weathers. the ‘bachelors’….evidently, beldon got some pr advice somewhere between acting tough and acting recalcitrant. thus the apology. now all we need is a statement saying he was abused by a priest….
October 28th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Belden hit on me at Jackson’s about 4 years ago. In fact, his opening line was simply, “Doug Belden, County Tax Collector. Let me buy you a drink.” When I refused, he seemed irritated and insisted that he buy me one. So I tried to be polite and brush him off as best I could, and after a while, when I had rejected him several times, he asked me for my parents’ names! What, so he could take out his unhappiness at being rejected on my folks? You gonna audit the parents of the women who turn you down, Belden? That’s great. I told him to take a hike, and thankfully he did, though he was clearly angry. Anyway, this story didn’t surprise me at all. I hope they find grounds for a criminal charge. He’s a sleaze of the worst kind, a wolf on the prowl. Ms. Irwin should have pursued it; this will not be his final indiscretion, no doubt, if he goes unpunished.
October 28th, 2006 at 8:01 pm
I am glad to hear others complain about this guy. I thought it odd that he put his hand on my knee last year when I paid my property taxes but I figured since he had already bent me over year after year at tax time he was just showing some tenderness for once.
October 30th, 2006 at 11:19 am
So this guy has been compared to a rock star and pro athlete now?
He’s a balding, middle-aged accountant!
Hot girls want guys with muscles and hair, Doug. And who can make actual conversation. And who have at least slightly sexy jobs.
So, so pathetic.
October 30th, 2006 at 11:20 am
Oh, and, not that this should need explaining, but dudes who blame poor choices on drinking are garbage cans.
October 30th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Rachel: I have muscles and hair but get ignored by hot girls all the time. Think maybe if I flash a little more MONEY they’d be interested?
October 30th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
You forgot about the part that said “can make actual conversation.” In some people’s cases, like Belden’s, even money won’t help.
October 30th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
C.W. - Obviously. But a good attitude would probably help more. Like, for instance, not assuming all sexy chicks give a f*ck about your dough.
October 30th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
Hey Rachel maybe you can help give me a good hair and muscle makeover, assuming you really are one of these “hot girls” you claim to know so much about. And keep the filthy language to yourself. This ain’t high school anymore!
October 30th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Well what about this?
when the denials were first expressed by the staff of the Tax Dept. they were addressing RUMORS of sexual battery at Jacksons—a felony punishable by 20 years—-I have a feeling that if someone had asked if Belden had kissed a woman on the cheek, the response would have been different!
I think when the videotape is released Irwin will have alot of explaining to do!
A single woman who goes to a MEAT MARKET like Jacksons, and sits at the bar by herself, with her DOG, is probably gonna get approached. I also understand that she is a player in OTHER BARS!
October 31st, 2006 at 2:34 am
Hey Rachel maybe you can help give me a good hair and muscle makeover, assuming you really are one of these “hot girls†you claim to know so much about.
Dude, didn’t you read the TBT article? Rachel is smokin’, y’all. And not someone to mess with
October 31st, 2006 at 7:20 am
Rachael, I guess you have the inside scoop on what ‘hot girls’ really like…but help me out here…. There are lots of stories floating around town about this Irwin woman…
Questions:
Why did she wait a full day to react?
Why didnt she get up and leave the bar immeditely?
Why did she wait to file a complaint until AFTER her boyfriend called the Tax Collectors office?
hmmm…. go figure! are hot chicks just slow on the uptake or do they calculate their odds before they make a move?
and how much more trauma can Barbar take..poor little guy… does anyone know about rules regarding taking animals to bars?
Is that kinda like guys taking the baby to the beach to attract chicks?
color me clueless
October 31st, 2006 at 8:54 am
Thanks, Tim! See also the current issue of Orange. And the upcoming one. And basically anything after that. Yeah, I’m hot sh*t. (Language notwithstanding.) You are, too!
I guess the main thing here is the arrogance of the come-on. Dudes come up to me with this kind of crap constantly and I do exactly what digger suggests - I bounce. So, yeah, this girl mighta seen a way to get her 15 minutes and the whole thing is pretty stupid.
A fat, balding, middle-aged drunk tries to grab a girl’s boobs at Jacksons. She gets screechy because she has a right to lower her inhibitions in peace!! This is not the stuff of fame or awesomeness.
Glossy hair and lean muscles are. Audit that, Doug.
November 1st, 2006 at 7:04 am
Rachel, you ARE the bomb.
November 1st, 2006 at 6:13 pm
Vanity and narcissism are also “the stuff of fame or awesomeness.” Ain’t that right Rachelasterisk?
November 3rd, 2006 at 11:56 am
In my personal opinion a woman should run against him and lets just see all the skeletons come out. He is just a womanizer and the public needs to know
November 12th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
Ditto Digger. The man said he never “gropped” or touched her inappropriately. You could agrue that a cheek kiss could be inappropriate, but common. I am starting to believe ongoing data I’m hearing about her and why she really dropped the charges like fear of a mission failure. I’m curious why reporters didn’t check her out before jumping on a story that could ruin someone due to the “sex” implication. I’ve heard from sources it wasn’t her first attempt and her boy toy needs $$s. Then there is a how to book suggesting doing something wild to get attention from a man or BRING YOUR PUP! Maybe that’s why she never asked him to leave according to her attorney on a local radio program. hmmmmmmmmmm
November 17th, 2006 at 9:03 pm
A moment of careful consideration if you will, Tallie and Digger. Canella (Beldon’s attorney) is in the league of such high priced lawyers like Barry Cohen. No doubt the very first action he took when he got the call from Beldon was to run an extremely comprehensive back ground check on the girl. If he found anything worse than a parking or speeding ticket it would have been in all the newspapers and news casts. These men have a great deal of power and would have destroyed her if they had ANY ammunition.
More importantly she NEVER went to the media. So the 15 min of fame theory holds no truth. In fact, the only interview she did was with Matthew Schwartz (watch it) THE SAME DAY Beldon went public with his apology. Why? To say thank you and to forgive even though it was blatantly obvious he and Preston Trigg would have not only continued to deny the encounter but, in an attempt to keep their own jobs, painted her as a whore.
Which brings me to the archaic attitude that a woman alone in a bar is “asking for” such advances. Not that it matters but this girl was having dinner with her boyfriend and step father. The men had to leave before she was finished eating. God help us if a woman has to tuck tail and run when her “man” is not around to protect her.
Now, should she have asked him to leave? Yes, but the bar tender and Preston Trigg tried to pry him away and maybe, just maybe, she was trying to help the guy save face by not embarassing him with an obvious rejection. Either way why did he not leave when the men around him were telling him to walk away? Oh that’s right, he had two more cards to play..his very public career and a kiss.
Now to the issue of Babar at the bar. First of all she was outside, where as Daniel Ruth pointed out in Tampa Tribune article, is now a legal place to dine with your pet. Secondly, the three girls he felt up just a few minutes later were without a canine and yet he was equally as agressive with them (watch the tape). So other than the fact that Babar did not bite Beldon, does it really matter that the pooch was in attendance? Considering how she has been treated, I don’t blame her for hanging out with Babar.
Finally, money, “the root of all evil” theory. Could she have filed a civil suit? Absolutley! Ask any arbitrator worth their salt and they will tell you this case would have settled out of court and she would have walked away with some change. The fact both Beldon and Trigg lied to the St Pete Times before they knew there was a video is indicative that they knew he was, at the very least, way out of line. Given these circumstances, I wonder how many of you would have REALLY let the opportunity to punish Beldon financially, pass you by? She did.
I doubt I have changed your mind but perhaps I’ve opened it a little to the seemingly possible thought that she went through all of this out of principle. In a perfect world Belden will see this as one of the worst events in his life AND one of the best. If alcohol is as big a problem as it appears imagine how much happier and healthier he will be if he beats the addiction?