This Page Was Never Intended To Be About Me

My name is Anna Marie and this page was never intended to be about me. It was created to amplify the people of Tallahassee. People who have gone before the City commission week after week only to have their voices fall on deaf ears. This page will continue to amplify your voices and bring information to you.

About Me

I do want to take a moment to introduce myself so that you can know more about me. I was born and raised in Tallahassee but it wasn’t until I became a Paramedic that I fell in love with the community and people. You helped to shape me into the person I am today. It is and honor and a privilege to have been a part of your most vulnerable moments. After having experienced so many of your life experiences, I will always carry a part of you with me.

Public Trust

It is because of your trust in me, that I was able to provide you with the best patient care. Your trust taught me the importance of public trust and the value of it in the community. You are the reason for my convictions about local government transparency and accountability. And I take your trust as a great responsibility worthy of protection. I feel that it would be negligent of me to not address recent events in our community involving Mr. Riley and Officer Oliver.

Public Servants And Intent

I will always point my audience back to looking at impact over a person’s intent. This is a perfect example of why we look at impact. I have seen arguments for days about what her intent was, however her intent is ultimately meaningless. She is the only one who truly knows her intent and the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Which is why we focus on what the impact is.

The Impact

Officer Oliver opened a sealed bottle of alcohol and tossed it into the floorboard of the car. The impact of her actions creates a greater divide in the public trust that is harmful to our community as well as all first responders. I want to be clear that this is not the fault of a media outlet bringing attention to an ongoing mistrust of law enforcement.

While Officer Oliver is responsible for her actions, the true responsibility lies solely on the Leadership of the city commission, city manager, and Chief. Leadership dictates what is acceptable, condemnable, or even encouraged. A young, eager Officer should be molded into a trustworthy public servant and that is the responsibility of the leadership.

The Chief should look at his department and the culture within his department before criticizing the media. The public distrust lies solely on the actions of the leaders in a department that protects their own over the interest of people. Unfortunately these actions that make even the best, most genuine officers look bad. And for that we should all be outraged at the leadership of Tallahassee.

In my personal opinion, my patient care and my relationship with my patients is the fruit of my actions. Had I made a mistake or had a media outlet attempted to “misconstrue” my patient care, I know I would have had the community come to my defense of my character. I believe even the most cynical edit of Good Public servant would have no standing. That is the result of good fruit.

We Are Better Together

We are better together. This applies to first responders and the community. When we work with the community and for the betterment of each other we are unstoppable. Our community, law enforcement, teachers, Paramedics, and our firefighters are all better when we are all working together. That means identifying toxic behaviors in our leadership and questioning those in power positions while striving to make people’s lives better then before they met us.

Like I said in the beginning, this page is meant to amplify your voices and provide a safe place for your stories and experiences to be told. We allow open conversations where everyone has a seat at the table as long as we respect one another.

This page and platform is what it is because of all the support you have given us. It is your likes, shares, engagement that has amplified the voices of so many people. It is because of you that several people have stepped up to teach me web design, video editing, and so much more. This information about me is intended to shed some light on who is behind the page and I am excited to continue this journey with you as we continue to grow as a community and better Tallahassee.

“Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.”

-Anthony J. D’Angelo