Health director who fought controversial obesity campaign says he was forced to resignComments

LYNN HAVEN - Dr. Jason Newsom cleared his throat and looked at the stack of papers spilling out of a manila envelope on the kitchen table in front of him. He had talked for an hour about obesity in America, and had a mini-library of graphs, charts and journal articles to explain his hard-line stance on eating habits.

Then he delved into the reason he requested the interview: to discuss his resignation as director of the Bay County Health Department on May 8.

"Let's get this straight: I was fired. This talk about resignation, that was all politeness," Newsom said. "If your boss ever puts two pieces of paper in front of you, and one is a resignation letter, and one is a termination letter, and you've got two minutes to decide, you were fired."

The circumstances surrounding Newsom's exit are difficult to pin down, because none of his former superiors would comment. Deputy Secretary for Health Jean Kline, who Newsom said gave him the ultimatum via a conference call, has turned down several interview requests, as has Michael Sentman, her No. 2 who drove to Panama City from Tallahassee for the call.

Newsom, however, agreed to talk in late June after nearly two months of silence. If the timeline he gives of his final days is accurate, it brings into question his bosses' methodology in forcing him out.

Newsom, 38, is now a senior physician at the Northwest Florida Reception Center, a correctional facility in Chipley. The offer to resign was a courtesy, Newsom said, since it looks better to prospective employers than "fired."

It didn't soften the blow, though. Newsom thought this job would be his last. He said he often told co-workers, when talking about his goals, "Don't worry; we've got 30 years to make this happen."

In Newsom's two-plus years on the job, he banned doughnuts and other pastries at meetings, and removed regular sodas and junk food from vending machines, which he restocked with diet sodas and healthier fare, while waging a public relations battle against Gatorade, fried foods and basically anything with sugar. Some employees bristled at these changes and sent e-mails to county commissioners, Department of Health (DOH) officials, even Florida's surgeon general, asking for his removal.

"I had the support of the silent majority," Newsom said. "I had a small handful of people ... that were not going to toe the line."

The public first got a taste of Newsom's philosophies when he posted controversial messages on the electronic sign in front of the Health Department's 11th Street office. ("French Fries = Thunder Thighs" was an example).

Newsom didn't worry about embarrassing overweight people. He quickly pointed to bleak statistics about public health in America.

"Sixty-six percent of Americans are overweight or obese. There's no way you can go out and talk about obesity without the majority of people feeling uncomfortable, because you're talking about them," he said.

Bo Rivard and Michael Duncan, two local attorneys who also are co-owners of the new Dunkin' Donuts in Panama City Beach, met with Newsom on May 6 about messages criticizing Dunkin' Donuts - "America Dies on Dunkin," "Dunkin Diabetes" - that Newsom had run for a few weeks, along with similar signs attacking Kentucky Fried Chicken. Newsom posted the messages in response to ad campaigns by both companies that depicted their products as part of a wholesome family meal.

William Harrison, Rivard's partner, sat in on the meeting. Newsom refused to take down the anti-Dunkin' signs, but acknowledged that his bosses probably would make him take the signs down if they were called.

Harrison called Kline, while Rivard called Commissioner Mike Thomas. Both lawyers threatened to sue. Thomas drafted a letter to Newsom calling for his resignation, while Kline apparently took a more direct approach. She never called him before that final call, Newsom said, and never gave him a chance to explain himself.

Newsom's last evaluation, signed by Kline on March 20, rated him as 4 out of 5 overall, or "exceeds expectations." Newsom said the first hint anyone in Tallahassee had a problem with his tactics came when he was fired.

"I understood that I had to keep the Tallahassee people happy, and ... the county commission. What no one told me was I worked at the will of William Harrison," Newsom said. "That was a surprise."

Harrison said Monday all he wanted was for the messages to be taken down. He never asked for Newsom to be axed.

"That's absurd," he said of the idea that he was responsible for Newsom's departure. "I don't know Jean Kline, or the surgeon general. ... Whatever else is going on between him and his employer, I don't know about that. And I don't want to know."

Newsom was involved in another, less-publicized battle, about septic tanks. According to area builders, the permitting process had become extremely difficult under Newsom and Environmental Health Director Ralph Miller. The county gathered a list of complaints from builders in May 2008 and submitted them to Newsom, in hopes of easing what apparently had become an adversarial relationship between the Health Department and contractors.

It didn't help. The Health Department returned the list with each complaint picked apart by Miller, who still works at the Health Department but did not return calls for this article.

Newsom wanted a county law mandating homeowners get their septic tanks inspected and permitted before completing a sale, and he met with each of the commissioners to pitch the idea. Thomas did not support the law, and Newsom said the commissioner told him he "had been waiting on putting that motion forward to have you removed."

Thomas remembered the phrasing slightly different.

"I told him I'd been fighting that urge," he said Thursday. "This world is a lot of gray. Dr. Newsom was all black and white."

"There's just no way he and I can agree on that," Newsom said of Thomas. "The law is the law. And I happen to think they are good laws. ... We're going to enforce them the same for everybody. I don't care who knows who; everyone is equal under the law. That's what we were doing. And that made Mike Thomas angry."

Newsom doesn't remember anything Kline said to him after she asked for his letter of resignation. He didn't think a lawsuit was a risk and even if it was, looked forward to the possibility of seeing Dunkin' Donuts defend its menu and ad campaign in court.

He called his bosses "shortsighted" for cutting him loose after one threat of a lawsuit and wondered what that means for the next director. The fight against restaurant marketing is one Newsom thinks is integral to public health's mission and may result in lawsuits. That would be the greater good, he said, as it would put the spotlight on the restaurants, forcing them to defend in court the content of the food they sell and their marketing methods.

Fear of litigation is a poor reason to let someone go, Newsom said.

"If that's the rationale of either the County Commission or the Department of Health, they can't do their job," Newsom said. "You might as well stay home. ... If you can't open your mouth and tell the truth to people, you might as well not go to work."