Daily Outtakes: Comments raise Sunshine Law questions

Has backroom dealing become Escambia County’s new preferred governance style?

Whispers of possible violations of Florida’s Sunshine Law have been heard in McGuire’s Irish Politicians Club and private clubs like The Establishment, Harry Roy’s and the Pensacola Yacht Club. Too many Escambia County Commission votes, particularly surrounding the Chappie James Monument and TDC, appear to have a backroom element.

The recent News Journal article about County Commission Chairman Mike Kohler privately meeting with County Clerk Pam Childers over Kohler backing Childers’ effort to make former Commissioner Jeff Bergosh pay legal fees for a lost lawsuit had a telling sentence:

“With the addition of newly elected commissioners Steve Stroberger and Ashlee Hofberger, Kohler said he may have the board votes needed to pursue legal fees from Bergosh.”

What did Kohler actually say? We don’t know because only the PNJ was invited to the meeting.

ANOTHER POSSIBLE CLUE

At last week’s board meeting of the Santa Rosa Island Authority, Board member Bruce Childers said that he had two votes to get $15 million for beach renourishment:

“Why are we dealing with TDC? They’re just an advisory board. They don’t carry any weight at all. I agree with you. Seriously, that was a reason I wanted to go to the county commissioners about this beach renourishment. Forget about the TDC and they’re the ones that are going to vote on this. The TDC ain’t vote for anything.”

He added, “We got Steve (Stroberger), we got Mike (Kohler), you got Ashley (Hofberger), we got three votes right there. You got Lumon (May), and hopefully, you got Steve(n) (Barry).”

We know the “you” was directed to SRIA Executive Director Mike Burns. But who is the “we” that Bruce mentions? He and Pam?

How does Pam’s husband, Bruce, know that he has these votes? Has he talked to them individually or together? Even if he met with them individually, did he tell each whose votes he had in his pocket?

WHY THIS MATTERS

For nearly two years, the once-daily newspaper and Pam pushed the state attorney’s office to investigate Bergosh and businessman David Bear for alleged Sunshine Law violations. The allegations stemmed from text messages exchanged between Bergosh and Bear regarding county business.

The News Journal and Pam received the text messages from former County Commissioner Doug Underhill’s aide, Jonathan Owens. Owens said the records—60,000 text messages and 1,600 photographs from Commissioner Bergosh’s personal phone messages—mysteriously appeared on his desk.

“I said a thumb drive showed up in my office when I was still working at the county, and lo and behold, it had all Commissioner Bergosh’s text messages on it.” – Owens

Instead of reporting it to the county administrator or attorney, Owens kept the documents and gave them to attorneys suing the county – more than a year later.

An Escambia County grand jury investigated the allegations against Bergosh and Bear and found no evidence that a crime had been committed.

Last summer, we learned that the county’s IT director, Bart Sider, had given the records to Owens. The state attorney gave Siders immunity to receive the testimony. Owens faces state ethics charges.

CURRENT CONUNDRUM

Why aren’t Pam and the PNJ investigating Kohler, Stroberger, and Bruce’s communications?

Too many discussions out of the sunshine with only a PNJ reporter at the table. But what is really happening behind closed doors, and why have WEAR-TV, Inweekly, NorthEscambia.com and WUWF been excluded?

The same players who cried foul over Bergosh appear comfortable with private meetings and pre-arranged votes when it serves their interests. The public deserves better.

Note: No records were stolen from the county’s servers to write this post. The PNJ article is on their website, and the SRIA board meeting audio can be found on the SRIA website.

3 thoughts on “Daily Outtakes: Comments raise Sunshine Law questions”

Que The Twilight Zone theme music ? ? :

“Imagine if you will, a county, a county government in Florida, so corrupt. — an aide, AKA secretary, and his a sitting commissioner both actually schemed together to get elected to the same board and now thinks everyone is so stupid that they don’t notice that they are still playing the same game and are skirting the law, in plain site.

While the clerk and newspaper play along..

We are entering…the Twilight Zone.

(It’s a Meme)

SRIA board member Bruce Childers is quoted above saying of the county’s Tourism Development Council (TDC), “They don’t carry any weight at all.” Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes, describes the function of a TDC. State law requires the TDC to prepare and submit to the BCC “a plan for tourism development.” Very importantly, the TDC has a state law oversight role, “The council shall continuously review expenditures of revenues from the tourist development trust fund and shall receive, at least quarterly, expenditure reports from the county governing board or its designee. Expenditures which the council believes to be unauthorized shall be reported to the county governing board and the Department of Revenue. The governing board and the department shall review the findings of the council and take appropriate administrative or judicial action to ensure compliance with this section.” Looks to me as if the role of the TDC is very important protecting the public interest with respect to the “lawful” expenditure of tourism development taxes is very important. The Florida Attorney General’s website lists 24 Advisory Opinions related to the phrase “tourism development council.” There may be others not posted online. If the BCC actually thinks that the TDC doesn’t matter, it should ask the Florida AG for an opinion.
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0125/Sections/0125.0104.html

So who else was on the out-of-Sunshine phone call with Ashlee Hofberger that was openly discussed publicly at the last BCC meeting?

The one that an interim director for a local company angling for the jump on some grant money unwisely let out of the bag–seemingly out of frustration that Kohler wouldn’t just slap it on the menu as a result of the public forum podium ask. (One might have been forgiven for thinking that the forum speaker was confidant such a legislative oddity was already lined up to transpire).

Hofberger, to her newbie credit, got it in there as something of a side note afterwards that she was on the call just to listen, but apparently believes whatever goobledeegook legal she’s being fed about that being just fine, as she seemed very confident of it and not at all concerned. (Of course, although that may thread some legal needles, the blackout period blew that shaky cover out of the water–man, these people are going to blow her up yet.)

Commissioner May wasn’t even aware the call had happened–about a project in his district. (Huh.) Kohler stated he wasn’t on it.

Stroberger didn’t say a word, through Kohler sweating bullets to get rid of the conversation and move on. So we never really did hear who the “several”were that the interim director indicated.

This is all shaping up to be a really good example of how a contact high and being high on your own supply can sometimes combine to pretty interesting effect.

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Daily Outtakes: Comments raise Sunshine Law questions

Has backroom dealing become Escambia County’s new preferred governance style?

ANOTHER POSSIBLE CLUE

WHY THIS MATTERS

CURRENT CONUNDRUM

The same players who cried foul over Bergosh appear comfortable with private meetings and pre-arranged votes when it serves their interests. The public deserves better.

3 thoughts on “Daily Outtakes: Comments raise Sunshine Law questions”

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*Has backroom dealing become Escambia County’s new preferred governance style?*

ANOTHER POSSIBLE CLUE

WHY THIS MATTERS

CURRENT CONUNDRUM

The same players who cried foul over Bergosh appear comfortable with private meetings and pre-arranged votes when it serves their interests. The public deserves better.

3 thoughts on “Daily Outtakes: Comments raise Sunshine Law questions”

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Walker Holmes Books

Inweekly Newsletter

Has backroom dealing become Escambia County’s new preferred governance style?