Will Reynolds of NorthEscambia.com reports this morning about how Century Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. and city staff refused to fulfill his repeated requests for the complete tentative budget before the town council meeting on Tuesday.
The complete budget was unavailable to the public at the 9/3 meeting or on the town’s website.
Reynolds recounts a bizarre confrontation during the meeting:
He asked, “Why was there no copy available to the public before tonight? You’re approving numbers. The public has no idea what you’re approving.”
Century administrative assistant Mallory Walker told the town council that Reynolds didn’t make a public records request. “He did not state it was a public records request. He was provided with a summary.”
Reynold said the email’s subject line we sent Walker was “Budget PRR.”
— PRR is commonly used as shorthand for “Public Records Request.” Something that Reynolds had done dozens of times previously.
Why did this happen?
State Attorney Ginger Madden has emboldened such unlawful behavior by repeatedly failing to charge individuals with breaking the law. She has become too political to do the job.
- Read how the former County IT director, Bart Siders, avoided prosecution for releasing records without Commissioner Jeff Bergosh’s redacting personal data, as mandated by Florida law.
- When asked to investigate how Owens got the files, Siders didn’t report he handed over in a dark corner of the county parking garage – in “Deep Throat” style. (Watergate, not the movie)
- Siders, Janice Gilley’s disciple, was investigating himself.
Commissioner Doug Underhill was not charged when he failed to answer public record requests.
When the Revenge Plot Began for Siders
Bart Siders was in the middle of an earlier public record request in the months before Gilley was fired in June 2021. Read Gilley jumps the shark.
- This involved the 401a plan – which should not be a surprise
- County Attorney Alison Rogers asked the Florida Attorney General’s office if the IP address is a public record and is told it is.
Gilley came to Siders’ defense. She made her own request of the Attorney General.
- Her explanation to the commissioners: “I know that the courts have ruled that a government’s IP address is public record; however, I could not find a specific case in which a government was releasing a private citizen’s IP address to an anonymous requestor.”
Gilley left town for Memorial Day weekend and was fired when she returned.
- Siders later berates the Escambia County Commission for firing Gilley.