In a comment posted earlier this morning, Melanie Nichols, president of the North Hill Preservation Association, wrote that she had clearance from both her supervisor and the legal department to use her federal email account for community service.
Last month, City Administrator Eric Olson called her boss’s boss to complain that Nichols had sent 350 emails from her federal email account and that the city had problems with her. A review found that after taking out auto-replies, replies to emails from city employees and duplicates Nichols had sent an average of about two emails a month over the last three years.
Nichols wrote that in sending the emails: “…I was performing community service allowed by my employer and cleared by the Legal Department of my Headquarters, and had only sent an average of 2 e-mails per month.”
The homeowners’ association president believes she was target after submitting a public records request (from her home computer/e-mail) regarding a new 400-foot radio tower to be placed in the Long Hollow Storm Water Basin.
“This storm water basin has many acres of area where it could and should be expanded in accordance with the Long Hollow Storm Water Basin Analysis Report, paid for by the taxpayers, in order to meet the State’s minimum containment requirements for our pond and to hopefully prevent future flooding from destroying my neighbors’ homes and businesses,” said Nichols. “The replacement and expansion of the tower is not allowed by our City Council adopted Comprehensive Plan on file with the State of Florida.”
She said, “For daring to speak out on this, I have been viciously targeted.”