Just got off the phone with Charles Wood, the senior vice president for economic development for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.
On April 28, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Wood received a phone call from Councilman Sam Hall. Hall did the call over a speakerphone. We know based on Commissioner Gene Valentino’s appointment calendar that Hall and the commissioner were meeting at the time of the phone call.
Both Hall and Valentino are on the Pensacola-Escambia Development Commission together, as vice-chair and chair.
“Councilman Hall called me to set up a PEDC meeting as soon as possible,” says Wood. “He also asked if there was some common ground between Commissioner Valentino and the Chamber’s economic development plans.”
Wood does not know if Valentino was in the room. If he was, this appears to be a Sunshine Law violation.
It’s now up to the State Attorney’s office to investigate and decide what to do next.