Quantcast
Channel: Florida Society of News Editors » Florida public records violation
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 4

Two city officials charged with non-criminal public-records violations

0
0
Jul. 3, 2013   |  PNJ.com
Written by Nate Monroe
New City of Pensacola Administrator Bill Reynolds talks about his role in city government during an interview with a Pensacola News Journal reporter / Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

New City of Pensacola Administrator Bill Reynolds talks about his role in city government during an interview with a Pensacola News Journal reporter / Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

 

Triggering a political maelstrom for Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward, State Attorney Bill Eddins announced Tuesday that City Administrator Bill Reynolds and press secretary Derek Cosson are charged with non-criminal public-records violations.

In an additional twist that did not result in charges, Eddins’ report says Reynolds inappropriately passed sensitive documents to former City Council member Maren DeWeese during an encounter at the World of Beer in downtown Pensacola.

Eddins’ months-long investigation concluded that there are systemic inadequacies in how City Hall has treated public-records requests under Hayward’s tenure and reforms must be instituted.

“During the course of this investigation, we have interviewed numerous witnesses, reviewed emails and other documents and researched the applicable law,” the report says. “Based on our investigation, we have determined that the city has failed to adequately or timely respond to public records requests.”

Hayward, who is out of town through the holiday weekend, said Tuesday he is “extremely disappointed” with the report’s finding and promised major improvements.

He said he has not yet decided what will happen to Cosson and Reynolds.

“I take these charges incredibly seriously,” he said. “I’m not going to make a knee-jerk reaction while I’m traveling.”

He said the city is in the process of rewriting its public-records policy, has purchased new software that will help track and expedite requests, and has reached out to attorney Barbara A. Petersen, president of the Florida First Amendment Foundation, to provide employee training.

Cosson and Reynolds declined comment. They are scheduled for arraignment July 23.

The charges are the mildest that can be lodged under the state public records law.

Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille characterized a non-criminal public records violation as akin to a traffic ticket.

If the evidence shows willful and knowing violation of the law, a criminal misdemeanor charge generally is filed. If, as the state attorney believes occurred in this case, there is no proof of intent to violate the law, a non-criminal violation is filed.

Reynolds and Cosson can either plead no contest at the July 23 hearing or seek a hearing before the judge.

The judge can impose a fine of up to $500 if he or she finds a violation occurred.

Employee complaint

The political fallout from Tuesday’s revelations extend beyond the two charges.

It also sheds light on the cloak-and-dagger world of City Hall politics that has festered for more than a year, where some Hayward staffers and City Council members have worked in a world of constant suspicion and have waged both quiet and public battles against one another.

On March 3, according to Eddins’ report, a city employee sent an email to the city’s human resources department “raising employment issues.”

On March 4, a copy of the email was sent to City Attorney Jim Messer and Reynolds.

During a March 5 encounter at World of Beer, Reynolds provided DeWeese, a former City Council member who has filed to run for mayor next year, with the email and the employee’s response. She had never requested the information.

The next day, DeWeese detailed the email on her blog, which has often been a clearinghouse of criticism of Hayward and his political allies, and later posted redacted copies.

Her posting showed that a female city employee made a complaint against John Asmar, Hayward’s former chief of staff, saying she was uncomfortable because of Asmar’s dating relationship with another female employee at City Hall.

On March 7, the complaining employee formally requested the city consider her email as confidential, triggering a statutory requirement that city officials treat it as such.

The State Attorney’s Office determined that the document did not become confidential under the law until the employee made that request.

It characterized Reynolds’ handing over of the document as “inappropriate” but said it “does not constitute a crime.”

DeWeese had long been at odds with Asmar, as well as Hayward. She filed a suit against Hayward over a budget issue; that suit is still pending.

Reynolds and Asmar also clashed while the two worked together under Hayward.

Asmar left his post in February, saying he wanted to retrun to his law practice, a decision that left Reynolds as Hayward’s undisputed top official.

Asmar declined to comment on Tuesday, saying he wanted to discuss the findings with Hayward.

Reynolds came to Pensacola in 2011, shortly after Hayward took office, with impressive credentials.

He was former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter’s chief of staff and served as a county administrator in Wisconsin and Michigan.

He retired as a Marine lieutenant colonel in 1999 after a career as a military prosecutor and in 2011 retired from the Reserves.

City logos

The non-criminal charges stem from a request by former City Councilwoman Diane Mack on June 28 to see new city logos created by the city’s former marketing firm, The Zimmerman Agency of Tallahassee.

The city planned to unveil the logos in a July 18 ceremony at the Saenger Theatre.

Mack, herself the owner of an ad agency, ran for mayor against Hayward and has remains a frequent critic.

Ericka Burnett, the city clerk, forwarded Mack’s request to Cosson.

“Two minutes later Cosson responded that the city had not yet taken delivery of the requested logos. At the apparent same time, Reynolds also responded that the City had not received the logos,” the state attorney’s report says.

The clerk told Mack the city did not have the logos.

But investigators later discovered that Reynolds had received the new Pensacola International Airport logo in a May 8 email, and Cosson received the new city logo from the ad firm on June 10.

“Based upon the failure of both Reynolds and Cosson to provide the requested information, or to make any effort to locate copies of the logos in the City’s possession, we have determined that it is appropriate to charge them with a non-criminal violation of the public records law,” the report says.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 4

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images