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Home My WebLink About1989 05 25 - Meating of GDC and GDUJEFFREY P. AGRON FERNANDO C. ALONSO CESAR L ALVAREZ LINDA C. ANDREWS RUDOLPH F. ARAGON AERRI L BARSH HILARIE BASS ALYSSA M. BAUMGARTEN NORMANJ.BENFORD LISA J. BERGER MARK D.BLOOM LEONARDO F. BRITO FRANCIS B. BROGAN, JR. BURT BRUTON STEVE BULLOCK ROBERT A BURLINGTON ALBERTO R. CARDENAS PH ILLIP J. CARVER RICHARD G. CHERRY SUE M, COBB KENDALL B. COFFEY DIANE M. CONNIFF JEFFREY D. OECARLO OSCAR G. PE LA GUARDIA ALBERT A. P¢ CASTILLO ALAN T. DIMOND LUCIA A. DOUGHERTY CHARLES W EDGAR, 111 SUSAN O. ELSEY HENRY H. (BUCAY) FDA ROBERT J. FRIEDMAN ROBERT C. GANG RICHARD G. GARRETT BRIAN A GART BRUCE H GILES`KLEIN RICHARD ] GUSTO LAWRENCE GOOOFSKY LAW OFFICES GREENS ERG, TRAURIG, HOFFMAN, LIPOFF, ROSEN a OUENTEL, P.A. ALAN S. GOLD STEVEN E. GOLDMAN STEVEN M. GOLDSMITH JOSEPH G. GOLDSTEIN LAWRENCE S, GORDON MATTHEW 8, GORSON DIANNE GREENBERG MELVIN N. GREENBERG ROBERT L. GROSSMAN CARMEN M. HERNANDEZ LISA A. KIRSCH KENNETH C. HOFFMAN LARRYJ.HOFFMAN MARCOS O. JIMENEZ MARTIN KALB LORI E. KILBERG TIMOTHY E. KISH STEVEN J. KRA V ITZ STEVEN A. LANDY ALAN S. LEDERMAN GARY A. LEVINSON NORMAN H. LIPOFF CARLOS E. LOUMIET JUAN P. LOUMIET NANCY LURIA-COHEN BRUCE E. MACDONOUGH ROBERT P, MACINA ANDREW L. MANN PEDRO J. MARTINEZ- FRAGA JOEL O. MASER JUAN J. MAYOL. JR. WILLIAM LEE MCGINNE55 JOHN T METZGER LOWS R. MONTELLO. JR. ALICIA M. MORALES JANET L O BRIEN REBECCA R. GRAND DEBBIE M. ORSHEFSKY STEVAN J. PARDO OLGA E. PARRA MARSHALL R. PASTERNACK BYRON G. PETERSEN ALBERT O. OUENTEL JOEL REINSTEIN MARK J. REISMAN LUIS REITER CONSTANCE M. RIODER ANDRES RIVERO KENNETH B. ROBINSON NICHOLAS ROCKWELL RAOUEL A, RODRIGUEZ ALAN . ROLNICX MARVIN S, ROSEN RICHARD A. ROSENBAUM RONALD M, ROSENGARTEN DAVID L. ROSS ALDEN E. RUDOLPH GARY A. SAUL CLIFFORD A. SCHULMAN MARLENE A. SILVERMAN STUART H. SINGER HOLLY R. SKOLNICK DAVID R. SOFTNESS LAURA P. STEPHENSON DAVID J. TANEY LAURA M. THOMAS OSVALDO F. TORRES ROBERT H. TRAURIG JERROLD A. WISH ROBERT M. WOLF TIMOTHY O. WOLFE SHEILA WOLFSON ADAM S. ZIPPER ZACHARY K. WOLFF (RETIRED) May 12, 1989 VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS Mr. G. Wayne Allgire City Manager 121 S.W. Port St. Lucie Boulevard Port St. Lucie, Florida 34984 MIAMI OFFICE 1221 BRICAELL AVENUE MIAMI, FLORIDA 33131 TELEPHONES MIAMI (305) 579.0500 B RO WARO (3051523-6111 TELEX BO -3124 TELECOPY (305) 579 -0717 WEST PALM BEACH OFFICE 100 AUSTRALIAN AVENUE • SUITE 201 WEST PALM BEACH. FLORIDA 33106 (AOT) 683 -6611 TELECOPY 1407) 503.8447 BROWARD OFFICE 500 EAST SROWARO BOULEVARD • SUITE 1]50 FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA 33304 (305) 785.0500 TELECDPY 13051165 1477 WRITER 5 DIRECT NO: 579-0613 PLEASE REPLY TO: MIAMI OFFICE RECEIVED f""LY 1 5 1909 Re: Meeting of General Development Corporation ("GDC") and General Development Utilities ("GDU") Commun- ities in Port St. Lucie -- May 25 and 26, 1989 Dear Mr. Allgire: It has come to o staff are planning a governmental officials GDC and GDU matters communities, to be hel It has been reported th shared at the meetings will: ur attention that you o meeting of a number of from a number of comm of allegedly common d on May 25th and 26th at the information about ". be translated into the needed to make key decisions." James W. Pierce, City of North Port Times, August 15, 1989. r members elected unities t o concern in Port GDC an of your and other discuss to these St. Lucie. d GDU to be information City Manager Port, North ,16w� Mr. G. Wayne Allgire May 12, 1989 Page 2 ". . : suggest[ing] possible solutions and approaches, and staging, planning and other thoughts of mutual interest [which] will provide fruitful information toward formulating the future of our communi- ties." Walter B. England, P.E., City of Port St. Lucie City Engineer's Letter of March 29, 1989. On behalf of GDC and GDU, enclosed is my admission response and check reserving two (2) seats at the conference for myself and a certified court reporter. Our attendance will be solely for the purpose of observation. We have no intention of disrupt- ing or actively participating with your deliberations. Moreover, we will be happy to make the final transcript available at cost to any participating community. It is also our understanding that you may wish to keep the meeting secret and out of the public's scrutiny by apparently excluding GDC, GDU, and the general public. If this is, in fact, the case, it is somewhat paradoxical that a publicly funded meeting that you perceive as so important to the future of all of the participating communities' future would be surrounded in the veil of secrecy. We believe that this type of meeting falls within both the letter and spirit of the Government in the Sunshine law (Section 286.011, Florida Statutes). Merely attempting to include only one (1) elected official from each community will not suffice to evade that law. As Justice Adkins of the Florida Supreme Court noted: The right of the public to be present and to be heard during all phases of enactments by boards and commissions is a source of strength in our country. During past years tendencies toward secrecy in public affairs have been the subject of extensive criti- cism. Terms such as managed news, secret meetings, closed records, executive ses- sions, and study sessions have become synon- ymous with "hanky panky" in the minds of public-spirited citizens. One purpose of the Sunshine Law was to maintain the faith of the public in governmental agencies. Regardless of their good intentions, these specified boards and commissions, through devious ways, should not be allowed to deprive the public of this inalienable right GREENBERG. TRAU RIG, HOFFMAN. LIPOFF, ROSEN a OUENTEL, F.A. Alo•. Mr. G. Wayne Allgire May 12, 1989 Page 3 to be present and to be heard at all delib- erations wherein decisions affecting the public are being made. (Emphasis supplied). With these thoughts in mind, both the courts and the Attorney General of the State of Florida have ruled and applied the Act to even a single governmental official. See, AGO 074-84; AGO 84-54; AGO 074-294; and American Ambulance v. Board of County Commissioners, 14 Fla. Supp. 2d 165 (20th Cir. Ct. 1985). More- over, in certain instances even non -elected city or county offi- cials or employees have been held subject to the law. For example, the Second District Court of Appeal noted: It would be equally ludicrous to hold that a certain committee is governed by the Sunshine Law when it consists of members of the public who are presumably acting for the public, but hold a committee may escape from the Sunshine Law if it consists of indivi- duals who owe their allegiance to, and receive their salaries from, the governing authority. K \. 1Y• LV ✓VCl iJV4, (Fla..1983). . Carlson, 410 So.2d 546 • Marston, 442 So.2d 934 To date, the substantive issues identified to be discussed at the meetings, according to letters and comments by you and your staff, appear intended to lead to recommended courses of action affecting the future of all of the citizens of these com- munities, as well as GDC and GDU. Why would you want to keep the public out of such important deliberations? What do the various communities have to hide from the. public? We assume that you will not discuss strategies or concerted actions that could deprive GDC and/or GDU of their civil rights protected under both the United States and Florida Constitutions. See 42 U.S.C. Sections 1983 and 1988. However, we are concerned that these inherent protections may be violated. In that regard, we respectfully notify you that such a meeting might well be so construed and we are constrained to place you, those present and all those communities represented at the meetings on notice of that potential violation and request that such discussion not take place. See Hernandez v. City of Lafayette, 643 F.2d 1188, 1200 (5th Cir. 1981); cert. den'd, 455 U.S. 907 (1982). GREENBERG, TRAURIG, HOFFMAN. LIPOFF, ROSEN & OUENTEL, P.A. Mr. G. Wayne Allgire May 12, 1989 Page 4 Moreover, several judicial decisions have construed the federal and Florida Racketeering Statutes (RICO) as potentially applying to governmental entities and officers in situations which may give rise to violations of applicable legislation enumerated within the federal and state RICO statutes. Such a violation may take place depending on the ultimate actions that are taken as a result of, and linked to, the scheduled workshops and meetings. See United States v. Brown, 555 F.2d 407 (5th Cir. 1977); and 18 U.S.C. 1961. We believe that it would clearly be in the best interests of all of the citizens of all of the affected communities to open the meeting to the public and comply with the Sunshine Law if the meetings are to be held at all. We will respectfully request an acknowledgment of our reservation within five (5) days or will assume you will not open the meeting to the light of the Sunshine. We reiterate our request to attend the meeting solely in a capacity as observer and without any intention or desire to interrupt the proceedings you have planned. Thank you for your consideration. Yours ve y( tr ly, Clif Ord A. Schulman CAS:joa Enclosure cc: Hon. Robert Butterworth, Attorney General Mr. Thomas Jenkins, Brevard County Administrator Mr. Thomas W. Frame, Charlotte County Administrator Mr. James E. Chandler, Indian.River County Administrator Mr. Michael Boyle, Director of Public Works Mr. Joseph Cone, Marion County Administrator Mr. Richard Diamond, City of Palm Bay City Manager Mr. R. Daniel Castle, St. Johns County Administrator Mr. Weldon Lewis, St. Lucie County Administrator Mr. Rob McClary, City of Sebastian City Manager GREENBERG, TRAURIG, HOFFMAN, UPOFF, ROSEN a QUENTEL, R A.