THE BILL IS IN THE MAIL….

The Future’s Is out…http://www.bytheseafuture.org/and seems they received a bill from the Town for Attorney services…amounting to $327.59 for public records requests…

Well…I got one too!…which I paid…after getting a copy of the actual Attorney invoice to see if the charges were the same…making sure there was no extra revenue for the Town…..

At today’s continuation commission meeting…right before heading out the door for the holidays…….the Vice Mayor asked the Town Attorney…about this …charging for the request…after once again using his seat and the airwaves from the dais to throw out blatant lies…about the public records requests made by this writer…and perhaps others…

The Attorney spoke of other municipalities who charge only if the request takes longer than 15 minutes…along with copying costs…adding we could adopt such a policy….

A big thank you to Commissioner Dodd ….

For providing this writer a chance also on the airwaves and in the public record to respond with the actual interactions with the Town…which included only 7 public records requests…beginning in Sept. 2008 through Nov 2008…and a list of other e-mails from Jan. 08…. which were on topics such as the … first commission debate/ sidewalk and landscaping correspondence for my home on Washingtonia / the Scenic Highway meetings/ Master Plan Steering information on recycling offered  or T. V. coverage/the Jewish Holiday…informing the Town of the pavilion grant review coming in front of Broward County/information asked for on mobi-mats for boardwalk use/ VFD documents/ comprehensive plan document…. after receiving a postcard from Broward …to get onefrom the Town/ follow-ups/ pickup verification and thanks you/ directive for no VFD in our homes in  the event of a  medical response 911 call/ and the correspondence below on the Attorney invoiced bill from the Town….

I finished my time at the podium by saying  I would gladly pay for any information I request….to get that information…

Commissioner Dodd had it exactly right when he countered the Vice Mayor.after I sat down……on what is really going on here…the real objective …taking action to “Shut down access” to information to the public…….WOW!…

Remember “Folks”…

This is the same Vice Mayor that kept us from addressing the dais by name for months…

The same Vice Mayor that stretches the truth…leaving out the “devils in the details” on his own ethics findings…

The same Vice Mayor that delays all inquiries into the VFD hierarchy….

It has been said…He has been heard on the radio and in public calling the shots while the VFD is Chief standing by…mute…

It has been said….He has badmouthed a fellow Commissioner at a VFD meeting…with the Chief joining in…highly improper according to their own By-laws…(previously posted VFD-By-Laws….in the VFD category)…

It has been said…He ignored and did not act  with proper VFD conduct at an incident…again not following proper VFD rules of conduct…(previously posted VFD-SOPs…in the VFD category)..

It has been said…he is bypassing the VFD Board of Directors/VFD- Member voting……with appointments of members…termination of members……moving monies …using funds…for ads…etc…

It has been  said …He is driving to locations…and calling in to stop the clock…skewing the real VFD arrival time…

It is said….He is the de-facto Chief…and the VFD “troops” are falling for what many of us have experienced in the past…”divide and conquer”….”us against them”…to keep it all in place…at least for 1 more day….always one more day….

After all was said and done…for now…the Vice Mayor withdrew his motion!….(Merry Christmas?)

From one faithful reader…after the meeing….in regards to the Attorney fees …charged and paid….something this writer did not ponder fast enough…HMMM…

That I and anyone else in receipt of such charges…should have been given the choice…informed upfront….ofan additional charge for our requests…rather than a “Gotcha” bill…that certainly makes it look as if once again the Manager…and the Vice Mayor are in “cahoots” to silence their critics and thwart the public’s right for freedom of information…. in Mc-LBTS….

THE INVOICE CORRESPONDENCE…

12/17/08

Dear Mr Abbott, I am in receipt of a bill received today from Clerk White …for Attorney fees for service rendered
1- 10/31/08 for 0.40 hr. = $81.90
2- 10/31/08 for 0.40 hr .=$81.90
total amount due = $163.80
I am more than happy to pay for your services and would like to verify that these were the correct service hours spent to answer the public records request made that day.
I look forward to your response and will send the payment along with your verification. Thank you and regards, Barbara Cole

12/17/08

Ms. Cole:

I do not have the invoice here in my office.  I could probably retrieve a copy
of it from our Coral Gables office.  Perhaps it would be easier for you to
review the time entry on the actual invoice received by LBTS? Please let me
know.  For what it's worth, the time entries seem roughly accurate to me.
12/17/08
Thank you very much. I am sending this reply to June and maybe she can
e-mail or send a copy of the invoice received by the Town.
Can you
tell me, is this a common practice done in our Town and other
municipalities for residents with inquires from the Town Attorney
beyond paying the Town for copy costs?
I will of course pay you for your time to respond, if that too is a charge to the residents. Regards, Barbara Cole
12/18/08
I have received a copy of the Weiss, Serota invoice via fax...per Town
Clerk... I will bring in to town today.Thank you both, Barbara Cole
12/18/08

Ms. Cole:

I’m afraid I don’t know what the “common practice” is in charging for public records requests that require supervisory assistance to respond to.  As for the authority to assess such a charge, I would refer you to Fla. Stat. s. 119.07(4)(d) and Highland County v. Colby, 976 So.2d 31 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008).  Please let me know if you would like for me to provide you with copies of these materials.

–Dan

12/18/08

Thanks, but I will try it on my own first…appreciate your reply, Regards, Barbara

12/18/08….brought my check in…and handed it to Clerk White….

more to come….

Tags: LBTS Agendas/Meetings, public information, Scoops, VFD
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Dear Readers…some answers to your questions…

The Mayor…why no outrage from this writer…why did I implore her to not answer the Vice mayor when he was deep into his “investigative dais interrogation”?…

I don’t know what the Mayor did…and the little I do know leaves me with questions…of course …but to take the leap that she did anything “criminal”…just can’t jump on the Mc-trumped up charges bandwagon so fast……..in fact being too quick to jump onto the McIntee past gonna blow this town wide open “Big Scoops”…..that always….. always…petered out…to nothing….except riling up his posse…taught me never…never again…

First…. she does not have the Jerry McIntee “Teflon” history…so she gets a pass ….on this front…

Second…the little I know about the Mayor’s backers…Republican politicians…and Terry Arthur they are astute politically savvy people…who would know if something was illegal or not….

Third…it was the reaction of the Mayor…herself…she did not appear to be afraid of the McIntee/Silverstone…attacks….she sat back…let them “rip”…offered up a few answers… but what really stood out to this audience member ….was one line…she said as she sat forward…just because something has not been done “historically” does that make it wrong?…

BCbythesea…..Is it done in other towns?….

Fourth…The Town Manager…was emphatic when she talked of how it was always done before….and asked in her usual manner…if this was something the Commission wanted to change …she needed to know…no accusations of a crime…

Fifth…What was up with our Town Attorney…is his new seat assignment at the end…becoming more of a problem…with him sleeping on the job?…. Being no fan of the previous counsel…Cherof…I have no doubt he would have stopped the McIntee inquisition…which was totally out of line…especially coming from the man with the most answers required for nefarious acts…on the dais….using this “present” to deflect the Sentinel investigation..and Tallahassee taking yet another look at his ongoing questionable actions…

Sixth…How come the “2 hat” pals were totally in sync on this…SUNSHIINE? …perhaps…since the other Commissioners were obviously in the dark….more answers required on this one…for sure…telephone and e-mail requests someone?…….

Seventh…What is the proper protocol on any such inquiry…from the Manager..to a Commissioner…before a time wasting “Gotcha” on the dais?….The look in the audience at this past 11 pm late hour…was similar to the look when the Mc-wife took to the podium to speak…against her husband’s fellow dais members…and the Vice Mayor’s…Commissioner VFD comments…a collective ….glazed over …”not again” discomfort….

Eighth…Halloween…4th of July…Easter ….donations…that were not put in a bank account…who had those checks…who held them…who were those checks made out to…when were they handed over…and who was reimbursed from those events…before or after the Town Manager got the invoices…and finalized the event expenditures?…

Ninth…The Mayor and the Manager said from the start …the invoices were brought in…and the Mayor said she would produce all that was asked for…but this writer still wants to know …if the Manager..gave the info to the Vice Mayor and his pal…keeping it from the other 2?….

Tenth… I shook my head…because…no one should answer questions …on the dais…in that manner without counsel…and the audience had enough!….

All around the town…on the streets…in the condo….the number 1 question…is “How long is McIntee still up there?”…and a quick look of disappointment…with the response…”Until March 2010.”….

He cannot win next time out…not from Sea Ranch Club…not from the north end….and probably no longer in the south….definitely…not for Commissioner…most probably not for Mayor….he’s a 1 term dais member…no doubt…

So expect him to hold on tight to the VFD…the idea of a Referendum…to make his hold on it the last chance he has to keep him front and center…in the town…

His pal…the response on that is also universal…”Silverstone is harmless…without McIntee”…”He used to be a good guy”…”He used to be friendly with everyone”…”What’s McIntee hold over his head?”…and finally….”He will go down with McIntee…next time around.”….

BCbythesea…hears the Sentinel is still collecting info on the VFD…and is also being thwarted on getting public information requests…from the VFD…AMR… and the Town…

Add to this…the Talahhassee files must be growing thicker…with more info going down their way….question is …will the Ethics Commission…finally have enough of McIntee and Silverstone…and put the hammer down?…

It is said that a certain Ethics Commission member was put in a very uncomfortable position by the Vice Mayor in the last go- round…last summer…(previous post)…when he was unable to respond to the Vice Mayor’s assertions…due to the rules …of no additional information being allowed at the hearing…Is this guy …waiting to have his say…and join with those on the Ethics Commission who gave the “pals” a pass…with a stern warning of “go forth” and do not do these acts again.?…

In a 3fer…it is also going around that the Florida Attorney General has been informed of the VFD goings- on…and the lack of responding to public information requests…

All this in the VFD’s 1st 43 days on the job….WOW!..

Shrinking audience…….seems the Mc-CIC is shrinking in its stalwart members..of those in the circle around the inner …M & F’s circle……..with the response to this writer…by phone…e-mail and on the streets of this Town….the “slap” site was a screwup…the VFD resignation letter was an eye-opener…and the dais….diatribes…they are sick of it …and following those of us….who took the rose-colored blinders off…to breathe fresh air again…

Guess this is going to be the fastest demise of a Mc-movement..in LBTS history…as they continue to self destruct and implode….carrying out their hair-brained…acts…

more to ome….

Tags: cic, Civic Organizations, ethic commission, investigations, Local News, Local Politics, News, public information, Scoops, VFD
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