Everyone Is Knocking at JTA. But No One is Home.

[Tripoli1711]

Amen Jeffrey!  Go Cards! 

But yes, that is the precise sort of stewardship of the taxpayer dollar that we have come to know and expect.  Let's totally bail on the meeting we should have attended that is a 3 hour car ride away.  Instead, lets all fly to Chicago and stay at the 4 seasons.  Sounds about right.

[Lunican]

Considering the meeting in Chicago is on Monday and they've all left for the weekend, I wouldn't worry about tax dollars being spent on this particular trip.

[coredumped]

"They are apparently leaving a comment on the Federal Railroad Administrations webpage for the workshop."
^^^ what a great line!

Could this article be sent to the TU somehow? Perhaps editorial? This topic needs more exposure

[mtraininjax]

Well Jackie Gibbs just called me back (which was nice, it is after all late afternoon on a Friday..most chiefs of staff have left early for deliberately flimsy reasons in order to avoid all that afternoon traffic).She is checking to see if they have the minutes available in a digital format, and will get back to me monday or tuesday.

so we shall see.

Jackie Gibbs is a nice person, she used to work in the City Purchasing department. She will get back to you, but you are not her priority, so follow-up to help her out.

[stjr]

MetroJax might want to bone up on the State's Public Records Laws regarding making available public documents, etc. 

The City of Jax just paid thousands in settlement for legal fees to Folio writer, Marvin Edwards, when the General Counsel's office, of all people, claimed for over a year not to have what turned out to be boxes and boxes of records on the Super Bowl Host Committee and the stadium's construction details.  The legal fees were for the preparation of a law suit that finally got the City's attention and suddenly produced the "non-existent" records.

So egregious were the violations, that the City revised its entire public records process and the Ethic's Commission gave Edwards a commendation!  Some times you can fight City Hall and win 

From my MJ post at:  http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,4567.0.html#quickreply

From: Jacksonville Financial News and Daily Record:  http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=51980

03/12/2009

Ethics Subcommittee hears complaints on records access

by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer

The City’s Office of General Counsel admitted Wednesday that it “dropped the ball” recently, and should have done a better job in meeting some public records requests from local media.

The City’s Ethics Commission held a Legislative Subcommittee meeting Wednesday to hear complaints about access to public records and give City officials a chance to address these complaints. The subcommittee’s purpose is to evaluate the current city code and determine if changes should be made and present those findings to the full Ethics Commission.

“The document request got bounced around and we made a mistake,” said Cindy Laquidara, chief deputy general counsel, “which is why we settled the case. It should have been responded to faster, the documents should’ve been produced.”

The request Laquidara was referring to was made by Folio Weekly and contributing writer Marvin Edwards, who authored an Oct. 7 article, “Stadium Scam.” The article detailed the alternative news weekly’s attempts to gain access to information on the renovation of the Gator Bowl for the arrival of the Jaguars and the Super Bowl Host Committee.

The article explained that Folio Weekly was prevented access to certain documents until it hired an attorney to assist with the request, which Laquidara referred to when she mentioned the City settled with Folio Weekly.

“This Ethics Committee received a letter from Steve Powell of the General Counsel’s Office,” said Edwards. “One of the things he said was we made a number of false statements. That is equal to accusing us of lying. Everything we write, we have documented. We didn’t appreciate the comment made by Mr. Powell.”

The letter Edwards referred to was written after the Ethics Commission requested that the OGC respond to the accusations made in the Oct. 7 article and Powell sent that letter to then Ethics Commission Chair Jay Williams.

Powell explained in the letter, “...neither the (Ethics) Commission nor the public should be left with any doubt as to the City of Jacksonville’s commitment to comply with the law. The City and the Office of General Counsel are committed to full, transparent compliance with the Florida Public Records Law and would not knowingly conceal any non-exempt, non-confidential records or deny any member of the public access to them.”

Powell further stated, “(The Folio Weekly) article overstates what was requested initially and makes it appear that the City concealed records. Moreover, it inaccurately relates the City’s efforts to otherwise respond to the requests. To the contrary, the City’s response to all of the requests in question were prompt and in good faith.”

Powell was one of five attorneys from the OGC to be involved with the public records requests made by Folio Weekly, and, according to Laquidara, that was four too many.

“If you look at our response, we had too many attorneys involved. “That’s something in the ultimate recommendation that I’m going to take away from this is that we have to have a point person and maybe one or two people supporting them to handle these requests.”

The OGC doesn’t handle all public records requests. They handle requests from its office and questions about exemptions from other City agencies, but each agency is responsible for their own records requests. Laquidara is also trying to help process the requests better.

“I’ve developed a form response letter that I try to get out to the agencies to use,” said Laquidara. “It has a checklist on it to make sure you have covered everything. The request is also attached to this list, so we have procedures in place for records requests.”

Some of the subcommittee members weren’t pleased with the access that was provided to Folio Weekly and other media outlets.

“Looking at this, we can all agree that we should have done a better job,” said subcommittee member Scott Shine.

“We need to make sure the spirit of Chapter 119 (Florida’s Public Records Law) is complied with,” said Committee member Pat Sher.

One way the City could improve its public records access might be to update its records keeping system.

“We have a very old system for filing documents,” said Laquidara. “It’s not a scan and store system, so it is hard to find older documents sometimes.”

Something the subcommittee hopes isn’t too hard to find is its identity.

“Would you describe the Ethics Commission as an investigative body?” asked Shine.

“I would say you are more of a deliberative body and at times you investigate ethics complaints,” said Laquidara. “I wouldn’t say you are solely investigative.”

The discussion exceeded the two hours allotted for the meeting, so the subcommittee will continue the discussion at its April 8 meeting.

“I’d like to talk about what our jurisdiction currently is and what we can do as a commission,” said Braxton Gillam, chair of the subcommittee. “And have an open discussion about what kind of suggestions we might want to make to change things if we don’t already have jurisdictional power.”

And here is an update from just last week:

05/28/2009

by Joe Wilhelm Jr.

Staff Writer

....The commission also recognized Folio Weekly contributing writer Marvin Edwards with a letter of appreciation for his contributions to the Ethics Commission’s recent investigation of complaints from citizens about public records requests. Edwards wrote an article for Folio Weekly titled “Stadium Scam,” which detailed the multi-year effort it took to get public record requests completed regarding documents related to the renovations to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium prior to the Jacksonville Jaguars moving in.


Ethics Commission Chair Gene Filbert reads a letter on Tuesday from the Commission thanking reporter Marvin Edwards (left) for his contributions to the Commission’s investigation of citizen complaints regarding access to public records.

From: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=52458#

[ralpho37]

This is horrendous!  I have such a deep love for this city but I am horrified at the incompetence, apathy, and downright corruption with which this city is governed.  We have got to get this story into the hands of the media so the citizens of this city can see what we are paying these "officials" to do.

[TheProfessor]

JTA needs at least one Urban Planner on the board for goodness sake!!!  Politics are a sad cry from smart business.

[Hurricane]

Are the board members working on a volunteer basis, or do they get paid?  

If they get paid, there should be a much greater level of ambition and accountability for the members.  

If it is only volunteer based, I could possibly understand how the board members seem to put the full time job as the top priority.  When that is the case, they should resign and give the position to someone who cares and wants to make a difference for the communtiy - and not someone who is just looking to have something special on their resume.  

[copperfiend]

This is horrendous!  I have such a deep love for this city but I am horrified at the incompetence, apathy, and downright corruption with which this city is governed.

It seems like this is always the case.

[thelakelander]

UPDATED....Here is the list of workshops:

High speed rail and intercity passenger rail workshops, regarding the federal stimulus money:

• Wednesday: Charlotte, NC

• Thursday: Orlando

• May 27: Seattle

• May 28: Sacramento

• May 29: Houston

• June 1: Chicago

• June 2: Philadelphia



What's the chance that we'll be sending a Jax delegation to Chicago or Philly to make up for the regional meetings we missed in Charlotte and Orlando?

Lets go ahead and read that snowball his last rites.

[copperfiend]

Lakelander, let me get this straight. They are holding a passenger rail workshop in Philadelphia, the center of the Northeast Corridor. The most heavily traveled passenger rail corridor in the country and they won't be discussing Jacksonville. Are you serious???

[thelakelander]

^Jax's delegation should have been at either the Charlotte or Orlando meetings.  If serious about lobbying for a piece of the pie, we should have been at both.  After all, what comes out of the lego sessions and visioning studies will still need money to be implemented.  Unfortunately, if Jax isn't at any money related meetings to promote their own cause, there will be no discussion about the First Coast being a part of the plans and it will be more difficult to fight for funding.  Instead, the municipalities who were present will make their case for all the money to flow to their regions and we'll just fall further behind.

[Ocklawaha]

Lakelander, let me get this straight. They are holding a passenger rail workshop in Philadelphia, the center of the Northeast Corridor. The most heavily traveled passenger rail corridor in the country and shirley they won't be discussing Jacksonville. Are you serious???

Yes we are serious, (and don't call me Shirley). The same Northeast Corridor AMTRAK has announced will be expanded to J A C K S O N V I L L E !

Ocklawaha

[copperfiend]

^Jax's delegation should have been at either the Charlotte or Orlando meetings.  If serious about lobbying for a piece of the pie, we should have been at both.  After all, what comes out of the lego sessions and visioning studies will still need money to be implemented.  Unfortunately, if Jax isn't at any money related meetings to promote their own cause, there will be no discussion about the First Coast being a part of the plans and it will be more difficult to fight for funding.  Instead, the municipalities who were present will make their case for all the money to flow to their regions and we'll just fall further behind.

The Orlando thing is ridiculous.

[ralpho37]

^Definitely ridiculous...  While Amtrak is serious about extending high speed service into Florida, our city government's apathy will lead Jacksonville into being nothing more than a quick stop along the way to Disney.  We need to grab this thing by the horns like every other city in Florida is doing.

By the way, I e-mailed this story to the Times-Union, so maybe they'll take some notice.