A Palmetto Bay first (or worst!). A lawsuit had to be filed to obtain public records. It required a judge. The Palmetto Bay Follies (and not something to be proud of).

Should our public officials use our tax dollars to attempt to avoid their public records obligations? I previously provided a short primer on the requirements of government and government officials maintaining and being responsive to public records requests. Responding to public records requests is not at the whim of the government, it is the law (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes) and Palmetto Bay cannot impose delays, conditions or restrictions on those requesting public records.

Inglorious history - A first for Palmetto Bay.  A lawsuit was filed on September 24, 2020, for Public Records Enforcement, alleging violations of Florida Statutes Chapter 119. This complaint sought a court order compelling the Mayor and Palmetto Bay to turn over the documents requested in the public records request. 

So what happened? Did the Village provide the records? Heck, no; not without a taxpayer funded fight. From my review of the record, it appears that the Defendants did not voluntarily give up these records. In fact, the Village ‘doubled down’ by filing their "ANSWER AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES TO COMPLAINT AND MOTION TO DISMISS", e-filed 10/14/2020 at 11:45 AM. It is important to remember that the ANSWER was filed less than 4 hours prior to the hearing, so the ANSWER does accurately represent the position of the Defendants, Karyn Cunningham and the Village of Palmetto Bay. The court held a hearing on this issue later that same day, at 3:30 PM.  I will cover what occurred at this hearing in a future update.

List below are a few of my favorite affirmative defenses asserted by the current mayor and Palmetto Bay (I am trying to find humor here, as I think the defenses are actually quite chilling to those who seek compliance with the Public Records Law). (CLICK HERE to view the complete document)

22. Affirmative Defense 4. Defendants complied in a timely manner to the alleged public records request.

23. Affirmative Defense 5. Defendants complied in full with the alleged public records request.

24. Affirmative Defense 6. Defendants did not unlawfully refuse to comply with an alleged public records request of the plaintiff

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27. Affirmative Defense 9. Plaintiff did not comply with the Village’s posted policy and requirements for submission of a public records request.

28. Affirmative Defense 10. The plaintiff has not complied with the preconditions for seeking an award of attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to §119.12, Florida Statutes.

29. Affirmative Defense 11. Plaintiff did not file the complaint or submit his alleged public records request for a valid public purpose

Please carefully read the alleged defenses. And then compare the statements such as "Plaintiff did not comply with the Village’s posted policy and requirements for submission of a public records request" or better yet, "Plaintiff did not file the complaint or submit his alleged public records request for a valid public purpose" What? Go back and read the prior post. A person does not need to provide a reason for requesting records, they don’t need to explain their purpose, they don’t need to give a justification. The agency cannot require a person requesting records to explain why they want them. The agency must cite the specific statute or law that requires the record to be withheld from disclosure.  Add yet, the exact opposite appears to be asserted by the mayor and Palmetto Bay as defenses.

The above ‘defenses’ are better phrased as ‘avoidance and deflection’ rather than valid defenses in my opinion. I could go on for days, in my opinion, this filing demonstrates the arrogance of certain village officials who incorrectly believe that they set the rules. The Village doesn't set the rules. The rules are set by our National, State, County and Local Constitutions (and Charters) as well as State Law. This is why we have the courts and an independent judiciary.

BOTTOM LINE (in my opinion): The Village Taxpayers will be charged significant attorney’s fees to support a local government interested more in avoiding rather than meeting legal obligations. Maybe this is yet another reason why our local taxes have been increased – foolish spending, but hey it is not their personal money, they are misspending our money.

The new motto of Palmetto Bay? “Residents, hire a lawyer if you want transparency.”

Also see a prior related post of April 25, 2019, Palmetto Bay - Transparency - on sale to those who can afford it

It is becoming apparent to many that we need to take back our Palmetto Bay government. It belongs to all the people, not a select privileged few.