Develop an analysis of the case provided. Guided by the questions listed at the end of the case, the analysis should reflect a sophisticated un

This case was written by Terry Anderson. The case is intended solely as a vehicle for classroom discussion, and is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of the situation described. The Electronic Hallway is administered by the University of Washington's Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs. This material may not be altered or copied without written permission from The Electronic Hallway. For permission, email [email protected] Electronic Hallway members are granted copy permission for educational purposes per Member’s Agreement (hallway.evans.washington.edu).

Copyright 2014 The Electronic Hallway

THE DAY THE SUNSHINE LEFT CRESTVIEW

Crestview: An Overview

Located in the Florida panhandle about 40 miles inland from the pristine white beaches of the Gulf shore, Crestview is the fastest-growing municipality in Okaloosa County. In the summer months, Crestview, like the surrounding areas, enjoys the economic benefits of a vibrant tourist trade. During the winter months, when tourists return to their homes, a sense of normalcy returns to the local residents as their lives and the traffic slow down.

According to the city’s official website, Crestview was chartered by the Florida Legislature and officially incorporated in 1916. The name was chosen because of its location on the peak of a long woodland range between two rivers that flow almost parallel on the east and west side of the city. Crestview became the County Seat in 1917 and remains so today. Crestview is strategically located at the junction of three major highways—U.S. 90, State Road 85, and Interstate Highway 10—gaining it the designation as the "Hub City" of northwest Florida (www.cityofcrestview.org).

In the last 20 years, Crestview has undertaken several initiatives aimed at making it a truly up and coming community in the area. In 1995, with the leadership of city officials, Crestview formally adopted the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) concept in order to engage in development and redevelopment within a defined community redevelopment area, specifically the area that encompassed all of the downtown area. The CRA Board adopted a Community Redevelopment Plan, which was sanctioned by the Florida Department of Community Affairs (www.cityofcrestview.org).

In 1997, Crestview applied for a Main Street Program designation by the Secretary of State, which was approved. In 1998, the City moved the project forward, hiring a full time Main Street Program Director and assisting in the establishment of the Main Street Crestview Association, Inc. Membership in the Association consists of business owners, citizens and other interested parties whose goals include revitalizing the downtown area. Between 1996 and 2003, the City launched a three-phase development effort to construct a major streetscape project in the CRA area. All three phases, at a cost of $3.7 million, were earmarked for the restoration of Main Street. Funding sources included Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenues, state grants and general revenue funds (www.cityofcrestview.org).

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Today Crestview takes pride in its availability of comfortable homes, churches, schools, recreational facilities, businesses, and industries all working together to support a modern, growing, and progressive city.

Where Did the Sunshine Go?

But not all is well in Crestview, as recent events involving the City Council members have cast a shadow over the city government, exposing possible violations of Florida’s Sunshine Law. Crestview has a Council-City Administrator form of government. The current mayor is David Cadle, who was elected to the position in April of 2007 after a 38- year career as a high school band director. After serving at several schools for short periods early in his career, Cadle accepted the position of director of Crestview High School's Big Red Machine band in 1978. Under his leadership, the band program grew from 100 members to 280 and gained recognition as one of Florida's outstanding bands. He led his band members in representing Crestview in events in cities across the United States. Mayor Cadle served on the executive board of the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA), a governing body for middle school and high school instrumental programs for the state. He also served as district chairman of District 1 FBA and was responsible for the school programs in Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties and was selected as Crestview High School's Teacher of the Year in 1998 and 2006.

In Crestview, the City Council is the lawmaking body. Members are expected to exercise their legislative authority to serve and advance the general welfare, health, happiness, and safety of citizens. Three council members are elected from Crestview's three precincts with the remaining two being elected "at large." Terms are for four years, with members assuming office on the first Monday in April in the year of their election. Every year they elect a President and Vice-President to lead meetings and perform certain duties.

The council is charged with determining the budget, policies, programs, and plans for the future, and for considering major problems and issues which periodically arise. Due to their intimate involvement in city governance, the council is clearly postured to evaluate the effectiveness of the city operations and delivery of public services. The council prepares and reviews proposed bills; if adopted they become laws in the form of ordinances. Other policies on many different matters are established as resolutions and written procedures.

Within Crestview, growth and development are directed by the state’s Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations. That being said, arguably the most important task facing the City Council is guiding Crestview's future. The Comprehensive Plan documents address land use, public facilities, zoning and how development and growth within the city is supposed to occur. Essential to achieving a successful outcome is a public forum process that will allow Crestview citizens to have input into the governance process. This method works well with a small town population.

Current council members include City Council member Charles E. Baugh, Jr., known locally as Crestview's "Walking Councilman." Councilman Baugh was elected from

The Day the Sunshine Left Crestview

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Precinct 3 to a four year term on March 10th, 2009. He is the council’s President for the year 2012-13. Mr. Baugh holds degrees from the Community College of the Air Force and has 96 semester hours from the University of Florida. He and his family moved to Crestview in 2002 during his 28-year career with the USAF. He has been very active since then on various city boards as well as with civic and service organizations throughout the county.

Councilmember Tim Grandberry, Sr. was elected from Precinct 2 to the position in March and sworn into office in early April of 2009. After high school, he entered the United States Air Force where he had an outstanding military career that took him all around the world. In 1991, he was promoted to the highest enlisted grade of Chief Master Sergeant. Councilman Grandberry moved to Crestview in 1993, while assigned to the 46th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base as the Wing Superintendent and principle advisor to the Wing Commander. He retired after a distinguished 30-year career in 2003. Currently he serves on the Crestview Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the Eglin Federal Credit Union Appeals Board. In addition, he serves with a number of civic service organizations throughout the county, many of which target at risk youth. Councilman Grandberry holds a bachelor's degree from Saint Leo College and is one class short of a Master's Degree with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

Councilmember Benjamin J. Iannucci, III, is the newest member of the Crestview City Council. He was appointed on April 7, 2010 from Precinct 1 to fill an unexpired term. Mr. Iannucci is originally from Stratford, Connecticut. He attended Clarkson University where he obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering. In 2003, he joined the Air Force and was commissioned after graduating from Officer Training School in March of 2004. Councilmember Iannucci's first service assignment was the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Eglin AFB located in northwest Florida. Councilman Iannucci moved to Crestview in December 2006 and finished his active duty military career in September 2007, serving today as a Reservist. He serves on a number of local boards and councils and is active in youth sports programs in the local area. Councilman Iannucci is currently working on his Master of Aeronautical Science Degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is expected to complete that effort by the end of the year 2009.

Councilwoman Robyn Helt was elected to the council on March 8, 2011 and sworn in on April 4, 2011. She is a professional business woman and former bank vice president with an extensive background in banking and finance. In addition to serving the Crestview City Council, Councilwoman Helt is a full time real estate agent with a local office. Currently she is civically active, serving as a member of the Northwest Florida league of cities, council representative for the Okaloosa Walton Transportation Planning Organization, and member of North Okaloosa Medical Center Women’s Advisory Committee. Councilmember Helt is the wife of a Navy Veteran and the mother of 5 children. She has served as Honorary Squadron Commander for Eglin AFB 96th LRS, four terms as a vice President of the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce, Vice Chairman of the Crestview Charter Review Committee , and Band Parent President for Davidson Middle School.

The Day the Sunshine Left Crestview

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Council member Phillip Berezo was elected to the position from Group 2 At Large on March 8, 2011 and sworn into office on April 4, 2011. Soon after graduation he enlisted in the United States Air Force under the delayed entry program and finished his active duty career after 20 years of service in 2003, retiring as a First Sergeant at the rank of Master Sergeant. Councilman Berezo and his family relocated to Crestview. He was Marketing Director for the Gulf States Human Resources Council from 2007-2009. In addition, he has served on a number of local boards and councils. He is currently working on Eglin AFB in Civilian Personnel as an Employee Management Relations Specialist. Councilman Berezo holds an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Human Resources and Logistics.

Council Office Emails Cast Shadows Over the Sunshine

On September 22, 2011, the Northwest Florida Daily News began to study a series of troublesome events with the opening line “The Crestview City Council has an email problem.” According to the article, experts in public records law felt that the Internet was being used by some council members to discuss more city business than allowed under Florida’s Sunshine Law. The law is clear on one point—officials cannot use any form of communication to avoid a public meeting. Copies of several council-generated emails were obtained by the Daily News, in collaboration with Crestview-based WCVC TV.com and WAAZ-FM WJSB-AM, after submitting a public records request for them. The group delivered their request to Crestview City Hall on August 31, 2011 and by late September, more than 2,500 emails were received from council members Robyn Helt (872 emails), Phillip Berezo (608 emails), Ben Iannucci (39 emails) and Tim Grandberry (927 emails). Council President Charles Baugh was the last member to release his email correspondence (McLaughlin, September 21, 2011).

It is important to note that often people are included in email traffic that they are not actually involved in. Similarly, not everyone responds to emails they receive if they have no personal involvement in the subject of the correspondence. In this case, the names of all council members appear on emails that are sent to the council in general. Some of the emails, like one sent by Council President Charles Baugh on April 12, were addressed to all city department heads (McLaughlin, September 21, 2011).

But what raised awareness in the minds of some who saw the requested emails was one in particular from Council President Baugh. In the email Baugh discusses “an existing contract between the City of Crestview and Mr. John R. Bale.” He went on to write, “I have questions about all areas of this contract and ask your investigation into this matter,” Baugh said. State Representative Matt Gaetz, an attorney well versed in the state’s Sunshine law, reviewed several of the emails in question. According to comments from Gaetz, the email discussions constituted meetings under the Florida Sunshine Law (286.011) and had to occur in the public. In particular he argued that communications regarding personnel matters, vehicle purchases, and contracts must be subject to public scrutiny (McLaughlin, September 21, 2011).

The Day the Sunshine Left Crestview

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Sunshine laws make it a public records violation if public officials meet to discuss public business without notifying the public of their plans to hold discussions. An attorney representing the plaintiffs in a public records lawsuit against the city of Venice, Florida, when briefed about the cache of emails from Crestview officials, declared that it was clearly illegal. As a result of that lawsuit the city was forced to pay more than $1 million in attorneys’ fees. According to the attorney, a conversation held out of the public hearing is illegal even if it is about something as simple as a parade. Important to note is the fact that the courts have ruled that it is not a violation of the law if one council member discusses an issue via an email and others on the council do not respond (McLaughlin, September 21, 2011).

But in several cases in the Crestview correspondence members responded to issues raised, including the specific subjects referenced by Representative Gaetz. One particularly interesting email exchange took place April 12. The first message was from city Public Works Director Wayne Steele and originally went to the Mayor Cadle and Councilman Baugh. The subject of the email was a Pensacola business, CH2MHill, which wanted to withdraw from a service contract with the city after posting a bill of $20,000 for services already delivered. According to emails obtained, Baugh forwarded the information with his own comments to the mayor, city clerk, and all of the council members (McLaughlin, September 21, 2011).

Later that same day, Mayor Cadle contacted council members to tell then that he has called a special meeting for two days later so that they could discuss the issue and possibly vote. Emails show that Councilman Iannucci replied that he would not be able to attend the meeting, but advised other council members to consult the Florida League of Cities. The next day, Councilman Grandberry also commented on the CH2MHill issue from a personal email account, saying that he believed the bill was excessive. Councilman Iannucci tried to stop the discussion in an email with a caution that members were “pushing Sunshine limits.” But Councilman Berezo kept the ball in the air when he replied a short time later to say the deal did not make sense (McLaughlin, September 21, 2011).

It was thus after the request for public records on August 31 by the Daily News and other media outlets made that Councilman Baugh demanded an investigation into what he referred to as the release of “private” emails from his city account. The city responded to his demands by releasing an internet technology employee and replacing him with an IT specialist from the Crestview Police Department. Officials also changed the access passwords at City Hall. But despite securing legal representation by some of the council members, coupled with claims of innocence of any public records violations and support from County Commissioners and other public officials in the area, the issue refused to go away (McLaughlin, December 20, 2011).

In late February 2012, Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille believed that his investigation of alleged Sunshine Law violations by the City Council would be completed within another week. But on February 29, he said that additional information appeared that would extend his probe, by then in its fifth month. He would not specify the nature

The Day the Sunshine Left Crestview

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of the new information. One thing was certain, however; from the beginning with the initial 5,000 plus council members’ emails obtained through a public records request that were turned over to him currently under review, Marcille knew the investigation would be a long one (McLaughlin, March 1, 2012).

Numerous attorneys with expertise in public records and open meetings laws opined that clearly there were violations of the Sunshine Law. Further, the originator of the initial request for copies of the emails expressed concern that as many as 190 emails were deleted from city servers after copies were requested. If true, this would be an additional violation of the law, according to Barbara Petersen, president of the Florida First Amendment Foundation (McLaughlin, March 1, 2012). Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille, citing that new information has come to light, determined that the probe into the emails would be expanded to explore further to what extent they constituted Sunshine Law violations (McLaughlin, March 2, 2012).

Florida is proud to lead the nation in providing public access to government meetings and records. State leaders firmly believe in the notion that government must be accountable to the people. The Florida Constitution, which sets forth the rights of citizens of the state, ensures that the public has the right to know how government officials spend taxpayer dollars and make the decisions affecting their lives. The principle of open government is one that must guide everything done in government for its public. To emphasize this belief and to assist the public and governmental agencies in understanding the requirements and exemptions to Florida's open government laws, the Attorney General's Office compiles a comprehensive guide known as the Government-in-the-Sunshine manual. The manual is published each year at no taxpayer expense by the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee.

Florida began its tradition of openness as far back as 1909 with the passage of Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes or the “Public Records Law.” This law requires that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business must be available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Florida Legislature. Over the years, the definition of what constitutes “public records” has come to include not just traditional written documents such as papers, maps and books, but also tapes, photographs, film, sound recordings and records stored in computers.

Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine Law was enacted in 1967. Today, the Sunshine Law regarding open government can be found in Chapter 286 of the Florida Statutes. These statutes establish a basic right of access to most meetings of boards, commissions, and other governing bodies of state and local governmental agencies or authorities.

Throughout Florida's history of open government, its courts have consistently supported the public's right of access to governmental meetings and records. In the process, they also have defined and redefined what a public record is and who is covered under the open meetings law. One area of public concern was whether or not the Legislature was covered under the open meetings requirements. To address that issue, a Constitutional

The Day the Sunshine Left Crestview

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amendment was passed overwhelmingly by the voters in 1990 providing for open meetings in the legislative branch of government.

The Attorney General's Office has consistently sought to safeguard Florida's pioneering Government-in-the-Sunshine laws. That office has worked both in the courtroom and out to stop public records violations. In 1991, a decision by the Florida Supreme Court raised questions which made it clear that the best way to ensure the public's right of access to all three branches of government was to secure that right through the Florida Constitution. The Attorney General's Office then drafted a definitive constitutional amendment, which guaranteed continued openness in the state's government and reaffirmed the application of open government to the legislative branch and expanded it to the judiciary. This amendment passed in 1992.

In an attempt to try to rectify the present situation and based on the belief of many that the violation was inadvertent, the state attorney’s investigators discussed the possibility of a public meeting being held to “cure” any private discussions held by City Council members. A “cure-all” meeting takes care of any action taken during an improper meeting, but does not necessarily absolve council members from specific violations of the Sunshine Law, according to Petersen (McLaughlin, March 1, 2012).

Council Members Charged—Court Appearance Ordered

Finally the situation reached a head when, on March 2, 2012, all five members of the City Council were charged with violating Florida’s Sunshine Law. To the surprise of many, based upon the charges, the offenses were considered “non-criminal violations” which, Councilman Phillip Berezo told the Crestview News Bulletin, amounted to being issued a “traffic ticket.” All five council members were ordered to appear in court to answer the charges on March 20, 2012. Each faced a fine of up to $500 on a single count that, according to the state attorney’s office, stated that four emails they shared were determined to have violated the law. State Attorney Bill Eddins said the violations, while considered “a serious matter,” did not rise to the level of representing any corrupt intent on the part of the council members. He concluded that the situation appeared to be a lack of education and failure to understand the rules (McLaughlin, March 3, 2012).

Alongside its investigation of the possible violations of Florida’s public meetings law, the state attorney’s office also investigated allegations that Iannucci had deleted emails from his city account (Hughes, March 7, 2012). Had this been true, it would certainly have constituted a violation of law and would have been made a separate violation. But the state attorney’s office said there was insufficient evidence to support the charge (McLaughlin, March 3, 2012).

Not everyone was pleased with the outcome. The belief among many citizens was that when an elected official swears to uphold the Constitution of the State of Florida and the City of Crestview Charter, they should know that it includes the Sunshine Law and they should be familiar with its conditions. Many began to question whatever happened to the

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notion that ignorance of the law was no excuse for violating it (McLaughlin, March 3, 2012).

The council’s appearance before the court was scheduled for March 20, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. Having been given pro bono representation by two Crestview attorneys, the members appeared in court to respond to the charges of violating the Sunshine Law by discussing the following topics in the emails:

• A Housing and Urban Development purchase • Banking proposals • An audit of the city utility department • The purchase of police cars (McLaughlin, March 20, 2012)

At the court appearance, one by one, Charles Baugh, Robyn Helt, Phillip Berezo, Benjamin Iannucci and Tim Grandberry stepped forward when called by the judge to enter a plea of no contest to a single violation of the state’s public meeting statute. Each was then ordered to pay a $500 fine for violating Florida’s Sunshine Law. In the end, Okaloosa County Judge Jim Ward administered the maximum fine allowed for the misdemeanor charge, but withheld adjudications of guilt, saying that he saw no evidence of malice or intent in the email communications. He was quick to add, however, that even unintentional violations of the Sunshine Law can undermine the confidence people put in their elected officials. Inability of citizens to hold their elected officials above reproach was, to Judge Ward, a serious matter (McLaughlin, March 21, 2012).

Before Ward handed down the fines, Councilman Baugh asked the judge to consider him, as council president, the most liable of the five accused. As president of the council, he felt it his responsibility and asked that the judge adjudicate in his case. He insisted that none of the council members had any intent to violate the law or betray the public’s trust. Finally, Baugh suggested that classes be implemented to instruct employees, council members, and incoming council members on the Sunshine Law (McLaughlin, March 21, 2012).

The lead prosecutor for the state attorney’s office was in total agreement that training would be a reasonable remedy against future violations of the Sunshine Law. He clearly felt that there was no criminal intent on the part of any of the council members and argued that training would clarify any gray areas in their understanding of the law. The matter appeared settled at that point with council members glad to put the incident behind them and begin moving forward to conduct city business. Many citizens felt the same way, expressing their views that the entire situation was trivial given other weightier issues facing the city. Others, however, saw it as potentially damaging if the training was not successful at changing what they perceived to be poor judgment at best, criminal behavior at the worst (Hughes, March 21, 2012). In an editorial appearing in the Northwest Daily News on March 23, 2012, one citizen wrote that the citizens of Crestview would like to believe the council members considered their misdeeds as grave as the judge and the state attorney did, but had their doubts. His hope was that Mr.

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Baugh meant what he said. Otherwise, he continued, further violations of the Sunshine Law could very well result in charges that are weightier than a traffic ticket.

Putting the Issues Behind Them or Just Temporarily Distracted?

Once the city council members had their day in court on Sunshine Law violations, thoughts began to turn to a common theme of “moving forward.” Councilman Baugh assured First Circuit Court Judge Jim Ward that the council had taken heed of the state attorney’s recommendations, noting that it still had much work to do for the city of Crestview and they were anxious to get this matter behind them. Ward refused to believe that there was ever any real intent to circumvent the meaning of the Sunshine Law, and that the council was always looking toward doing the business it was charged to do (Hughes, March 24, 2012).

City leaders immediately began to implement procedures to assure there would be no repeat of the incident. Working in accordance with a recommendation from State Attorney Bill Eddins, Crestview Mayor David Cadle encouraged the city to make education a central activity whenever the city received newly elected officials. Past orientation seminars were a good first step, but his vision was to put a practice in place to have an intensive training in the Sunshine Law specifically as new elections take place. The training would not only be for newcomers who generally prepare to begin their duties as soon as they are confirmed, but would also be used as reinforcement training for currently serving officials (Hughes, March 24, 2012).

With the council’s Sunshine Law issue seemingly laid to rest, attention returned to another serious problem in the city involving the state attorney’s racketeering allegations against suspended Crestview Police Operations Director Major Joseph Floyd, who was suspended along with Floyd’s supervisor, Police Chief Brian Mitchell. A grand jury was to release its findings regarding the Crestview Police Department on Wednesday, March 25, but a press release issued by the State Attorney’s Office revealed that an objection to the release by an unnamed party had created a delay (Hughes, March 24, 2012).

Interim chief, Kenneth Bundrick assured the city that while the various departmental investigations continued, the police department was being restructured by temporarily reassigning some of the lieutenants to avoid any interruption in service. Both the new chief and the mayor seemed committed to continuing their own investigation in cooperation with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney’s Office, based on their review of the grand jury testimony and its recommendations (Hughes, March 24, 2012).

Current problems at the police department surrounded allegations of excessive force by the police department’s Street Crimes unit, organized and headed by Floyd that raised questions about the unit’s integrity, despite its effectiveness in suppressing the city’s narcotics trade. Mayor Cadle announced that the city had temporarily suspended the Street Crimes division while reassessing their efforts, assured citizens that the department

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would still keep a close watch on any criminal or drug activity through other methods for the time being (Hughes, March 24, 2012).

A Crestview native with 25 years of service with the city police department, Chief Bundrick assured the public that morale remained high among his police officers. He insisted they were diligently doing their job of protecting the people of Crestview. They, too, claimed to be putting the past behind them and moving forward to do their job (Hughes, March 24, 2012).

With the number of examples of what could be described at the least as really bad public servant behavior exuding such serious negativity, many citizens just wanted to see all of the city’s issues laid to rest so they would not overshadow the city’s positive attributes. Local city activists feared that attracting new residents and business opportunities would be hampered by the bad press and fomenting discontent with the present leadership (Hughes, March 24, 2012).

Maybe Not in the Past Yet—Tempers Fly as the Situation Escalates

But soon it became clear that the matter of the City Council was not going to rest when, at a contentious meeting of the Crestview City Council

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