DECEMBER 1998: Judge Terry Lewis, 2nd Judicial Circuit, ruled that a private citizen, Barbara Herskovitz, was entitled to recover $8,030 in attorney's fees and court costs from Leon County in a public records suit against the county. Herskovitz claimed that the county was not precise in identifying some 9,000 confidential documents and that the delay in producing documents was unreasonable (See October 1999 summary above).

SEPTEMBER 1997: Orange County paid $35,000 in settlement costs and $15,000 in attorney’s fees to settle a lawsuit stemming from a closed meeting. A county committee had met behind closed doors to discuss a construction company’s protest of a contract award.

SEPTEMBER 1997: Lee County Judge Edward Volz fined former Estero Fire Commissioner Vernon Conly $500 after a jury convicted Conly of violating the Open Meetings Law. Judge Volz fined three other members of the Fire Commission $250 after the three -- Georgia Gates, George Horne and John Kelley -- pleaded no contest to a similar criminal misdemeanor charge. Volz withheld formal adjudication of guilt for all four commissioners, who in return promised not to seek reinstatement to the Fire Commission. Gov. Lawton Chiles suspended the four from office after they were charged with violating the Open Meetings Law in connection with an April meeting. Members of the public filed complaints against the commissioners after a public meeting that lasted only a few minutes. Spectators at the meeting said the commissioners called the meeting to order, voted to purchase two vehicles, and adjourned before most members of the public could get into the meeting room and get seated. The room was locked until just before the meeting was called to order.

JULY 1997: The Martin County Commission agreed to pay The Palm Beach Post $15,900 in legal fees to settle a lawsuit alleging violations of Florida’s Open meetings Law. The newspaper claimed the commission had approved lawsuit settlements totaling $4.1 million in private sessions without making the settlements public as required by law.

JULY 1997: Judge John J. Hoy, 15th Judicial Circuit, ordered Florida Atlantic University President Anthony J. Catenese to pay attorneys' fees of $8,595.90 and taxable costs of $533.40 to a plaintiff in her public records lawsuit. Sandra K. Norton had sued Catenese for the release of documents related to the spending of a $10 million gift from Charles E. Schmidt to the university. In a previous ruling, Hoy ordered Catenese to release the documents.

JUNE 1997: The city of Opa-Locka agreed to pay a $500 fine, $108 in court fees and $500 for a United Way donation after a former city manager pleaded guilty to violating Florida’s Pulbic Records Law. Former City Manager Earnie Neal said he ignored 35 records requests from his predecessor because he thought the requests were frivolous and harassing.

JUNE 1997: The Lantana Town Council voted to pay a local resident $1,426 in legal fees to settle a lawsuit in which the town was accused of violating the Open Meetings Law. The town did not admit wrongdoing. The resident sued after the town released a statement indicating the council had decided not to seek prosecution of former Mayor Robert A. McDonald, who resigned and repaid the city $50,000 that he had deposited into his business' bank account. Town Manager Ron Ferris said the statement was poorly worded and that the council members had not formally decided what to do about McDonald. Ferris said the statement was based on his conversations with individual board members that indicated "a general feeling" that McDonald should not be prosecuted.

JUNE 1997: Judge Robert Boylston, 12th Judicial Circuit, ruled that Ken Peterson, a private citizen, was entitled to recover attorneys' fees from the city of Anna Maria in a public records suit against the city. Peterson had to wait 26 days for records, which Boylston said was unreasonable and constituted an unlawful refusal to produce public records. Boylston also ruled that the city's charge of $112.95 for the records.

MAY 1997: The 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled that a Miami-Dade Community College committee's recommendation to award a contract was void because the panel violated the Open Meetings Law. The court said that a committee appointed by the college purchasing director to review and rank proposals for providing flight-training services at Kendall-Tamiami Airport was subject to the Open Meetings Law. Because the committee failed to give the public notice of its meetings, it violated the meetings law and its recommendations and the subsequent decision to award a contract to Husta International Aviation Inc. were void.

MAY 1997: Martin County commissioners admitted violating the Open Meetings Law by settling lawsuits in closed-door meetings and agreed to pay The Palm Beach Post $15,900 in attorney's fees. The Post had sued in February after learning that the commission had agreed to settle a number of lawsuits in executive session without taking a public vote on the settlements. The settlements were approved in a public vote when the commission voted to settle the lawsuit by the Post.

APRIL 1997: The city of Fort Pierce agreed to pay $15,000 in legal expenses incurred in a public records dispute by The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News, although the city did not admit any wrongdoing. The dispute stemmed from a memo written by City Manager Dennis Beach saying that Amy Rippel, a reporter for the newspaper, could not view public documents without a written application, an appointment and Beach's approval. Beach wrote the memo after Rippel published a story against Beach's wishes about the city's ongoing negotiations to purchase a theater in connection with a redevlopment project. Also, the city was charging the newspaper 10 cents more per copy for public records than other newspapers.

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