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Home My Public Portal AboutPRR 14-0973RECORDS REQUEST (the "Request ") Date of Request: 6/6/14 Requestor's Request ID #: 575 REQUESTEE: Custodian of Records Town of Gulf Stream REQUESTOR: STOPDIRTYGOVERNMENT,LLC REQUESTOR'S CONTACT INFORMATION: E -Mail: records @commerce - group.com Fax: 954 -360 -0807; Address: 1280 West Newport Center Drive, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 REQUEST: Provide all addresses which the attached letter from Mayor Morgan dated June 2, 2014 was sent to. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING REQUEST: THIS REQUEST IS MADE PURSUANT TO PUBLIC RECORDS ACT, CHAPTER 119 OF THE FLORIDA STATUTES AND IS ALSO REQUESTED UNDER THE COMMON LAW RIGHT TO KNOW, THE COMMON LAW RIGHT OF ACCESS; AND ANY STATUTORY RIGHT TO KNOW (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY STATUTORY RIGHT OF ACCESS, AS APPLICABLE). THIS REQUEST IS ALSO MADE PURSUANT TO THE RIGHTS OF THE REQUESTOR PROVIDED IN THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION. IT IS REQUESTED THAT THIS RECORDS REQUEST BE FULFILLED IN ELECTRONIC FORM. IF NOT AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC FORM, IT IS REQUESTED THAT THIS RECORDS REQUEST BE FULFILLED ON 11 X 17 PAPER NOTE: IN ALL CASES (UNLESS IMPOSSIBLE) THE COPIES SHOULD BE TWO SIDED AND SHOULD BE BILLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH Section 119.07(4) (a) (2) ALL ELECTRONIC COPIES ARE REQUESTED TO BE SENT BY E -MAIL DELIVERY. PLEASE PROVIDE THE APPROXIMATE COSTS (IF ANY) TO FULFILL THIS PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST IN ADVANCE. It will be required that the Requestor approve of any costs, asserted by the Agency (as defined in Florida Statute, Chapter 119.01 (Definitions)), in advance of any costs imposed to the Requestor by the Agency. I:P/NPR/FRR 04.22.13 FORM TOWN OF GULF STREAM PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA COMMISSIONERS SCOTT MORGAN, Mayor ROBERT W. GANGER, Vice-Mayor JOAN K. ORTHWEIN THOMAS M. STANLEY DONNA S. WHITE June 2, 2014 Dear Gulf Stream Town Residents, ,JC. p FY.�� •, i ,.� Telephone (561)276.5116 Fax (561)707.0188 Town Manager WILLIAM H. THRASHER Town Clerk RITA L TAYLOR I want to thank all of you for your support during the election and for your continued support of the new Commission as it moves forward to address Town matters. There are a number of important developments in the Town that affect all residents, and for that reason, I am writing this letter to keep you abreast of these current events. The underground electrical wiring project is proceeding well with conduit being laid in the Town district and along the Southern portion of A1A. This is called the First Stage of the project. The First Stage is expected to be completed by the end of August. The second and final stage is on target for completion by December 2015. Funding for the underground wiring is complete and, if the rest of the job goes as expected, we believe that there will be some amount of funding overage for remittance back to the residents. The Ad Hoc Committee appointed to review our Code and Design Manual recently submitted its report. The Committee made a number of recommendations but essentially concluded that most Town residents like our current Code as written and do not want to see any significant changes to it. The full report is being placed on -line so you will be able to review it on our Town website. Town Hall is being made more accessible for persons with disabilities. There is now a unisex bathroom that can accommodate a wheel chair. In addition, the Commission has allocated funds to build a ramp at the rear of the building for wheelchair use. One of the more pressing issues involves the Town's finances. Historically, Gulf Stream functioned well utilizing only the revenue from its property taxes. Overtime, the Town built up a reserve of funds that could be used for capital Improvements or for emergency spending, like storm damage or water line repairs. Current thinking is that a reasonable General Fund Reserve for a town of our size should be around $1 million to $1.5 million, and that is a level that Gulf Stream has typically maintained. Recently, Gulf Stream's General Fund Reserves have dropped to around $675,000.00. Legal fees and costs have risen dramatically due to our defending over 20 lawsuits filed bytwo residents, Mr. O'Boyle and Mr. O'Hare. These lawsuits are primarily Public Records actions and 100 SEA ROAD, GULF STREAM, FLORIDA 33483 relate to over 800 public records requests filed by these two residents or by other individuals and organizations with whom they appear to be connected. The records requests involve many thousands of documents and, in my opinion, have little purpose other than to harass and financially damage our Town. In addition to paying legal fees for litigation work, the Town has sought legal advice to help it respond to some other unusual situations, Including matters relating to O'Boyle and O'Hare. To put the legal fees in perspective, Gulf Stream typically budgets around $SS,000.00 annually for legal services. In the first 6 months of this year, we have already spent over $160,000.00. Those dollars have to come from somewhere —by reducing budgeted allocations for other services, or tax increases, or from the Town's reserves. In addition, as you may know, our Town office staff consists of only four full time employees. Recently, our Administrative Assistant, who, among all of her other duties, was tasked with the primary responsibility of responding to these Public Records requests, submitted her resignation, citing the heavy pressure of the work involved in responding to the overwhelming nature of these requests. Also, our Town Clerk, who worked with the Administrative Assistant in responding to these Requests, has found it necessary to come into the office every weekend just to catch up on the regular Town business. These are dedicated Town employees, who do not deserve to work under this type of pressure. In response to this continuing problem, the Commission is stepping up its defense of the O'Boyle and O'Hare litigation. Special counsel has been hired to assist our other attorneys in this regard. The Commission believes strongly that a firm stance is necessary to limit the detrimental effects that these lawsuits are having on staff morale and Town reserves. This approach does cost money, however, and this is your money, so we have an obligation to keep you informed. Ending on a more positive note, we encourage Gulf Stream residents to participate In our monthly Commission meetings. Each regular meeting has a Public Comment period, where anyone can speak on agenda items. We welcome your input, plus we think you will find the meetings informative and interesting. Along that line, the Town's website now contains a link to Minutes from past Commission and ARPB meetings. If you are unable to attend a meeting, access to these Minutes will keep you informed of developments. Finally, the other Commissioners and I look forward to working with you in the upcoming year. Should you ever have a question or concern, please feel free to call me at home or on my cell phone. Best regards, Cis Ott W. Morgan hm:243 -1432 cell: 573 -6006 TOWN OF GULF STREAM PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA Delivered via e-mail July 14, 2014 Stopdirtygovernment, LLC [mail to: records @commerce- group.com] Re: PRR 575 - Addresses Provide all addresses which the attached letter from Mayor Morgan dated June 2, 2014 was sent to. Dear Stopdirtygovernment, LLC [mail to: records @commerce- group.com], This letter is in response to the public records you have requested in your email dated June 6, 2014, that we acknowledged on June 7, 2014. This correspondence is reproduced below. Be advised that no such records exist. Unless we hear back from you, we consider this matter closed. Sincerely, Town Clerk Custodian of the Records