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HomeMy Public PortalAboutPRR 16-2155From: Jonathan O'Boyle [mailto:joboyle@oboylelawfirm.com] Sent: Friday, April 08, 2016 10:11 AM To: OConnor, Joanne M. <JOConnor@jonesfoster.com>; Bill Thrasher <bthrasher@gulf-stream.org> Cc: Jonathan O'Boyle <joboyle@oboylelawfirm.com>; 'Ken Drake' <kendrake@dldlawyers.com> Subject: Request Ganger Coastal Star Chapter 119, Fla. Const. Common Law RTK request for the public records surrounding Ganger's March 30, 2016 article in Coastal Star entitled: Local Voices: Careful public records safeguards needed Available at http://thecoastaistar.com/profiles/blocs/local-voices-careful-public-records-safeeuards- needed To aid in production, I assume emails, texts, and social media posts, ect.... and drafts of the record in electronic form are all that exist. If not, I would be surprised but I think that this is a real easy one. Also, does Ganger ever use an official Gulf Stream email address? Thanks — if you have a reason for withholding under the common law, let me know and I will proffer an interest in the documents. Please use this email and I would appreciate a followup with a production date commitment or estimated date of production. Jonathan O'Boyle, Esq., I.I.M. Licensed In Pennsylvania* Licensed In New Jersey* Licensed in Florida* The O'Boyle Law Firm, P.C. www.obovielawfirm.com Pennsylvania Office 1001 Broad St. Johnstown, PA 15906 Tel: 814-535-5175 Fax: 215-893-3641 joboyle@oboylelawfirm.com New Jersey Office 30 Grove St. Haddonfield, NJ 08033 Tel: 814-535-5175 Fax: 215-893-3641 iobovle@obovlelawfirm.com Florida Office 1286 West Newport Center Drive Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 Office: 954-570-3533 Fax: 754-212-2444 tobovle@obovlelawfirm.com IRS Circular 230 disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any tax advice contained in this communication, unless expressly stated otherwise, was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding tax -related penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax -related matter(s) addressed herein. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- NOTICE TO RECIPIENT: THIS E-MAIL IS MEANT FOR ONLY THE INTENDED RECIPIENT OF THE TRANSMISSION, AND MAY BE A COMMUNICATION PRIVILEGED BY LAW. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS E- MAIL IN ERROR, ANY REVIEW, USE, DISSEMINATION, DISTRIBUTION, OR COPYING OF THIS E-MAIL IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY OF THE ERROR BY RETURN E-MAIL AND PLEASE DELETE THIS MESSAGE FROM YOUR SYSTEM. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR COOPERATION. TOWN OF GULF STREAM PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA Delivered via a -mail April 11, 2016 Jonathan O'Boyle [Mail to: iobovlena.oboylelawfirm.coml Re: GS #2155 (Ganger Coastal Star) Chapter 119, Fla. Const. Common Law RTK request for the public records surrounding Ganger's March 30, 2016 article in Coastal Star entitled. Local Voices: Careful public records safeguards needed. Available at http://thecoastalstar.conVprofileslblogs/local-voices-carefid- public-records-safegoiards-needed. To aid in production, I assume emails, texts, and social media posts, ect.... and drafts of the record in electronic form are all that exist. If not, I would be surprised but I think that this is a real easy one. Also, does Ganger ever use an official Gulf Stream email address? Thanks — if you have a reason for withholding under the common law, let me know and 1 will proffer an interest in the documents. Please use this email and I would appreciate a followup with a production date commitment or estimated date ofproduction. Dear Jonathan O'Boyle [Mail to: iobovlena,obovlelawfirm.coml, The Town of Gulf Stream received your public record request on April 8, 2016. Your request can be found at the following link: htty://www2.Lulf-stream.ore/weblink/0/doc/88247/Pagel.aMxx. In future correspondence, please refer to this public records request by the above referenced number. Your request for the public records "surrounding" the referenced article fails to sufficiently specify the records that you seek. We understand your request to seek the referenced article in electronic format and to seek all public record communications that relate to the drafting of the article, by which drafts were exchanged or by which the article was transmitted to third parties. The only records responsive to that request are attached. The Town further responds that any drafts of the article not used to communicate official Town business are not public records and, even if they were, there are no such drafts. Mr. Ganger does have an official Town email address. That email, as well as all the other Commissioner's email addresses, can be found here: httv://www.gulf-stream.org/contact/town- contact/. To the extent that the Town has not correctly understood your request, we invite you to clarify the public records that you seek with more specificity. If we do not hear back from you within 30 days of this letter, we will consider this closed. Respectfully, Town Clerk, Custodian of the Records Kelly Avery From: rwganger <rwganger@bellsouth.net> Sent: Monday, April 11, 2016 9:27 AM To: Kelly Avery Subject: Fw: April Star Attachments: OPEN GOVERNMENT UNDER ATTACK.doc On Tuesday, March 22, 2016 2:09 PM, rwganger <rwganger@bellsouth.net> wrote: MKL, While the subject of this email sounds like the name of a Las Vegas show girl, attached is a POV on the failed Public Records bill. I am in all day tomorrow if you would like to discuss. B Two days after the Florida Legislature completed the 2016 Session, a Sun Sentinel editorial headlined "OPEN GOVERNMENT UNDER ATTACK", indirectly referred to a failed bill that attempted to address abuse of the Public Records Act by a cottage industry of scam artists who have conspired to fleece Florida taxpayers of many millions of dollars. With some irony, the Florida Press Association had worked with bill sponsors to craft language to assure that only abusers of open government laws were targeted, and not the press or ordinary citizens. Perhaps someone missed the memo. The alleged Public Records Scheme is virtually fool -proof. It starts with the Sunshine Law that grants citizens and the press unfettered access to the inner workings of taxpayer funded public agencies (municipalities, school boards, law enforcement, et al). When requested records are not produced in a timely fashion, the requestor has a right to sue the agency. If the court finds that the request was actually denied, attorney fees must be awarded to plaintiff. Sounds reasonable. Except that hustlers have figured out how to game the system, either by overwhelming the agency with excessive requests, or by rigging the requests in a manner that makes it impossible to comply. Quick money is made by threatening or actually filing a lawsuit; then offering a settlement for a fraction of trial costs. The victim is in a lose/lose situation. Most settle, and the taxpayer foots the bill. The Florida League of Cities, representing all 410 state municipalities, got wind of the scam several years ago. In establishing priorities for the 2016 Legislative Session, confronting abuse of the Public Records Act was the top choice of League policy makers. This writer, a FLOC committee delegate from the Town of Gulf Stream, was in the unenviable position of defining the problem that legislation needed to solve. Our tiny town endured 2500 public records requests in 18 months, overwhelming a four - person administrative staff. Over 40 compliance lawsuits have been filed, some within hours of receipt of the request. Town annual legal costs escalated from $25,000 to $lmillion. Almost 5000 annual man- hours were spent processing records requests. Sadly, the Gulf Stream situation was neither unique nor more repulsive than the experience of similar agencies throughout the State. One mayor stated "we are facing an epidemic". Representative Greg Steube and Senator Rene Garcia agreed to sponsor Public Records reform bills. The mechanics of crafting bill language; assigning and coordinating 6 required Committee reviews; educating and motivating 160 legislators; appearing at Hearings and amending language as needed, is a daunting task. League lobbyists coordinated the effort, and elected officials throughout the state personally testified in support of conscientious efforts to give courts discretion to withhold attorney fees from frivolous litigants. Florida Tax Watch, a respected watchdog whose research on government waste is based upon access to public records, filed a report asking Legislators to support sensible reform. The proposed bills passed all Committee Hearings almost unanimously. During testimony, the most ardent defenders of the Public Records Act acknowledged the damage caused by abusive practice, calling the perpetrators "cockroaches" and "Gotcha Guys". The Florida Press Association and First Amendment Foundation worked with Senator Garcia to amend bill language so as not to impose a chilling effect on legitimate exercise of open government rights. Apparently, one influential member of the House (who is a Public Records attorney) , was not convinced. Rather than put SB 1220 to a vote on the House floor where it was certain to pass, the bill was buried. However, the genie is now out of the bottle. We'll be back in 2017. Robert W. Ganger Vice Mayor, Town of Gulf Stream