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| The SAO sided with the BCC today; The Shade meeting the BCC held in October was legal and appropriate. The Sheriff and his lawyer--and anyone else who thought it was inappropriate--were and are wrong... |
The Chief Law Enforcement entity in the area, the State Attorneys Office, the "Super Judge" if you will, the office that decides what will be prosecuted and what will not be prosecuted, has spoken:
The State Attorney's Office has told the Sheriff and the Sheriff's lawyer that their complaint lodged against the BCC was unfounded and without merit.
As I correctly predicted back in October right after we held this shade meeting-- because I knew all along it was perfectly legal and appropriate to do so--the State Attorney has now officially said that the shade meeting held by the Board of County Commissioners in October in response to the ECSO budget appeal was appropriate, comported with state law, and that the BCC violated neither the open meeting law nor the open records law.
Our attorneys and staff, as well as the BCC, were correct on this and the Sheriff and his lawyer were wrong.
We (BCC) were also 100% within our rights to not give the transcript of this meeting to ECSO when they demanded it--because under the law they are not yet entitled to receive it.
From the PNJ
"Greg Marcille, assistant state attorney, said the County Commission complied with all noticing requirements for the meeting and listed multiple Florida Attorney General opinions and court cases citing that governmental entities are allowed to hold attorney-client sessions. 'For these reasons, it does not appear that the Escambia County Board of Commissioners violated the Sunshine Law by holding an attorney-client session," Marcille wrote. "Additionally no violations of the Florida Public Records law were committed..'The State Attorney's Office said the transcript can be kept confidential 'until such time as the litigation is concluded.' "
Commisioner Thank you for keeping us informed. This has all been very interesting to me. I read the article in the paper and when the sheriff says that he disagrees with the state attorney, I read that there is another feud brewing between him and that office. By my rough count, the sheriff has a beef with everyone. I remember he wrote the Governor and gave unsolicited advice on some subject, which I take as having a beef with the governor. Then there were a couple judges who discouraged him from coming to the courthouse to talk to juries before trials and, yes, there was a beef with them. Then he has a beef with every current and former county commissioner. What about his prior chief deputies? Beef with them both, too. Didn't the lady who let him wear the iron cross on his uniform say he owed back dues or something like that to continue to wear the medal? Beef with her? And then all the law suits, beef too. Not to mention the secret service and his gun having to be taken out of the civic center for president trump's visit? Supreme beef. So, who does he get along with?
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What I'm told is that any disagreement, and it is the "other guy's" fault--not the sheriff's. Like you, Anonymous, I tend to doubt it is always "everyone else's" fault when the fights continue on and on and on and the only common denominator is the one person at the center of every fight with every one else appears to be the sheriff.
ReplyDeleteCommissioner, this was classic Morgan. He retaliates when he's been shown up. In classic Narcissistic behavior, he came back to say he "respectfully disagrees" with Marcille. He can't take his lumps on this and thinks ONLY he understands the law, when in actuality, the legality of many actions by ECSO is more questionable than the accusations he hurled at the BOCC. When I heard he said the BOCC violated Sunshine Laws, I laughed so hard because, as you know, Commissioner, the current administration of the ECSO is THE LEAST TRANSPARENT AGENCY EVER. But I applaud your moxie for not letting Sir David steam roll his agenda, unchecked. Your predecessor obviously would give the county to Sir David on a silver platter, no questions asked.
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