Fire Union Lawyer's Public Records Request of Me will be Time Consuming..

Some folks deridingly refer to public records requests as "fishing expeditions."  I just think they are a part of the job and a part of the law.   And some such requests do require an inordinate amount of time to complete--as will be the case with this one that has recently been made of me...if a "fishing expedition" is what this is, I hope they remember to never bring bananas on the boat........its bad luck.

The public records law is one I take very seriously.  It is part of an important system of checks and balances that applies to all of Florida's agencies, departments, offices,  and elected officials.

Over the course of my 15 years as a locally-elected public official, I have fulfilled dozens of these.  No problem, no worries.   I finished a large one in 2018 at the request of the sheriff's office--it was huge and filled an entire box--hundreds of pages.  I got it done within 30 days.  I finish them quickly, and I answer them completely.  As a matter of fact I just finished one up last week and turned in the documents, it was a rather quick one to complete.  Some are easy and I turn them around immediately where it is practical to do so. (e.g. one email, or one specific document requested).

But now comes a rather extensive one from a law firm out of Fort Myers Florida, pictured below. 

This one appears to be at the behest of our local paid firefighter's union.  

But why this request, and why now?

--The union is more than likely still simmering over the fact that they worked so hard to get my opponent elected in the race for county commissioner last summer--yet the guy they backed got vaporized--he finished a distant 3rd place--not even close to being in the running. Even with their endorsement, even with their members holding signs and writing checks and dressing up in costumes on the side of the road waving at cars....  Didn't matter, didn't help, he got smoked.  

--Perhaps a few of them are still sore because I posted every employee of the county's salary online---to include all the firefighters? (many making $70K, $80K, $90K yearly--many making six figures.)    

--They might be angry because a campaign rule and county policy was broken by some personnel that would not fess up-- and a campaign sign was brought onto county property-- in a fire station--leading to a letter of reprimand for some senior fire staff.  

--We're in the process of bargaining a new contract with the union locally--maybe they are mad about that (but why?)?  

--Maybe they're mad because I've said HELL NO to raising the fire MSBU on taxpayers

--They're probably mad because I blew the whistle on the way good, hard--working volunteers were being treated poorly and run out of fire houses. And I demanded an investigation.

--A few are mad because after this despicable post was made on the union's facebook page FALSELY claiming a "lack of resources" at a recent fire was what caused a civilian casualty--there was actually some consequences meted out by administration.  

That post on the facebook site was reprehensible, unprofessional, and disgusting.  Most importantly--it was a lie.  I got the actual fire incident report and we had one unit on scene within two minutes, and several others within four minutes.  We ended up with 7 or 8 trucks and 69 personnel on that scene in a very quick timeframe.  So

what they posted was a cheap shot, it was disgusting, and It looks as though some personnel may have been disciplined for making that post--which is good thing so far as I am concerned.  After all, it wasn't true, and it caused additional worry, stress and grief on the victim's family (one of whom actually reached out to me personally for information after hearing about it). 

So whatever the reason for their request--I will comply just as I always do.  As a matter of fact, I spent a few hours just this past weekend starting the agonizingly slow task of going through each and every one of my text messages, emails, social media posts, facebook PM's, etc.-- and I quickly realized this was going to be a very, very time-consuming process.  So later on this morning I will direct staff to send an estimate of the cost(s) associated with this particular public records request to this law firm, along with a request for a deposit for the work before we proceed---which I'm told is standard practice at the county.  

And once we receive the acknowledgment and deposit, I will complete the request and give all the documents over that have been requested of me by this union's lawyer.

But because it is a somewhat extensive request, and it will be time consuming.  And there will be a cost associated.