It seems there are some places in Pensacola City Hall were the sun doesn’t shine.
Two staff members for Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward are under investigation for non-criminal violations of Florida’s public records laws, often referred to as “Sunshine Laws.” According to Rick Outzen, reporting on the Independent News weekly blog, it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to transparency in the mayor’s office.
In The Upside of Corruption, Bill Reynolds and Derek Cosson, two chief members of Hayward’s staff, failed to disclose public records concerning the city’s new logo and branding. State Attorney Bill Eddins found that Reynolds and Cosson did not to provide the information requested by former city council member Diane Mack, or made no effort to locate copies of the logos.
Eddins charged the two staffers with non-criminal violations, each carrying a fine of $500.
It is not the fines that matter, as much as the pattern of a lack of transparency in the City of Pensacola. The offences of Reynolds and Cosson not only violate city policies, but also procedures and ethical codes. Their actions could lead to further legal action, by way of civil and defamation lawsuits.
Fines “may not seem like a big deal,” Outzen says, “but Florida’s public records are seen as being the key to transparency in our governments.”
Recently, the state investigated Reynolds for releasing a harassment complaint to a political rival of the mayor. In that case, the document was exempt from sunshine laws at the time of release, but not confidential.
“For Hayward to restore trust in government,” Outzen says, “his administration should have worked hard to deal with all public records quickly and protected the city’s employees from public humiliation.”
The report outlines some shady dealings in the mayor’s office, including leaking confidential documents not covered in Florida’s Sunshine Laws, where only extremely limited numbers of official documents are exempt.
Outzen describes the Hayward administration as one filled with intrigue, power struggles and a “lack of attention to detail, failure to manage his leadership team and his desire to avoid any controversy.” He cites other examples, such as city officials posting comments on the Independent News website under pseudonyms and cutting the IN site from official news releases. The mayor’s office did reinstall the news site on the media list after community protests.
In summary, Outzen writes:
The city waits to see how Mayor Hayward will react when he finally realizes that his key advisors not only broke the law, but may have played him and forced him to fire a key person to his early success. Reynolds and Cosson have violated city policies and its code of ethics. The Pensacola City Council may ask for its own investigation.
Read Outzen’s full article — The Upside of Corruption — is on the Independent News website.
