COMMENTARY

MARK SCHUMANN

Because the Scripps Press Journal has yet to report on email correspondence between members of the Indian River Shores Town Council that is in apparent violation of the Florida Sunshine Law, I decided yesterday to call this story to the attention of Scripps Press Journal editor Mark Tomasik. I also shared with Tomasik information about an additional public records request made of the Shores just this week.

Dear Mr. Tomasik:

I am writing to call your attention to apparent violations of the Florida Sunshine Law by members of the Indian River Shores Town Council. Because the exchange of email correspondence between members of the Town Council has yet to be reported by the Scripps Press Journal, I can only assume this matter has not come to your attention. To be sure, the email correspondence in question covered public business.

In addition to the revelation of email correspondence between Shores Town Council members that is in apparent violation of the Florida Sunshine Law, another aspect of this story is the Town Clerk’s continued refusal to provide copies of written correspondence sent and received by two Indian River Shores residents, Bill Grealis and John McCord, both of whom were clearly acting as agents of the Town Council. I have previously reported on the Town’s refusal to provide these public records. Just this week, the Shores received yet another request for these public records. (See below)

City of Vero Beach’s special counsel, Schef Wright, made his own extensive public records request of Indian River Shores. I am told the Town redacted documents that, by law, should have been provided in full. If the Shores’ lawsuit against Vero Beach proceeds to court, surely Mr. Wright will ask the court to instruct the Shores’ Town Clerk to provide, unredacted, the requested documents.

You might also be interested to know that, in an email dated April 14, 2014, Shores Town Councilman Dick Haverland advised Town Manager Robbie Stabe to schedule a special called meeting of the Town Council for “an extremely inconvenient time,” presumably so that no one from the public or the press would attend. Though not necessarily a violation of the Sunshine Law, Mr. Haverland’s request of the Shores Town Manager is hardly in keeping with the spirit of Florida’s open government laws. One would reasonably expect Haverland’s attempt to conduce the public’s business in the shade, if not the dark, would warrant a “thumbs down” from the Scripps editorial board.

One would certainly also hope it is not the case that members of the Scripps editorial staff are ignoring this story as a favor the Amy Brunjes, a key Florida & Light Vice President who is married to Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers Publisher Bob Brunjes.

Sincerely,

Mark Schumann, Editor & Publisher
InsideVero

C.C. Evan Samples, Larry Reisman, Bob Brunjes, Susan Salisbury (Palm Beach Post). Ivan Penn (Tampa Bay Times)