In Washington State, there are civil money penalties associated with violations of Open Records laws.
In Texas, there are criminal penalties associated with violations of Open Records laws.
Florida's Sunshine and Open Records laws need more powerful enforcement. .
In Florida, when you report illegal dumping by the ill-advised government of the Nation's Oldest City, expect a coverup by EPA and Florida's DEP ("Don't Expect Protection, "as DTQ says).
Request the records on the environmental crimes you reported? Expect long delays by FDEP, whose Ms. Erica Shawcross just told me she "disposed of" the copies we requested last fall, in October.
Ms. Shawcrosss works for Division of Law Enforcement legal counsel TRACEY HARTMAN.
HARTMAN never ruled on our fee request and claimed he was bringing it to the attention of his boss.
HARTMAN seeks to discourage public participation, actually telling me I could "save money" by going to Tallahassee to read documents (which originated here).
The public interest requires release of the documents, without fee-grabbing or rudeness by Mr. HARTMAN.
Disgruntled, ineffective, DEP bureaucrats won't prosecute St. Augustine's criminal pollution (30,000,000 pounds of illegal dumping into the Old City Reservoir). DEP refused to rule on a fee waiver, attempting to charge over $80 for documents on a botched criminal investigation.
DEP botched the investigation and wants to charge fees to read it. In the words of the great American diplomat Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, "not one cent for tribute."
We've reported FDEP's actions to the Governor's office.
In light of St. Augustine's illegal sewage dumping (see below), St. Augustine's illegal dumping of the entire contents of the old illegal city dump into the Old City Reservoir must be re-opened. In the name of transparency, DEP must place all of the requested documents on its website.
The least that demoralized and poorly-led DEP can do is waive any fees for the documents that Floridians paid to create in the first place -- documents on the complete refusal of DEP to prosecute the City of St. Augustine for putting enough contaminants in its Old City Reservoir to cover a football field to a depth of 11.2 feet (or fill in six Olympic-sized swimming pools to a depth of six feet).
What does DEP have to hide about its coverup?
Does DEP regret its coverup now that our city of St. Augustine has been caught negligently or recklessly dumping sewage (again, as it did in 2000)? Would the latest event have been prevented if St. Augustine actually feared DEP?
What will it take for the City of St. Augustine to respect our beautiful City, instead of despoiling it and besmirching its reputation?
Is the State of Florida afraid to prosecute past and present St. Augustine city officials due to political influence?
Who called in what favors from whom?
What is reflected in DEP's putative "investigation" about the City Manager, WILLIAM B. HARRISS, and his orders regarding the illegal dumping (conducted in violation of SJRWMD's oral and written instructions to the City not to dump without a permit?
How many more scapegoats will leave our City's employment before City Commissioners finally hold Mr. HARRISS responsible?
Wouldn't it be a fine time to start performance appraisals for Mr. HARRISS, who has not had one in over nine (9) years as City Manager?
You tell me. The truth will set us free.
Let's clean up the City of St. Augustine and get professional managers who respect our environmental and historic heritage in the Nation's Oldest City.
No comments:
Post a Comment