Sunshine complaints sting mosquito board

Sunshine complaints sting mosquito board --
Board member, citizen upset over discussion, file complaints

PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 07/26/07

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH -- Two members of Anastasia Mosquito Control District's board of directors may have violated the Sunshine Law when they were videotaped talking with their board attorney after a workshop July 10.

Chairman Barbara Bosanko and board member Linda Wampler on Wednesday both denied discussing board business out of the sunshine.

But the State Attorney and Florida Department of Law Enforcement are investigating complaints against them.

Barbara Petersen, of the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation, said the Sunshine Law warns that two or more members of a public board should not discuss business without the public present.

"This will be up to a judge. How do we know (these issues) are not going to come before (the board)?" Petersen said. "I always recommend that board members not discuss anything outside the sunshine. They have to be very careful. There is a reason for this law."

At the July 10 meeting, the board members became stressed during a budget review as audience members stopped the proceedings by yelling and refusing to keep order.

Bosanko, Wampler and board member Emily Hummel left the district's meeting room to call St. Johns County Sheriff's Office deputies and St. Augustine Beach police.

Lawmen arrived, but no one was ejected or arrested and the meeting continued.

However, after the meeting adjourned, the board's video camera remained running and recorded Bosanko and Wampler standing up behind their desks and holding a conversation with board attorney Audrie M. Harris of Doran, Wolfe, Ansay & Kundid, Daytona Beach.

Wampler can be heard saying, "I'm not going to put up with this any more."

Resulting complaints

Nine days later, audience member Robin Nadeau filed the first complaint with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement alleging Sunshine Law violations by Bosanko and Wampler. She said the two "discussed their false police report to the (Sheriff's Office), their desire to have the (deputy) return, their intolerance for First Amendment protected activity (environmentalists criticizing purchase of a $1.8 million helicopter without competitive bidding) and their desire to contact (the newspaper)."

On Wednesday, Nadeau said she's been "passionate about government in the sunshine since its inception."

She didn't witness the alleged violation herself but watched it later on video.

"I find it a little dubious that they were discussing things out of earshot of the public," she said.

Ten days after the meeting, board member John Sundeman filed his complaint with the Fifth District State Attorney's Office.

His filing said he asked Harris about that conversation and was told she had only spoken to Bosanko. But he saw on the video that "you can hear Bosanko and Wampler talking to Harris about issues related to items forthcoming to the board."

Sundeman said, "That made my blood boil. That attorney lied to me. I don't think Ms. Harris realized the tape was running. I believed what she said. I don't know if this is a violation of the Sunshine Law or not. I do know the attorney lied to me."

The accused speak

The July 18 memo Harris sent to Sundeman admitted she spoke to Bosanko after the meeting.

"However, my conversation did not include Mrs. Wampler.," Harris added. "I remember her being nearby, packing up her belonging before leaving the meeting, but my conversation was purely limited to Chairwoman Bosanko. There was no violation of the Sunshine Law."

Bosanko said Wednesday that the whole issue is being blown out of proportion.

"It was no violation. There was no business discussed, none whatsoever," she said.

"I'm not worried. Rumors are always going to fly faster than the truth and anybody can file what they want. But the validity is not there."

She admits being distressed at the lack of order and respect for others in that meeting.

"People will see what they want to see," she said.

Wampler said the complaints were filed because the police were called.

"That was a very upsetting meeting. They were screaming and yelling about civil rights," Wampler said, declaring she spoke to Harris about what the board could legally do about the disruptions.

"We each called the police on two different phones," she said. "We (separately) talked to the attorney."

Linda Pruitt, a spokesman for State Attorney John Tanner's office in Daytona Beach, said Sunshine Law complaints will be investigated the same as any other suspected crime.

"We will review it," Pruitt said. "It's currently an active investigation. After (the findings) are reviewed, we will make a decision about what will happen."

Bosanko said she's frustrated by the direction the Mosquito Control Board has taken.

"We should come together and solve problems," she said. "That is not occurring."


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