As the city of Crystal River moves inexorably closer to starting the largest land annexation in Citrus County history, a battle is going on behind the scenes to determine just how much the public and other entities such as the county government will be able to monitor the progress of this important project.
The early results are not encouraging for those in the community who might like to stay in the loop as this enormous change in the landscape unfolds.
In recent weeks, Joanne Bartell, wife of county Commissioner Gary Bartell and a civic activist in her own right, has engaged in a tug-of-war with City Attorney David LaCroix over access to public records relating to the project. The frustration has reached the point where Bartell has asked the state Attorney General's Office to get involved as a mediator.
Judging by the tone of his written replies to Bartell's requests, LaCroix is equally exasperated. Not enough, however, to go along with mediation. "It's a meaningless issue," he told the Citrus Times.
Frustrating, perhaps, but hardly meaningless. A member of the public wants to see public records. That's her right, and neither she nor any other citizen should have to jump through unreasonable hoops to do so. That, by the way, is not just my opinion - it's the law as interpreted by the attorney general.
Reasonable, of course, is the key word and its definition lies in the eyes of the beholder.
For LaCroix, keeping the records not in Crystal River but in his Brooksville office, where they can be viewed by appointment, is just fine. So is having a system in which pertinent information is scattered among paper files, computer files, e-mails and other correspondence, rather than collected in a central and easily accessible location.
Of all people, LaCroix should appreciate the importance of making copies. Last year, in response to a different records request from Bartell, LaCroix explained that he kept some public records on his home computer and when that crashed, he lost them. He had backed them up on a "Zip drive," but that, too, failed. "I do not know offhand what documents I have lost and did not retain hard copies of," he wrote.
It is important to note that Bartell is not alone in her struggle to get access to information. In fact, she is in pretty good company.
Chuck Dixon, the county's Community Development director, has been thwarted and County Administrator Richard Wesch has had his own war of words with LaCroix over county access to city records.
Carl Bertoch, the attorney representing the community group CORA (Citizens Opposed to Realticorp Annexation), has weighed in on Bartell's behalf. Even the attorney for Wal-Mart, which intends to anchor the massive development with a supercenter, has had records run-ins.
Pardon the members of the local press if we chortle a bit at these folks who are getting a taste of what reporters deal with on a regular basis. Welcome to our world!
Keep in mind that this annexation-and-superdevelopment process is in its early stages. If LaCroix is so flummoxed now over routine records requests, a basic aspect of responsible government in Florida, what will happen as the project moves along and the woefully unprepared city staff finds itself buried under an avalanche of documents, reports, maps, blueprints, lawsuits and tons of other records?
The public, county officials and others are going to be watching this project very closely in the coming years and will want to review all of these important documents. Does LaCroix really want to spend his time fencing with them over their requests and differing interpretations of state law? Do city taxpayers really want to pay him (at $150 an hour) for this legal wrangling?
There is a simple solution to this problem, one that other government bodies have adopted and which allows them to conduct the people's business while complying with the letter and spirit of the open records law.
All it takes is hitting the copy key on a computer keyboard. Or the copy button on a copying machine. Put the duplicates in a central file, at City Hall, where they can be reviewed by anyone.
That's the easy part.
The challenge comes in trusting that the city officials will be diligent in putting everything in the file. LaCroix notes in his numerous letters to Bartell and others that he doesn't want to be the one to determine what is a "relevant" document.
The logical step would be to copy everything, except for those documents that are specifically exempt from the records law.
Does that make sense? Is it, in a word, reasonable?
