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MSBU meeting procedures raise concern
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET CITRUS SPRINGS -- It started innocently enough, with a passing reference to a decorating committee that had been created for the Citrus Springs community center that is under construction. But for a Municipal Services Benefit Unit, or MSBU, advisory council that has seen a tumultuous year with chairman Hal Sistrand at the helm, the head-scratching last month over an unheard-of committee quickly turned into finger-pointing over the bylaws and the Sunshine Law. "I have no problem with a decorating committee; however, I do not remember this committee being formed and nowhere I have read in the minutes this was mentioned," resident Joseph Colon told the council Nov. 7, according to an e-mail he sent to County Commissioner Vicki Phillips. "Was this committee formed in the back room?" Colon asked. Colon said he got no answer -- just repeated orders from Sistrand to sit down. "He got an answer: to sit down, because he was out of order," Sistrand told the Citrus Times Thursday. "I have a perfect right to tell him to sit down and to call people out of order." A petty exchange? Perhaps. But the incident caused enough heartburn for fellow council member Annette Hoey to write a letter describing the exchange to Phillips. Hoey had not heard of the committee, either, and wrote that Sistrand may have violated the bylaws if he created a committee without the advisory council's approval. She also wrote that Sistrand's "outburst caused me great concern that other council members and residents who attend MSBU meetings might be afraid to speak up fearing intimidation." "Don't get me wrong," Hoey concluded in her letter. "Advisory council members should be commended for donating their time and expense for the good of the community; however, I do believe the council must follow the rules set in place by the (County) Commission and should be given the opportunity to correct the way they conduct council business." "Guidance and counseling are urgently needed as well as your help investigating these situations," she wrote. The county is stepping in to provide just that. County Administrator Richard Wesch and County Attorney Robert Battista will attend the council's January meeting and explain the constraints of the Sunshine Law, which prohibits decisionmaking boards from conducting business outside of public meetings. They will also remind the council members of their role in gathering information and sharing it with the community. Battista said he has reviewed the letters by both Hoey and Colon. "There's not enough there for me to say I think there was, or even I have a suspicion there was (a Sunshine Law violation)," he said. Sistrand said the issue was resolved at the group's Dec. 5 meeting: The decorating committee had been created at a previous meeting when Hoey was absent, he said. "We've resolved it to the MSBU and everything is just fine," Sistrand said. "End of story." The county created the Citrus Springs Municipal Service Benefit Unit in 1994 to pay for street lights, road improvements, fire hydrants and a new community center for the 2,111-home subdivision. Property owners pay an extra tax -- $25 for homeowners, $20 for the owners of some 28,443 vacant lots -- and a volunteer board appointed by the County Commission makes recommendations on how the money should be spent. Citrus County has numerous boards, from a newly created MSBU in Beverly Hills to the Planning and Development Review Board, in which appointed volunteers take on a quasigovernmental role because they advise the County Commission. They are expected to follow the Sunshine Law and provide information requested by the public. For the most part, Phillips said, these volunteer boards operate smoothly and responsibly. But she said there has been some concern about the Citrus Springs MSBU. Frank Di Maio, one of two council members who stepped down in October, said in his resignation letter that the board has failed to follow parliamentary procedure during Sistrand's term as chairman. "I cannot tolerate still another year on a council that is not functioning correctly," wrote Di Maio, who did not return a Times phone call seeking further comment. Within days of Di Maio's departure, board member Hector Guillen resigned, citing only "personal reasons." Phillips said she became concerned after attending a council meeting in May that "lacked orderliness," particularly during a discussion about the latest cost figures for the community center. "There were general questions that had been asked (by members of the public) that I don't feel like people feel like they had gotten adequate answers from the chairman," Phillips said. "The information was a matter of record, so it would have been simple to say, "We'll get that answer and get back to you next time.' " Phillips said she has spoken to Sistrand several times, urging him to be responsive when members of the public ask questions at the meetings. While Sistrand declined to discuss the council's issues further -- "I think we're just going to let sleeping dogs lie," he said -- Phillips is optimistic that the Citrus Springs MSBU can work out its issues and move on. "I think they are a fine group of people, and I think they all are very much concerned about their community. They are dedicated to improving their community and volunteering their time to the betterment of the whole community," Phillips said. "I just fear there has been a misunderstanding of some Florida law on the board, and of the role of the MSBU. I think with clarification on that and some guidance from the county, this situation will definitely improve."
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