This is a pretty well researched article, which if true, indicates that there is some "inappropriate" use of lobbyist's for the environmental movement by Lake County Commissioners Elaine Renick and Linda Stewart. It seems they have had lots of meetings with some environmental lobbyists without recording the meetings, and they are using the lobbyists to write laws that affect all Lake County residents.
This is the same thing where pharmaceutical firms use their paid publicists to write articles issued by "scientists" to claim a medicine is safe, without disclosing the affiliation.
In addition, I don't like having paid, professional lobbyists on volunteer boards steering the discussion to benefit themselves.
And, as the column says, the lobbyists then recommend studies that benefit their pockets...which to me smells of an ethics violation.
Finally, I remember when Renick and Stewart used to come to Republican meetings, claiming to be Republicans, but once they were elected on an anti-growth movement, they dropped any pretense of being Republicans and you don't see that at all (especially now that I am in AFghanistan...).
So, read, and remember these tales below when the next elections come up.
vj
Here is the "Right Side of the Lake" news with the details, or go to their website.
To view this newsletter in full-color:
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THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAKE
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Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Lobbyist and Sunshine Laws Possibly Violated by County Officials VOLUME 1 ISSUE 121
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Lobbyist and Sunshine Laws Possibly Violated by County Officials
This morning, The Citizens for Better Government, LLC,
delivered to Sandy Minkoff, the County Attorney, and Greg
Welstead, one of the County's compliance officers, complaints
that serious violations of the lobbyist ordinance, along with
possible violations of Florida's Sunshine law, have occurred. In
addition, this information has been forwarded to the State
Attorney's office.
The Lake County Commission in 2007, at the bequest of
Commissioners Stewart and Renick, passed a local ordinance on
lobbying, which strictly defined, limited, and laid down
punishment for those who engaged in unauthorized lobbying
activities in Lake County. At the time it was done, the stated
purpose was to protect the citizens from developers,
corporations, and others who they believed were running amuck in
Lake County. Contractors, builders, and members of the
development community have been denied meetings with
Commissioner Renick on legitimate issues because she refuses to
discuss any upcoming matters.
However, the official records from the County paint a far
different picture if you are a hired lobbyist for the
environmental movement. In our view, Lake County has allowed the
environmental movement unprecedented access to government
officials and, in fact, they are literally writing the
ordinances.
Here are the facts as we know them:
- On the official application for Lake County Boards and
Committees, Keith Schue lists his business as The Nature
Conservancy of Altamonte Springs. The Nature Conservancy is a
powerful environmental group that lobbies governments across the
world to adopt many environmental causes. Keith Schue is a hired
lobbyist.
- Since 2004, Keith Schue, a paid lobbyist, has been a member of
the Lake County Land Planning Agency as approved by the Lake
County Commission. The application statement for the LPA says in
part, "I will attend meetings in accordance with adopted
policies of Lake County. If at any time my business or
professional interest conflicts with the interest of this Board
or Committee, I will not participate in such deliberations."
Every aspect of the LPA is a conflict of interest based on his
professional and business positions.
- Charles Lee holds the position of Director of Advocacy for the
Audubon of Florida and is listed in the Florida Lobbyist
Directory. His title and registration confirms he is a paid
lobbyist.
- Steve Barnes is an elected member of the Seminole Soil and
Water Board but he also has a private interest in the St. Johns
River Magazine and MyFloridaRiver.com. Based on his outside
business interests and the environmental groups he tries to
cluster, we believe he is a lobbyist. Our search indicates other
lobbyist may be involved but tracking down their associations is
difficult.
- According to Ashley McCreary in the County Attorney's office,
Mr. Schue signed in as a lobbyist on October 18, 2007, October
23, 2007, and June 9, 2008. Charles Lee and Steve Barnes have
never registered with the County Attorney's office as lobbyists.
Please note that Mr. Schue's signing in on those three dates
once again acknowledges his position as a lobbyist.
- Based on our investigation of official Lake County emails and
meeting records obtained under Florida Sunshine Statutes records
requests from December 1, 2006 through June 16, 2009, we contend
the following:
- Keith Schue violated the Lake County lobbyist statute 55 times
and based on these violations, he should be fined $13,500,
prohibited from lobbying the County for a two-year period, and
charged with a misdemeanor.
- Charles Lee violated the Lake County lobbyist statute 5 times
and he should be fined $1,000 and not be allowed to lobby the
County for a period of two years.
- Steve Barnes violated the Lake County lobbyist statute 4 times
and he should be fined $750.00 and not be allowed to lobby the
County for a period of two years.
- The Citizens for Better Government, LLC has identified 22
possible Sunshine Law Violations by Commissioners Renick,
Stewart, Keith Schue, and other members of the LPA. Possible
Sunshine Law violations occurred in meetings and email
correspondence. If proven guilty, sanctions against all should
be taken.
- Since May 12, 2008, Commissioners Elaine Renick and Linda
Stewart (not together) have personally met 23 times and had one
teleconference with Keith Schue. Since Keith Schue is not the
Chairperson of the LPA, there is an assumption that
inappropriate influence peddling has occurred.
- According to the meeting records of Linda Stewart, on May 18,
2008 she met with Keith Schue, LPA Member/lobbyist, Peggy
Belflower, LPA Member, other county officials, and Walt Thomson
of the Nature Conservancy at Pine Forest Park to discuss a
trail. This is a possible violation of the Sunshine Law.
- According to Elaine Renick's meeting records, on March 3,
2009, she had a meeting with Keith Schue, LPA Member/lobbyist,
Rob Kelly, LPA member, Steve Barnes, lobbyist, Charles Lee,
lobbyist, and apparently a few others. This is a possible
violation of the Sunshine Law and indicates additional
violations, depending on who else was at that meeting.
- One of the meetings of particular concern was held April 23,
2009 at 10 AM, at which Elaine Renick met with certain members
or their representatives of the LPA, and lobbyists from across
the area, who gathered in person and via teleconference to have
a water strategy meeting in the Lake County Commissioners'
conference room on the 3rd floor. The County Attorney issued a
warning via special opinion given by attorney Michael Woodward
that this meeting violated the Florida Sunshine Law. Elaine
Renick's day calendar only noted a meeting between Keith Schue
and was vague about "and others". It is extremely unclear who
participated in this meeting, but based on email and other
information, it is obvious to our group that this meeting made a
farce of the Sunshine Law and the lobbying law.
- The Lake County Attorney's office identifies Greg Welstead as
the code enforcement officer for lobbyist infractions, which our
group believes has been compromised. On May 15, Commissioner
Renick emailed Keith Schue asking him to send Gregg Welstead
information on Senate Bill 2080 so a letter could be drafted on
behalf of the County, lobbying Governor Crist to veto this
legislation. In email exchanges between Cindy Hall and Elaine
Renick, Hall said, "I asked Greg to draft some language for that
one too", referring to the growth bills. Renick then sent Keith
Schue the email string saying, "Did I send you this email
string?" Greg Welstead is not empowered to make an independent
judgment and a special independent attorney should be hired to
review these complaints.
- The email records we obtained also indicate that Keith Schue
has become the primary scribe for many ordinances dealing with
the environment in Lake County. Whether it is the Landscape
Ordinance, the Comprehensive Plan, or density exception,
everything is basically composed, edited, and written by Keith
Schue. In fact, embarrassingly, County staff members have been
chastised for not following his direction or plans.
- The current nine-member panel of the Land Planning Agency has
six like-minded environmental extremists - Rob Kelly, Peggy
Belflower, Keith Schue, Vicki Zaneis, Terry Godts, and Cindy
Barrow, who all appear to be communicating frequently via
improper channels to skirt Sunshine laws. Many emails have what
appears to be personal and secondary email addresses on them,
and it also appears LPA members who do not share the same view
are not included in such communications.
- The custodial nature of record keeping of Lake County emails
has improved but a huge black hole exists prior to 2009. It is
apparent to our group that inappropriate correspondence between
LPA members and Commissioners Stewart and Renick has occurred
but the County has not performed the due diligence to gather the
facts. It is the belief of the Citizens for Better Government
that all email records on County computers should be immediately
seized and a thorough review of the records made. We have not
made record requests for all the LPA members' emails, as this
could go on forever and possibly reveal many more violations.
- The use of private email accounts seems to be prevalent and
the County Attorney warned officials that this does not shield
them from Sunshine laws. The County Attorney should ask for all
personal email records from all members of the Board of County
Commissioners between any LPA members or outside lobbying
group.
- Since October 13, 2005, Lake County has paid Keith Schue
$4,200 for meeting attendance and he is a hired lobbyist.
- Keith Schue's wife, Shirley, made campaign donations of $250
to Linda Stewart and $200 to Elaine Renick during the last
cycle.
- Keith Schue should be immediately removed from the LPA, all
ordinances he wrote or edited should be postponed for review,
and the comprehensive plan should be sent for an independent
review by an outside task force.
- Any member of the LPA who violated Florida Sunshine Statutes
should be replaced and banned from serving on any County board.
- The small amount of public records we obtained shows
widespread disregard for the laws of this County and State, and
The Citizens for Better Government, LLC calls for a complete,
independent, and thorough investigation.
There is a corruption, which has entered the commission
building, and it is in the Trojan horse of the environmental
movement, which seeks to add more regulations and more studies
so their member groups and associates can make money. Not unlike
a developer who seeks to make money through land transactions or
home construction, these environmentalists seek to use the
government to build dollars with new studies. Notice every
ordinance that Keith Schue writes requires that some
environmental study to be done - that's how his crowd gets paid-
it is all about the money.
Keith Schue and Charles Lee are illegally lobbying the County
under the guise of a noble cause. No cause is any nobler than
ours. We think it is just as, or more, important that the
Citizens of Lake County are able to have good jobs, decent
places to live, and food on the table.
So, we call on Lake County today to do the right thing by
openly and honestly investigating the complaints we have brought
forth. The public's trust demands transparency and no group
should have unfettered access to public officials. This
corruption in the name of a good cause must stop.
_________________________________________________________________
Published by Citizens For Better Government (mailto:[email protected])
Copyright (C) 2009 Citizens for Better Government, LLC. All rights reserved.
