John Bakas'
Objection & Rebuttal to Toni Leake's Grievance
Note: Some of the attachments to the following did not format properly
when I copied them directly into this thread, especially letters. All of
these attachments, including Toni Leake's resume, are contained in the link
below though. The file is large and it may take one or two minutes for it
to open, please be patient.
Below is my August 20, 2007 Objection and Rebuttal to District
Manager Toni Leake's Grievance.
John Bakas' August 20, 2007 Objection and Rebuttal to Toni Leake's
Grievance
Objections and Rebuttal to Grievance
These objections and rebuttal are submitted by John
Bakas, CDD board member, to the grievance dated June 6, 2007 by
Antoinette Leake.
In Summary:
By filing this grievance District Manager Toni Leake
seeks to take control of the CDD board and its attorneys by censorship
of board-member comments and legal advice of CDD lawyers.
This board and district manager should focus on 1)
rolling back special tax assessments to Lake St. Charles Homeowners from
$1,120 for single family homes to $900 (and similarly for other
assessment payers) 2) replacing current staff with a professional
management firm, and 3) seeking greater Homeowner input into
expenditures of CDD capital projects.
The CDD board should spend its time obtaining a
professional management firm to manage the CDD so that LSC Homeowners
receive much improved management of landscaping and community projects.
The grievance should be dismissed because the CDD board
cannot legally grant either of the requested remedies [removal from
office or seeking to have the board censor me]:
a. The Lake St. Charles Community Development District
(the CDD) lacks the jurisdiction or authority to remove a CDD board
member from office. Any attempts by the board would be in violation of
law.
b. As a governmental entity the LSC CDD board would
violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution if it sought to
censor my exercise of free speech to comment on the performance of a
public employee. Governments cannot censor a board member.
Further, it is improper that CDD staff or board should have the
authority to censor comments made by lawyers hired by the CDD board.
c. The grievance is evidence that District Manager Toni
Leake intends, expects, or seeks to control information the CDD auditors
have access to.
d. The grievance is evidence that District Manager Toni
Leake intends, expects, or seeks authority to censor and control the CDD
board’s lawyers regarding what comments or legal advice the CDD board
may receive.
Additional objections and rebuttal to the grievance:
1. The grievance filed by District Manager Toni Leake is
frivolous on its face and serves to underscore my concerns about
District Manager Toni Leake being ill prepared to serve in a government
position authorized by chapter 190, Florida Statutes, requiring
professionalism, skill, and knowledge of the law as it pertains to CDD
operations. The grievance is unfounded.
2. The grievance serves to underscore my concerns that
the Lake St. Charles CDD is not properly managed and that the CDD board
should hire a professional district manager.
3. The CDD board has no jurisdiction to prevent, limit
or control the comments of a board member regarding the poor job
performance by CDD staff and the wasteful expenditures of special
assessment funds collected from the CDD Homeowners ($1,120 annually from
each single-family lot owner), and the poor condition of the community
landscaping.
4. A great community like Lake St. Charles deserves much
better management and residents deserve far better results from the huge
amounts of money the CDD board collected from LSC Homeowners since
fiscal year 2004/2005. Attempts by the CDD board to prevent, limit or
control the free-speech of board members would violate the First
Amendment of the US Constitution. It is poor government policy to
consider such requests from government employees like District Manager
Toni Leake to censor a board member and its lawyer, Sid Kilgore.
5. The grievance fails to allege that I violated any
rule of the CDD or any law. Because the grievance fails to include any
allegation of a rule or statute that has been violated, the grievance is
frivolous and should be dismissed.
6. The CDD board has no jurisdiction over claims of
defamation. In addition, all my comments about the conduct, fitness or
role of Toni Leake are regarding her in her public capacity as CDD
district manager under Section 190.007, Florida Statutes. She is a
public official.
7. In addition, as a matter of law the allegations of
defamation against a public official are insufficient.
8. As an affirmative defense, without admitting the
validity of the grievance, all comments by me included in the grievance
are privileged because they relate to the job performance and competence
of Toni Leake as district manager.
9. The grievance’s allegations are insufficient and fail
to allege matters with sufficient specificity to enable a response.
10. The grievance is untimely.
11. The CDD board is biased, has already voted on
matters alleged in the grievance, and should appoint a group of three
persons mutually agreeable to the board and to me to hear and decide the
grievance. In addition, board members and LSC residents may be witnesses
about their actions. They should not be allowed to serve as both
witnesses in a hearing concerning their action regarding possible public
records and Sunshine Law violations and then also serve as judge and
jury on those actions. Such kangaroo courts are improper for any due
process proceeding.
12. All of my previous correspondence and e-mails
submitted in response to matters in the grievance are hereby
incorporated by reference.
13. Allegations that I have taken improper actions, if
any, are false and are denied.
14. A proper grievance process requires the CDD board to
reverse its previous decisions that denied my motions and requests to
have the CDD lawyer investigate possible Sunshine Law and Public Records
law violations — such matters are a necessary prerequisite to
consideration of the grievance. The CDD cannot consider the grievance
without also reversing its previous decisions and allow for a review by
the CDD lawyer of the concerns expressed by me and the previous CDD
lawyer who was terminated by the CDD board immediately after he brought
such matters to the board. Actions by board members Lorelei Bowden
and Ginny Gianakos, and District Manager Toni Leake are the subject of
those motions and requests. The CDD board’s vote not to investigate
those potential violations of the law by such individuals demonstrate
that the CDD board cannot provide a fair and impartial due process
grievance hearing.
15. I have a concern that possible business
relationships between the CDD secretary/treasurer, Ginny Gianakos, and
District Manager Toni Leake, will prevent Ginny Gianakos from being
impartial. For example, were or are Ginny Gianakos and District Manager
Toni Leake associated with the same company (the name may be Weekenders
USA or similar company selling clothing), what was Ginny Gianakos’s
involvement, if any, in Toni Leake beginning to work with such company,
if she does; and did Ginny Gianakos receive any benefit or waive any
benefit regarding Toni Leake joining such company or any sales or other
activities of Toni Leake? The details of these relationships, if any,
should be disclosed to the CDD board, prior to the board’s consideration
of the grievance.
16. The CDD board needs to conduct the investigation of
the possible Sunshine Law violations by Ginny Gianakos, CDD
secretary/treasurer, and possible public-records law violations by CDD
chairman Lorelei Bowden, to determine whether they should be
disqualified to hear or take part in review of this grievance. Such
matters were incorporated into the grievance by District Manager Toni
Leake.
17. If the CDD board properly hired attorney Sid Kilgore
to respond to the inquiries for the audit, then Sid Kilgore was properly
retained to provide legal advice to the CDD board and was authorized to
call me to obtain factual information about the response the CDD board
requested him to provide. Sid Kilgore’s authorization by the CDD to
respond to the audit inquiries prevents, as a matter of law, his
response being unauthorized. The CDD board cannot have it both ways, if
Sid Kilgore was properly hired by the CDD to respond to the audit
inquiry, then the CDD District Manager Toni Leake cannot complain when
Sid Kilgore responds.
18. If Sid Kilgore was properly rehired after being
fired as CDD lawyer, Sid Kilgore was authorized to call me to ask me a
question about his response which had been requested by the CDD and Sid
Kilgore’s call to me cannot, as a matter of law, constitute collusion.
19. It may be that District Manager Toni Leake is
claiming that the CDD had not properly retained Sid Kilgore to respond
to the audit inquiry after the CDD board had voted to terminate him as
district legal counsel and hire a new lawyer, Roland Santiago. If this
is the claim, the failure of the CDD board to follow proper procedures
in rehiring Sid Kilgore after he had been terminated by the CDD board
shows poor management by those who requested the audit letter from Sid
Kilgore.
20. District Manager Toni Leake and CDD chairwoman
Lorelei Bowden violated CDD policy by placing District Manager Toni
Leake’s grievance on the CDD August 7, 2007 CDD agenda contrary to the
procedure for handling grievances. Such action was a misuse of the
chairwoman’s and district manager’s positions.
21. The grievance should be dismissed.
22. My previous memos and e-mails regarding the matters
discussed in the grievance are incorporated into this response.
23. In the alternative, and without admitting the
validity of the grievance filed by District Manager Toni Leake, if I,
John Bakas, am subject to any action by the CDD board because of the
letter written by Sid Kilgore in response to an audit inquiry, and if
that letter by Sid Kilgore had been authorized by the CDD board, then
the CDD board members Lorelei Bowden, Chairman, David Nelson,
Vice-Chair, Ginny Gianakos, Secretary/Treasurer and Rex Speer,
Supervisor are also liable for the same remedy as sought in the
grievance.
24. Sid Kilgore was terminated by the CDD board as its
district counsel. After he was terminated, Sid Kilgore was
apparently rehired by the CDD to respond to an audit inquiry.
25. Sid Kilgore, newly rehired to provide legal services
to the CDD board, then responded as requested by the CDD board.
26. As part of District Manager Toni Leake's grievance,
she claims that it was not proper for attorney Sid Kilgore to call me as
a CDD board member to ask a question while he was engaged to respond to
the CDD's request.
27. As stated previously, in the grievance, District
Manager Toni Leake seeks to censor what the CDD board’s lawyers may say
regarding CDD staff.
28. In a July 11, 2007 letter to Rolando Santiago, Sid
Kilgore wrote the following about Sid Kilgore's call to me:
These communications with Mr. Bakas were not
outside the scope of the District's directive. By
letter dated 22 February 2007, Lorelei Bowden,
Chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors of the Lake
St. Charles Community Development District (the
'District'), requested that the undersigned furnish
certain information to the auditors for the District,
ValienteHernandez, P.A. in connection with their
examination of the financial statements of the
District as of 30 September 2006, as well as matters
during the period from that date to the date of our
response. In accordance with that request, on 30
April 2007, we furnished the auditors with a letter
providing that information.
In order to ensure the accuracy of that information,
approximately .40 hours were expended to
telephone Mr. Bakas and to take a return telephone
call from him regarding the substance of his prior
communications with us concerning certain practices
of the District during the relevant period.
We took
no direction from Mr. Bakas, but only solicited
from Mr. Bakas information germane to the
fulfillment of our charge, pursuant to Mrs.
Bowden's letter to us of 22 February 2007.
(emphasis supplied)
29. In a July 11, 2007 letter to Rolando Santiago, Sid
Kilgore wrote that if chairwoman Lorelei Bowden had been authorized by
the CDD board to rehire Sid Kilgore after the CDD board had terminated
him, then Sid Kilgore's call to me had been authorized by the CDD board.
30. If my actions in responding to a lawyer hired by the
CDD board subject me to any action by the CDD board, then CDD board
members Lorelei Bowden, Chairman, David Nelson, Vice-Chair, Ginny
Gianakos, Secretary/Treasurer and Rex Speer, Supervisor are also liable
for the same remedy as sought in the grievance.
31. I would not have talked with Sid Kilgore about CDD
matters but for his call to me. He would not have called me but for the
action of the chairwoman Lorelei Bowden in rehiring Sid Kilgore to
provide legal services to the district.
32. If such actions amount to an offense subject to a
grievance, the action was caused by CDD board members Lorelei Bowden,
Chairman, David Nelson, Vice-Chair, Ginny Gianakos, Secretary/Treasurer
and Rex Speer, Supervisor.
33. The action taken by chairwoman Lorelei Bowden to
rehire Sid Kilgore was taken in the February 22, 2007, letter to Sid
Kilgore.
34. Witnesses for this grievance are all CDD board
members, Sid Kilgore, District Manager Toni Leake, representatives of
ValienteHernandez, P.A. who performed the CDD audit, and CDD residents
named in CDD minutes from August 2006 to the present.
____________________________
John W. Bakas, Jr.
August 20, 2007
Attachments incorporated into this response
Attachment 1 Resume of District Manager
Toni Leake
Attachment 2 April 30, 2007 Letter from Sid Kilgore to
Auditors
Attachment 3 July 11, 2007 Letter from Sid Kilgore
Attachment 4, 2007 October 20, 2006 Memo from John Bakas
Attachment 5 CDD Board Lawyer Advises Board re
Potentially Serious Legal Concerns
Attachment 6 February 22, 2007 Letter from CDD
chairwoman Lorelei Bowden to Sid Kilgore
ATTACHMENT 1
Toni Leake's Resume will be posted separately due to
formatting problems.
ATTACHMENT 2
Attachment 2 will
be reposted separately due to formatting problems.
Pennington Moore Wilkinson
Sidney W. Kilgore
Attorney at Law
30 April
2007
ValienteHernandez, P.A.
Suite 950 ,
7 I5 North Westshore Boulevard
Tampa, Florida 33607
Re: Lake St. Charles Community Development District - 30
September 2006 Audit
Our File No. 21411.21528
Gentlemen:
Lorelei Bowden, Chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors
of the Lake St. Charles
Community Development District (the 'District'), has requested that the
undersigned
furnish you with certain information in connection with your examination
of the
financial statements of the District as of 30 September 2006, as well as
matters during
the period from that date to the date of this response. The undersigned
provided
services to the District as its regular legal counsel during the
one-year period since the
District's last audit, i.e., from I October 2005 through 30 September
2006, and from
the end of that period until 20 November 2006, at which time the Board
of Supervisors
of the District voted to discontinue those services. The information
provided herein has
been so limited.
This letter is solely for your information and
assistance in connection with your audit
of, and report with respect to, the financial condition of the District.
Nothing herein is
to
be quoted or otherwise referred to
in any financial statements of the District or in
any related documents without the prior written consent of this firm.
We have made no independent review of any of the
District's transactions or
contractual arrangements for the purposes of this response; instead, we
have
endeavored to determine from lawyers in our firm who have performed
services for the
District during the applicable period whether such services involved the
type described
in Ms. Bowden's letter, and we disclaim any undertaking to advise you of
changes
which hereinafter may be brought to our attention.
With respect to matters contemplated by clauses (b) or
(c) of Paragraph 5 of the
American Bar Association's Statement of Policy, we make no comment as no
such
matters have been specifically identified by the District for comment.
Subject to the
foregoing, and to the last paragraph of this letter, we advise you that
we have not been
engaged to give substantive attention to, or represent the District in
connection with
material loss contingencies within the scope of clause (a) of Paragraph
5 of the
Statement of Policy referred to in the above paragraph. More
specifically:
1. Pending
Litigation. We are
unaware of any litigation that was pending or had
been threatened against the District as of 30 September 2006, or during
the period from
that date to 20 November 2006 when the services of this firm were
terminated by the
Board of Supervisors.
II. Judgments. To our knowledge, no judgments had
been rendered against the
District as of 30 September 2006, or during the period from that date to
20 November
2006 when the services of this firm were terminated by the Board of
Supervisors.
III. Other information. With regard to other
information in connection with
pending or threatened litigation, claims, assessments, or other material
loss
contingencies known as of 30 September 2006, and from that date through
20
November 2006, the undersigned became aware during the period from 1
October
2006 to 20 November 2006 of a number of potential material issues which
may have a
bearing on the outcome of the instant audit of the District.
A. Fiscal controls. On or about 2 October 2006,
certain concerns were
raised by Supervisor John Bakas regarding the management practices of
the
District and in particular, the adequacy of its internal fiscal
controls. He
suggested, among other things, that remarks about the inadequacy of the
internal
fiscal controls of the District appearing in the last annual audit of
the District
subsequently had not been addressed by the District.
B. Public records. In an
effort to investigate his concerns regarding the
fiscal management of the District, on 4 October 2006, Mr. Bakas issued
to
District staff a written request for public records of the District
pursuant to
Florida Statutes Chapter 119. The requested records encompassed all data
files
on the computers in the offices of the District, to wit, "all the
document files of
the Microsoft programs including Word, Excel, Publisher, Project,
PowerPoint,
Outlook, Access, Office, Notepad; any text files; any PDF files, and any
pictures
files." Also requested was a copy of any backup of any of the office
computers
of the District and name of the backup program used.
It is the
understanding of the undersigned that the District had, in the past,
received public records requests and generally complied with the
statutory
requirements for responding to, and meeting the substance of, those
requests.
The above-referenced request of Mr. Bakas, however, was not immediately
honored. Allegations surfaced that staff had failed or refused to
provide him
with the records he had requested, and that certain members of the Board
of
Supervisors actively and intentionally directed staff not to comply with
Mr.
Bakas' request, in derogation of Florida law. The mishandling of Mr.
Bakas'
request by the District resulted in an arguable violation of Florida
Statutes
Chapter 119 for which the District could face potential liability.
A number of potential problems surfaced as a result of this incident.
First, it exposed the failure of the District to have in place an
established written
procedure for processing requests for public records pursuant to Florida
Statutes
Chapter 119 that is to be adhered to by staff uniformly and
consistently.
Second, it revealed that District staff, and even certain members of the
Board of
Supervisors, either failed to appreciate fully the District's
obligations under
Florida law with respect to public records, or were indifferent to those
obligations in this
instance.
A third problem that became apparent following Mr. Bakas'
request
relates to the adequacy of the systems used by the District for
archiving and
retrieving electronic forms of public records. District staff appeared
flummoxed
by the demand of Mr. Bakas for copies of the District's electronic files
to be
provided to him on a CD-ROM or an external hard drive, and it remains
unclear
whether District staff had adequate resources for backing up and
retrieving on
demand its electronic public records. Without adequate hardware,
software, and
trained personnel required to back up regularly its public records and
to retrieve
them on demand, and in the absence of established controls and
procedures to
protect those records from both inadvertent loss and from intentional
tampering
or destruction, the District faces potentially substantial legal
exposure.
c.
Sunshine Law. Another area of concern raised
by
Mr. Bakas relates to
possible violations of the Florida Sunshine Act by members of the Board
of
Supervisors of the District. Mr. Bakas and his wife operate and maintain
an
internet-based threaded discussion board for the use of the District
community
on a web site residing on a commercial server. Mr. Bakas reported that
he
suspected anonymous posts regarding issues that were either before the
Board of
Supervisors or likely to come before the it that had been made to the
discussion
board, including specifically certain posts around the
i h
and
s"
of October
2006, were being made by another member of the Board of Supervisors in
violation of the Florida Sunshine Act. By scrutinizing the IP address of
the
otherwise anonymous source of the postings, Mr. Bakas indicated that he
had
determined the IP address to be one accessible to, and likely to have
been used
by fellow Supervisor Ginny Gianakos to post the anonymous message. If
what
Mr. Bakas has concluded is true, it remains unclear whether this
situation
reflects ignorance of, or actual indifference to, the requirements of
Florida law
by an elected member of the Board of Supervisors. In any case, the
situation
underscores the potential for serious legal exposure for the District.
At 30 September
2006, the District had an outstanding billed balance for legal services
from the law firm of Pennington, Moore, Wilkinson, Bell
&
Dunbar, P.A. of $820.00
in attorneys' fees and $0.00 in costs, all since paid in full. Also as
of 30 September
2006, the District had no money in any trust account with this law firm.
At 20 November 2006, the date of termination of the services of this firm
by the Board
of Supervisors, the District had an outstanding billed balance for legal
services from
this firm of $3,240.00 in attorneys' fees and $20.25 in costs. This
balance and all other
sums owed by the District to the firm were paid sometime in April of
2007. As of 20
November 2006, the District had no money in any trust account with this
law firm.
This response is limited by, and in accordance with, the
American Bar Association's Statement of Policy Regarding Lawyers'
Responses to Auditors' Requests for Information (December 1975); without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, the limitations set forth in
such Statement on the scope and use of this response (Paragraphs 2 and
7) are specifically incorporated herein by reference, and any
description herein of any "loss contingencies" is qualified in its
entirety by Paragraph 5
of the Statement and the accompanying Commentary (which is an integral
part of the
Statement). Consistent with the last sentence of Paragraph 6 of the
American Bar
Association's Statement of Policy, this will confirm as correct the
District's
understanding that whenever, in the course of performing legal services
for the District
with respect to a matter recognized to involve an unasserted possible
claim or
assessment that may call for financial disclosure, the undersigned has
formed a
professional conclusion that the District must disclose or consider
disclosure
concerning such possible claim or assessment, the undersigned, as a
matter of
professional responsibility to the District, will so advise the District
and will consult
with the District concerning the question of such disclosure and the
applicable
requirements of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.5.
Yours sincerely,
cc: Board of Supervisors, Lake St. Charles Community
Development District (through Toni Leake, District Manager)
ATTACHMENT 3
Dunbarp.A.
w AwTwT.Op(R.nNniEn~Yl.S-.ill;}wA.{T"o
LAWnl
1.1 July 2007
Rolando J.
Satltiago
10028 Water Works Lane
Riverview, Florida 33569
Re: Dispute of Bill No. 81013 - $1.,360.00
Lake St. Charles Community Development District
Our File No. 21411.21528
Deat Mr. Santiago:
Sidney W. Kilgore
Attorney at Law
(813) 639-9599
skilgore@penningtonlaw.com
We are in receipt of your letter of 29 June 2007,
disputing certain charges included in
the above-referenced statement for professional services
from our firm. We believe the
charges in dispute, relating to our communications with
Supervisor John Bakas
incident to the provision to the District auditors of
accurate information concerning
allegations brought to the attention of the undersigned
by Mr.
Bakas during the
relevant examination period, to be reasonable and
appropriate.
Contrary to the assertions in your letter, these
communications with Mr. Bakas were
not outside the scope of the District's directive. By
letter dated 22 February 2007,
Lorelei Bowden, Chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors
of the Lake St. Charles
Community Development District (the 'District'),
requested that the undersigned
furnish certain information to the auditors for the
District, Valientd"Iemalldez, P.A" in
connection with their examination of the financial
statements of the District as of 30
September 2006, as well as matters during the period
from that date to the date of our
response. In accordance with that request, on 30 April
2007, we furnished the auditors
with a letter providing that information.
In order to ensure the accuracy of that information,
.approximately AO
hours were
expended to telephone Mr. Bakas and to take a return
telephone call from him
regarding the substance of his prior communications with
us concerning certain
2701 North Rocky Point Drive, SIJil:e 900
TALLl\l"rl\~sEE
TI1lTIpll.. PL 33607
TII M 1·>11
(ll 13) 639-9599 • (ll 13) fi39-1488 fax
_
..............•..•..•... ".."._------
.•.•...•..
~...•_-----
CLEA~WI\'tr:.R
Rolando J. Santiago
Re: Lake St. Charles Community Development District
11 July 2007
Page 2 of2
practices of the Distl'ict during the relevant period.
We took no direction fiom Mr.
Bakas, but only solicited from Mr. Bakas information
germane to the fulfillment of our
charge, pursuant to Mrs. Bowden's letter to us of22
February 2007.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as a courtesy to the
District, we will issue a revised
billing statement crediting the District for the .40
hours of time expended by us in
communicating with Mr. Bakas in connection with the
preparation of our letter to the
District's auditors. Following the issuance of that
revised statement, we anticipate tl1e
cooperation of the District in paying the revised
statement without delay .
• 1
Yours Sincerely,
~~ .·d
.Ki
ore
cc: Board of Supervisors, Lake
S1.
Charles Community Development District
(through Toni Leake, District Manager)
ATTACHMENT 4
M E M
o
R A
N
D
u M
To:
From:
Subject:
Date:
SUMMARY:
Toni Leake, District Manager
John W. Bakas, Jr.
Violations of the Florida Public Records Law by the Lake
S1. Charles Community
Development District
October 20, 2006
The Chairman of the Lake S1. Charles Community
Development District, Lorelei
Bowden, CDD Secretary/Treasurer Ginny Gianakos, District
Manager Toni Leake, and the District
violated the Florida Public Records Law in the following
ways:
1. Lorelei Bowden directed District Manager Toni Leake
not to comply with my
e-mail of October 4, 2006 sent at 10:06 a.m. in which I
requested copies of public records.
Subsequently, when I made a more formal public records
request, Lorelei Bowden again blocked
compliance with the law by placing an agenda item on the
board's upcoming meeting that the board
of the Lake S1. Charles Community Development District
would first have to approve responding
to public records requests at a board meeting. She
wrote: "... such requests will be through our
regular Board meetings, the same way we manage all other
areas of our operations. II
These actions
are contrary to the public records law. Tribune Company v. Cannella, 458 So. 2d 1075
(Fla. 1984),
Michelv. Douglas, 464 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 1985), AGO
96-55, AGO Informal Op. dated December 16,
2003.
2. District Manager Toni Leake failed to respond to or
to comply with my public
records requests other than to write an e-mail to me
stating that my lie mails since the end of July
have been offensive and are personal attacks.
II
The job description for District
Manager Toni Leake
prepared under Lorelei Bowden's guidance (although not
adopted by the board) demonstrates that
both Lorelei Bowden and District Manager Toni Leake
understood that District Manager Toni Leake
was required to comply with the Florida Public Records
law:
From District Manager Toni Leake's draft job
description:
"Define, implement and maintain a system of public
records for the District, including a concise and
accurate record of the official actions of the Board of
Page 1 of 10
Supervisors and any appointed boards or committees.
These responsibilities include:
o Custody of the District's seal
o Records custodian and records
management liaison with the State of Florida
overseeing the storage of inactive files and
the destruction of obsolete files.
o Maintaining and safeguarding the
minutes of public meetings, resolutions,
contracts and agreements.
o Responding to public records
requests." [This job description is at the end
of the attached Backup Materials.]
3. On Monday, October 16,2006, Secretary/Treasurer Ginny
Gianakos threatened
CDD employee Silvia Hilliard with the loss of her job if
Silvia Hilliard provided me copies of public
records I had requested from Silvia Hilliard. In
addition, at the October 17, 2006 board meeting,
Lorelei Bowden would not let Silvia Hilliard present to
the board the actions of Ginny Gianakos that
violated the Florida Public Records on October 16, 2006.
4. By the above actions, the Lake St. Charles Community
Development District
violated the Florida Public Records Law.
DISCUSSION:
1. On October 4, 2006, at 10:06 a.m. I sent a request to
District Manager Toni Leake and the
Community Development Liaison, Silvia Hilliard,
requesting copies of various public records. A
copy of my request is attached as backup material.
2. On October 4,2006, Lorelei Bowden, Chairman ofthe LSC
CDD, directed Staffto not honor my
request to obtain information on the operations ofthe
CDD. A copy ofthe Chairman's instructions
to Staff is attached as backup material.
3. Later on October 4, 2006, I submitted another e-mail
to District Manager Toni Leake and the
Community Development Liaison, Silvia Hilliard, which
was a more formal Public Records request
under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. A copy of my
request is attached as backup material. My more
formal public records request included the following
requests:
a. A request to inspect public records
b. A request for copies of public records on CD or an
external hard drive I would provide
c. A request for a copy of any computer backup and a
Page 2 of 10
name of the backup program
d. A copy of the audio tape of the October 3, 2006
meeting
4. On October 11,2006, District Manager Toni Leake sent
me an e-mail stating that my "e-mails
since the end of July have been offensive and are
personal attacks. I am asking you to stop." A copy
of this October 11, 2006 e-mail from the District
Manager is attached as backup material.
5. On October 12, 2006, I responded bye-mail to District
Manager Toni Leake's October 11,2006
e-mail and stated that her claims are false. In
addition, I requested that District Manager Toni Leake
immediately send to Sid Kilgore all e-mails I sent to
the CDD's District office since July 25,2006.
A copy of my October 12, 2006 e-mail is attached as
backup material.
6. Except for statements District Manager Toni Leake
made in the October 17, 2006 board meeting
and District Manager Toni Leake's e-mail stating that my
e-mails are offensive, District Manager
Toni Leake did not respond to my public records requests
of October 4, 2006.
7. District Manager Toni Leake has not complied with my
public records requests of October 4,
2006.
8. On October 13,2006, I requested an agenda item
(called the "Request for Public Records Inquiry"
herein) for the October 17, 2006, board meeting as
follows:
Request Sid Kilgore, lawyer for the District, to
determine whether the District Manager of the Lake
St. Charles Community Development District violated
the Florida Public Records Law by failing to respond
to or comply with my public records requests of
October 4, 2006.
9. District Manager Toni Leake failed to include my
Request for Public Records Inquiry on the
October 17,2006 agenda. I request that District Manager
Toni Leake write to me and advise me
whether she decided to omit my agenda item or whether a
board member directed her not to include
my agenda item.
10. Subsequently, chairman Lorelei Bowden wrote the
following e-mail to District Manager Toni
Leake on October 14, 2006:
Ton, place the following items on the next agenda:
A re-affirmation by the Board LSC staff that staff
work is directed by the LSC Board of Supervisors as
a body, and not through the direction of anyone
Page 3 of 10
Supervisor.
An official recognition that the Board complies with
all Sunshine Law public records requests, and that the
Board's method of managing, directing and ensuring
compliance with such requests will be through our
regular Board meetings, the same way we manage all
other areas of our operations.
thank you.
********************
11. Lorelei Bowden stated that my public records
requests would be considered and acted upon by
the board. Placing the condition that public records'
requests will first be considered by the board
rather than the custodian, District Manager Toni Leake
violated the Florida Public Records law. See
AGOs 96-55:
Section l19.07(1)(a), Florida Statutes, provides in
part that the custodian of a public record
"shall permit the record to be
inspected and examined by any person
desiring to do so, at any reasonable
time, underreasonable conditions, and
under supervision by the custodian of
the public record or the custodian's
designee."
Thus, the statute establishes an individual's right of
access in plain and unequivocal terms. [5] Only those
records that are made confidential or exempt from
disclosure by statute are removed from this legislative
mandate.
This office has stated that a custodian of public
records may not impose a rule or condition of
inspection that operates to restrict or circumvent a
person's right of access.[6] Thus, the "reasonable
conditions" referred to in section 119.07(1 )(a),
Florida
Statutes, do not include anything that would hamper
or frustrate, either directly or indirectly, a person's
right of inspection and copying; rather the term refers
Page 4 of 10
to the custodian's duty to ensure that the records are
safely maintained. [7] The legislative scheme of
Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, preempts any local
enactment or policy that purports to impose additional
conditions or restrictions on access to public
records. [8]
The courts have stated that the only delay in
producing records permitted under the Public Records
Law is the reasonable time for the custodian to
retrieve the record and delete those portions of the
record the custodian asserts are confidential or
exempt, if any. [9] A procedure that provides for an
automatic delay in the production of records therefore
is impermissible.[IO]
Accordingly, a procedure whereby access to public
records is delayed until the board of trustees meets to
vote on whether or not to release the records appears
to be contrary to the provisions of Chapter 119,
Florida Statutes. I am, therefore, of the opinion that
the board of trustees of the police pension board may
not delay release of its records until such a time as
the
request is submitted to the board for a vote. [footnotes
omitted].
12. Silvia Hilliard, the CDD's Community Development
Liaison, also received my public records
requests. She called me immediately and said she would
make copies of the public records for me.
She subsequently left on vacation, but on her return
again talked with me about providing copies
either on CD or with an external drive I would provide.
She provided copies of virtually all of the
requested records on CDs on October 13, 2006. She needed
to make a copy of an additional folder
and told me she would do so on October 16, 2006 during
her work shift and drop the CD off at my
house when she finished working at 8:00 pm (my house is
directly on her way home). At about 8:30
pm on October 16, 2006, when I had not heard from Silvia
Hilliard, I called her at the LSC office.
She said that she was meeting with CDD supervisor Ginny
Gianakos who is the CDD
secretary/treasurer. At about 9:30 pm, Silvia Hilliard
called me and her voice was shaking. She told
me she had the CD, but that supervisor Ginny Gianakos
said her job would not be protected if she
gave me the requested records. Silvia Hilliard said she
was afraid she would be fired by the board
and that she wanted to leave the CD in her desk. She
asked in minded that, and I told her that it was
OK. I felt it was unfair to place a Staff member who was
seeking to comply with the Public Records
law in the middle between one board member who requested
public records and another who told
the Staff member her job would not be protected if she
provided the public records to me.
Page 5 of 10
13. During the day on October 17, 2006, Silvia Hilliard
called me and said that she had read
chapter 119 and that she would give me the CD she had
made.
14. During the October 17, 2006 board meeting, Lorelei
Bowden began addressing my request that
I had made to District Manager Toni Leake for public
records even though I had not asked that my
public records request be placed on the agenda. Thus it
was clear that the CDD was establishing a
condition to my access to public records of the
District.
The agenda for the October 17, 2006 meeting was prepared
to make it appear that one of my agenda
items was a request for public records. I never
requested such an agenda item be placed under my
name on the October 17, 2006 agenda. A copy of the
agenda is attached as backup material.
On the other hand, my Request for Public Records Inquiry
was not placed on the agenda. This is
troubling. This is not the first time I have had
problems with how District Manager Toni Leake
places my items on the agenda and in getting information
about CDD operations from District
Manager Toni Leake. At the October 3, 2006 board
meeting, my recollection is that, when I obj ected
to the manner in which District Manager Toni Leake had
placed several of my items on the agenda,
Lorelei Bowden stated in substance that my agenda items
would be placed on the agendas exactly
as I requested in the future. District Manager Toni
Leake did not honor this assurance I received
from the chairman ofthe Lake St. Charles Community
Development District at the October 3,2006
meeting.
The stone wall created by District Manager Toni Leake to
my requests for information (setting aside
the matter of requesting public records) went so high
that she has not provided me with the name of
the backup program I requested in my October 4, 2006,
6:00 p.m. e-mail. This was a simple
information request that still has not been complied
with by District Manager Toni Leake.
15. In addition to violations ofthe Florida Public
Records Law, there is also evidence indicating
Ginny Gianakos (CDD board Secretary/Treasurer) may have
violated the Florida Sunshine Law.
When I spoke to District legal counsel Sid Kilgore about
both matters (Public Records and Sunshine
Law) he said that these were "potentially serious legal
concerns that I believe should be presented
to the Board as a whole, and which likely will require a
fuller evaluation for a recommended course
of action by the Board." A copy of Sid Kilgore's October
14, 2006 e-mail is attached as backup
material at page 10.
By two October 13, 2006 e-mails to District Manager Toni
Leake I requested that these matters be
placed on the agenda for the October 17,2006 meeting and
that these matters be referred to District
legal counsel Sid Kilgore. My e-mail regarding the
public records inquiry is included in the backup
materials at page 9.
During the board meeting on October 17, 2006 I made a
motion that the board request Sid Kilgore,
board attorney, to investigate possible sunshine law and
public records law violations on the part of
board members and the Staff. The board refused to take
up my motion even though the chairman
Page 6 of 10
said that emergency items are placed earlier on the
agenda. Board members' and Staffs
noncompliance with the Florida Public Records law and
Sunshine Law is of sufficient importance
that it should have been considered near the beginning
of the agenda as potentially serious legal
concerns involving the operations of the District.
The board is delaying and avoiding having its legal
counsel review these matters. In addition, it
appears that CDD chairman Lorelei Bowden is scouting for
new legal counsel based on this phone
message received by the LSC office on October 18, 2006,
and reported by Silvia Hilliard:
1. A phone call from 'a Perspective District Council'
(that's how he introduced himself) -- Mr. John
Vericker (spell?). He would like to get a copy ofLSC
CDD budget in order to submit a proposal. He said he
spoke to Lorelei on Oct 17th. He would like you to to
call him back on 813-901-4945.
16. At the October 17, 2006 board meeting I believe
District Manager Toni Leake stated that there
are problems with making backups or copies of the public
records on Toni Leake's office computer
and that District Manager Toni Leake had called a
computer company to see if they could make a
copy of the public records on her computer. I believe
District Manager Toni Leake stated the cost
by such outside service would be over $200 to make the
copies.
During the October 17, 2006 meeting, Lorelei Bowden said
that I or any board member could make
our own copies ofrecords at any time. With regard to
records on District Manager Toni Leake's
computer, Lorelei Bowden's suggestion for me to copy is
inconsistent with District Manager Toni
Leake's statement that she could not make the copies
because of a computer problem. Either we
both should be able to perform the copying functions or
neither of us can.
In other words, Lorelei Bowden suggested a solution that
District Manager Toni Leake had told the
board she could not perform herself.
But a person making copies of public records is
exercising a right under the Public Records law
(Section 119.07(3), Florida Statutes, and this is
applicable to making copies by photographic means)
and it was clear that Lorelei Bowden sought to have all
public records' requests first approved by
the board. Further, Lorelei Bowden had previously
directed staff not to honor any requests (for
public records or anything else) from board members that
would take more than 15 minutes:
From Lorelei Bowden's e-mail sent October 4,2006
[attached as part of backup materials]:
Any board member who wishes to task our staff
should bring their request to the CDD board meetings,
and the Board as a whole will decide if that tasking is
a good use of limited staff resource time and help
Page 7 of 10
place the assignment within the existing priority work
list. In some instances, it may be that the Board as a
whole, does agree with an Board member's individual
tasking, but does not wish staff to divert time away
from current priorities. In instances such as these, the
Board may approve contracting with a vendor to
accomplish the tasking. These decisions should be
make by the Board as a whole. This has been our
operations since our inception, their have been many
instance in which one Board member has exceeded
his individual authority to make decisions for the
Board as a whole, and in each of these instances, the
Board has publicly corrected that one Board member
for unilateral action and restated our commitment to
make decisions as a whole. Staff, please know that
you are affirmed, and directed, to not take action
requested by any Board member for time consuming
work. Your tasking comes from the Board, not any
one Board member, and you are instructed as follows:
You are prohibited from stopping the work the Board
has a whole has authorized you to do, to do work
assigned by anyone Board member.
Thus, the suggestion by Lorelei Bowden that I could have
e-mailed District Manager Toni Leake
and asked her to stop working on her computer and to
give up her computer so that I could try to
make copies of records for 30 minutes would have
violated Lorelei Bowden's directive set out above
if! sought to make copies during business hours when
District Manager Toni Leake was working.
Further, District Manager Toni Leake has claimed in
writing [see her October 11, 200612:17 p.m.
e-mail - not included as part of the backup materials]
that she did not receive an e-mail I sent to
her containing an invoice for payment by the board and
that she did not receive minutes of the
August 1, 2006 board meeting that had been e-mailed by
Silvia Hilliard to District Manager Toni
Leake. Both e-mails were important - payment of an
invoice and minutes containing board action
involving District Manager Toni Leake's
responsibilities. When the issue arose regarding whether
District Manager Toni Leake knew of the content of
e-mails, District Manager Toni Leake said she
did not receive them. Thus, it is prudent to have
District Manager Toni Leake, as custodian of the
records, present while I use the computer in her office.
17. I renew my original requests of October 4, 2006 to
inspect public records and for District
Manager Toni Leake to provide copies ofthe requested
public records, but not with the services of
an outside professional service and I decline the
suggestion to make the copies myself because, in
part, District Manager Toni Leake said during the
October 17, 2006 meeting that problems with her
Page 8 of 10
computer prevented her from making copies of the public
records.
18. I am reluctant to operate the CDD's computer, even
with District Manager Toni Leake present,
to make copies if there are problems that have prevented
her from making copies. I am concerned
about operating such a computer after hours without her
present when District Manager Toni Leake
claims there are problems with the computer.
I request District Manager Toni Leake describe whether
any part of the over $200 costs she quoted
in the October 17, 2006 board meeting to have copies
made by an outside professional service
involve repairing the computer. I request District
Manager Toni Leake describe whether she told
the outside professional service that they would need to
repair the computer before they could make
the copies or backup.
19. I request that District Manager Toni Leake describe
whether the outside professional service
gave her an estimate of the costs to repair or the rates
for repairing the computer when she talked
with them about making copies or a backup.
20. I request District Manager Toni Leake describe how
long the District's computer has had the
copying and backup problems she described in the October
17 meeting and what steps have been
taken to repair them. Who has the District talked with?
What symptoms were described? I request
that District Manager Toni Leake describe whether the
computer has been examined by an outside
professional service to determine what the problems are,
and if not, why not. I request District
Manager Toni Leake describe why she has not had the
computer problem repaired under the board's
authorization to repair items that are broken.
21. I request that District Manager Toni Leake describe
whether it would be appropriate for the
District to repair her CDD office computer so that she
can comply with the Florida Public Records
Law, if she claims that a faulty computer is the reason
for her violation of the law. Further, CDD
staff member Silvia Hilliard said providing copies ofthe
public records on her CDD office computer
(another computer in the CDD's offices at 6801 Colonial
Lake Drive, Riverview, FL 33569) was
easy and quick - taking about 30 minutes.
22. District Manager Toni Leake did not communicate with
me regarding when I could inspect the
records. No faulty computer justifies this violation of
the Florida Public Records law.
23. District Manager Toni Leake has not told me the name
of the backup software used by the
District. No faulty computer justifies her failure to
honor this simple request for information.
24. I request District Manager Toni Leake describe
whether she is making daily backups of the
District's computer. I request District Manager Toni
Leake state the last date the CDD's computer
was backed up successfully.
25. District Manager Toni Leake has not provided me with
a copy of the audio tape from the
Page 9 of 10
October 3,2006 meeting. No faulty computer justifies
this violation of the Florida Public Records
law.
26. Please respond in writing.
Page 10 of 10
**BACKUP MATERIAL **
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************
****************************************
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************
****************************************
Subject: LSC CDD - Copies
10:05 AM
Date: 10/4/2006 10:06:54 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
From: JBakas
To: candiad@verizon.net, 1scdistrictoffice@verizon.net,
LSCOffice@verizon.net,
DavenSha@tampabay.rr.com, dlbowden@verizon.net, VMuelle
1@tampabay.rr.com,
jsvacak@verizon.net, sphilliard@yahoo.com,
tdavis17@tampabay.rr.com,
cindysha02003@yahoo.com
Toni and Silvia:
Please provide me with copies on CDs, or an external
hard drive I will provide, of all the data
files on the computers in the CDD offices. By data files
I mean all the document files of the
Microsoft programs including Word, Excel, Publisher,
Project, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access,
Office, Notepad; any text files; any PDF files, and any
pictures files.
Please make a copy of the audio tape of the October
3,2006 meeting for me.
Thank you very much. Let me know if you would like me to
provide the external hard drive.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John W. Bakas, Jr.
7218 Colonial Lake Drive
Riverview, FL 33569-8350
Fax: 813-228-8208
Telephone: 813-677-2599
JBakas@ao1.com I
[Sent 10/4/2006 10:05 AM]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************
****************************************
Subject: last night's vote of confidence for Chair and
appeal by committee for more effective
management by BoardEveryEv
Date: 10/4/20065:13:14 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
From: dlbowden@verizon.net
To: DavenSha@tampabay.rr.com, lscoffice@verizon.net,
cindysha02003@yahoo.com,
candiad@verizon.net, VMuelle l@tampabay.rr.com,
jbakas@aol.com,
lscdistrictoffice@verizon.net
Everyone,
I would like to thank you for the unanimous vote of
confidence the Board gave me last night
and also acknowledge the plea by the Board and the
Community that certain Board members
work more cooperatively with me as the Chair.
Most painful to me last night, was the opinion, shared
by every single person at that meeting
besides Mr. and Mrs. Bakas, that Supervisor Bakas'
actions are perceived by all persons present
last night as personal attacks rather than, as he
stated, "policy making." I would sincerely
implore Supervisor Bakas' to contemplate the unanimous
vote by homeowners on how his
performance is received by our community. The absolute
most upsetting element ofMr. Bakas'
obstructionism and filibustering is that 1.) It prevent
the Board from doing the essential work our
community expects of us; and 2.) It creates an
uncomfortable environment for homeowners, and
discourages homeowner attendance at Board meetings. If
anyone questions my assessment of the
situation last night, I would refer them to the tape
ofthe meeting. I sincerely ask the remaining
Board members to continue to support me in ending the
witch hunt atmosphere and help me
return our Board to productivity and professionalism.
Given the support and appeal I received as Chair last
night, it is now my intention to try to find
a way to help return the Board to productivity. For one,
I direct staff to recognize that they are
not the employees of anyone Board member or Board member
spouse. No one member of the
Board has the right to direct action by the staff, most
notably, to direct action by the staffthat
takes time away from the legitimate work the Board has
directed the staff to take at our Board
meetings. Currently, job descriptions are being
developed for each staff member. Additionally,
staff has knowledge of their existing taskings, given to
them by the Board as a body. On behalf
e board, I hereby direct staff to disregard any tasking,
work assignments, or orders that come
1 anyone
Board member, for work that will take more than 15 minutes of work. I
make this
ction based on the multitude of previous meetings during
which this was decided by the
lrd. Time and time again, the Board has stated that no
one Board member has the right to
.::ctstaff. We serve as a body and make assignments and
determine priorities as a body.
If staff is to take orders from all of us as
individuals, our staff will have no ability to complete
e priority assignments that are given to them by the
Board proper at our bi-monthly meetings,
Id to maintain their ongoing operational
responsibilities. Any board member who wishes to
1sk our staff should bring their request to the CDD
board meetings, and the Board as a whole
vill decide if that tasking is a good use of limited
staff resource time and help place the
1ssignment within the existing priority work list. In
some instances, it may be that the Board as a
whole, does agree with an Board member's individual
tasking, but does not wish staff to divert
time away from current priorities. In instances such as
these, the Board may approve contracting
with a vendor to accomplish the tasking. These decisions
should be make by the Board as a
whole. This has been our operations since our inception,
their have been many instance in which
one Board member has exceeded his individual authority
to make decisions for the Board as a
whole, and in each of these instances, the Board has
publicly corrected that one Board member
for unilateral action and restated our commitment to
make decisions as a whole. Staff, please
know that you are affirmed, and directed, to not take
action requested by any Board member for
time-consuming work. Your tasking comes from the Board,
not anyone Board member, and you
are instructed as follows: You are prohibited from
stopping the work the Board has a whole has
authorized you to do, to do work assigned by anyone
Board member. I will place this
re-affirmation of Board operations on the next Board
agenda.
In other news, as we all know, the Board has not
completed our agenda for many Board
meetings. Last night, homeowner Terri Bakas put the
suggestion out that from now on, the
agenda should be created exclusively as requests to be
placed on the agenda are received. For
example, Ms. Bakas' suggestion would result as follows:
if 10 agenda items are received from
Ms. Bakas on the first day that the agenda is being
created, her 10 agenda items would be the first
items discussed at the Board meeting. I object to this
loss oftotal control of Board meetings
strenuously. I challenge Ms. Bakas to name any Board
that creates it's agenda using this method.
The Board ourselves should determine our agenda and
prioritize the order of our meeting
discussions. The Board has the responsibility for the
outcomes of our work, we have an
obligation to take our Board meetings for the
opportunity that they are, to discuss together the
priority projects and operational responsibilities we
have. As Mr. Bakas' has said many times,
the Board cannot delegate to any other persons that
which is our responsibility. As a Board that
is responsible for the use of considerable funds, we
should not delegate control of our meetings,
and selection of all topics that we discuss, to outside
parties. Due to the Sunshine law, the only
opportunities we have to do our important work is at our
meeting. If is for this reason, we move'
from meeting once a month, to twice a month. If we don't
ensure that adequate time is devoted
t
our operational mandates at our meetings, what hope do
we have of ensuring effective, efficient
operations. It is not our perrogative, in my opinion, to
merely discuss personnel issues each am
3
every meeting. This is irresponsible, and I won't, as
chair, allow this to continue, without doing
everything I can to protest this, and return us to
productive, professional operations and
management.
To that end, I request that we, at our next Board
meeting, discuss the management of our
Agendas. Currently, we do not manage our agenda in a way
that ensures we meet our operational
mandates. For example, last night our District Manager
and our Community Liaison had to rush
in very critical issues at the very end of the meetings,
as the meeting was being adjourned and
people were walking out. This prevented any discussion
of these issues, the Board heard the
request and voted on each staff request in a matter of
rushed minutes.
To insure that the Board has the proper time to address
key homeowner and staff action items, I
submit the following template for our agenda:
I. Introduction of Board, Staff and Homeowners: 5
minutes
II. Homeowner-brought issues: 1 - 1.5 hours
A limit of six homeowner-brought issues will be placed
on each agenda. Each topic will be
limited to 10-15 minutes. Exceptions to the five-issue
limit will be made for emergency,
time-sensitive and staff complaint issues. For ongoing
homeowner issues, if the request comes
in, and six issues are already selected for the agenda,
the homeowner will have the option to:
place their item on the next Board meeting agenda;
and/or wait until the end of the meeting, to
see if time remains to take on their issue during the
current meeting.
III.
Staff updates: 1 hour
District Manager: 20 minutes
Property Maintenance staff: 20 minutes
Community Events staff: 20 minutes
IV. Board member Issues: 75 minutes
Each Board member will have 15 minutes to address topics
of interest/concern to them. The
order of Board member issues will rotate. If Board
members wish to introduce issues that will
take more than 15 minutes, they may:
1.) Request that other Board members give their minutes
to them. For example, if Supervisor
Candia had topics that he anticipated would take 30
minutes, and he wanted all issues discussed
in on meeting, Supervisor Bowden could give him her 15
minutes for that meeting.; and/or
2.) Place issues that exceed 15 minutes of discussion on
the next agenda; and/or
3.) Request a special meeting be called for the topic of
interest to the Supervisor. For
example, if Supervisor Bakas' has extensive staffing
issues with a staff member, and he feels that
it will take more than 15 minutes to detail the history
of the issues, he may call for a special
meeting to be set to exclusively discuss those issues.
To take this example a little further, it is
my current impression that Supervisor Bakas' has
extensive issues with our District Manager.
lave heard some of those issues last night. If
Supervisor Bakas wishes to take significant
rd time to discuss these issues in a very
time-consuming, detail oriented manner, he should
~a summary of this request during his 15 minutes of time
at the next Board meeting. The
ird can then determine if this is a topic we wish to
devote significant time and attention to. If
Board decides the topic is frivolous, a pointless witch
hunt, or a non-productive line of
luiry, the Board can decline to establish a special
meeting to explore the topic. If the Board
termines that the topic is worthy of our time and
attention, the Board can establish a special
eeting devoted to that topic.
'he above-agenda will take 3 hours and 20 minutes, in
the most extreme circumstance, that
,eing we have 6 homeowners who speak for 15 minutes
each, all our 3 staff members take all 20
.ninutes of their allocated time and every Board member
takes their full 15 minutes. In this
extreme circumstance, we still have 10 minutes for Mark
Cooper and/or Ameriscape. I anticipate
that we will be speaking with Mark Cooper on a weekly
basis, and for meetings in which we
need updates from him that would take longer than 10
minutes, I would be willing to donate my
15 minutes of time or seek if staff can each donate 5
minutes, to give him additional time.
I believe the above agenda will serve many important
needs that the Board has:
1.) it will ensure that the Board maintains the ability
to manage our community.
2.) it will ensure that the Board maintains the ability
to manage our staff;
3.) it will ensure that our staff has a consistent, and
guaranteed, ability to speak with the Board
as a whole, at least twice a month.
4.) it will prevent our meetings from being hi-jacked by
people with an axe to grind, or who
wish to impair the ability of the Board to meet our
commitments of service.
5.) it will create a less contentious environment.
Currently, homeowners who attend our
meeting witness the Board, time and time again, be drawn
into arguments, that can go on without
limit. Anyone who wishes to take the floor, and speak on
their complaints, holds the entire
Board hostage, sometimes for hours at end. The above
agenda ensures that all parties have a
chance to speak, but limits any on parties' ability to
take over Board meetings, and prevent us
from doing the work we should.
I look forward to receiving Board input on this proposed
agenda. See you in two weeks!
5
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************
****************************************
Subject: LSC CDD - Public Records Request
05:59 PM
Date: 10/4/20066:00:10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
From: JBakas
To: sphilliard@yahoo.com, lscdistrictoffice@verizon.net,
LSCOffice@verizon.net
Toni and Silvia:
This is a request pursuant to the Florida Public Records
Law, chapter 119, Florida Statutes, to
inspect and copy the public records described in this
e-mail.
I wish to inspect and request that you please provide me
with copies on CDs, or an external hard
drive I will provide, of all the data files on the
computers in the CDD offices. By data files I
mean all the document files of the Microsoft programs
including Word, Excel, Publisher, Project,
PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Office, Notepad; any text
files; any PDF files, and any pictures
files.
I wish to inspect and please provide a copy of any
backup of any of the LSC CDD office
computers and the name of the backup program by which
the backup was taken.
Please make a copy of the audio tape of the October
3,2006 meeting for me.
Pursuant to chapter 119, Florida Statutes, if the nature
or volume of public records requested to
be inspected or copied pursuant to this request is such
as to require extensive use of information
technology resources or extensive clerical or
supervisory assistance by personnel of the district,
or both, I agree to pay in addition to the actual cost
of duplication, a special service charge, and
other charges pursuant to chapter 119, Florida Statutes.
Thank you very much. Let me know if you would like me to
provide the external hard drive.
I request that you allow the inspections and provide me
the copies as soon as possible in
accordance with chapter 119, Florida Statutes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John W. Bakas, Jr.
7218 Colonial Lake Drive
Riverview, FL 33569-8350
Fax: 813-228-8208
Telephone: 813-677-2599
JBakas@ao1.com
[Sent 10/4/200605:59 PM]
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************
****************************************
Subject: FW: last night's vote of confidence for Chair
and appeal by committee for more
effective management by BoardEveryEv
Date: 10/11/2006 12:17:07 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
From: 1scdistrictoffice@verizon.net
Reply To:
To: JBakas@ao1.com
CC: LSCOffice@verizon.net, jsvacak@verizon.net,
tdavis17@tampabay.rr.com,
sphilliard@yahoo.com, cindysha02003@yahoo.com,
candiad@verizon.net,
DavenSha@tampabay.rr.com, Vmuelle l@tampabay.rr.com,
d1bowden@verizon.net,
David.N e1son3@macdill.af.mi1
Dear Supervisor Bakas,
I have asked you on several occasions in person and on
the phone to talk about the conflict
between us. You did not respond. I feel that your
behavior and conduct towards me at board
meetings and e-mai1s since the end of July have been
offensive and are personal attacks. I am
asking you to stop.
Toni Leake, District Manager
Lake St. Charles Community
Development District
6801 Colonial Lake Drive
Riverview, FL 33569
(813) 741-9768
(813) 234-9516 (fax)
7
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************
****************************************
Subject: LSC CDD - Job Performance of District Manager
09:02AM
Date:
10/12120069:02:57 A.M.
Eastern Standard Time
From: JBakas
To: candiad@verizon.net, lscdistrictoffice@verizon.net,
LSCOffice@verizon.net,
DavenSha@tampabay.rr.com, dlbowden@verizon.net, VMuelle
l@tampabay.rr.com,
jsvacak@verizon.net, sphilliard@yahoo.com,
tdavisI7@tampabay.rr.com,
cindysha02003@yahoo.com, skilgore@penningtonlawfirm.com
Board members do not respond
Toni and Sid:
This e-mail is an initial response to Toni's two e-mails
of October 11,2006 sent about 12:17 pm.
Toni, your claims are false. In your e-mails you cite
e-mails I sent and request a review by the
CDD's lawyer. I request that you immediately send to Sid
Kilgore all e-mails I sent to the CDD's
district office since July 25, 2006.
Toni, I request that you request Sid Kilgore to attend
the LSC CDD meeting October 17,2006, at
7:00 pm in the community center.
Sid, I also request that you attend the October 17, 2006
meeting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John W. Bakas, Jr.
7218 Colonial Lake Drive
Riverview, FL 33569-8350
Fax: 813-228-8208
Telephone: 813-677-2599
JBakas@ao1.com
[Sent 10/12/200609:02 AM]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************
****************************************
Subject: LSC CDD - Agenda Item - Public Records Inquiry
08:45 PM
Date:
10/13120068:46:48 P.M.
Eastern Standard Time
From: JBakas
To: candiad@verizon.net, Iscdistrictoffice@verizon.net,
LSCOffice@verizon.net,
DavenSha@tampabay.rr.com, dlbowden@verizon.net, VMuelle
l@tampabay.rr.com,
jsvacak@verizon.net, sphilliard@yahoo.com,
tdavisI7@tampabay.rr.com,
cindysha02003@yahoo.com, skilgore@penningtonlawfirm.com
LSC CDD Agenda Item - Public Records Inquiry
Toni:
Please place the following on the next agenda:
Request by John Bakas for the board to:
Request Sid Kilgore, lawyer for the district, to
determine whether the District Manager of the
Lake St. Charles Community Development District violated
the Florida Public Records Law by
failing to respond to or comply with my public records
requests of October 4, 2006.
Background Information:
1. I have a growing concern about the management
operations of the Lake St. Charles
Community Development District. When I met with the
auditors for the LSC CDD in their work
on the last audit, I expressed my concern about the need
for improved internal controls. More
recently in my article in the October 2006 LSC CDD
newsletter I expressed the need for a
transparent CDD government.
2. On October 4, 2006, I sent a request to the District
Manager and the Community Development
Liaison requesting copies of various public records. A
copy of my request is attached to this
agenda item as backup material.
3. On October 4,2006, the Chairman of the LSC CDD, I
believe, directed Staff to not honor my
request to obtain information on the operations of the
CDD. A copy of the Chairman's
instructions to Staff is attached to this agenda item as
backup material.
4. Later on October 4, 2006, I submitted another e-mail
to the District Manager and the
Community Development Liaison which was a more formal
Public Records request under
Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. A copy of my request is
attached to this agenda item as backup
material.
5. On October 11, 2006, the District Manager sent me an
e-mail stating that my "e-mails since the
end of July have been offensive and are personal
attacks. I am asking you to stop." A copy of
this October 11, 2006 e-mail from the District Manager
is attached to this agenda item as backup
material.
6. On October 12, 2006, I responded to the District
Manager's October 11, 2006 e-mail by an
e-mail stating that the District Manager's claims are
false. In addition, I requested that the
District Manager immediately send to Sid Kilgore all
e-mails I sent to the CDD's district office
since July 25,2006. A copy of my October 12, 2006 e-mail
is attached to this agenda item as
backup material.
7. The District Manager has not responded to my public
records requests of October 4, 2006.
8. The District Manager has not complied with my public
records requests of October 4, 2006.
*******************************************************************************
*******************************************************************************
**************************************
**************************
Subject: Re: LSC CDD - Agenda Item - Public Records
Inquiry 08:45 PM
Date: 10/14/20068:08:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
From: dlbowden@verizon.net
Reply To:
To: lscdistrictoffice@verizon.net
CC: candiad@verizon.net, lscdistrictoffice@verizon.net,
LSCOffice@verizon.net,
DavenSha@tampabay.rr.com, VMuelle l@tampabay.rr.com,
jsvacak@verizon.net,
sphilliard@yahoo.com, tdavis 17@tampabay.rr.com,
cindysha02003@yahoo.com,
skilgore@penningtonlawfirm.com, JBakas@aol.com
Ton, place the following items on the next agenda:
A re-affirmation by the Board LSC staff that staff work
is directed by the LSC Board of
Supervisors as a body, and not through the direction of
anyone Supervisor.
An official recognition that the Board complies with all
Sunshine Law public records requests, and
/0
that the Board's method of managing, directing and
ensuring compliance with such requests will be
through our regular Board meetings, the same way we
manage all other areas of our operations.
thank you.
*******************************************************************************
*******************************************************************************
**************************************
Subject: 17 October Regular Meeting of the Board of
Supervisors
Date: 10/14/20062:15:34 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
From: skilgore@Penningtonlawfirm.com
To: dlbowden@verizon.net, lbowden@hcso.tampa.fl.us
CC: JBakas@aol.com
Lorelei:
Throughout my representation of the Lake St. Charles
Community Development District, I have
always made myself reasonably available to any District
Supervisor who may have legal questions
or concerns pertaining to the operation of the District
or to his or her duties as a public official, and
to the District Administrator. My client, however,
remains the District, and not any individual
member of the Board of Supervisors or any member of the
District staff.
For this reason, from the beginning of my representation
of the District, I have insisted that the
Board designate one member to be my primary contact to
provide direction to me in carrying out
my legal responsibilities as District Counsel. The
designated primary contact has always been the
Chair of the Board. Therefore, I ultimately look to you
for guidance as the authorized
spokesperson for the Board.
In the past, the Board has operated in a fairly cohesive
manner, and I have felt comfortable taking
directions from individuals - be they individual Board
members or the District Administrator when
they have indicated that specific legal action,
including attendance at meetings, has been
approved by the Board or requested by you as the Chair
of the Board. I have growing concerns,
however, given the tensions that appear to have
developed recently between members of the
Board, between District staff members, and between
members of the Board and District staff
members, that the Board's directions are not always
being fully and accurately communicated to
me, and that my own communications regarding the legal
affairs of the Board are perhaps being
misconstrued, taken out of context, miscommunicated or
not communicated at all. This situation
has been exacerbated by the fact that until the 3
October 2006 Board meeting, many months had
gone by in which I was not asked to attend a meeting, so
I had no opportunity to communicate
directly with the Board as a whole.
As I discussed with the Board when I interviewed for the
position of District Counsel early last
year, one of the most difficult tasks faced by local
government attorneys who represent collegial
bodies is to avoid the perception that the attorney is
taking sides with one faction or another when
/1
differences of opinion develop between members of that
body. Such differences, unfortunately,
can become so highly charged that they become personal
in nature. I want you and the other
members of the Board to know that I am committed, as I
have always been so, to the interests of
the District and the Board as a whole, and that I will
continue to strive to provide the most
objective advice I can to the Board, its individual
members, and District staff. Your help in getting
this message across to the Board and staff would be most
appreciated.
John Bakas has recently brought to my attention certain
potentially serious legal concerns that I
believe should be presented to the Board as a whole, and
which likely will require a fuller
evaluation for a recommended course of action by the
Board. He has asked that I attend the 17
October 2006 regular meeting of the Board, and I have
tentatively reserved that evening on my
calendar so that I may attend; however, I am reticent to
do so without your approval as Chair.
Please advise me then, at your earliest opportunity,
whether I should attend the meeting, and if so,
please see that I am provided with a copy of the agenda.
Thank you,
Sidney W. Kilgore
District Counsel
Sidney W. Kilgore
Registered Patent Attorney
Pennington, Moore, Wilkinson, Bell
&
Dunbar, P.A.
2701 North Rocky Point Drive
Suite 900
Tampa, Florida 33607
Tel: 813.639.9599
Fax: 813.639.1488
E-mail: skilgore@penningtonlawfirm.com
Web: http://www.penningtonlaw.com/attorney_ detail. cfm?
attorney _id=52
I~
*******************************************************************************
*****************************************************************
*******************************************************************************
*****************************************************************
Lake St. Charles Community Development District
Board of Supervisors' Meeting
7:00 p.m., October 17, 2006
Lake St. Charles Clubhouse, 6801 Colonial Lake Dr.,
Riverview, Florida 33569
Board of Supervisors
Lorelei Bowden, Chairman, 363-0375
John Bakas, Vice Chair, 677-2599
Dave Nelson, Treasurer, 741-9891
Dave Candia, Supervisor, 672-0640
Ginny Gianakos, Supervisor, 293-4728
Office Staff
Toni Leake, District Manager, 741-9768
Silvia Hilliard, Community Development Liaison, 671-8339
Toni-Marie Davis, Clubhouse Admin, 671-8339
Cindy Shao, Admin Support Staff, 671-8339
Steve Svacak, Maintenance Staff, 990-7555
Greg Gianakos, Maintenance Staff, 695-1995
1. Call to Order/ Introduction of Supervisors (5
minutes)
2. FiOS Project - Brian Lantz from Verizon (10 Minutes)
3. Annual Board Report (Chair Bowden)
a. Adoption of New Agenda Format and Process (Lorelei
Bowden)
b. Re-affirmation by Board LSC staff that staff work is
directed by the LSC
Board of Supervisors as a body.
1. How staff is to respond to direction from supervisors
outside of Board
Meetings
2. Board Direction of Staff
c. Official Recognition that the LSC Board complies with
all Sunshine Law public
records requests. (Lorelei Bowden)
d. LSC Board of Supervisors Process Implementation and
Clarification
1. LSC CDD Business Conduct for staff and supervisors to
include who is
authorized and under what conditions:
1.3
1. contact CDD attorney via emai1 or phone and incur
legal fees on
behalf of the CDD
2. LSC CDD staff reporting updates - authorization for
staff to conduct
operations of Board approved tasks without apprising
Board of
detailed status
3. Personnel policies and issues resolution
4. Board and staff conduct during and outside of
meetings
4. Reading of Minutes of previous meetings and their
approval
a. August 29,2006
*
No tape on file
b. September 5, 2006
*
No tape on file
c. September 8, 2006
d. September 19,2006
e. October 3, 2006
5. Reports of Officers, Boards and Standing Committees
(Staff)
a. District Manager
1. Approval of Board Meeting Schedule for fiscal
year 2006 - 2007
2. Clubhouse Rental during Business Hours
1. Facility Rental Alternatives
2. Sound Proofing Alternatives
3. Work From Home Alternatives
3. Approval of August 2006 Treasurer's Report and
Disbursement
Authorization Report
4. Approval of September 2006 Treasurer's Report and
Disbursement
Authorization Report
b. Clubhouse Staff Update - Staff (20 minutes)
1. Halloween Event - T. Davis
2. Clubhouse Rental Policies - T. Davis
&
S. Hilliard
3. Staff Hours
4. May Graduation Party rental request from a
resident - S. Hilliard
5. Magician Contract- S. Hilliard
6. CDL Incident Report from Sept 30th- S. Hilliard
7. Pilates Class Schedule - S. Hilliard
8. Contracts for Business Expo - S. Hilliard
9. Halloween Event (Children) - Silvia Hilliard
c. Property Maintenance
1. Hampton Entrance - M. Cooper
2. Canoe Launch - D. Nelson
3. SWFMD Tree Trimming - T. Leake
4. Remington Irrigation - D. Nelson
5. Villa Walls - T. Leake
6. Unfinished Business and General Orders
a. Property Management AD - Dave Candia
&
Toni Leake (15 minutes)
1. Review of revised ads and placement in newspaper and
Monster1.Com
2. Ca21n.didMDaataevrskidCfoWoorpepellrreorperty
management position
I~
,
Exercise Equipment on Trails
Purchase Pressure Washer
Renovate Pool Bathroom
7. John Bakas E-Mails - Board of Supervisors (Continued
from Previous Agenda)
a. LSC CDD Lake-side Plant Trimming
b. LSC CDD Agenda Item - Minutes
c. LSC CDD Agenda Item - Calendar
&
Meetings, Other
d. LSC CDD Agenda Item - Projects
&
Agenda/Meeting
e. LSC CDD Agenda Item - Attendance/Job Performance
f. LSC CDD
Agenda Item - Landscaping - Weeds and Mulch
8. New Business
a. Resident Issues
1. Playground Proposal- Christine Robbins (15 Minutes)
b. Supervisor Bakas Agenda Items
1. LSC CDD Agenda Item - Public Records Request
2. LSC CDD Agenda Item - Incident Report re Pepsi
machine
3. LSC CDD Agenda Item - Sunshine Law Inquiry
9. Adjourn
..............................................................................................................................
Planned Projects for FY 2006 and Proposed Projects for
Consideration: (On1!:oin1!:Discussion &
Update)
Priority 1:
Landscaping at entrances of
all Community Entrances and landscaping general
Priority 2: Homeowner Access and Identification
Proximity Cards for Pool/Tennis Court
Other Priorities:
Heater for Clubhouse Pool
Backboard for Tennis Courts
Playground equipment for younger children and toddlers
Pool
Slide for Pool
Awning for Kiddies Pool
Misting Machine & Fans under Pool Awning
Boat launch (small, non-gasoline powered)
2 Palm Trees in Pool Area (Mark Cooper)
Upgrade Clubhouse Interior
All-shaded Picnic Area (18 votes
@
.org)
Doggie Park
Major Completed Projects: FY 2005
Refund Bond ($60,000 Annual Savings)Directory
Landscaping
Select/Employ On-site Property and Fence around Pool
District Management Staff Lighting around Pool
(S
/G
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************
LAKE ST. CHARLES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT
JOB DESCRIPTION
Title: District Manager
Mission Statement: To administer the highest
standard of service to the Board of Supervisors
regarding the stewardship of the economic well-being of
the Community Development District
and to maintain and insure the integrity of the all
business proceedings of Lake St. Charles
Community Development District.
Administrative Relationship: Accountable to the
Board of Supervisors
Salary: Range of $20.00 - $25.00 per hour; increase
contingent on additional duties
Work Hours: As authorized by the Board - up to 40
hours per week
Responsibilities
Administrative Responsibilities:
• Fulfill all responsibilities and general duties as
designated by Florida Statue 190.008,
including having charge and supervision of the financial
works of the District.
• Consult with and advise the Board on matters related
to the operation and maintenance of
the District's administration works
• Help develop and implement a Disaster/Recovery Plan
for the Lake St. Charles
Community Development District
• Develop and implement all procedures and policies
regarding the administration of the
CDD as directed by the Board of Supervisors
• Provide consultation to the board regarding Auditor's
field letter to management
• Initiate and implement all changes from the Auditor's
field letter to management as
directed by the Board of Supervisors
• Responsible for the coordination of personnel
activities
• Provide all services necessary to effectively manage
the operation of the District
• Prepare on or before each July
15th
a proposed budget for the ensuing
fiscal year an
estimate of all necessary expenditures and an estimate
of income
• Administer the adopted budget of the District
• Insure that all public hearings, meeting and workshops
are legally and correctly
advertised
• Provide administrative coverage and support for
workshops, hearings, projects and other
District interests
• Provide administrative coverage for regular and
special meetings of the Board of
Supervisors to include:
o Developing and distributing meeting agenda
o Recording of meeting minutes
o Drafting/updating meeting minutes
o Distributing meeting minutes
o Maintaining public records of meeting minutes
• Work with legal council and public agencies to ensure
that the CDD is in compliance
with proper state, county, and local government statues
and regulations
• Provide consultation and representation work with
pertinent public agencies and private
individuals in connection with the interests of the
District. These services shall include:
o Planning
o Scheduling
o Coordination
o Administration
• Prepare, develop and administer RFP's
• Review, assist and aid in the finalization of new
contracts as requested by the Chair of
the Board of Supervisors or the Board of Supervisors
• Define, implement and maintain a system of public
records for the District, including a
concise and accurate record of the official actions of
the Board of Supervisors and any
appointed boards or committees. These responsibilities
include:
o Custody of the District's seal
o Records custodian and records management liaison with
the State of Florida
overseeing the storage of inactive files and the
destruction of obsolete files.
o Maintaining and safeguarding the minutes of public
meetings, resolutions,
contracts and agreements.
o Responding to public records requests
• Research any topic pertaining to the economics of the
CDD, including past, present and
future purchases of any items or services.
• Complete Weekly Timesheet form daily in sufficient
detail to apprise Board of work
activities, project statuses and use of work hours
• Maintain work schedule submitted to the Board and
notify Board of any changes
Accounting Responsibilities:
• Define and implement an integrated financial
management reporting system to will allow
the District to present fairly and with full disclosure
the financial position and results of
financial operations of the funds and account groups in
conformity with generally
accepted accounting principals and GASB34
• Determine and demonstrate compliance with
finance-related legal and contractual
prOVIsIOns
17
-------------------------------------~~-
• Provide budget management for the accounting,
reporting and control of revenues and
expenditures in accordance with the District needs and
in compliance with GASB34
• Prepare and report on a monthly basis a budget versus
actual statement
• Ensure the general ledger is in balance and accurate
for all District accounts
• Ensure that all general ledger accounts and journal
entries are recorded in accordance
with federal, state, and local requirements.
• Ensure the payment of all invoices in accordance with
District requirements including
the preparation of reports.
• To provide information in accordance with legal and
District management requirements.
o Financial information is reported at any level
organizationally or functionally.
o Cash Management. This function allows for daily,
weekly, monthly, and yearly
reporting of cash balances by fund.
o Revenue Reporting. This function accounts for all
revenues of the District.
o Financial information by organization and project,
including revenue sources.
This is shown in an estimate versus actual format.
o Revenues are reported in compliance with the
requirements and are recorded at
the appropriate time for cash, full accrual or modified
accrual basis of accounting.
o Reconcile all bank statements.
o Review and insure that the capital investment accounts
are administered by the
trustee per the bond indenture
o Review time sheets and prepare payroll
o Call or contact vendors as needed
o Make bank deposits
Special Assessment Responsibilities:
• Special Assessment Financings (Non-Ad Valorem
Assessments) Part One
o Assist the District in formulating its financial goals
and implementing the
financial strategies required in order to meet those
goals.
o Formulate the District's assessment methodology.
o Assist to the District in developing the financing
plan for the District's funding of
its infrastructure.
o Recommend the appropriate financial structures for the
proposed financings.
o Advise with the terms and features of the bonds, the
timing of marketing of bond
Issues .
• Special Assessment Financings (Non-Ad Valorem
Assessments) Part Two
o Assist the District in coordinating the financing
process.
o Assist Bond Council, Underwriter, and all other
professionals in the issuance of
long-term bonds.
o Coordinate the financing process. Assist in the
preparation, review, adoption and
execution of the authorizing bond proceedings, including
assisting in the
preparation of and review of all resolutions of the
District pertaining to the bond
financing.
o Assist Bond Counsel in the validation proceedings for
the District's bonds,
including any testimony required in Circuit Court.
/<6
• Prepare the Tax Assessment
Responsibilities of the District Manager to the Property
Manager:
• Provide to the Property Manager number assignments for
all tasks of Board approved
projects and updates to the project after the tasks have
been identified and given to the
District Manager
• The CDD acknowledges the fiduciary accountability in
exclusively purchasing from preapproved
vendors purchasing policies in the normal course of
business. To that end, the
District Manager and Property Manager will work together
to have all potential vendors
placed on the LSC approved vendor list before placing
orders in the normal course of
business.
• Insure that all purchase orders are made to vendors
certified as approved in the normal
course of business.
• Insure that exceptions made to using pre-approved
vendors have Board of Supervisor
approval, barring extraordinary curcumstances.
• Insure that all copies of bids, contracts and other
documentation, including e-mails
between the Property Manager and vendors that are
received from the Property Manager
|