Light-up McIntosh December 15
Light-up McIntosh will begin at the Civic Center at 6:30 p.m. The event will host Santa Clause and an area choir from six local churches will sing.
03.11.07 -- LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Former councilman puts recall behind him, provides final judgement paperwork
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Editor's note: I received an e-mail from former Councilman Jim Strange last week.
Last summer, I offered Strange space for rebuttal in the blog. He didn't take me up on it then. However, last week he sent me a copy of the final judgement in his case, and I asked him if I could post his comments. I edited the comments from two e-mails he sent me into one letter to the editor and with his approval, am posting it below.
Click here to read the Final Judgement.
Cher:
Thank you for your kind reporting of the reimbursement matter. I have attached a copy of the final judges order for your records. Please note that the judge did not make [in the final judgement] any recommendation to Casey that her committee re-submit the petition. I have no idea how that thought got started. There were no ifs or buts, he granted a FINAL judgment in my favor.
I know that you require facts to back up what is stated - so here it is.
Once again, thank you for your unbiased reporting of this case. It is over now. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any additional information or documentation.
Jim Strange
Labels: Jim Strange, letter to the editor, public records, recall
posted by Cher @ 10:12 PM,
,
03.10.07 -- REPORT: Public hearing to consider large-scale land rezone in McIntosh set for Tuesday
By CHER PHILLIPS
The LPA will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. to discuss rezoning that could open up agricultural land in McIntosh for the potential development of 36 new homes, according to planning reports.
The posting at the town office has been corrected to reflect that the March 13 meeting will be a public hearing, as opposed to the previous posting of an LPA meeting, to discuss rezoning of agricultural land.
Two applications to rezone agricultural land to residential use have been filed, and two planning reports have been completed by Bruce Day, Planning director with the Withlacoochee Regional Planning Council and provided to the LPA Chairwoman Charlsie Stott and town council members.
The applications from Council Vice President Howard Walkup and McIntosh Mayor Marsha Strange and her husband, James are for almost 20 acres of land along the southern town border of McIntosh.
The Stranges own 10.20 acres of land and the WRPC report says there is potential for 19 new homes, located on the south end of McIntosh.
The Walkups own 9.2 acres of land belonging to Howard Walkup with the potential for 17 additional homes, behind his home on the south end of McIntosh.
Day has prepared a list of considerations the LPA should be assessing at next week's public hearing in an e-mail to McIntosh town officials.
Those considerations include the impacts potential growth will have on the town's comprehensive plan, living conditions and traffic in the neighborhood, and ask if granting this change would extend "special priviledge to an individual owner as constrasted with the public welfare."
In January, Walkup initiated this process by asking the town clerk to place this zoning issue on town's agenda. He also took part in the council's vote to send this matter to the Land Planning Agency.
During the February monthly council meetings, the council discussed the town footing the bill for this process. The mayor suggested the individual land owners pay for their own land. However, this has not been voted on by the council.
After the LPA hears the zoning requests, if passed, the amendments to the comprehensive land use map will go to the council in which they can set a date for a public workshop or set a date for a public hearing for the first reading of an ordinance.
Labels: agricultural land, Howard Walkup, LPA, Marsha Strange, public hearing, public records, report, rezoning
posted by Cher @ 1:09 PM,
,
03.09.07 -- REPORT: Town to reimburse former councilman for legal fees
Friday, March 09, 2007
By CHER PHILLIPS
The McIntosh Town Council voted to reimburse former Councilman Jim Strange for his remaining legal fees from last summer when he sued a committee of residents seeking his removal from office, as well as town and county officials for accepting the paperwork.
The council voted 3-2 for reimbursing Strange, based primarily on the advice of the town's attorney, Scott Walker. Council Vice President Howard Walkup and Councilwoman Eunice Smith issued the dissenting votes.
Walker researched and wrote an opinion he provided to the council at last night's meeting. (Read Walker's opinion here)
The attorney said he thought that though Florida has a statute prohibiting municipalities from paying to defend a council member against a recall petition, he said that Strange's case was in the interest of the town and could make them liable if he sued. Walker said he thought if Strange sued the town in small claims court for the $1,977.99 remaining from his legal fees, he could win.
In August, Strange sued the committee recalling him, the McIntosh town clerk and the Marion County supervisor of elections asking a judge to determine if the recall petition circulated against him was legally sufficient.
During the discussion last night,Walkup disagreed with paying Strange the fees, because he said he did not agree with how the case was closed.
The judge ruling over the case in August deemed the petition was insufficient as it was written because four reasons were listed and one was not sufficient. The petition committee was directed to recirculate the petition with rewritten, clear reasons and bring that petition back to the court. Strange then resigned before another petition could be submitted.
Listen to the council discuss reimbursing Jim Strange:
(Internet Explorer users may need to click the start arrow twice)
Strange's total legal fees were $5,705.12. He filed with the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust and received a check for $3,787.13.
Walker said that he thought if Jim Strange were to sue the town, "he's in a legal position that I think he can recover the $2,000."
Councilman Lee Deaderick made the initial motion to pay Strange's legal fees, noting that he agreed with Walkup but he wanted to follow the attorney's advice.
"I also think that any councilman, whether you agree with Jim Strange's recall or not, you're kind of voting against yourself," Deaderick said. He said that if they voted against reimbursing Strange they could set a precedent for the town, that future councils might not be willing to help them if they faced similar circumstances.
Another factor in the decision was expense.
Walkup would have liked to have Walker research further into the issue. But to continue paying the town's attorney, in addition to other court fees should the town face a lawsuit would outweigh paying Strange's fees.
Labels: Jim Strange, public records, recall, report, town council
posted by Cher @ 10:38 AM,
,
03.09.07 -- AUDIO FILE: March Town Council meeting
Listen to the March 8, 2007 McIntosh Town Council meeting. (Internet Explorer users may need to click the start arrow twice.)
| Citizen Board discussion | 0:11:20 | |
| Attorney Scott Walker explains repeal process | 0:19:45 | |
| Eva Jo Callahan negotiates joint workshop date | 0:26:41 | |
| Tree Preservation Ordinance | 0:33:29 | |
| Expiring McIntosh occupational licenses | 0:38:00 | |
| Agreement to reiumburse Jim Strange | 1:32:00 | |
| Citizen Board Appointments | 1:54:00 | |
| Auditor Selection Process | 2:02:00 | |
| 50 foot sight-trangle and traffic issues | 2:26:00 | |
| Adopting consent agenda | 2:37:00 |
Labels: audio file, public records
posted by Cher @ 8:21 AM,
,
03.08.07 -- EDITORIAL: The fine print will get you every time
Thursday, March 08, 2007
By CHER PHILLIPS
I owe our town clerk Debbie Miller an apology.
And I offer it to her here, publicly and willingly, but I have to caution you that I do it with great reticence. Not because the apology isn't genuine. When I am wrong, (and I know of it) I say that I am wrong. My reticence is due to the fact that McIntosh has been sliding in a scary direction lately.
Miller contended during tonight's town council meeting that the LPA notices posted had agendas on them. I said they didn't. She said they did. She was right.
The notices do contain some info. And this is why I give her this apology with a caveat. The info is just really hard to read. So hard to read that I missed the details after repeatedly looking at them. So hard to read that I missed the fine print even after I took a picture of the bulletin board.
See, I have this habit. I drive past the office on my way home from work every day. Every day. I pull in and flash my brights at the sign so I can see if there's a meeting agenda posted.
I'll be honest. I was pretty bothered after the LPA meeting last week when the Historic Board was left out. I'd gone to the meeting and written down every word as Lee Deaderick motioned for a workshop meeting between the two boards to hash out the Historic Ordinance 151. Shoot, I'm not even a fan of historic ordinance 151.
But I get annoyed when people are left out.
That's my pet peeve, and I've never made a secret of it here. The purpose of open government is to allow everyone a part in it. It's so one groups doesn't get to just leave people out because they don't like them, or because they don't agree with them, or because someone new is holding the powerstick this time around the meeting circle.
So after the LPA meeting, I drove by the office and took a picture of the LPA meeting notice. And you know, I *still* missed the fine print underneath the posting.
The day following the meeting, I asked around to the usual suspects -- proponents of the historic ordinance -- where were you? Those folks had no idea the February 27 LPA meeting was *the* joint meeting, either. I take some solace in the fact that I am not the only person in town who can't read small type. But, like them, I was expecting to see words like "WORKSHOP" and "the LPA and the Historic Board."
During citizen comments at tonight's meeting, I asked the council if we could have agendas posted with our public notices. I stand by this request. But I'd like to amend it so I don't have to make a fool of myself again. (Because, folks, I did a fine job of it.)
My amendment is simple: I ask that we not only have agendas, but that we legible agendas. I know, I know. I am asking for the moon.
But I feel like an agenda for a public meeting should not be the fine print. It's the meat and potatoes of the business of a town. Just look at this picture here. If you can read the fine print (I had to use Photoshop to enlarge this posting to see the agenda line), the next LPA meeting deals with rezoning requests being considered in town. Did you know that was happening? No, me either. Rezoning, like the historic ordinance, is the kind of thing you PUT IN BLOCK LETTERS so people can check in on those issues.
These are the things that we should be putting up front, in bold, readable typeface.
As a footnote, I went to the Historic Preservation Board meeting this week and asked them why they didn't come to the meeting. Two of the board members didn't read their e-mail in time to attend. One board member forgot. But Tammy Flagg had a lot to say about it. She said that she went to joint meetings over this ordinance with the LPA when she was drafting it last spring, and no one showed up. She said people only came out in force when the council was passing it. She said they missed all the of the smaller meetings when they could have offered input.
See, it saves the town money for people to have detailed agendas for every meeting. If people can be made aware and get involved in the planning meetings, then they aren't going to protest ordinances in the last stages, after the town has invested money in publicly advertising ordinances and sending it through the town attorney or a planner for an opinion.
I'll leave you with this question: If those joint meetings the first time around for Historic Ordinance 151 had been posted in a manner with detailed agendas, or talked about here on the blog so people can get information and dig into the issue if they want to, do you think McIntosh would be repealing this ordinance now?
Labels: agendas, Debbie Miller, editorial, public notices, public records, Sunshine law
posted by Cher @ 10:29 PM,
,
Editor
Editor and Publisher:
I'm Cher From McIntosh, FL I'm a graduate student at the University of Florida working on a master's degree in Mass Communication. While I was finishing my undergrad degree in journalism last year, I reported on McIntosh, Fla. for an in-depth reporting class. I figured that the reporting and the public record files should go somewhere people can access them. Reporters don't report to keep the information they find to themselves. Some of that reporting is included here in a forum that allows response. McIntosh suffers because with no news coverage, the local government and the rumor mill have too much potential to run rampant over residents. I moved to McIntosh in the fall of 1999. My profile
About This Blog
The primary purpose of this blog is to accurately reflect what happens in town public meetings and dispel rumors. I record the meetings and make them available for download. One of the goals of this blog is to offer residents a place to voice opinions. The comments, views and opinions expressed there are not necessarily those of the editor.
