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Grand Jury Reviewing Century Town Operations And Management
February 4, 2019
A grand jury is reviewing the Town of Century.
NorthEscambia.com has learned from involved parties that subpoenas to appear before the grand jury have been issued.
“A number of issues have been brought to the attention of the State Attorney’s Office regarding the manner in which the town has operated, and these are the issues that may brought before the grand jury,” Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said last month. The issues, he said, span a period of several months.
“Under Florida law, not only can they (the grand jury) charge a crime, they can investigate how a city or county is being operated and make a report to the general public of their findings that will be educational to the general public and hopefully helpful to the city of Century,” according to State Attorney Bill Eddins when the grand jury investigation was originally announced in early January.
Grand jury proceedings remain secret until after their conclusion.
Directly unrelated to the grand jury, two Century Town Council members charged with civil violations of the Sunshine Law recently entered pleas, while a court date was postponed for a third council member.
Last summer, three council members allegedly attended at least some portion of a closed-door meeting with CPA Robert Hudson, Town Clerk Kim Godwin and the town’s auditors. The meeting was not advertised as a public meeting, which would forbid more than one council member from taking part under Florida’s Sunshine Laws.
Council member Sandra McMurray Jackson entered a plea of no contest and was fined $200. Council president Ann Brooks also pleaded no contest and was fined $100. Adjudication was withheld in both cases.
Brooks received a lower fine because “she was left culpable because she was at the meeting legally before Mr. Gomez and Mrs. Jackson arrived,” Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said. “While she should have left immediately, she did not participate in the meeting to the extent that Mr. Gomez and Mrs. Jackson did.”
Councilman Luis Gomez, Jr. did not appear in court due to health reasons, and his hearing date was reset for late February.
Pictured top: Century Council members (L-R) Luis Gomez, Jr., Ann Cofield Brooks and Sandra McMurray Jackson at a December 17, 2018, town council meeting. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
11 Responses to “Grand Jury Reviewing Century Town Operations And Management”
I find it odd that Gulf Breeze has an audit going on by the Florida State Auditor General and that Century is having a grand jury investigation . Both cities have one common denominator involved. The city attorney for Century is former mayor and city attorney from Gulf Breeze Matt Dannhessier.
I wonder if mayor will “get them on technicalities” as he wished for the courts was attempting to serve him during non lunch times.
REGARDING:
“Maybe it’s about time for Pensacola to incorporate the entire county.”
They do not have the power to do it against our will and we have repeatedly rejected the idea. Further, their previous mayor wasted millions of dollars and kept everybody in the dark.
If they actually wanted unified, one-county government, just convince Pensacola to turn in their charter and you would have unified government everywhere other than Century.
David for better ways
Although the Grand Jury investigation is appreciated, they need to turn it over to Mike Hill and have him request that the joint legislation auditing committee direct the Florida Auditor general do a full scale operational audit.
Maybe it’s about time for Pensacola to incorporate the entire county. Although not perfect, Pensacola City services seem to run a heck of a lot more efficiently.
Will the grand jury investigation impede my ability to get a loan from the Town of Century?
After what happened in Court over the Sunshine Law violations I’m not expecting much from the Grand Jury either.
I for one am glad the Town of Century is being “looked into”.
If the Town is doing what it is supposed to do, there will be nothing to find. And we will continue to rock along like we have been doing.
If the Town is not doing what it is supposed to do, the town will know who and what has been done that is illegal or done incorrectly. If this is the findings then we can make changes and set a course to stopping the actions being investigated.
We have been playing the blame game as well as “doing things like they have always been done.” for far too long.
Can everyone handle the truth ? I suspect
some will have a few restless nights ?
Reminds me of the song ” This Could Go on Forever”.
you had to know this was coming.