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Escambia County Self-Reports Sunshine Law Violation By Library Board To State Attorney
April 30, 2021
Escambia County has self-reported a Sunshine Law violation by the library board to the State Attorney’s Office.
For now, prosecutors won’t take any action against four members of the West Florida Public Libraries Board of Governance for a meeting they held Monday in Century.
“We are not taking any action at this point, but there clearly was an apparent violation,”Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille told NorthEscambia.com Thursday afternoon.
The meeting was advertised for the Main Library downtown, not Century. Florida’s Sunshine Law requires that adequate public notice be given for public meetings, including time and the correct location. When NorthEscambia.com notified the board of the discrepancy in the legal notice, the board continued the meeting for a short period of time. And that, according to the State Attorney’s Office, is where they went wrong.
“It was accidental and unintentional, but the meeting should not have gone forward once they learned of the problem,” Marcille said. He added the county “will correct any issues created by the meeting and the manner in which it was held,” and hold additional training.
Escambia County Attorney Alison Rogers confirmed Thursday night that she is sending an assistant county attorney to the next WFPL Board of Governance meeting to provide a Sunshine Law refresher lesson.
For more about Monday’s meeting, click or tap here for an earlier story.
Pictured top: West Florida Public Libraries Director Todd Humble (far left), and Board of Governance members (L-R) Robin Reshard, Grace Buenatista, and Bradley Vinson during a meeting Monday afternoon at the Century Branch Library. Pictured inset: Humble, with board member Dr. Laura Bryant in the background. Pictured below: Reshard and Bryant remained the Century Branch Library parking lot at 6:33 p.m. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
7 Responses to “Escambia County Self-Reports Sunshine Law Violation By Library Board To State Attorney”
Quoting Reader:
“>>I also heard that they unlawfully moved the dictionaries from.the west wall to the east wall.
Your sarcasm says a lot about what you know. Or don’t know.
The Library board controls about $11.2 million in county funding this fiscal year. And that does not include any state and federal funding and grants.
They should be accountable.”
First, the WFPL BoG controls nothing. They are an advisory board only. The Escambia Board of County Commissioners and the County Administrator have ultimate say over the library’s budget. Yes, the library has an MSTU established for funding, but nothing gets done without the ok of the BCC and the CA, regardless of what the so-called BoG desires.
If it were really a Board of Governance with any power, volunteer applications to serve on the Board would not be sent to Todd Humble, the library director, they would be sent to the BCC for selection and appointment in a true oversight role.
I agree, these public servants should be held accountable, but the punishment should fit the crime. Trust me; sitting through Sunshine Law refresher training is punishment enough for this heinous offense.
>>I also heard that they unlawfully moved the dictionaries from.the west wall to the east wall.
Your sarcasm says a lot about what you know. Or don’t know.
The Library board controls about $11.2 million in county funding this fiscal year. And that does not include any state and federal funding and grants.
They should be accountable.
The biggest violation yet from the library board. This is HUGE. We cannot let government employees continue to get away with these violations especially the LIBRARY BOAD.
Insert sarcasm.
I wonder of they were scheming to get payback books instead of hard covers. Og my the cover up scandal continues!
I also heard that they unlawfully moved the dictionaries from.the west wall to the east wall. And that someone didn’t flush the toilet on break.
Waterlady501, unfortunately there are some individuals who think they can make their own rules. When it happens, over and over again, nothing is done about it. The question is why do the County Commissioners let it continue? It is a shame we will never get an answer.
Thanks William for attending the meeting & letting the participants know that they were in violation of the law. I’m betting if you hadn’t shown up at the meeting, it would have continued & no one would have ever known that they violated the Sunshine Law!
We are all so lucky to have excellent journalism by Northescambia.com!
This has nothing to do with Century. According to the first article, the library board members were under the impression the correct information had been published by the county, but apparently they didn’t follow up by reading the notices that were actually published. Nothing malicious here, just a simple clerical error. They met, as they had planned, at the Century Library. But when they were told about the incorrect information published about the meetiing, Robin Reshard said they would address that later. Apparently, Robin Reshard thinks rules don’t apply to her. This is not a mistake. This is a willful violation and should be treated as such. At that point, the board chairman, Todd Humble, should have ended the meeting, but he didn’t. This is not a mistake. This is a willful violation. Once the error was realized and both Reshard and Humble made bad choices, the remaining board members should have left the meeting. They didn’t. Again, that is a willful violation. These actions require more than a “refresher lesson.” They knowingly and willfully broke the law.
Future notes, make sure y’all R-E-A-D the Legal Notices BEFORE publishing then Do Meet where and when you said you would.
Easy-Peasy.
Rules and Law do not cease to exist just because you’re in Century.