With the case against the city closed, I have made several requests for the transcripts, starting prior to the city's sentencing. In my original requests, I was told that I would have to wait until after the final sentencing. The city is now saying that the transcript of the second shade meeting is missing. The city claims it does have the transcript of the first shade meeting, however that has yet to be turned over to this web site.

The unofficial story from city hall, and this has been confirmed through the court reporting company: the court reporter who sat in on the second shade meeting, which took place on March 8, 2005, left the court reporting business shortly after the shade meeting and moved to Homosassa Springs to be closer to her family. She reportedly took her transcription notes with her and never provided her employer or the city with a copy of the transcript. She has recently been contacted by e-mail and has reportedly responded that she still has her notes but that she never transcribed the meeting.

Efforts are reportedly currently underway by the city and the court reporting company to acquire the as yet non-existent transcript.

Meanwhile, the transcript of the first shade meeting is reportedly in the possession of City Attorney Bob Anderson. I have yet to receive an answer as to when, if ever, the transcript of the first meeting will be provided.

While informal requests have been made repeatedly to the city for a copy of the existing transcript, a formal (legal) request was not made until yesterday. This e-mailed request asked the city to provide the transcripts of both meetings on or by January 17, 2006. I have received a verbal confirmation from the city clerk's office that the city has received the e-mailed formal request.

The formal e-mailed request*
From: John Patten <jpatten@veniceflorida.com>
To: Linda Depew <ldepew@ci.venice.fl.us>
Date: Wed Jan 11, 2006 12:19 PM
To: Lori Stelzer <lstelze@ci.venice.fl.us>
Date: Wed Jan 11, 2006 12:15 PM
Subject: EPA Shade Meeting transcripts

For approximately a month now, I have been requesting the transcripts from the city's shade meetings with its attorney, these shade meetings taking place regarding the case of US vs. City of Venice.

To date, I have not received the transcripts. I have received various unofficial explanations as to why I do not have them yet, but the fact remains, I do not have them yet.

This is unacceptable.

I am therefore making a legal request, as copied from
http://brechner.org/florida%20public%20records%20request.asp

UPDATE: 01/19/06
Criminal complaint may be necessary to force city hall to release EPA shade meeting transcripts
There is still no word on when, if ever, the transcripts of the two Shade Meetings referenced in the main story on this page will be made available.

One possible scenario: the city may take the stance that Federal prosecutors have asked the city to withhold the transcripts, this due to the ongoing Grand Jury proceedings in Tampa which the city has acknowledged is aimed at individual players in this long story.

Reason: in the Federal criminal case against the city, the city agreed, as part of the plea agreement, to aid Federal investigators and prosecutors in criminal investigations into a group of city employees referred to by the Feds as "The Executive Group."

Venice Florida! dot com is working to either confirm or debunk the possible scenario. It is worth noting that in the case of the shade meetings that took place in a Federal investigation into the city by the FAA a few years back, the transcript revealed that the city's official policy for dealing with the media was to refer to a fictitious gag order (see shade meeting of 05/23/03, page 25, Adobe Acrobat file)

To that end, Venice Florida! dot com has started an inquiry to Fed prosecutors to see if they are willing to state that they have requested withholding release of the public documents.

As to any remedies that the media have when a government agency refuses to respond to a public records request, Chapter 119.10 of the Florida Statutes state that it is a criminal matter. As such, if the city continues to refuse to either provide the transcripts or to come up with a legally reasonable explanation as to why the transcripts are being withheld, a criminal complaint is the only mechanism that can force the issue past the present wall of silence.

So far, City Attorney Bob Anderson has been deathly quiet on the whole issue, refusing to talk or issue any statements on the matter. A comment from a city hall employee led Venice Florida! dot com to the court reporting agency that transcribed the two shade meetings, who, in turn, told of the problems encountered with the second transcript as documented in the main story on this page.

With the fictional information that was given out during the FAA investigation (specifically the invention of a fake gag order by the city attorney and city council), one cannot help but wonder if the tale of the lost transcript is also a created fiction.

Thus, while the story so far is that the second transcript is (hopefully temporarily) lost, due to the city's prior history of fictional explanations for withholding information to the media, the current story cannot be taken entirely at its face value yet.