Effort to live stream all Quincy commission meetings shot down

An effort to keep Quincy officials “in the sunshine,” by making commission meetings more accessible was recently shot down.

During the February 8 meeting, Commissioner Angela Grant Sapp made a motion to have workshops, special meetings and regular meetings broadcasted so citizens have multiple ways of accessing or viewing the meetings.

The motion was seconded by Commissioner Freida Bass-Prieto, however it did not pass due to Mayor Ronte Harris, Commissioner Keith Dowdell and Commissioner Anessa Albritton-Canidate voting it down.

Harris said he agrees with Grant Sapp, but he thinks it’s unfair to put that strain on a city manager that doesn’t have a full-time information technology (IT) employee.

“I know the last workshop, a part of the reason why it wasn’t aired is because we didn’t have staff available at the time to put that out there,” Harris said. “For us to sit here tonight and put that type of demand on a city manager for something we haven’t done in the past is just flat out unfair to her.”

Dr. Beverly Nash is serving as interim city manager until the city hires someone permanently.

Former city manager Jack McLean, along with Grant Sapp’s husband Emanuel Sapp, filed a lawsuit against the city alleging Harris, Dowdell and Albritton-Canidate conspired to violate Florida’s Sunshine Law to terminate him, and they asked the courts to prohibit the city from hiring another city manager until the courts determine if his termination was lawful.

Commissioner Sapp provided an affidavit that was submitted as evidence for another lawsuit, stating the City of Quincy clerk, Janice Shackelford-Clemons, gave direction to James Southerland to stop broadcasting the December 30 commission special meeting on Facebook Live.

The city pays Southerland an estimated $40,000 a year to record commission meetings.

During the December 30 meeting, Harris, Dowdell and Albritton-Canidate, who were all individually named in the lawsuit voted for the city to pay their attorney fees and costs in the lawsuit filed jointly by Emanuel Sapp and McLean, against the city attorney’s advice.

In response allegations in that lawsuit, which was filed against the city and others by Quincy citizen Yvette Bittle, who is at the forefront of efforts being made to remove Dowdell from office, Shackelford-Clemons said she did instruct Southerland to stop live streaming the meeting, but says she was told to do so by Harris.

In an interview with The Gadsden County Times , Harris said he thought the commission would be holding an executive session that evening to discuss legal strategies for the lawsuit filed by McLean, but the city’s attorney said an executive session was not necessary.

He said he did instruct the clerk to tell Southerland to not live stream the executive session.

Although the meeting wasn’t live streamed, Harris noted it was recorded and is available upon request through the clerk’s office.

Shackelford-Clemons, who is accused of trying to sabotage Bittle’s recall efforts, is also named individually as a defendant in the lawsuit.

During the February 8 meeting, Dowdell asked the city’s attorney Gary Roberts about the status of obtaining an attorney for the clerk.

Roberts said the city has obtained Ron Myers' office with Martin Powell.

“They gave us a guideline of how a clerk should process or receive information given in a recall process,” Roberts said.

He also said the attorneys indicated any time the clerk. Wants to call on the recall issues they’re available for her during and even possibly after business hours.

Dowdell noted that was for the recall.

“She’s also being sued individually,” Dowdell said,

Roberts said the Shackelford-Clemons is being represented by attorney Mark Levine.

Harris asked if the city was picking up the cost for the clerk’s attorney.

“I don’t believe we need to leave our employees hanging out to dry, and I don’t believe we need to leave our commissioners hanging out to dry,” Harris said.

Harris clarified that Ron Myers is representing the clerk’s office, but Shackelford-Clemons also needs an attorney to represent her individually in the recall lawsuit.

Bass-Prieto said the issue she has with the commissioners hiring their own attorneys is none of it was contracted through the city’s attorney.

“Until we get a contract, we don’t know how much they’re being paid,” Bass-Prieto said. “When the city goes out and hires an attorney, we look for a discounted rate.”

Bass-Prieto also pointed out the commission does not know where the money to pay for the attorneys will come from since it was never allocated.

Bass-Prieto also said she has an issue with the fact that the city has already hired Shackelford-Clemons’ attorney - Mark Levine - to investigate wrongdoing in the city.

“How is that not a conflict of interest?” Bass- Prieto asked.

The attorney said he would research to find out if it is a conflict of interest.

Harris said he wanted to make sure the city pays for the clerk’s legal defense in the lawsuit, whether it’s Levine or another attorney.

“It’s good to sit around here when you’re not being sued, you don’t have to go to court, then all of that sounds good and well,” Dowdell said.

Dowdell made a motion for the city to pay for Shackelford-Clemons’ attorney costs and fees.

The motion passed 3-2, with Harris, Dowdell and Albritton-Canidate voting in favor of it, and Bass-Prieto and Grant Sapp voting against it.

In other matters, Albritton-Canidate made a motion to obtain legal representation paid for by the city for the recall of her seat.

Bittle, who is chairwoman of the recall committees seeking to remove Dowdell, Canidate, and Harris from office, has begun collecting petition signatures for the removal of Albritton-Canidate from the District 5 seat.

Sapp asked the attorney for his legal opinion on the city paying for the recall of a commissioner.

Roberts said he would have to do additional research because it’;s different from the perspective of the lawsuit Jack McLean and Emanuel Sapp filed.

“The recall is a different issue,” Roberts said to Albritton-Canidate. “Even though it’s attacking your office as a candidate in the capacity as a commissioner, the question because of whether or not it’s personal, as opposed to your official capacity.”

Nevertheless, the commission voted 3-2 to allow Albritton-Canidate to hire an attorney at the city’s expense.

“This organization and this municipality we are running, it’s our job to protect it,” Harris said. “We can not sit idly by and let one or two individuals run rampant on this city just because they have the means and the ability to do so.”

He said he is going to always lean in the direction of protecting the city and the people charged to represent it.

“If it wasn’t me, and it was my representative that I voted for to sit in that seat, I would want the same protection for them,” Harris added.

Harris said he believes he and others named as defendants in the lawsuit are on the right side of the law.

“That means if we have to fight it out in court then we’re going to have to fight it out in court because I honestly believe we’re on the right side of the law,” Harris said.

Erin Hill - erin@gadsdencountytimes.com

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