From: [address removed]
To: [address removed]
Subject: Blueware Public Records hit the Courtroom
Date: Thu, 26 Jul[masked]:05:50 -0400
What Really Happened in Court on July 23rd
“Judge: Needelman met majority of Ellis' public record requests” is a grossly misleading headline in the Florida Today. The story was fine as Mr. Neale was covering this for the first time, but he could not have predicted the headline.
When the public records lawsuit was filed on June 27th no Blueware documents had been produced and requests for documents stretched back months. There was no flood of requests, just the same requests repeatedly – what was being paid Blueware and on what authority?
Rather than comment on who is a pathological liar (I actually am flattered to get this from Mr. Needelman I his press release), the statement the "$500,000 wire transfer was “a deposit in good faith to continue negotiations” is backed by nothing. The transfer states "INITIAL PAYMENT ON SIGNING". A 'deposit' would have gone to escrow, this did not. The money was wired directly to Blueware May 23rd. I believe much of it was already spent by Friday the 25th.
I have to admit I have always been impressed by the sheer audacity of Needelman claims and press releases. Mr. Needelman failed to show for the hearing so he could avoid any direct questioning. This is dandy in giving one plausible denial. Should a copy of a May 23rd contract surface it enables the Clerk to throw his attorney under the bus while he can re-write history as best fits the circumstances.
During the hearing I told the Judge I had received the public documents AFTER filing the FS 119 hearing. NOTHING was received before the filing. Much of what I have now received did not come from the Clerk's Office but from when Blueware payments of March, April, May, and June, done through electronic transfer, were finally posted to SAP Financial program on JULY 9th and they could be publicly accessed by others. It’s another question gone unasked by the Florida Today, why did it take months to load the Blueware information into the financial system?
If nothing is to be hidden why does the Clerk continue to suppress the Krasny-Dettmer opinion on the BlueGem contract completed May 21st? The May 23rd electronic transfer of $500,000 to BlueGem, which Needelman calls some crazy 'good faith transfer during negotiations' is CLEARLY marked on the transfer itself "INITIAL PAYMENT ON SIGNING". Who in their right mind sends a firm $500,000 to simply negotiate?
The Needelman Press Release is about as long as the story in the Brevard Times. The man was hiding from the courtroom, and whomever wrote the release was not there, either. The judge did not 'rule' I had documents. I did not say I sued to get documents I already had, ONE of the documents were in my possession when suit was initiated. In fact after the lawsuit was initiated is when the Clerk showed up with his version of a signed contract on June 29th.
The lesson for public officials is they can suppress public records with impunity until the requestor is forced to file suit, and only then need they dribble out records during the time it takes to get a hearing.
Both the Florida Today and Brevard Times are attached, with the Clerk’s Press Release.
Scott
Paid political advertisement, paid for approved by Scott Ellis, Republican candidate for Clerk of Court
Judge: Needelman met majority of Ellis' public record requests
Rival claims Brevard Clerk of Court withholding papers
12:09 AM, Jul 24, 2012
Written by
Rick Neale FLORIDA TODAY
TITUSVILLE — A circuit court judge Monday said that Clerk of Court Mitch Needelman’s office had fulfilled most of the public records requests filed by Scott Ellis, his political opponent. But he added that he will not prevent Ellis from continuing to make more such requests.
Ellis sued Needelman in late June, claiming he was withholding public documents. Monday morning, Brevard County Circuit Judge John Harris conducted a 27-minute hearing on Ellis’ complaint at the Titusville Historic Courthouse.
Since May, Ellis has requested numerous public records related to Needelman’s operations. Of particular note: a $8.52 million, five-year document-imaging contract with BlueGEM LLC, a Melbourne company that will digitize roomfuls of paper documents.
Ellis, the former clerk of courts, is challenging Needelman in the Aug. 14 Republican primary. Ellis served from[masked] before resigning with two years left in his term.
Harris determined that Ellis has received nearly all the records he requested, save copies of public-records requests submitted by four other people and a 17-page document valued at $2.10. Harris told Merrily Longacre, Needelman’s chief staff counsel, to produce it by noon Friday.
Longacre denied Ellis’ claim that her agency is withholding a May 23 BlueGEM LLC contract — because she said, to her knowledge, one does not exist.
As evidence, Ellis — who represented himself — displayed a SunTrust invoice for a $500,000 wire transfer on that date from the clerk of court’s office to BlueGEM LLC labeled “initial payment on signing.”
“Why would you ever send someone a half a million dollars if you don’t have a signed contract? There is no way that there’s not a contract for that date,” Ellis said after the hearing, addressing media on the courthouse steps.
“That contract has either since been buried or destroyed,” Ellis said.
Needelman did not attend the hearing. Interviewed Monday afternoon, he said the $500,000 wire transfer was “a deposit in good faith to continue negotiations” — and he called Ellis “a pathological liar.”
“The man lives in fantasy world. He just makes things up out of the blue. The contract was signed on the 29th of June. There was no contract on (May) 21. Six attorneys worked on the contract — four with us and two with the company,” Needelman said.
Harris ruled that an attorney invoice related to the contract was exempt from Florida’s Sunshine Laws. Immediately after the hearing, Ellis said he will file an objection.
In the future, Harris also told Longacre to process records for Ellis regarding BlueGEM LLC invoices and electronic fund transfers within 48 hours.
Longacre asked Harris to require court preapproval for Ellis’ future public-record requests. In a press release Monday afternoon, Needelman stated that Ellis’ requests create “a quagmire of paperwork that is hugely burdensome.”
Harris replied no.
“I’m not going to sit here and look at every single request as it comes in. That’s not my job,” he told Longacre.
Contact Neale at[masked] or [address removed]
Public records issue against the Brevard County Clerk of Courts office. Scott Ellis, representing himself before Judge John Harris. Representing Mitch Needleman's office is Mark Cook, seen at right, and Merrily Longacre. Mitch Needleman did not attend.
http://cpnews.brevardtimes.com/2012/07/needelman-wins-partial-victory-in-court.html
Monday, July 23, 2012
Needelman Wins Partial Victory in Court Case Brought by Ellis
TITUSVILLE, Florida - Mitch Needelman’s Clerk of Courts office won a partial victory Monday morning when Brevard County 18th Circuit Court Judge John M. Harris ruled that the Clerk's office does not have to provide Clerk of Court candidate Scott Ellis with a contested opinion letter as part of his public records request.
Addtionally, the Court accepted the position of the Clerk’s office that a digitizing contract which Ellis claims exists - does not.
Needelman and Ellis are locked in the August 14 Republican primary battle for the Clerk’s Office leadership.
Ellis contended in his lawsuit that a legal opinion letter from the law firm of Krasny and Dettmer, P.A. regarding a contentious digitizing contract between the Clerk’s Office and BlueGem LLC should have to be released, but Judge John M. Harris ruled that the letter is exempt, citing the following statute.
Section[masked]), Florida Statutes, provides an exemption for "work products developed by the public employer in preparation for negotiations, and during negotiations." The exemption is limited and does not remove budgetary or fiscal information from the purview of Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. See, Bay County School Board v. Public Employees Relations Commission, 382 So. 2d 747, 749 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), noting that "[r]ecords which are prepared for other purposes do not, as a result of being used in negotiations, come within the exemption of section[masked])."
The Clerk’s Office had also claimed relief due to attorney-client privilege due to the potential of future litigation. Judge Harris called this claim “disingenuous.”
“This is not a defeat,” Ellis said. “I will be filing an objection later this week. Most of the public records I have gotten were only released because I got this hearing.”
The Clerk of Courts office released the contract with BlueGem LLC on June 29, 2012. Ellis believes that a prior contract was signed on May 23, 2012 since that was when a $500,000 payment was made by the Clerk’s Office to BlueGem before the contract signing.
In Monday’s proceedings, the Clerk of Court's Attorney Merrily Longacre denied knowledge of an earlier contract. The judge advised Longacre that she was representing the Clerk’s Office and she acknowledged this was the official position of the office. In other words, Judge Harris was taking her word as a witness for the Clerk's office rather than just mere argument of an attorney. She said that Ellis has been provided with all contracts related to the BlueGem.
The judge also ruled that the Clerk’s Office has until Noon on Friday to deliver related public records requests to Ellis.
Longacre requested that the judge review any future public records requests from Ellis. The judge denied that request, telling Longacre to "take that up with the legislature."
The judge did not address Ellis’ claims of excessive costs, noting that the hearing was related to a public records request. He did advise Longacre to keep costs in line with statute.
Needelman issued this press release following the Court's decision:
For Immediate Release
“Courts Rule that Mr. Ellis Received Everything Outlined in his Petition Prior to the Hearing”
July 23, 2012
Scott Ellis admitted in court today that he sued to obtain information he already had. In the court case against Clerk of Courts Mitch Needelman filed by candidate Scott Ellis, Ellis was forced to acknowledge several times that the information he sought in the suit was already in his possession, having been received from prior public records requests. This admission proves that Ellis filed this suit, within weeks of the election in which he hopes to regain the Clerk’s position, as a political grandstanding gesture designed to garner attention and possibly votes in his bid to oust Needelman from his position.
Since filing as a candidate, Ellis has struggled with the stigma of having resigned his position as Clerk midway through his third term. He has employed numerous tactics throughout the campaign to draw attention away from this fact. This lawsuit is the latest in a long string of political posturing.
After publicly accusing Needelman of flagrant misuse of his power as Clerk to refuse to release information, and going as far as suggesting criminal activity regarding recent contract negotiations, Ellis gained little from his “day in court” with the exception of the judge setting some official guidelines regarding information release, which have already been followed in previous records requests.
Per the Court’s instruction the Clerk will continue to release certain documents per state statute. The Court has ruled that Ellis has received all records requests he has made that fall under the Sunshine Laws with exception of a single, most recent request for a 17 page document, which will be released upon payment of the standard fees charged for public records requests per Florida Statutes.
An attorney/client privilege letter, which Ellis demanded be released, remained protected per the judge’s order. Other information cited in the lawsuit was deemed to have already been released. All in all Ellis did not make the impact he hoped for, and the taxpayers were once again forced to pay for Ellis’ effort to gain publicity for himself and his campaign.
“We were confident in our position on these matters,” said Needelman, “But sometimes it takes judicial opinion to make the case clear to everyone.”
Clerk Needelman has confirmed that since he took office there has been an avalanche of emails from Ellis, some with multi-layered requests for information in a single email correspondence. Additional requests from Ellis’ associates, essentially for the same information on a different day, has resulted in a quagmire of paperwork that is hugely burdensome. Fulfilling these requests has interfered with getting the real work of the Clerk’s office done.
Needelman said: “Although we fully expect Ellis to find another way to create issues, it is the way he has campaigned before, and he will probably continue with it until the election.”
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