Sumter commissioners get open records request
 

A former circuit judge has filed an open records request for communications between Estep, Miller and Search and 11 other people. Some of the people are the president of the POA, a few democratic activists, etc. It appears they are looking for ethics violations.
Should be interesting.

The public records request was filed by attorney George Angeliadis of the law firm Lucas Magazine. Angeliadis is a former circuit court judge, appointed to the position by Governor Scott and defeated when he ran for election in 2020. Angeliadis has refused to disclose who is paying for his attempt to gain access to communications from Villagers exercising their First Amendment rights to petition their government, what the object of his fishing expedition is, or why he feels he has to hide his client's identity. The request targets communications between Villagers and the reform Commissioners Estep, Miller, and Search but omits Developer puppets Gilpin and Breeden. Further details are available in the on-line news. The Daily Sun has, not surprisingly, said little about the whole thing.

Has anyone ever heard of a similar stunt being pulled anyplace besides Sumter County? It is hard to imagine who has the motivation, financial interest, and deep pockets to finance: the compilation of the “hit list” of Villagers contained in the public-records request, the preparation of the request, and the review of documents that will ensue. Might this fishing expedition be related to the grass-roots movement to increase the Developer's sweetheart impact fee and rollback the 25% property-tax increase? Nah, that would be too obvious.

BTW, this is not the first effort by Angeliadis to stifle free speech. A video of him browbeating a Villager trying to speak at a County Commission meeting while Angeliadis was employed as Commission attorney, back in the days when all five Commissioners were the Developer's puppets, is available on youtube: Angie takes on Angeliadis - YouTube

Hopefully, Angeliadis's actions in the video and his representing a mysterious client (who doesn't have the courage to identify himself) in this fishing expedition are not his finest performances as an attorney. In fact, I wonder if he advised his client of the old legal maxim: People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It is far from clear that this fishing expedition won't end up with his client's being on the hook.

In any event, I certainly agree with the original poster: It should be interesting.

I guess you have not heard of Florida’s Sunshine law. You cannot conduct local or state business in private. If our new commissioners were conducting government business in private they were violating the law. They were either ignorant or disregarded the law. All communications should be disclosed and brought into conformance of the law. You can attack the person bringing the suit, but it doesn’t change the issue of commissioners not following the law.

Have heard of it and have read much of it but can't remember it having anything to do with conversations with constituents. Can you point out the relevant section?

If the commissioners were emailing each other that could be a problem. If they were knowingly working through an intermediary in an attempt to get around the law that could be a problem. But simply communicating with those they were elected to represent does not seem like it should be an issue with the sunshine law.

wow the politics of this place is incredible

Long term effort to scare away any potential future commissioner candidates that are not attached to strings.

Arrest last week, little scam in south Florida.
Ex-Florida Senator Frank Artiles Facing Charges in Sham Candidate Probe – NBC 6 South Florida

Of course I am aware of the Sunshine law. It does not affect what I said in my post.

Angeliadis is engaged in a fishing on behalf of a client who wants to hide his identity while apparently trying to intimidate the new Commissioners and the Villagers who support them and who have criticized the Developer's sweetheart impact fee. There is no indication that the new Commissioners are not following the law. The whole fishing expedition is incredible! My question to you is: Have you ever heard of something like it being done anyplace else in the country????

I do love how the local paper or rag keeps telling us the developer pays more in taxes to Sumter than anyone else.

Just doesnt think it should point out they are the largest builder and land owner by far. Sad when people take it seriously.

The FDLE criminal investigation of the use of fake candidates to disenfranchise voters in the last Sumter County Commission Republican primary seems to have disappeared in the bowels of the Tallahassee bureaucracy. (Details available in the on-line newspaper, but not the Daily Sun.) I wonder how that was made to happen.

Any article by David R. Corder in the Daily Sun should begin: "Full disclosure: Mr. Corder's salary and bonus are paid by the Developer of The Villages."

Additional Impact fees?
 

Just wanted to thank you all for educating a new resident about the local impact fees and local politics in this and previous posts. Question: With the developer proposing future multi-age housing are there additional impact fees such as a school impact fee, police impact fee and parks & recreation impact fee that the county commissioners should also be considering?

They definitely are considering it, with the Developer and his two Commissioners (Gilpin and Breeden) doing everything possible to derail any action.

BTW, I am glad that you are taking an interest in local government. Too many residents forget that we are living in a community, not at a resort hotel. As citizens of that community, we should be demanding honest, representative government. We should not be putting up with shenanigans like Angeliadis's fishing expedition financed by an undisclosed client.

Classic example of flexing financial muscle to get desired outcomes, happens all the time. Use resources, usually indirectly through proxies, to reward those that jump at your requests, and to make life miserable for those that act independently. If those acting independently can be made miserable enough, they will eventually go away and other’s will be discouraged from seeking office.

The following youtube video, which I just discovered, neatly summarizes what is behind Angeliadis's public records request: George Angeliadis Open Records Request - YouTube


Every Sumter County resident should see it and demand that Commissioners Gilpin and Breeden reveal what they know about who is funding the Angeliadis's fishing expedition.