More to come? (maybe not) John Asmar was named in at least two other complaints sent to the state attorney’s office. On May 30, attorney Alistair McKenzie, who has represented DeWeese and Councilwoman Sherri Myers in legal battles with the Hayward administration, wrote to Eddins describing what he believed to be “a systemic effort … to frustrate citizen access to public records.” In particular, he had not received any response to a January 29, 2013 records request for all city-related correspondence to and from Asmar. “As of May 30, 2013, no response has been received, not even a partial response,” McKenzie wrote, “despite my continued follow up with both the City of Pensacola and Mr. Asmar himself.” After notifying the city of his letter, McKenzie said he did receive a response to his records request, although he notes that the city withheld certain documents without citing specific statutory exemptions. In addition, DeWeese wrote a separate June 7 letter to Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille accusing Asmar of using his private email account for city business and failing to relinquish emails sent to that address as part of a public records request. “I am therefore asking for the assistance of your office in compelling Mr. Asmar to produce the requested emails from his personal/law firm email account under the Florida Public records laws,” DeWeese wrote. The state attorney’s report is described as the “conclusion” of its investigation into several complaints, so it’s unclear whether these or any other specific issues will be addressed in the future. On her blog, DeWeese indicated that no action has been taken regarding her complaint, and McKenzie has had similar luck with his complaint. “I’ve never heard back from them,” he said Wednesday. “They never even acknowledged receipt of my letter.”
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 00:40:48 +0000
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