On June 18, 2009 the City of Rockledge City Council members held back-to-back closed door individual meetings with their ongoing engineering service provider, Jones Edmunds and Associates (JEA). Read the CITY EMAILS organizing the ASR Forum and the private meetings written to and from private email accounts. This is NOT Government in the Sunshine. Listen to the three AUDIO RECORDINGS: 05 Dec 2007 council meeting where the City Attorney warns of the seriousness of the Sunshine Law, from 04 Jun 2008 of the City Attorney and City Clerk discussing the Sunshine Law with Council members, and where a citizen complains about council not talking about the ASR well issue because of Sunshine Law excuses. This is exactly the advice the City did not utilize following the May 4, 2009 ASR well Forum in Viera, when on May 6, City officials plotted to meet in private, “rapid-fire” sessions with JEA and the City Manager, Jim McKnight. So far, SOA has been unable to obtain any agenda, minutes, notes or audio of those closed door meetings.
On May 6th, less than 36 hours after the May 4, ASR “Public Forum” in Viera, three Save Our Aquifer members spoke at the Rockledge City Council meeting in an attempt to get Council members’ opinions regarding the information presented at the Forum. SOA members were met with blank stares and not one comment. SOA put extensive energy and resources into the Forum that was suggested by Georgia Phillips on April 1st after she made a motion to cancel an advertised “Public Hearing” regarding the well and hold the Forum. SOA asked Mr. McKnight after the May 6 Council meeting what the City’s plan was. He said he would have to see if the Council had any questions and go from there…. However, on the morning of May 6 Mr. McKnight had already sent a group email to Council members private email accounts that read: “I am attempting to bring JEA down for individual meetings with City Council one day during the month of June. Please notify me of what dates YOU ARE NOT available during that month. We will set time slots that best accommodate individuals. Thanks. James P. McKnight, City Manager, City of Rockledge, Florida.” It was not until July that SOA found out that Council members met secretly behind closed doors. The over three hour May 4 Public Forum was an opportunity for Council to submit questions and make informed decisions but instead they plotted to meet secretly behind closed doors with JEA and rehash, and again be persuaded by their engineering firm’s mis-information.