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ALACHUA – The City of Alachua Commission has announced its upcoming election to fill commission terms that are expiring this year.

According to the City Charter, the election falls on the second Tuesday in April, which this year will be on April 10. If needed, a runoff election date is scheduled for Tuesday, May 1.

Seats 4 and 5, currently filled by Orien Hills and Gary Hardacre, respectively, are up for election. Both seats are for a three-year term.  After five consecutive terms, Commissioner Hills has said he will retire from his Seat 4 position. Commissioner Hardacre will run for his second term.

The qualifying period opens at noon on Thursday, Feb. 16 and closes at noon on Thursday, Feb. 23. The qualifying fee is set at $25, and the election assessment fee is set by State Statue at $165.

The Hal Brady Recreation Complex, Plantation Oaks at Turkey Creek and the Cleather Hancock, Sr. Community Center will serve as the polling stations for the April 10 election.

UPDATE:  FULL STORY in Jan. 26 printed edition of Alachua County Today and now online following video links.

HIGH SPRINGS – After a contentious, nearly hour-long meeting, High Springs city commissioners finally settled on a city attorney Tuesday evening.  Commissioners picked Raymond M. Ivey as the new city attorney, but not before an issue of a possible Sunshine law violation was raised.

Commissioner Eric May urged his fellow commissioners to consider selecting Ivey, an attorney from Gainesville, commenting that Brent Baris was more politically connected in High Springs.

Gestrin, on the other hand, questioned Ivey’s business dealings and relationships with Barnas and Interim City Manager Jeri Langman and her husband, Ron Langman.

Those statements prompted a heated outburst from Ron Langman, who was sitting in the audience Tuesday evening.

“Jeri, they’ll have your resignation in the morning, okay?  This has gone far enough…Jeri will resign in the morning,” he shouted.

See FULL STORY in Jan. 26 printed edition of Alachua County Today.

Watch the entire meeting here (48:14 minutes).

Watch the contentious exchange involving Commissioner Linda Gestrin, Interim City Manager Jeri Langman and her husband Ron Langman here (2:34 minutes)

FULL STORY as published on Jan. 26, 2012 edition of Alachua County Today

High Springs picks attorney amid controversy

 By BRYAN BOUKARI

Today Reporter

HIGH SPRINGS – After a contentious, nearly hour-long meeting, High Springs city commissioners finally settled on a city attorney Tuesday evening.  Commissioners picked Raymond M. Ivey as the new city attorney, but not before an issue of a possible Sunshine law violation was raised.

Shortly after the special meeting opened, Vice-Mayor Bob Barnas said he feared the commission might be in violation of Florida’s public record and meeting laws, more commonly known as Sunshine laws.

At issue, according to Barnas, is that after the bid proposals for city attorney were opened Friday, commissioners were instructed to bring their top two picks for the job to the meeting Tuesday.  Barnas contended that having commissioners make such a selection on their own, and not in a public meeting, may have constituted a violation of open meeting Sunshine laws.

In an attempt to cure the possible violation, the commission restarted the selection process by having each commissioner note their top two picks in the open public meeting.

Commissioners ranked Raymond Ivey from the Law Offices of Scruggs & Carmichael, P.A. in Gainesville and Brent E. Baris, P.A. in High Springs as the top two attorneys in the running.

Ivey proposed a rate of $50 per hour up to 80 hours per month with no retainer or minimum required and additional time available at a negotiated rate.  Baris proposed a rate of $100 per hour with an effective retainer or minimum of $3,000 monthly for 30 hours of services.

After a lengthy debate, a motion to select Ivey for the job seemed destined to fail as Barnas vowed to vote against it while Mayor Dean Davis and Commissioner Linda Gestrin both said they were in favor of Baris.

Commissioners Eric May and Sue Weller said picking Ivey seemed to be the logical choice given the hourly rate.  May noted that the main reason Gestrin pushed for a resolution to terminate the contract with former City Attorney Tom DePeter was due to budgetary concerns.  DePeter resigned Jan. 13 before any resolution was drafted.

Responding to May, however, Gestrin seemed to step back, saying her budgetary concerns were not exclusively the attorney’s salary alone, but also the attorney’s ability to limit other costs such as litigation settlements and severance pay.

May urged his fellow commissioners to consider selecting Ivey, an attorney from Gainesville, commenting that Barris was more politically connected in High Springs.

Gestrin, on the other hand, questioned Ivey’s business dealings and relationships with Barnas and Interim City Manager Jeri Langman and her husband, Ron Langman.

Those statements prompted a heated outburst from Ron Langman, who was sitting in the audience Tuesday evening.

“Jeri, they’ll have your resignation in the morning, okay?  This has gone far enough…Jeri will resign in the morning,” he shouted.

Jeri Langman, meanwhile pressed her husband to refrain from the comments.  As he approached the podium, she told him, “No, no, do not do this,” and motioned for him to return to his seat.

Commissioners continued their debate over the matter for a short time after the contentious exchange before Barnas requested Mayor Davis to call for a vote on the motion to select Ivey.  In a surprise move, Barnas voted along with Weller and May in hiring Ivey.  Davis and Gestrin cast dissenting votes.

Commissioners then gave direction to Interim City Manager Langman to draft a memorandum of understanding with Ivey.  That agreement is slated for review and possible approval at the beginning of the Thursday, Jan. 26 meeting.

John Horvath of the engineering firm Jones Edmunds and Associates, Inc. presented information about the expansion to the Newberry City Commission Monday evening.

Horvath said that Newberry is expected to exceed the two existing plants’ current capacity of 350,000 gallons per day by 2015. Adding an additional treatment plant may increase the capacity by 210,000 gallons per day, a 60 percent increase, he said.

One of the current treatment plants is 35 years old and has had three major failures in the past two years, Horvath added.

Funding for the expansion would likely come from an appropriation from the state legislature and possibly through a State Revolving Fund loan.

Forty-eight years after Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his original "I Have a Dream" speech, his dream and his legacy live on as nearly 300 gathered at Alachua’s Cleather Hathcock Community Center Monday to celebrate the civil rights leader’s birthday.

ALACHUA – Forty-four years after the death of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader still inspires people to gather and celebrate his dream.

The City of Alachua held its 7^th Annual MLK Celebration at the Cleather Hancock Community Center on Monday, where about 300 people attended.

“He not only paved a way for blacks, but for everybody,” said Annette Lingo of Alachua. “I thank God that we have the opportunity to be a part of that.”

Lingo led the Old Town Church of God in Christ choir as they sang “God is Great” and “Let’s Get Back to Eden.”

The program included performances by the Old Town Church of God in Christ, the Westside Church of God in Christ and students from Alachua’s Music and Arts Program (or M.A.P).

Featured speaker Pastor Ted Welcome addressed the issue that there is still progress to be made, especially within the spirit.

“What really makes us free?” he said.

Schools are desegregated, public water foundations are no longer separate, and there is availability of the ballot for every man, he said. But Welcome posed the question “Are we really free?”

“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” he quoted from the Bible. Welcome’s sermon was about how true freedom was found in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, he said, all people are of the same family.

The audience responded to the speakers with the appreciative “Amen” and applause. During the choir performances, nearly everyone was clapping and singing along.

Alachua mayor Gib Coerper said the event was a success, and that each year it draws a bigger crowd. “It is a great way for the community to come together,” he said.

Adam Boukari, assistant to the Alachua city manager, said the event usually takes two weeks to plan.

“We have a very active church community in Alachua that enjoys being involved in many of our citywide events,” he said.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. event is no different. In recent years, Boukari said, the featured speakers have been pastors from the local community. Most of the events details remain unchanged from previous years, except for performers involved.

“This is something that is homegrown,” said Alachua Chief of Police Joel DeCoursey, Jr. Prior to creating the MLK Celebration, the community did not commemorate the day as a whole. It was only celebrated in local churches. Now, DeCoursey said, it has become an annual event to be reckoned with.

“The significance is that our younger generation needs to understand that it hasn’t always been the way it is now, and we need to not revert to how it used to be,” DeCoursey said. “We need to move forward together as a human race, not as individual races.”

Audience member Gwen Richardson said, “If we all just work together as a community, as a family, we can overcome any obstacle with a little faith and help from our fellow man.” She felt the celebration was nice and brought together a diverse crowd.

Brenda Holmes, of Gainesville, said this year was her first time attending the Martin Luther King Celebration.

“We are just keeping the dream alive,” she said.

#     #     #

HSPD Chief William Benck works in his office Wednesday afternoon.  Benck submitted his resigation effective the first week of February.

HIGH SPRINGS – With political unrest at a fever pitch, High Springs Interim Police Chief William Benck submitted his resignation Monday afternoon.  Benck is joining a growing list of officials and contractors parting ways with the City.

The interim chief’s initial resignation on Monday was a short 18 words.  But in a second letter on Tuesday, Benck said he learned that Interim City Manager Jeri Langman was not “completely satisfied” with the brief nature of that communication.  He then provided a list reading like a dossier of the issues over which he took exception.

In his second letter of resignation, Benck alleges that at a meeting of the High Springs Police Department (HSPD) officers Langman made insulting comments.

Specifically, he wrote, “…You told them you wanted this town to be more like Mayberry and they should be more like Andy and Barney…Mayberry does not exist in 2012, the world has changed since the early sixties, there is more traffic, people and crime.

“There were 164 officers killed in the line of duty in 2011, any officer attempting to emulate the style of Andy or Barney in 2012 runs a great risk of joining the ranks of fallen heroes,” he stated in the letter.

Benck’s resignation follows a series of disagreements he had with the recently-appointed Interim City Manager.  The latest dispute apparently came Jan. 18, when Langman had a letter hand delivered to Benck with instructions on when he should be working.

“…I am also requesting that you are either at the office performing your duties or performing patrols during normal office hours,” Langman wrote in the letter.

“I have requested that you or your staff notify me when you are outside the City of High Springs during your working hours for more than 1 hours and indicate who will be in charge of the department during this time,” she wrote.  “As a head of our High Springs police department, you report directly to me, therefore you must inform me of any vacation time prior to taking this and you must also advise me when you are out of the office and unable to perform your duties.”

Benck suggested that Langman was part and parcel of a violation of HSPD policies when she purportedly met with one of the chief’s employees behind closed doors.  “If the chain of command is to work it must work in both directions,” he wrote.

He also sharply criticized Langman for essentially overturning the firing of an officer.  “At the time, this employee was on probation, which allows for termination if it is believed that the employee’s performance is substandard, which it was and continues to be.  You would not allow this regardless of the above opinions and again, the support of the city attorney.” Benck wrote.

In a Jan. 23 memo, a frustrated Benck fired back at Langman’s assertions about his schedule writing, “I attend and conduct training anytime from 7am during the week to 7pm on Saturdays.  My phone rings and I respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Regardless of your position or rank in law enforcement, there are no normal office hours.”

In that same letter, he also takes Langman to task on her directives stating, “…I would think you would meet with me to discuss what needs this department has and how we can meet those needs to better serve all the citizens of High Springs.  This meeting has yet to take place.  Sending letters requesting changes that you do not understand can be damaging to this department.”

Benck also suggests Langman is micromanaging him, detailing several instances in which she provided specific instructions on law enforcement matters.  Benck noted that on Jan. 13, Langman asked him to create a directive instructing officers to act on the city’s noise ordinance, only after an incident involving one of her friends and the The Great Outdoors restaurant.

On Dec. 30, Langman asked Benck to establish a task force to quell reported problems of “young drivers” drag racing in their trucks and destroying the road with all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) during the weekends.

Benck objected to that in his resignation, writing, “You sent me an e-mail instructing me to form a task force to address a problem with ATV riders and young drivers on a roadway near your neighborhood.  I explained to you in my response that a task force was not needed and that increased patrols and selective enforcement would handle the problem.  This is [standard operating procedure] in law enforcement, and it accomplished the goal.”

Benck’s concerns with the department seemed to be echoed by former HSPD Chief James Troiano.  In an interview Tuesday, Troiano said, “My concern is that the safety of citizens of the City of High Springs is now in jeopardy.”

“They don’t have adequate staffing, now they’ll have no leadership.  It’s time for them to either hire qualified staff or turn it over to the Sheriff,” he said.

Troiano resigned from HSPD on Sept. 9, 2011 after the city sought to cut the police department’s budget and his salary.  Benck was tapped to replace Troiano on an interim basis.

Benck was a veteran police officer of nearly 30 years with the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) until 2010 when he retired and a short time later, joined HSPD.  His resignation is effective Feb. 6.

Complete documents below

PDF viewer required to view these documents.

Benck Resignation #1

Benck Resignation #2

Langman on Benck's office hours

Langman on ATVs and task force

Langman on Noise Ordinance

In a letter dated Friday, Jan. 13, DePeter submitted his resignation, which was effective Tuesday at 5 p.m.  DePeter said little to shed light on why he stepped aside, but the resignation comes after pressure from Commissioner Linda Gestrin who was pushing for his ouster.

In a meeting earlier this month, Gestrin asked fellow commissioners to immediately pass a “preliminary” resolution to remove DePeter from his charter officer position as the City Attorney.  She cited budgetary concerns as her reason for the request.

Commissioner Sue Weller raised concerns that the move would leave the city without an attorney, but Gestrin said she was following the procedures according to the city charter.

Commissioner Eric May, meanwhile, said he was in favor of replacing DePeter, but believed that Gestrin was rushing the matter.

“I want to go another direction with a city attorney, but this is a sloppy way to do it,” he said in the Jan. 12 meeting.

DePeter remained largely silent during that meeting as commissioners discussed his future with the city.

After a bit of maneuvering, commissioners passed in a 4-1 vote a measure to bring back a draft of resolution terminating DePeter’s role as attorney.  Weller cast the dissenting vote.  That resolution was to be considered during a special meeting on Jan. 17, but was removed from the agenda after DePeter’s resignation.

His decision to terminate the relationship is likely due to the lack of a majority support from the commission.

In his letter, DePeter wrote, “It has been an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of High Springs as City Attorney for the past four years.”

Prior to being hired as the City Attorney, DePeter was also elected as a commissioner and also served as Mayor.  He replaced longtime City Attorney Jim Pendland.

His departure leaves the City of High Springs without an attorney.  The city has been seeking bids for the city attorney position, reportedly to reduce costs.  DePeter was paid a flat fee of $4,000 monthly.  As of Wednesday afternoon, two attorneys had submitted bids for the position.  The bidding process closes Friday, Jan. 20 at 3 p.m.

DePeter’s resignation wasn’t the only to hit High Springs last week.  Engineering firm Jones Edmunds also notified city officials that it would terminate its longtime relationship with the city.

In a Jan. 12 letter, Jones Edmunds Chief Executive Officer Stanley F. Ferreira, Jr. wrote several letters to city officials notifying them of the firm’s intent to terminate its contract.

The letter does not state why the company is choosing to break off the relationship, but simply states that the letter serves as a seven day notice with a final termination date of Jan. 19.

Jones Edmunds has been intimately involved in the planning and engineering of the High Springs wastewater system, including its treatment facility.

City officials have not indicated how plans for the wastewater system, including uncompleted phases, would be affected by the Jones Edmunds’ decision to end the relationship.