DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- What follows is a communication to Volusia County officials in the wake of the Headline Surfer® denied access to the Waverly Media audio recording witness interviews under the care & trust of the county's outside investigator & inspector general, Jon Kaney, because they have been destroyed, even though by Florida law they were deemed public records:
County Attorney Daniel Eckert, County Manager Jim Dinneen, county spokesman Dave Byron, and the elected members of the County Council, including Chair Jason Davis, at-large Joyce Cusack, Pat Patterson, Deb Denys, Doug Daniels, Joshua Wagner, Pat Northey and Council member-elect Fred Lowry.
Is Jonathan D. Kaney, Jr. above the law? Was Mr. Kaney not named a "solicitor general" or arm of the Volusia County Government, therefore making him entrusted with the public record? Did Mr. Kaney not have a solemn duty to instruct his court reporters to preserve the audio recordings as part of the public records?
Is Mr. Kaney not known as one of the most expert attorneys in first amendment rights, including Florida public records law?
Is Mr. Kaney really unfamiliar with the attorney general's opinion accompanying Florida public records with respect to retainment of audio recordings once created to be preserved as part of the public record? Why is Mr. Kaney suddenly silent and not returning our requests for comment?
Do any of you remember when (Headline Surfer®) protested this entire process because Mr. Kaney was going exclusively to the News-Journal early on? Is it not a fact that the county does almost exclusive advertising with the Daytona Beach Mews-Journal/Halifax Media and with Southern Stone (formerly Black Crow)/WNDB?
Imagine if Richard Nixon had destroyed the Watergate tapes! How is it that the U.S. Supreme Court said the transcripts were not good enough and Nixon had to turn over the audio recordings tho the New York Times, Washington Post, et al, and yet the written transcripts are apparently good enough for the Volusia County Council? Or are they?
Aren't any of you in the least bit ashamed at the destruction of these audio recordings? The least bit embarrassed? Or perhaps you (in government) are relieved so the public can't hear what you had to say and how you said it?
Can anyone explain why Mr. Kaney made an example out of Justin Kennedy in the Waverly interview process and yet gave Jim Hathaway a free pass as both were opponents of Denys in 2012?
Can anyone explain why there was never a discussion of 20/20 Media except for a brief presentation by one of its principals early on?
Can anyone explain why Denys' withholding from the public her acceptance of two $500 in-kind contributions from 20/20 Media in a previous campaign or School Board misled the public, especially when she was one of the loudest critics of Waverly and went on the offensive against Kennedy in the 2014 primary campaign, especially during a News-Journal candidate debate?
As an advocate for the public in my role as publisher of Headline Surfer and having no monetary entanglements with Volusia County government in the form of advertising and marketing, I see where it is my duty to bring criminal charges against those responsible and entrusted with protection of the public record and that includes those in government who made no effort to protect that record when they had the opportunity.
Please tell me if I am wrong, but these are the parties, potentially responsible for the preservation of those audio recordings:
• Jonathan Kaney, Jr, the County Council-hired outside investigator who was given the added tittle of inspector general;
• The court reporters hired and supervised by Kaney who physically had the audio recordings;
• Kaney's co-investigator, Noah McKinnon;
• Volusia County Manager Jim Dinneen, head of Volusia County government;
• Volusia County Attorney Daniel Eckert; • Volusia County spokesman and point person to the media with respect to public records, Dave Byron;
• The elected members of the County Council: Jason Davis, Pat Patterson, Doug Daniels, Joshua Wagner, Joyce Cusack, Deb Denys and Pat Northey.
In the wake of the Waverly Media audio recordings of 24 witnesses being discarded it seems I now have six options:
• File a criminal complaint against any and all above with the Office of State Attorney R.J. Larizza, who up to this point, has shown himself to be nothing more than a partisan politician; protector of Denys (previous complaint alleging lying under oath in interview with Kaney regarding use of bus bench advertising dismissed);
• Ask Gov. Scott to intervene by utilizing the Statewide Office of Prosecution (with grand jury) to investigate county government corruption;
• Seek intervention from the Feds (US Attorneys Office and the FBI) to investigate county government corruption;
• Seek relief in U.S. District Court for violation of first amendment rights to public records, interference with freedom of the press and/or seek relief in circuit court for violation of the public records;
• Do any or all above options;
• Do nothing.
Which of the above do you think I will pursue? This I can say with certainty. The last option -- "do nothing" -- is out of the question.
In the least, I believe that several senior administrative officials and several elected office holders should voluntarily resign their positions. On the other end, several of these very same administrators and elected office holders should be removed from their positions/elected offices following a grand jury investigation by the proper authorities with oversight for violating the public's trust.