Workers and activists connected to the Sick Time campaign and Organize Now spoke out again today at Orange County Commission meeting. Their concerns stemmed around the text messages from lobbyists to elected members on the Commission, which the activists claim provides more access for some than others.
However, in a texting twist, it seems one of the group’s lead lawyers at the time, outgoing state representative and incoming Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph, is benefitting from a double standard. Public records requests made October 5th to the Florida House, yielded this response on October 25th: “We have no records that are responsive to your request.”
The Florida House of Representatives has confirmed this morning that Scott Randolph did not even request a state issued phone and only used his personal cell phone. Even if members of the Florida House accept state phones, the office of Public Information also confirmed those phones do not carry data plans. That means there are no records from Randolph or his text messages on file as servers do not collect personal messages.
This seems to be hypocrisy at its worst at the local level. Randolph was one of the leaders who pushed the case to demand County Commission text messages. However, the public is not granted that same assurance or transparency from Randolph in his elected office. It is also highly suspicious since Randolph and his team were so adamant that text messages on personal cell phones are public records. He will have to adjust to new scrutiny as Tax Collector now that he is becoming a county Constitutional officer.
This is almost the same thing as a public elected official using a personal computer with a personal email to conduct business and not making it available to public records’ requests. The activists’ claims this morning included no new information or requests and did not address transparency or demands on offices other than the County Commission. Similar business interests and lobbyists involved in this texting debacle are closely tied to many of the Democrats elected on the Orlando City Council, including Mayor Buddy Dyer.
This makes it difficult to understand the true motives of the activists and whether this is a partisan attack on Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs and certain Commissioners, rather than a push for transparency and better public policy.
[…] state party chair, before switching to replace Earl K Wood and be elected Tax Collector. He also wouldn’t provide his text messages from the House, so he better watch out now that he is a County Constitutional officer. The year ends […]