Paper Proves Fire Board Meeting Happened

Was there a meeting or wasn't there?

As it turned out, there was - and it was recorded.

A local resident filed a complaint through the state attorney's office earlier this week accusing the Spring Hill Fire Rescue District Board of Commissioners of having no record of a special meeting on April 13, 2007.

"Since no evidence of a meeting is available, a reasonable person would assume that no such meeting occurred," wrote Harry Chamberlain in his complaint form.

It was the second time he wrote prosecutors accusing the board of violating the state's Government-in-the-Sunshine law, which in part, prohibits government boards from having closed-door voting meetings.

There was a document signed on that date that authorized $11,000 be paid to the Spring Hill Fire Rescue District's attorney to file a lawsuit against Hernando County. The fire board voted 5-0 in favor of the lawsuit - which was filed in response to a county ordinance designed to dissolve the board.

No one remembered the meeting, including fire Commissioner George Biro, whose signature is on the fee agreement.

"I don't remember it, but if there's a date on it and I signed it, then it had to have happened during a meeting," he said. "I didn't sign it on my own. I know that."

The document was signed two days after a special meeting was scheduled to discuss the lawsuit.

"If there was no meeting, then Commissioner Biro entered into the contract on his own initiative and without the authorization of the board of fire commissioners," Chamberlain wrote. "If this is the case, (he) had no standing to sue on behalf of the fire board and should be held personally liable for all expenses as a result of this suit."

The chief at the time was J.J. Morrison. The board at the time did not include Rob Giammarco, who earlier this week asked the interim chief to dig up records of the meeting. As of noon Friday, he had not discovered any.

Giammarco also requested phone records. He said he was checking whether the matter had been done over the phone, which would have been another violation of the Sunshine law.

Rampino said he was surprised at the request because the alleged meeting occurred nearly 18 months ago. Eventually, a hand-written account of the meeting was found, as well as an audio recording. The meeting itself was 11 minutes long.

Biro thinks it is par for the course for the likes of Giammarco, Chamberlain and others who have a history of publicly criticizing the board.

"It's a desperate effort to get some last-minute, negative publicity before the election," he said.

Chamberlain, when contacted over the phone late Friday, said he would rescind his complaint now that the minutes of the meeting have been recovered.

"That's going to make my complaint pretty much invalid," he said.

On Tuesday, Spring Hill residents will decide whether to approve a referendum that would make Spring Hill Fire Rescue an independent district. If it passes, the county would no longer have any jurisdiction over the board.

If residents vote no, the board would be dissolved and the county would have full control of the district.