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041400 executive session 1 • 1 BEFORE THE SANFORD CITY COMMISSION 2 3 4 5 6 In re: Executive Session, Attorney- Client Session, April 14, 2000, 3:00 p.m. 7 8 9 ORIGINAL 10 11 REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS before the Sanford City 12 Commission on Friday, April 14, 2000, in the City 13 Manager's Conference Room, Sanford City Hall, 300 14 North Park Avenue, Sanford, Seminole County, 15 Florida, commencing at 3:00 p. m., pursuant to 16 Notice herein, the Honorable LARRY A. DALE, Mayor, 17 presiding. 18 Commissioners present: VELMA H. WILLIAMS, 19 BRADY LESSARD and HERBERT "WHITEY" ECKSTEIN. 20 Also present: Mr. tony Van Derworp, City 21 Manager. 22 APPEARANCES: 23 WILLIAM L. COLBERT, Esquire, City Attorney. 24 25 C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 U 2 1 (Thereupon the following proceedings were had 2 in public forum:) 3 MAYOR DALE: All right. Are you ready, Bill? 4 MR. COLBERT: Yes, I'm ready when you are. 5 MAYOR DALE: We'll call the meeting to order. 6 This is a public meeting to discuss the 7 Seminole Volunteer Enterprises and the pending suit 8 against the City concerning that food establishment. 9 All right. Bill, we'll turn it over to you. 10 MR. COLBERT: Okay. Thank you, Mayor. You 11 will recall at your regular Council meeting Monday I 12 requested an attorney- client session. • 13 Hopefully it won't take us a long time, but I 14 did want, in light of some recent developments, to 15 have some discussion with you as the City 16 Commission, my Client, and get your input on 17 strategy and cost - containment issues and that type 18 of thing. 19 Mrs. Reischmann was originally scheduled to be 20 with me today. She can't be because she had to go 21 to Oviedo to handle some matters there. 22 But I'm going to go ahead and take care of what 23 we need to do here from our standpoint and then get 24 your input. 25 And then she and I will discuss it. I would • C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 3 • 1 expect the meeting to take a half hour or perhaps a 2 little longer. 3 At the conclusion of the meeting we will 4 reconvene publicly to adjourn. 5 But I'm ready to go into session at any time 6 you folks are. 7 MAYOR DALE: Okay. We'll take a second to 8 close the door and go into Executive Session. 9 (Thereafter the following proceedings were had 10 in Executive Session:) 11 MR. COLBERT: This is the third Attorney- Client 12 Session that we've had on the DiSantis Case. • 13 And I always take a moment, particularly for 14 purposes of the record, to remind you that this is a 15 special provision of the Florida Statutes that we're 16 operating under. 17 Everything that is said in this room will be 18 released at the conclusion of the litigation. 19 So treat this just as you would any other 20 regular discussion of City business; because it 21 will be public record at the conclusion of the 22 litigation. 23 Having said that, I just want to kind of bring 24 you -all up -to -date and give you a couple of thoughts 25 of mine. Ili C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 411 4 1 And then get some input if I can on where you 2 would like for us to go from this point. 3 As I said, we've had a couple of Attorney - 4 Client Sessions. 5 At the last Session it was my understanding 6 that there was a consensus of the Commission to see 7 about trying to get a mediated settlement. 8 And subsequent to that meeting I had some 9 discussions with Mr. Jones, Mike Jones. 10 And I...persuaded, I guess is the way I want to 11 say it...them that mediation would be appropriate in 12 this case. III 13 They were not inclined to mediate initially; 14 but I felt that it was appropriate and would be 15 cost - effective at least potentially so. 16 Seminole Volunteer Enterprises had agreed, I 17 think, before we met at the last time, that if there 18 was a mediation that they would participate in it. 19 And that mediation occurred a little over a 20 week ago now. 21 The Mayor was present. The City Manager was 22 present. Mrs. Reischmann was present. 23 I was not present, because that was the day of 24 my uncle's funeral; and I was involved in handling 25 matters. All C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 S s 1 But it is my understanding that as a result of 2 that mediation that there was a potential settlement 3 that the DiSantis Group and the Seminole Volunteer 4 Enterprises group were willing to enter into, 5 subject to City Commission approval. 6 At the last Commission Meeting the Commission 7 had the Agreement in front of them; and a motion 8 was made but not seconded. 9 So the City did not take action on that. From 10 a legal standpoint it's my position that the City 11 did not approve; nor did it disapprove that 12 potential mediated settlement. 13 It simply at that point, for lack of a second, 14 did not take action. 15 I would like to recommend to you that this be 16 placed on the agenda for the next City Commission 17 Meeting for action to be taken. 18 Now, that action could be approval; it could be 19 disapproval if the Commission were so inclined. 20 But I think there needs to be action taken for 21 several reasons. 22 And those reasons are, one, right now the City 23 is in a little bit of a delicate situation by not 24 taking action on that matter. 25 We're in a delicate situation with the Court, C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 6 1 in that we were ordered to mediate and mediate in 2 good faith. 3 And I think the Court would expect us to take 4 action and not to simply not take action, based upon 5 the Order to Mediate. 6 The second thing is, from a legal standpoint, 7 there is an Agreement that both parties at least at 8 that point in time were willing to abide by. 9 And there are citizens of the City, whether 10 it's on the DiSantis side or on Seminole Volunteer 11 Enterprises' side, they are all citizens of the 12 City. 13 I think it is appropriate that a decision be 14 made from that standpoint, at least to try to bring 15 some closure to it. 16 The Attorneys for Seminole Volunteer 17 Enterprises had said that they are moving to 18 intervene in the case. 19 That is appropriate, in that we've wanted them 20 in the case all along. 21 I think there is a hearing set for April 20th 22 on their Motion to Intervene and actually enter the 23 case. 24 They have been on the sidelines until now. But 25 as of April 20th, assuming that Motion is granted, C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • • • S 1 and I expect that it will be, they are going to be 2 in the case. 3 So that gets them subject to the jurisdiction 4 of the Court, even beyond potential mediation. 5 And it gets them subject to whatever orders the 6 Court may enter later as we go down that road. 7 There was a Temporary Injunction Hearing on the 8 eleventh. I think that was Tuesday. 9 And the Court, on the thirteenth, which I 10 believe was yesterday, issued an Order. The effect 11 of that Order is that the City is enjoined right now 12 from taking any action to modify the Development • 13 Order for ninety days. 14 So, Judge Freeman entered an Order that he 15 intends to preserve the status -quo. And that we 16 can't amend the Development Order or make changes 17 for the next ninety days. 18 MAYOR DALE: Well, that means we couldn't 19 accept the mediated Agreement, then. 20 MR. COLBERT: I think we could accept if the 21 condition- - 22 MAYOR DALE: Because that does modify the 23 Development Order. 24 MR. COLBERT: I understand what you're saying. 25 I think if the Commission chose to accept the 411 C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 8 0 1 mediated settlement, the way it would have to be 2 done would be to accept the mediated settlement 3 subject to the Court's approval. 4 That would be the motion, because now the 5 Injunction has been entered. 6 If the Settlement Agreement is not accepted 7 we're going to be in protracted litigation for more 8 than a year. 9 The expenses are going to mount. And I 10 believe that there is the potential before we finish 11 this that both sides are going to be taking shots at 12 the City. • 13 And that I would not be surprised if farther 14 down the road they're going to take the position we 15 could have mediated and settled this- - 16 MAYOR DALE: Well, why didn't they get up and 17 say that the other night? They sat there like 18 bumps on a log. 19 MR. COLBERT: I understand. And, you know, 20 I'm not taking issue with anything. 21 I'm just advising my Clients right now. 22 That's all I'm doing. 23 I think that it is likely that both sides are 24 going to view the City as an adversary if the 25 litigation gets protracted and both will potentially 0 C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • 1 take the position that it could have been settled 9 2 but for the City's lack of agreement; and attempt 3 to later charge the City with bad faith for not 4 settling it, which is why I want the Commission to 5 take action Yes or No. 6 And also, potentially ask for court costs and 7 attorney's fees down the road. 8 Now, I'm not sure they'll get that. I'm not 9 suggesting that they will, but I think they're going 10 to both be adversaries to the City as we go down the 11 road. 12 So, to really summarize where I am, I wanted to 0 13 advise you of what has happened since we last had an 14 Attorney - Client Session. 15 I wanted to give you the reasons why I feel 16 that we should take action one way or another on 17 that Settlement Agreement at the next meeting. 18 And I want to advise you of what I see as some 19 of the issues and the length of the litigation if it 20 is not settled. 21 And having said all of those things, I'd like 22 to hear from you -all to see if there is a consensus 23 or if you have any questions about what I've said. 24 MAYOR DALE: Well, like I say, they had every 25 opportunity to speak. I looked at them three times • C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 1 and I asked them if they wished to address the 10 2 commission on it. 3 And they sat right there and didn't say a 4 damned thing. 5 MR. COLBERT: I know. 6 MAYOR DALE: All they had to do was to come up 7 there and say, "Yes, we would like you to pass this 8 Agreement." 9 MR. COLBERT: And I don't know why they didn't. 10 MAYOR DALE: And I, I, number one, I don't like 11 Howard Marks. I didn't like him when he was 12 involved with the ACLU in that suit and things out • 13 at the college. 14 He tried to get victory out of compromise. He 15 got himself in trouble on this one; he called 16 immediately after the mediation and said, "We won." 17 Told the press that. 18 And stirred up everything to the point that- - 19 and me telling Katie to call him and say, "If you 20 do this, you're going to jeopardize the mediation." 21 And they opened anyway. 22 MR. COLBERT: And I think-- - 23 MAYOR DALE: And I've been- - 24 MR. COLBERT: And I think there has been some 25 discussion between our office and theirs, also. C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 I 1 • 11 1 MAYOR DALE: Well, and there was, yes. And 2 then Jean wrote me a letter saying, you know, she 3 would like to open. 4 And I said, "I don't have - -" and she wrote it 5 to me as Mayor, and I said, "I don't have that 6 authority, you know, it has to come from the 7 Commission." 8 "And I would advise you, you know- - 9 MR. COLBERT: Right. 10 MAYOR DALE: "- -not to, because it could 11 jeopardize the mediation." 12 Now, those Plaintiffs knew that. And then III 13 they were quoted in the paper as, you know, being 14 upset with everybody, bad faith, they didn't do 15 this, and then they didn't come and open their 16 mouths. 17 They did not open their mouths at the meeting. 18 Okay? 19 MR. COLBERT: I understand. 20 MAYOR DALE: For those reasons, I wasn't going 21 to second the motion. Number one, I've been the 22 brunt of Jean Metts and Katrina Kaye and all of that 23 ugliness, you know, for simply stating my beliefs 24 about the poor planning. 25 And, number two, I don't like Howard Marks in C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 0 12 1 any way. And I obviously was not going to second 2 the motion. 3 However, had the motion been seconded it may 4 have been a completely different outcome. But, you 5 know, I think it is...I think it is...for Joe 6 DiSantis to get in the paper and say the things he 7 has done now about this things should have been 8 settled, What was the City thinking? 9 And what was he thinking? Where were you? 10 Joe, you were sitting right there. You know, when 11 you were given the opportunity to speak, why didn't 12 you come down and say Look, we would like for you to • 13 pass this? 14 Rather than leave it on the onus of somebody 15 else who doesn't have a clue as to what they really 16 want, after what Howard Marks tried to do by 17 claiming victory out of you -all's compromising. 18 And that is exactly what he tried to do. It is 19 what he always tries to do. 20 And, quite frankly, I think he did a big 21 disservice to his Client. I guess when you get 22 something for nothing that's what you get, is 23 nothing. So -- 24 MR. COLBERT: Well, there has been a lot of 25 rhetoric by a lot of different people on different • C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 ■ 13 1 sides of this. And, unfortunately, that does 2 occur. 3 And I understand what you're saying about it. 4 I don't disagree with what you're saying. 5 MAYOR DALE: Well, those are the reasons, I 6 mean I'm talking to my fellow - Commissioners here. I 7 did not second it for those reasons. 8 Number one, I don't like Howard Marks. Number 9 two, I didn't like what he did. And number three, 10 the Plaintiffs, who were the, really, the mediators, 11 didn't come forward and say boo, Yea, No, kiss my 12 foot, nothing. • 13 MR. COLBERT: Understood. 14 COMMISSIONER LESSARD: Well, if this is 15 confession time of why we didn't step into it or 16 vote for it: I wouldn't have voted for it. 17 And I still, I can't vote for it. And, Bill, I 18 don't, you know...and - - -and people, the DiSantis' of 19 the world are mad at me. 20 And I'm sure that the folks on the other side 21 are. I can't vote for the thing, because it doesn't 22 reconcile the problem of the LDR. 23 I'm not representing the Plaintiffs in this and 24 I'm not being the adversary. 25 I am an adversary of the departure from the • C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • 1 LDR. If we're keeping costs down...and I agree 14 2 that we should, but I just, I think if we sanction 3 it or - -This is why I'm voting against it. 4 And if it comes back up and it passes, 5 hopefully we never hear another thing about it. 6 But I think that if I vote for it and sanction 7 it, then we are opened up to some future litigation. 8 So I, I can't vote for it. 9 MR. COLBERT: I understand and respect what 10 you're saying. And I'm not here trying to force the 11 Commission to take a particular action. 12 I do feel that there are some legal issues and • 13 some problems. 14 I just want you -all to be fully apprised and 15 apprised of what the consequences of different 16 actions could be and form a consensus if you can. 17 And take a vote at the next meeting, and then 18 we'll all be bound by it. 19 MAYOR DALE: Well, I think you're right. We 20 need to take action on it. It is a - -And I certainly 21 agree with Brady. 22 I voted against it for the same thing. But, 23 Brady, I think we've learned a big lesson from it. 24 And I've listened to the Commission, you know, 25 as we talked about other issues. C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • 15 1 fr m it . And And I think we learned a lesson o 2 I think, quite frankly, it's time to put this behind 3 us and move on. 4 COMMISSIONER LESSARD: Well, I don't- - 5 MAYOR DALE: Because I think we learned that 6 lesson. I think that we are going to act 7 differently from a planning perspective, now, from 8 now on. 9 Not that we won't have different views from an 10 emotional standpoint on how people should be helped 11 and this and that and the other. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes. • 13 MAYOR DALE: But my whole thing wasn't based 14 on whether this was helpful to the people. I think 15 it is. 16 My whole thing was based on, and Brady's was, 17 from a planning perspective and violating our own 18 regulations. 19 MR. COLBERT: Yes. 20 MAYOR DALE: So, you know...and knowing when 21 Mac comes back...and I think he will, we'll put this 22 to bed even if he's on his death bed. 23 I think there is a consensus. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, I would just 25 like to say that- - C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • 16 1 MAYOR DALE: Yes. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I am anticipating, 3 since I've heard officially that we can - -I assume 4 that you - - -I assume that we can bring it back up. 5 That is an interesting thing...to bring it back 6 up for reconsideration. 7 I don't know why there are some who think that 8 I have an ownership to second the motion. 9 MAYOR DALE: Or amend. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Then I should have 11 seconded the motion. However, I wanted to explain 12 to you why I didn't. Whether you think it was • 13 logical or not or a good reason but I don't know 14 why, but I just assumed - -and they say you don't 15 assume, because you know what happens, but I assumed 16 that there was a consensus, okay? after the 17 mediation. 18 And I didn't think that there would be any 19 reservation by anybody about seconding it. 20 And so when the motion was made I reached for 21 the Mayor's gavel...but I'm serious...There is no 22 way in the world if I had thought that you wouldn't 23 have seconded it or anybody wouldn't have seconded, 24 I would have reached for the gavel - -I wouldn't have 25 done that, you know. • C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 17 • 1 I was serious when I reached for his gavel, but 2 I'm assuming that, Hey, no problem with a seconding. 3 Number one, he didn't even look at me. Then I 4 became more nervous. 5 And I said Oh, gee, if I second this motion 6 here and then I didn't hear Brady say anything. 7 At that time I had not read where Brady had 8 said anything about he wasn't going to support it. 9 The only thing that came to my mind at that 10 split second was that If I second this motion there 11 would be a tie vote. 12 And if there is a tie vote, you know, nothing • 13 happens. And so I began to think about Mac...I 14 said Maybe if I don't second it and nothing happens, 15 I have the opportunity to bring it back up after a 16 conference call. 17 Those are the things that went through my mind, 18 you know. And I didn't even know that there was a 19 co -- appearing the next - -maybe I should have known, 20 you know, maybe I didn't correspondence e d t read the corres Y Y P 21 back and forth. 22 But that was my reason. 23 MAYOR DALE: For future reference, Mayor's 24 Rule of Order, if it is a tie vote or even if there 25 is a vote in the positive, those that voted for the C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • 1 motion, in the affirmative, can bring it up either 2 at that meeting or at the next meeting. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: If there is a majority. 4 MAYOR DALE: To reconsider. No, it doesn't 5 have to be a majority. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Because, see, that is 7 what I was...I always thought that -- 8 MAYOR DALE: Well, if you voted in the 9 affirmative and it failed for lack of a majority, 10 you could have brought it back up either at that 11 same meeting or at the next meeting. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, I thought it had • 13 to do with the majority. 14 MAYOR DALE: Well, this is for future 15 reference. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Or that type of thing, 17 so i -- 18 MAYOR DALE: For future reference, if you vote 19 in the affirmative, okay? you can bring it- -and it 20 is either a tie or it won, you can bring it back up 21 either at that meeting or the next meeting. 22 Now, if you voted against it, you can't. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I knew about that, but 24 I thought it was a majority. I thought that it - -And 25 I felt that really it was just like a tie, it is a • C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 19 1 vote - -a tie is like -- -it's a vote but it really 2 doesn't accomplish anything. 3 MAYOR DALE: If you voted in the minority you 4 can't bring it back up. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I know if you voted 6 with the majority you can. 7 MAYOR DALE: If you voted in the majority you 8 can bring it back up. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I know about the 10 majority and the minority and so forth. 11 MAYOR DALE: And if it's a tie you can bring it 12 u p . • 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Now, that's where I 14 had, I was in a quandary about the tie. And I felt 15 that if nothing- - 16 MAYOR DALE: In fact, I would suppose anybody 17 could bring it up if there was a tie, because there 18 was no action taken. 19 MR. COLBERT: I haven't researched that. I 20 think that is a probability. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I just didn't know. 22 MAYOR DALE: I would have allowed it to have 23 been brought up again. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, I didn't know, 25 and that was my position on it. And I said, I was C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 410 20 1 sitting there thinking, Well, we can have a 2 conference call. 3 MAYOR DALE: And since there was no second on 4 it, it could have been brought up again. Anybody 5 could have brought it up and said Well, let's try 6 this motion. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, that is why, that 8 was my rationale for not seconding it. 9 MR. COLBERT: And I understand. 10 COMMISSIONER LESSARD: And here is a question: 11 On this - -And I thought Jean could go get a vote from 12 Mac. That is -- 13 MAYOR DALE: No, he has to be present to vote. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: A conference call, 15 right? 16 MR. COLBERT: No. 17 MAYOR DALE: You can't vote by phone and you 18 can't vote by proxy. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I know you couldn't 20 vote by proxy, but- - 21 MAYOR DALE: You have to be personally present. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 23 MAYOR DALE: So, you know, I believe...my 24 feeling, to the contrary of what we did....because I 25 think what we did was wrong. And I voted against it • C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • 21 1 for that reason. 2 But for the sake of putting it back - -After 3 reading the comments in the papers from DiSantis and 4 others, I could kick their behinds for not coming up 5 there and saying something the night of the meeting, 6 instead of just sitting there like bumps on a log. 7 MR. COLBERT: Yes. 8 MAYOR DALE: I really didn't participate in the 9 mediation. We all broke up, you know, basically 10 what we did in mediation, Bill- - 11 MR. COLBERT: They divide you up. 12 MAYOR DALE: Well, he sat right there and • 13 explained what he was going to do, and got the 14 lawyers, by the way, to sign a confidentiality 15 thing. 16 He didn't have everybody else sign it. He said 17 he usually does, but there was too many, that he was 18 just going to have the lawyers do it. 19 So they all signed the confidentiality 20 statement, even though Marks called the press 21 immediately thereafter. 22 They all signed the confidentiality statement, 23 and then he put us in the conference room. 24 Tony and I went in one room and twiddled our 25 thumbs, read the paper, made telephone calls, went C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • 1 out and smoked a cigar, you know, several other 22 2 things. 3 And talked with Katie a little bit. And 4 finally Harvey came in and talked to us some. 5 And, you know...and then the rest of the time 6 they - -I really didn't know what was happening in 7 there. 8 I went to lunch. And then had a lunch, and 9 came back and they had decided maybe they were going 10 to settle it, and- - 11 MR. VAN DERWORP: That isn't unusual, because 12 it was a settlement agreement that was really • 13 reached between a party that wasn't a party- - 14 MR. COLBERT: A non - party, right. 15 MR. VAN DERWORP: - -a non -party at that time. 16 MAYOR DALE: And it really wasn't reached with 17 us, as the- - 18 MR. VAN DERWORP: But normally it would have 19 been. 20 MAYOR DALE: -- Defendants. It was a strange 21 deal. 22 So they spent more time talking with the 23 Seminole Volunteer Enterprises folks and the 24 Plaintiffs than they did with us. 25 And I didn't know until they came back about C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 23 • 1 2:30, I guess, when I got back from lunch and sat 2 around some more...that they had reached an 3 agreement, they typed it up, you know. I supposed 4 it would be subject to Commission approval instead 5 of putting it in there that way. 6 Tony signed it subject to Commission approval. 7 I said Fine, you know. I was surprised that they 8 had reached it, that is, the stuff that they were 9 talking about before. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Excuse me a minute. 11 Tony, you weren't in there while they were mediating 12 those issues? or you weren't supposed to be in • 13 there ?? 14 MAYOR DALE: No. Well, they were caucusing. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Oh, okay. 16 MR. COLBERT: Well, the way the mediation goes 17 most of the time - -it is unusual to have three 18 different parties, but there were three here. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Oh, okay. 20 MR. COLBERT: And the way mediators normally do 21 it, they get everyone together and kind of explain 22 the ground rules. 23 And you get all the parties...if there are 24 three parties, they go to three different rooms. 25 And the mediator goes into the rooms and then • C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • 1 tries to resolve the issues in conflict. 24 2 The thinking of that is, if you remove the 3 parties to kind of a neutral territory the mediator 4 can have discussions and bring about compromise. 5 But if all of the parties are across from each 6 other, tempers flare and issues escalate more than 7 get resolved. 8 And so that is the way mediation is normally 9 done in Florida. This is not unusual mediation 10 except that there were three parties, which made it 11 a little bit unique. 12 And I say three parties; one really wasn't a • 13 party, but three came to mediation. 14 MAYOR DALE: Well, if there is a consensus 15 here, and I believe there, maybe there is a 16 consensus for you to contact the parties and say 17 Okay...I mean if you're willing to do that. 18 MR. COLBERT: Well, there is no problem with 19 us, our office contacting theirs and telling them 20 that we're going to have it on the agenda and there 21 appears to be a consensus to resolve it, I don't 22 have a problem with that. 23 There has been some rhetoric by at least one 24 side that they're not sure that they're willing to 25 do it now. C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 • 25 1 MAYOR DALE: Well, and then they kept saying in 2 the paper, Well, I'm amazed, I thought we had this 3 settled- - 4 MR. COLBERT: But my point is this, from the 5 City's standpoint: That the mediation agreement 6 simply said that it was subject to the approval of 7 the City Commission. 8 MAYOR DALE: It didn't say when. 9 MR. COLBERT: It did not say Subject to the 10 approval of the City Commission at the next meeting; 11 and if the Commission failed to take action this is 12 null and void and of no further force or effect. • 13 So that's why I want a decision made on that. 14 MAYOR DALE: Well, I wasn't even contacted, 15 you know, I just let it come up again. 16 MR. COLBERT: And if the decision is made that 17 the City approves that; and if for some reason one 18 of the sides wants to back away from it, at least 19 I'm more comfortable that we have covered the City's 20 bases. And- - 21 MAYOR DALE: Well, I'll agendize this for the 22 next meeting and we'll take action on it. 23 MR. COLBERT: If you'd like I'll send you a 24 letter asking that it be agendized or you can simply 25 do it, whichever you're comfortable with. It makes 140 C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 26 1 no difference to me. 2 But I do want it on the agenda. 3 MAYOR DALE: Well, then, I'll just put it on 4 there, then. 5 MR. COLBERT: Okay. 6 MAYOR DALE: Unless you want to send a letter. 7 It doesn't matter. It's not necessary. 8 MR. COLBERT: Well, I'd be glad to do it for 9 you if you would like me to. 10 MAYOR DALE: No, I'll just put it on the 11 agenda. 12 MR. COLBERT: Okay. The reason for it being on • 13 there is that no action taken at the last meeting. 14 You don't have to state a reason, but if somebody 15 asks you, that's the reason. 16 MAYOR DALE: Right. Well, Velma would have 17 brought it up again anyway. She's done it before. 18 MR. COLBERT: I guess what I'm saying is I 19 would like to see it as an agenda item. Because 20 sometimes people complain that it wasn't on the 21 agenda. 22 It really doesn't have to be, but if it's on 23 there then somebody can't say Well, I didn't know it 24 was up for discussion. 25 MAYOR DALE: We'll put it on there. Tony has C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 27 0 1 already got it noted over there. 2 MR. COLBERT: Commissioner Eckstein, did you 3 have something to say? 4 COMMISSIONER ECKSTEIN: No. 5 MAYOR DALE: All right. 6 COMMISSIONER LESSARD: Do you want me to get 7 the door? 8 MAYOR DALE: We'll adjourn the Executive 9 Session and, Bill will close the meeting with opened 10 doors. 11 (Thereafter the following proceedings were had 12 in public forum:) • 13 MAYOR DALE: Okay. Having had the Executive 14 Session, we'll open it back up for public meeting. 15 And if there are no other comments, and I don't see 16 anybody here that have any questions, Mr. Colbert? 17 MR. COLBERT: Mayor, I would just like to in 18 the public portion of the meeting thank the 19 Commission for coming together. 20 I appreciate the Commission's input. I know 21 what we need to do at this point. It is now about 22 3:30. I predicted this might be a thirty- minute 23 meeting, and I want the record to reflect that I was 24 correct. So I thank you very much. And that's all 25 I have. Ili C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422 S 28 1 MAYOR DALE: Okay. Thank you very kindly. 2 (Thereupon the meeting was concluded.) 3 CERTIFICATE OF NOTARY /CSR 4 STATE OF FLORIDA ) 5 SS. 6 COUNTY OF SEMINOLE ) 7 I, C. B. Ellerbe, CP, CSR and Notary Public, 8 State of Florida at Large, do hereby certify that I 9 was authorized to and did report the proceedings in 10 the foregoing cause, Pages 1 through 28. 11 I further certify that said transcription is a 12 true and correct record of my stenographic report of • 13 said cause. 14 IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto affixed my 15 hand and official seals this the 24th day of April, 16 A. D., 2000. 17 (//: � / � 18 (SEALS) r ►/ ; /► C. B. ELLERBE, CP, CSR 19 .0% CURTIS B. ELLERBE 2 0 * t : Commission 4 CC 39ft3lr3 N ivel " It Tires Sep 22,2002 21 Bonded Thou Own Ina. Co. 2 2 , t i t CURTIS 13. i.LEF 23 certified o,h 3rthalc reporter, State of Fla, 2 4 - 4' 01' at Large. 25 • C. B. Ellerbe & Associates P.O. Box 1422 Sanford, FL 32772 -1422