Battle continues in public records case

A public records lawsuit against the City of Alachua first filed in 2006 still lingers on as the two sides argue as to how much, and if, attorney’s fees and costs should be awarded.

Representing Charles Grapski and Michael Canney, in a hearing Tuesday, University of Florida professor and attorney Joseph Little presented his case as to why his clients were entitled to fees and costs amounting to $198,683.07.

Attorney Rod Smith, on behalf of the City of Alachua, argued that Little and his clients were entitled, at most, to a fraction of that requested by the plaintiffs.

Grapski, Canney and several other plaintiffs claimed some 109 public record and 39 public meeting violations by the City of Alachua.  But of the 148 counts alleged against the City, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal (DCA) ruled that Grapski and Canney were correct on just two.

The court ruled the City violated public records laws in 2006 when it refused to turn over requested minutes from an election Board of Canvassers meeting.  The court also found that the City violated public meeting laws because it had refused to make those same minutes available to the public before the commission voted to approve them in another 2006 meeting.

While the case ultimately made it to the First DCA, it is possible the case could have been resolved much earlier, as the City has long admitted that an employee mistakenly withheld those requested minutes.  But the City did not admit to the scores of other alleged violations.  The requested minutes were provided before the lawsuit was filed by Grapski and Canney and in fact were included with the original filing documents as proof of their existence.

In reviewing Grapski’s and Canney’s entitlement to attorney’s fees and costs, the First DCA ordered that they were entitled to recover “…the amount of attorney’s fees and costs appellants incurred in pursuing their successful claims only.”

In the hearing Tuesday, both the City of Alachua and Little brought along outside attorneys to serve as expert witnesses as to what was “reasonable” attorney’s fees and costs given the circumstances of the case.

The City’s expert witness stated that based on his review of how much time the case should have taken, if Grapski and Canney were entitled to anything, it would be no more than $4,500.

Little also provided tables demonstrating where time had been spent in the case and where costs were generated.

In the end, Circuit Court Judge Victor Hulslander asked both sides to submit by April 1 their arguments along with proposals for reconciling the matter.  He said a ruling would come at some point thereafter.