Having lost round one in her court battle with the city, Milton mayor seeks legal help
Faced with having her phone records reviewed as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit filed against her by the city she was elected to serve, Milton Mayor Heather Lindsay has asked Circuit Court Judge J. Scott Duncan to give her a month to find an attorney to represent her interests.
The lawsuit, filed May 15 by City Attorney Alex Andrade on behalf of the City Council, alleges that as far back as July 22 of last year Andrade began seeking documents from Lindsay that under Florida's Sunshine Law are considered public records. It claims the mayor has delayed producing the requested records and that the city believes some records have illegally been withheld.
Earlier this week Duncan ruled that Andrade had "sufficiently established" at a June 13 hearing that Lindsay had indeed failed to produce some requested public records in a timely fashion. The judge also noted that Andrade had provided evidence to show some records sought on behalf of the city might not yet have been produced.
Lindsay had provided a memo she had in her possession and a series of text messages between herself and former Milton City Manager Scott Collins shortly before the motion hearing was held. She said she had mistakenly overlooked the documents during a review of her records.
Duncan said production of the requested phone records should ensure that no other documents responsive to the Andrade request would be missed.
"Even if the lack of production was inadvertent or based upon a mistake, the subpoena by the city serves to further the verification process as to whether all the public records requested have been disclosed," his ruling said.
In denying Lindsay's motion to prevent the release of the phone records, Duncan requested that when they are provided to the city they be turned over to him for to inspect. Both Andrade and Lindsay will be allowed to look over the phone records following after the court review, the ruling said, and it will be decided after the review "the next steps to take" with the case.
On Thursday, Lindsay filed a "Motion for Enlargement of Time." In it she argues that the city lawsuit was filed with no advance warning to her and that she was never informed that Andrade believed some required records had not been produced.
It also states that the lawsuit had cost her her job as a city attorney in Pensacola.
The motion said that being out of work and battling ongoing health issues had prevented Lindsay until recently being able to cover the cost of retaining an attorney. It also alleged that political forces aligned against her have negatively impacted her efforts to obtain representation.
"Defendant's difficulty in obtaining legal counsel has been influenced by the apparent involvement of unnamed but politically active opponents of the defendant," the motion said.
It states that without legal assistance, Lindsay will not be able to meet looming filing deadlines, including two this week.
"The defendant lacks the ability, due to her medical condition, to timely respond in spite of efforts to complete the work required," the motion states, adding that Andrade would not agree to allow her to extend filing deadlines.
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Lindsay, who wrote the motion to postpone herself, said that she had contacted 10 attorneys "with expertise in suing local governments" and been told by the majority that they did not have the time or the expertise to help her. One attorney with expertise in "resolving public versus personal records" disputes had tentatively agreed to represent her if he could resolve a potential conflict.
The motion states that Lindsay would learn Thursday whether the lawyer in question had been able to resolve his conflicts.
It also contends that if she had been able to hire the attorney whose counsel she is now seeking earlier he could have negotiated "a more efficient solution" to the phone records question "that would not be a burden on the court and ensure no public records were overlooked."
"An extension of time would allow this attorney to make an appearance and discuss with the city attorney the reasonable and efficient approach that he has found to be successful for many parties on both sides of similar disputes in the past," it said.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Milton mayor Heather Lindsay seeks legal help in Milton legal battle
