“Just be ready to go,” 12th Circuit Judge Gilbert Smith told the attorneys and clients Sept. 7 in his Manatee County courtroom.
He warned the attorneys after they chose an Oct. 10 bench trial in the Bazzy Marine Corp. suit filed over alleged Sunshine Law violations by Bradenton Beach officials in their lease negotiations with the owner of Anna Maria Oyster Bar.
However, settlement seems likely.
Bradenton attorneys Fred Moore for the city of Bradenton Beach and Nelon Kirkland, representing the Bazzy defendants, including Allan and Mike Bazzy, agreed to the likelihood after the Sept. 7 hearing.
Moore said Sept. 9 he was trying to schedule a shade meeting with the city commission.
He said he’ll be looking for an opening on the calendar before a scheduled commission meeting to allow city commissioners to consider a settlement in closed session before convening the public meeting and taking a vote.
A shade meeting is a closed session of a government body, called for strategy about litigation costs or settlement negotiations, an exception to open meetings required under Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law.
At the court hearing, the attorneys acknowledged having settlement discussions but, if it went to trial, they asked the judge for his preference — to read meeting transcripts or hear the audio played in the courtroom.
Smith replied, “Listening to the audio would be helpful” and the attorneys agreed to select portions of the taped recordings from items on an exhibit list, including commission meetings.
“Are all of you agreeing the audio is admissible?” the judge asked, and the attorneys replied, “Yes.”
Moore told the court the longest audio was two hours and 25 minutes, of which 30 minutes may be relevant.
He said one workshop meeting where each vendor had an opportunity to speak could be paired down to 10-25 minutes.
After the hearing, Kirkland said the city’s Sunshine Law violations can be proven with the audio tapes, as well as other evidence, such as testimony about pier meetings.
Undocumented conversations involving former Mayor Jack Clarke, city attorney Ricinda Perry and AMOB’s John Horne led to the lease, he said.
Clarke announced at a city meeting that he and Perry would negotiate the lease and return to the commission for approval, a step that obligates Clarke and Perry to carry forward the open meeting rules that apply to the commission.
Prior to the Sept. 7 hearing, the city and Bazzy’s attorneys noticed and canceled summary judgments for the court to hear.
Moore told the court they dropped the motions, deciding there were facts in dispute that merited a trial.
Trial preparations may be moot, however, if a settlement materializes.
An Aug. 25 shade meeting produced an offer from the city to Bazzy, which was rejected and countered, Kirkland said, adding that his clients’ counter-offer was countered by the city.
The Bazzy suit filed in November 2015 seeks attorneys’ fees and violations of Sunshine Law.
Kirkland agreed that was still being considered.
Kirkland said the Bazzys’ “issue is the two subleases included in the lease in the July 23 and Aug. 20 meetings.”
In December 2015, AMOB subleased one building jointly to two boutique businesses, A Room with a Hue and Tide and Moon Jewelry, and the second unit to Paradise Boat Tours.
After the hearing, Kirkland acknowledged the alleged closed-meeting violations stem from the AMOB lease, adding even if a judgment is entered nullifying the AMOB lease, he could ask for it to be modified.
“I’d probably just say, the other two should have to go out to bid,” he added.
Synderman — representing AMOB — said she supported the city’s position, and would not “go there” when asked what would happen if the AMOB lease was nullified.
The city takes the position any closed-meeting violation was “cured” in public meetings that put the lease to a new vote this month.
If settlement negotiations fail, an Oct. 10 trial would be 11th in line, with eight jury trials and two other non-jury trials having priority.
All court proceedings are held at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
The shade meeting will be either at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive, N., or in the conference room at the police department on Church Avenue.