Suwannee Valley Transit Authority: Here They Go Again - Good Government, What's That?
Posted April 30, 2014 11:55 pm
The Suwannee Valley Transit Authority played to an
overflow crowd last night.
LIVE OAK, FL – It was business as usual at the Suwannee Valley Transit Authority (SVTA) last night. Despite being advised last month by the Board that the agendas and agenda materials were to be made public before the meetings, there were no agendas available at the meeting and none were sent to the commissioners or the folks who requested them. When it was pointed out to the Chairman, Columbia County Commissioner Ronald Williams, he refused to make them available.
Shortly after the meeting was gaveled to order, your reporter asked Chairman Williams, "Does anybody have a copy of the agenda?"
Chairman Williams, who has chaired the SVTA for as long as anyone can remember, asked no one in particular if anyone had a copy. Nobody answered.
Lake City Reporter editor, Robert Bridges.
Ralph Kitchens, a member of the Local Transportation for the Disadvantaged Board told the Observer, "The two guys from the Lake City Reporter were sitting right in-front of me. The older one [Robert Bridges, the editor] said,"" Where is it? Why didn't we get one?""
One of the Board members said, "There's agendas in the packages."
A Suwannee Valley Transit Authority employee said, "The Board all has packets."
The Observer responded, "But there's no agendas for the public."
There was silence. A copy machine was only a few feet away in a room close by.
• Link to short agenda. • Download complete agenda packet.
The Observer asked, "Mr. Chairman, none?"
Chairman Williams responded, "No we don't."
SVTA Administrator Gwen Pra was on the agenda, as she had recently submitted her resignation effective September 30, 2014. The Board was being asked to "consider it."
The Observer continued, "Does anybody know where Ms. Pra is tonight?"
Chairman Williams, "I beg your pardon?"
The Observer, "Ms. Pra. Is she here?"
Someone spoke out from the audience, "No she's not."
The Observer, "Does anybody know why?"
Chairman Williams, "She's not here tonight."
While Ms. Pra was not in the room, some folks thought she may have been somewhere in the building. A little while later, her attorney revealed himself to be in the audience.
The Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets prepared by the SVTA mysteriously found their way into the hands of the Lake City Reporter, Columbia County's local print newspaper. Nobody would admit to having passed them along. The first 4 months of Administrator Pra's employment was missing. The Lake City Reporter didn't catch it.
These four spread- sheets relied upon by the Lake City Reporter were obtained by the Observer.
The Observer addressed Chairman Williams, "There were some spreadsheets recently circulated. I know the Lake City Reporter had them. I know. I saw them. They were spreadsheets that had to do with comp time. My question is to the Suwannee Valley Transit Authority. Were those records sent via a public records request from the Suwannee Valley Transit Authority? Or did they get them any other way? That's a question for the Suwannee Valley Transit Authority and you."
Chairman Williams responded, "I don't get into person [personally get into] the day to day operations of Suwannee Valley Transit. If the Lake City Reporter requested a public information [public record], then they got it. If they got those records from other than here then I don't know where they got em from."
The Observer, "So my question is to the Transit Authority, because you just said you're not involved in the day to day operations, did anybody in the Suwannee Valley Transit Authority?"
Chairman Williams answered, "They all say no. They did not."
Long time Chair Ronald Williams during a quiet moment.
Was Chairman Williams involved in the day-to-day-business of the SVTA?
Former employees, because of fear of retaliation, would only speak under the condition of anonymity. "He was there," was a common refrain.
On Tuesday, the Lake City Reporter quoted Chairman Williams to have said, "I would go spend 16 hours there sometime..."
The spreadsheets – where did they come from?
Mysteriously absent from the spreadsheets were the first five months of Administrator Pra's employment, which began on August 15, 2011, resulting in the omission of 100's of hours of her accumulated comp time.
While they looked genuine, there were two questions. Were they genuine? Were they developed by the Suwannee Valley Transit Authority?
Earlier today that question was answered by the SVTA's former Operations Director, Bill Steele. The documents were emailed to him while he was on his way home to Maryland.
Mr. Steele responded via email, "The documents are genuine. Nobody is saying who sent them. I did not send them."
Somebody did and somebody wanted the Lake City Reporter to have them.
Epilogue
For decades, Columbia County's reputation as the quintessential good ole' boy Florida county has continued unabated. Good government at the County Commission level is something that continues to elude its residents.
The SVTA is composed of Columbia, Hamilton, and Suwannee counties. Columbia County's long time commissioner and SVTA Chairman Ronald Williams continues to brand the SVTA.
It has been reported to the Observer that Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.