Lawyers on both sides of a year-long legal battle pitting the city of Milton against Mayor Heather Lindsay have asked Circuit Judge J. Scott Duncan to dismiss the case.

John Adams, representing the city on behalf of GrayRobinson, which took over the city’s representation after former City Attorney Alex Andrade and his firm were taken off the job, joined the mayor’s attorneys from Shumaker, Loop and Kendrick to make the request.

“The city, through its council, wishes to resolve this dispute, to cease the spending of more taxpayer dollars and city resources on this litigation,” the motion to dismiss said.

In May of last year the Milton City Council voted, at Andrade’s recommendation, to sue Lindsay for withholding records he’d requested many months earlier. But in November, voters elected four new members and in so doing transitioned the council from a majority that clashed with Lindsay to one that supports her.

The new board voted in February to seek dismissal of the lawsuit and the replacement of Andrade.

The request to dismiss on its face appears to be what might be termed a no-brainer. Both sides want the case to be dropped and neither side is asking the other for attorneys fees or other compensation for a year’s worth of litigation.

But still in play are 315 documents that Duncan ruled in January to be public records and as such subject to public dissemination upon request.

Those records remain under wraps because Lindsay and her attorneys have objected to their release and argue that they are not public records. The request to dismiss the case asks the judge to “sustain Lindsay’s objection to the documents identified as those to be produced as public records.”

The motion asks that if the judge doesn’t issue a blanket order dismissing the case and sustaining Lindsay’s objection that he at least reconsider the status of the documents the mayor opposes releasing.

A February court filing by the mayor lists at least one reason each of the 315 records in question should be withheld from public scrutiny. Reasons stated range from the records being personal opinions and not public records to the texts and emails in question being discussions of political strategy or personal notes and drafts not considered public records.

Lindsay’s defense team took an additional step of seeking a ruling from the First District Circuit Court of Appeals on the status of the 315 remaining withheld documents.

That court initially determined in a March 24 ruling that the mayor’s records would remain confidential and under seal until Duncan rules on the legitimacy of Lindsay’s objections, according to a motion for a protective order to preserve the documents confidentiality.

That motion was filed March 31 by defense attorney C. Phillip Campbell. Neither Campbell nor GrayRobinson’s Adams returned phone calls seeking comment for this article.

The motion for protective order states many public records requests have been made seeking to obtain the mayor’s remaining undisclosed records.

Milton resident Howard Steele is firm in his belief that the documents originally sought by Andrade and since ruled public records by Duncan should be cleared for dissemination.

“Either the judge is incompetent and doesn’t know what public records are or those are public records,” he said. “I’m quite appalled that the city of Milton thinks they can ignore my rights (by supporting the mayor’s request to suppress public records). She’s got to produce those records, that’s black and white, there’s no grey area there.”

He said he wonders why the First Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office hasn’t issued a statement in the case or taken action.

“Where’s the state attorney on this?” he said. “Why do the citizens have to do her job?”

An elected official’s failure to disclose public records is a criminal offense.

In October of 2021 the State Attorney’s Office, run then as now by State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden, served criminal warrants on Destin City Councilwoman Prebble Ramswell for her failure to turn over public records.

Officers arrested Ramswell at her home on charges that included official misconduct and violating public records laws. She was suspended from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis following the arrests and, even though she eventually pleaded to two simple misdemeanors, the governor never acted to reinstate her to her seat.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Milton council, mayor want lawsuit dismissed. Not all residents agree

Reporting by Tom McLaughlin, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal

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