Linda
1. I can agree to take Commissioner Comander deposition for 3 hours per day as long one of those days occurs during the April 20 -24 deposition week and the other days occur by April 30. That’s contingent on an affidavit from her physician that such is necessary. The affidavit need not specifically identify her medical issue that prevents her from testifying for longer than 3 hours at a time. I need this because the notice to me of Commissioner Comander’s condition in February was after 6:00 pm on the Friday evening before the week of those depositions and resulted in wasted time at my client’s expense.
2. I cannot, however, agree that the deposition be moved to Destin Reporting or that the attendees be limited to the parties and their counsel. Foremost, Destin Reporting’s largest conference room will only allow only 10 seats at the table and maybe 4 other seats in the room. There will not be sufficient space in that conference room. We have 8 clients and me. In February when I deposed Walton County witnesses who were staff members, Walton County had 3 lawyers in the room, plus you, plus Mr. Warner’s assistant. (That week alone probably cost Walton County’s taxpayers $40,000.) We also have the court reporter, Adams Homes lawyers and Campbell’s lawyers. Mr. Don Adams on behalf of Adams Homes has attended most of the depositions during the 8 years of this case.
3. Furthermore, Commissioner Comander is obviously an elected official and a constitutional officer. The claims against her in this lawsuit concern her actions that she took in her official capacity as an elected officer in violation of the United States Constitution. (Your characterization that this lawsuit concerns only a single email is incorrect. It concerns Commissioner Comander’s retaliation against Mr. Osborne because he had previously exercised his constitutional rights to appropriately address his government at prior public meetings.) That means that this case concerns a long history of retaliatory acts by Commissioner Comander and Mr. Osborne’s prior exercise of his constitutional rights. Those events explain why Commissioner Comander’s actions were unlawfully retaliatory and how her actions relate to the County’s knowledge (and cover-up) for years that Sandestin was overbuilt and that Driftwood was flooding, but the County did nothing because if the County took action then it put at risk tens of millions of dollars of local developers assets.
4. As such this case concerns the conduct (or misconduct) of the taxpayer’s elected officials. The citizens of the county and Commissioner Comander’s constituents have a right to know and assess for themselves the conduct of their elected officials particularly if a public officer abused her authority and the public’s trust to deny a citizen his constitutional rights. Depositions are court proceedings and, just like trials, open to the public. (That constitutional right was secured because of the abuses of the King of England in controlling the court system.) There should be ample space at the deposition for those, like the taxpayers association and the media, who wish to come hear their elected official testify. The location we have chosen provides that and is centrally located in Commissioner Comander’s district; Destin reporting is not.
5. Finally, there is nothing extraordinary about the circumstances or environment of Commissioner Comander’s deposition that should call for the public to be prohibited entry. The case does not concern her personal affairs. Commissioner Comander has been elected to office for several years for the very purpose that the job was for public service and that she would be and has attended (and often presided) over hundreds of public hearings that sometimes last 6 hours or more. (Some of those have been recently.) She is accustomed to public visibility and responsibility and in taking action and speaking in front of large groups of people often on controversial issues.
6. We are empathetic to Ms. Comander’s medical condition. Still President Roosevelt, while he had crippling polio and was in the last years of his life, made the arduous voyage by ship across the Atlantic Ocean several times during World War II while German submarines patrolled looking to sink American vessels. President Clinton was required to sit for deposition--while he was President—in a case that concerned his purely private conduct. Last month, Mr. Osborne made time in his schedule to be deposed for an entire day even though his professional duties had required him to attend to the onsite operations at the military helicopter crash site where several soldiers and marines died. He had worked long hours for many days before his deposition yet arrived at his deposition at the date and location that you required him to appear at and still agreed to answer all of the lawyers questions for over 8 hours even though he was physically and intellectually exhausted. (Linda there is an uneven irony in all of this. I have repeatedly asked you to comply with the rules and simply identify the subject matter on which your listed witnesses will testify. You refuse. Yet you seek to dictate the location and terms of the deposition that I wish to take. Stunning hubris.)
7. In comparison, what is being asked of Commissioner Comander is relatively easy and completely ordinary. She will simply sit in a comfortable chair, in a pleasant air-conditioned room that has a wide view of the blue gulf waters and answer questions. Those who want to attend can do so just as they could any other deposition. As such, we believe that it is constitutionally protected and responsible citizenship to allow taxpayers and the media to hear a public official speak about the exercise of her power and authority as a public officer against one of their own citizens.
If you file a motion, please kindly include this correspondence with the motion so my position is included. There is much information out “there” that is inaccurate.
Respectfully
Shawn Heath