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Group sues Jacobs, accuses her of violating records law [Orlando Sentinel](Orlando Sentinel (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 27--A citizens group that successfully sued Orange County leaders last year related to the so-called "textgate" scandal filed a new lawsuit this morning that accuses Mayor Teresa Jacobs of violating Florida's public records law. Jacobs calls the accusations "totally false." In the current case, Organize Now says the mayor is refusing to give the group access to public documents that are in a cloud-based account called Dropbox. "We want to know who has access to the mayor's Dropbox files, and what are its contents," said Stephanie Porta, executive director of Organize Now. Jacobs blasted the group's claims and called the suit "baseless" and "lies." "These accusations that have been levied are totally false," Jacobs said. According to the suit, Jacobs and the county staff established an account via Dropbox, which serves as an electronic file-sharing and storage system. Members of Organize Now learned of the Dropbox account several months ago. This month, they sent a public records request to the county asking to see the contents of the account. But according to Organize Now, county staff changed the passwords for the Dropbox account and removed several documents. The group then filed a second public records request on Sept. 10, and a day later the county sent the group a log listing who accessed the account but with much of the information redacted. Jacobs said county staff often place various documents in the Dropbox account including drafts of speeches, notes, news clippings and scheduling items -- before moving them into network drives on the county's computer system. She pointed out that anyone from the public -- including members of Organize Now -- can request the items as long as they are not exempt from Florida's public records laws. "Dropboxes are places where we put things temporarily" before moving them into various computer drives, Jacobs said. She added that the Dropbox passwords are often changed to prevent former county employees from accessing the account. The county has two employees who act as administrators for the Dropbox account. Eighteen county workers also have access to that Dropbox. County staff said Organize Now has made 13 public records requests regarding Dropbox within the past three weeks. "Orange County has spent an extensive amount of staff time and resources trying to satisfy the requests of Organize Now, including personal meetings and detailed technology research," said Ann Marie Varga, the county's communications manager. Jonathan Kaney, general counsel for the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, said late Friday that the county does not have to grant public access to its Dropbox account. However, he said, most of the information contained in the Dropbox is public and should be made available upon request. Porta said her group is specifically seeking information about who has met with county staff regarding four Orange County charter amendments. But Jacobs said the lawsuit is a politically motivated attempt to win approval for a charter amendment that would make county races partisan. Jacobs opposes the amendment. Her staff also said Organize Now's records request made no reference to the charter amendments. "This is nothing more than a politically motivated attack," Jacobs said regarding the lawsuit. "They're lying to you. They're lying to the press." Last January, Orange County leaders settled a "textgate" civil lawsuit and agreed to pay $90,000 to Citizens for a Greater Orange County, a coalition including Porta's group. Citizens had led a fight for a paid-sick-time referendum opposed by county officials and local tourism interests. In late 2012, the group sued Orange County saying county commissioners broke the law when they deleted text messages with lobbyists and others regarding the paid-sick-time referendum. Orange-Osceola State Attorney Jeff Ashton conducted a probe and determined that Jacobs and four commissioners violated state law when they deleted the messages that were public records. Jacobs and commissioners Scott Boyd, Fred Brummer, Jennifer Thompson and John Martinez each agreed to pay a $500 civil fine. Their lawyers said the payment was no admission of wrongdoing. [email protected] or 407-420-5718 ___ (c)2014 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.) Visit The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.) at www.OrlandoSentinel.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |