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Three board members resigned their elected positions; part of the deal was to have Sunshine Law violation charges dropped against them.
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Charges have been dropped against three members of the St. Johns County Airport Authority Board.
It was part of a deal with the State Attorney’s Office: charges would be dropped if the members resigned their elected positions and paid $120 in legal costs.
Meanwhile, one man who had turned down the chance to work with them tells First Coast News he is relieved he avoided the sticky legal situation.
The board saga has lasted for years.
It caught the public’s attention when the St. Johns County Airport Authority Board’s own lawyer left, citing concerns that the board was not doing everything in the open.
After that, Barry Newman said, “They called me and asked if I would come interview with them.”
He is one of 45 board-certified aviation attorneys in Florida. Before accepting the position, Newman said he spoke with three “operators” or tenants at the airport to get the real scoop.
“No one had good things to say about the board,” Newman said, “It was pretty unanimous, and I got a feeling that the board was not well-loved at the time…or trusted. There were a lot of feelings that [the board] was doing some backdoor dealings and doing some things that [the operators] felt were not consistent with promoting aviation.”
So Newman turned down the job to be general counsel for the airport authority board.
“Based on what I heard, I wanted no part of it,” he told First Coast News Monday.
And then, earlier this summer, the board turmoil came to a head when Board Chair Reba Ludlow, and members Dennis Clarke and Len Tucker were all charged with Sunshine Law violations. Those are allegations that they conducted private discussions about board business outside of public meetings.
During the first week of August, the charges against all three were dropped. Part of the deal required each one to resign from their elected positions and pay $120 each for legal costs.
As for Newman, he feels relieved about his earlier decision not to work for the board.
“Extreme relief. You know, you are the company you keep,” Newman said. “And I didn’t want to be surrounded by that. I’m glad I wasn’t involved, and I hope for the best for the rest of them and then and their current attorneys as well.”
The governor will appoint people to fill the now vacant board seats.
First Coast News has reached out to two of the board members who resigned. We have not heard from them.
