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Fla. Crown head faces possible fine
State to file civil complaint against John Chastain
By JUSTIN LANG jlang@lakecityreporter.com
The State Attorney's Office plans to file a civil complaint against Florida Crown Workforce Executive Director John Chastain.
"We are, today, filing a civil complaint against John Chastain for aiding and abetting a violation of the Sunshine Law on July 17, 2002," said Jerry Blair, state attorney for the Third Judicial Circuit on Tuesday.
Because it is a civil infraction, at the most Chastain could face a $500 fine.
Blair said Chastain did not meet requirements for criminal charges because he is a Florida Crown employee and not a board member.
"He is not considered subject to the Sunshine Law, which is why he is charged with aiding others to commit violation of the Sunshine Law, he is an employee as opposed to a member of the board," he said.
According to the Florida 2003 Government-in-the-Sunshine manual, "any member of a board or commission or of any state or local agency or authority who knowingly violates the Sunshine Law is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree" but any public official who violates the provisions of the law is guilty of a noncriminal infraction, punishable by a fine up to $500.
Blair said it appears Chastain met with at least two members of the board in violation of the Sunshine Law, "but there is certainly no willful intent on their part."
"In this case, the members of the board did not commit a willful violation of the law by attending a meeting held without proper notice," he said.
As a result, Blair said no board member will be charged with violating Sunshine Law.
Chastain could not be reached for comment by the Lake City Reporter on Tuesday.
Blair said Chastain will appear in county court, but likely not until after the holidays.
"The statute is really not clear that that is a mandatory appearance, but he will be issued summons by the Clerk's office," he said.
He also said Chastain can contest the civil infraction, "just like a traffic citation."
"He is assessed the fine if the judge finds he violated the law or he admits either through a plea of no contest or guilty that he violated the law," Blair said. "The judge will determine the amount of the civil penalty."
Blair's office has no say in Chastain's job status as a result of the civil charges.
The Florida Crown Board and its executive committee are scheduled to meet today to decide on a response to the Nov. 24 investigative report released by James Matthews, Agency for Workforce Innovation inspector general, which subsequently led to a review by Blair's office.
In the report, Matthews substantiated eight of 18 allegations of improprieties by Chastain made in August by Frankie Law, former Florida Crown account technician.
Matthews has called for the board's response and "details related to any corrective actions already taken or anticipated as a result of the findings," by Saturday.
The five-person executive committee is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m., with the full board to convene at 4 p.m.
"It was just a number of days that we gave them and we want to give them every opportunity to respond," Matthews said Tuesday of his deadline.
When asked what is expected from the board, he said "I really don't have any specifics" and "that can be any form that they want to respond to."
"The only thing I can see is that I am leaving the response up to them and they can read and interpret that," he added.
Matthews said he was unable to comment on what he'll do after receiving the board's response.
"I really haven't gone there yet in my thinking," he said. "They will do a response and that response will be, I'm sure, one that would comply with the request that we made."
Matthews didn't give any further details on what action he may take, but said "I'm not sure, I'd have to look at their response."
He also said he didn't know if it would wait until after the holidays.
When allegations substantiated by Matthews' report included Sunshine Law violations, he referred the matter to Blair's office.
"I don't know that it would be proper to comment on the merits of a pending case," Blair said. "But there was some evidence he (Chastain) was on notice he was going to be in violation of the Sunshine Law."
According to Matthews' report, "evidence provided by both the complainant (Law) and the Executive Director (Chastain) strongly indicates that meetings have been held that did not comply with Florida Statutes governing public meetings."
E-mails submitted by Law, according to the report, show Chastain sent an e-mail about the meeting at 7:35 a.m. on July 17, 2002, to board and staff members.
The report says a staff member sent a message back to Chastain informing him the meeting would be subject to Sunshine Law and require advertisement.
According to the report, Chastain responded with an e-mail reading: "Right, how can we get around that since I need to get them all at once. I guess we will talk in generalities and change the name of each topic before it is ever presented to the Board. Give me your thoughts. JC."
Last week, Blair said he was waiting for documentation from Matthews before deciding to file a complaint against Chastain.
"We requested witness statements and all documents, including e-mails pertaining to the meeting and names of the persons attending the meeting (on July 17, 2002)," he said Tuesday.
Blair said he received the documents Monday and forwarded them to Bob Dekle, assistant state attorney, for review.
On Tuesday, Blair said Dekle reviewed the documents and made the decision to file the civil complaint against Chastain, which he concurred with.
"Mr. Dekle made the final call, it is his case, he is in charge of our Lake City office and it was a decision on that was discussed with me, but it was basically his call."
By JUSTIN LANG jlang@lakecityreporter.com
The State Attorney's Office plans to file a civil complaint against Florida Crown Workforce Executive Director John Chastain.
"We are, today, filing a civil complaint against John Chastain for aiding and abetting a violation of the Sunshine Law on July 17, 2002," said Jerry Blair, state attorney for the Third Judicial Circuit on Tuesday.
Because it is a civil infraction, at the most Chastain could face a $500 fine.
Blair said Chastain did not meet requirements for criminal charges because he is a Florida Crown employee and not a board member.
"He is not considered subject to the Sunshine Law, which is why he is charged with aiding others to commit violation of the Sunshine Law, he is an employee as opposed to a member of the board," he said.
According to the Florida 2003 Government-in-the-Sunshine manual, "any member of a board or commission or of any state or local agency or authority who knowingly violates the Sunshine Law is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree" but any public official who violates the provisions of the law is guilty of a noncriminal infraction, punishable by a fine up to $500.
Blair said it appears Chastain met with at least two members of the board in violation of the Sunshine Law, "but there is certainly no willful intent on their part."
"In this case, the members of the board did not commit a willful violation of the law by attending a meeting held without proper notice," he said.
As a result, Blair said no board member will be charged with violating Sunshine Law.
Chastain could not be reached for comment by the Lake City Reporter on Tuesday.
Blair said Chastain will appear in county court, but likely not until after the holidays.
"The statute is really not clear that that is a mandatory appearance, but he will be issued summons by the Clerk's office," he said.
He also said Chastain can contest the civil infraction, "just like a traffic citation."
"He is assessed the fine if the judge finds he violated the law or he admits either through a plea of no contest or guilty that he violated the law," Blair said. "The judge will determine the amount of the civil penalty."
Blair's office has no say in Chastain's job status as a result of the civil charges.
The Florida Crown Board and its executive committee are scheduled to meet today to decide on a response to the Nov. 24 investigative report released by James Matthews, Agency for Workforce Innovation inspector general, which subsequently led to a review by Blair's office.
In the report, Matthews substantiated eight of 18 allegations of improprieties by Chastain made in August by Frankie Law, former Florida Crown account technician.
Matthews has called for the board's response and "details related to any corrective actions already taken or anticipated as a result of the findings," by Saturday.
The five-person executive committee is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m., with the full board to convene at 4 p.m.
"It was just a number of days that we gave them and we want to give them every opportunity to respond," Matthews said Tuesday of his deadline.
When asked what is expected from the board, he said "I really don't have any specifics" and "that can be any form that they want to respond to."
"The only thing I can see is that I am leaving the response up to them and they can read and interpret that," he added.
Matthews said he was unable to comment on what he'll do after receiving the board's response.
"I really haven't gone there yet in my thinking," he said. "They will do a response and that response will be, I'm sure, one that would comply with the request that we made."
Matthews didn't give any further details on what action he may take, but said "I'm not sure, I'd have to look at their response."
He also said he didn't know if it would wait until after the holidays.
When allegations substantiated by Matthews' report included Sunshine Law violations, he referred the matter to Blair's office.
"I don't know that it would be proper to comment on the merits of a pending case," Blair said. "But there was some evidence he (Chastain) was on notice he was going to be in violation of the Sunshine Law."
According to Matthews' report, "evidence provided by both the complainant (Law) and the Executive Director (Chastain) strongly indicates that meetings have been held that did not comply with Florida Statutes governing public meetings."
E-mails submitted by Law, according to the report, show Chastain sent an e-mail about the meeting at 7:35 a.m. on July 17, 2002, to board and staff members.
The report says a staff member sent a message back to Chastain informing him the meeting would be subject to Sunshine Law and require advertisement.
According to the report, Chastain responded with an e-mail reading: "Right, how can we get around that since I need to get them all at once. I guess we will talk in generalities and change the name of each topic before it is ever presented to the Board. Give me your thoughts. JC."
Last week, Blair said he was waiting for documentation from Matthews before deciding to file a complaint against Chastain.
"We requested witness statements and all documents, including e-mails pertaining to the meeting and names of the persons attending the meeting (on July 17, 2002)," he said Tuesday.
Blair said he received the documents Monday and forwarded them to Bob Dekle, assistant state attorney, for review.
On Tuesday, Blair said Dekle reviewed the documents and made the decision to file the civil complaint against Chastain, which he concurred with.
"Mr. Dekle made the final call, it is his case, he is in charge of our Lake City office and it was a decision on that was discussed with me, but it was basically his call."
. wrote on Jan 30, 2008 11:01 AM: