Tallahassee Democrat

Public scrutiny leads to changes in Wakulla County

By Julian Pecquet • Democrat Staff Writer • March 19, 2008

CRAWFORDVILLE — While getting Wakulla County leaders to apply Florida’s government-in-the-sunshine laws has been a victory in itself, residents who have led the fight for open government say public participation has led to other changes.

Residents say their digging into records of how the county spends taxpayer dollars has led to the county not renewing its contract for public works management with Veolia, an international corporation, for example.

And through their participation at public meetings, they made clear their opposition to a proposed bottled-water plant that would have sold water from Wakulla Springs. The proposal was abandoned last year.

“Sunshine laws give you a window into government — they allow us to access our government and participate in our government,” said Adria Harper, the director of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee. “There is a greater purpose that kind of goes to the heart of our democracy. Citizens need to know that government is doing what it says it’s doing.”

The bottled-water plant was first proposed four years ago. It would have pumped 70,900 gallons of water a day, but met with stiff opposition from groups ranging from Friends of Wakulla Springs State Park to the Wakulla County Republican Party.

“Public participation — that’s what made the difference,” said Julia Hanway, publisher of the Wakulla Independent Reporter , a free publication . “People speaking up had a great deal of impact on the process.”

The County Commission rejected the plant proposal in 2004 and 2005, and the Wakulla County Planning Commission dealt it a final setback last year when it voted to recommend denial of a plan to create a new land-use category for it.

Unearthed public records have also led to changes with county contracts, residents say.

Dana Peck, a former newspaper reporter who currently teaches journalism at Tallahassee Community College, said she was part of a group effort to collect documents about Veolia after residents raised questions. She said the records she and others unearthed suggest the corporation had been paid for work that wasn’t done.

“I think the citizens’ advocacy is what changed that management,” Commissioner Howard Kessler said. “I think they made it too embarrassing for the commission to continue to do business (with Veolia).”

The company’s contract was not renewed in 2006, and the county now has a contract with another company, ESG Inc.

Until recently, “I don’t think people poking into the county’s business was very high on the agenda of many people in Wakulla County,” Peck said. “Now more and more people have moved here and want to know how their money is being spent.”

Reproduced courtesy of the Tallahassee Democrat.
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