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Clearwater public erupts over Attorney General letters tied to Garden Avenue dispute; council defends transparency
Summary
A Dec. 4 council meeting focused on two Florida Attorney General letters and a council member's request for an opinion in a Garden Avenue street vacation dispute. City Attorney David Margolis urged public process while residents accused outside lobbying and delivered a 6,000-signature petition.
Clearwater's City Council spent the Dec. 4 meeting debating two opinion letters from the Florida Attorney General's office and the public process around a request tied to a proposed Garden Avenue street vacation.
Mayor opened the discussion saying the matter was put on the agenda to provide closure and transparency and that the meeting was not a rehearing of a street vacation application. City Attorney David Margolis told the council that while “there's no law that requires [Attorney General requests] to come to the dais,” past practice and public expectation favored presenting sensitive AG questions in public; he added, “I don't think any laws were broken.”
The attorney's remarks came as residents packed the public-comment period and sharply disagreed about why the Attorney General's office had issued letters. Several speakers accused external lobbying and political influence tied to the Church of Scientology and its supporters. Brooks Gibbs, who said he represented a petition drive, told the council he had "6,000 signatures" from residents seeking a ballot measure to require voter approval for downtown street vacations.
Others urged the council to rely on the city attorney's legal analysis and to allow courts to resolve any questions of title. Retired detective Heath Fleener said he had seen humanitarian work by the church and warned against using legal tools to limit religious freedom. Joe Corvino, a downtown business owner, faulted council members for letting bias shape debate and said the AG opinion had admonished the commission for perceived bias.
Council members repeatedly emphasized that no street-vacation application was before them and that no formal decision was required at this meeting. One councilmember argued that privatizing the roadway "is not in the public interest" because future downtown redevelopment will depend on access and connectivity.
Several speakers explicitly called for greater transparency: Catherine Finlay asked the council to stop referring to the organization generically as a "nonprofit" and identify it by name in public materials; Kelly Meyer urged the city to make relevant records easier to find; and Councilmember Ryan Cotton said he will work with staff to explore publishing Attorney General opinions on a public dashboard so residents can access them without a records request.
Council members closed the item without taking a new formal action on the street vacation; the public's petition and the AG correspondence were the central immediate developments. The city manager and attorney reported nothing further on other agenda items, and the council moved on to closing comments and holiday announcements.
