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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-1974-046 I i RESOLUTION NO. 46 I i A RESOLUTION CONCERNING GENERALLY THE TAPE RE- CORDINGS MADE OF THE MEETINGS OF THE CITY COM- MISSION, CITY OF DANIA, FLORIDA, INSOFAR AS SAME CONCERN ANY MATTERS PERTAINING TO A TRANS- ACTION BETWEEN DANIA COUNTRY CLUB, INC. , AS SELLER, AND SEADADE INDUSTRIES , AS PURCHASER, CONCERNING PROPERTY COMMONLY KNOWN AS DANIA GOLF COURSE; AND DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK-AUDITOR TO ASSUME FULL AND COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY IN MAKING SUCH TAPE RECORDINGS AVAILABLE TO A COM- MERCIAL RECORDING STUDIO SO THAT A DUPLICATE OF THE TAPES MAY BE MADE; AND RECITING THE REASONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE DUPLICATE TAPES ; AND REPEALING ALL RESOLUTIONS, OR PARTS OF RESOLUTIONS , IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFEC- TIVE DATE i WHEREAS , the matter of a transaction between Dania Country Club, Inc. , as seller, and Seadade Industries , as purchaser, concern- ing property commonly known as the Dania golf course has received considerable publicity during recent weeks; and rst meeting of the city WHEREAS , from the very fi commission of city expressed some interest in involving it- City of Dania when the Y-t self in the matter in order to consider purchasing the property for park purposes, Clarke Walden , the city attorney of City of Dania, in- formed the city commission at a regular and open meeting that he was �J already representing Dania Country Club, Inc. , as the seller in the transaction with Seadade Industries; and WHEREAS , the city commission expressed no objections to such i earlier representation and, as a matter of fact, directed said Clarke Walden to proceed to draft the necessary documentation which would have permitted the question of a possible general obligation bond issue to be placed on the ballot for the November, 1972 , general elec- tions so as to determine the favor of the electorate as to a possible purchase of the property by the city; and WHEREAS , Clarke Walden has taken the consistent position that, because of various disclosures of his earlier representation at the first meeting of the city commission when the city commission discussed I the Dania Country Club, Inc ./Seadade Industries transaction and because of various subsequent statements on the same subject, it was a fact well I -1- i j i i to the city commission of City of Dania and to the public at large that he did represent, and was representing, Dania Country Club, Inc. , as the seller in the transaction; and WHEREAS , Clarke Walden has further taken the general position that, having known of the earlier representation, the city commission expressed no objection; and WHEREAS , Clarke Walden has also taken the position that he has never represented the actual applicant, Seadade Industries, in any matters pending before the city commission; and WHEREAS , Clarke Walden has also taken the position that he ren- dered only nominal, or token, advice regarding any aspect to the Sea- dade application with the only substantial advice being to the effect that the Planning and zoning Board of the city could not table a zoning application indefinitely; and i WHEREAS, a usual or ordinary meeting of a city commission may last for as long as three hours , on the average; and w-a WHEREAS, it is estimated that various aspects of the Dania Country Club, Inc./Seadade Industries transaction were discussed at approximately six to eight meetings of the city commission when Clarke Walden was present; and WHEREAS, the discussions and deliberations of the city commission are recorded on a tape recording device so that there is a tape record- ing available to show the discussions and actions of every meeting of the city commission during recent years ; and WHEREAS , Clarke Walden takes the position and has indicated that the best evidence of his position in the overall matter, from its very inception to a current date, will be a full and complete trans- cript of each and every meeting of the city commission at which there was any discussion on the matter at issue; and WHEREAS , at his own expense, Clarke Walden is employing Broward Reporting Service, Inc. , a leading court reporting firm in the county, to listen to the tape recordings of such meetings and then to prepare an accurate, verbatim, word for word written transcript of the complete record of each and every meeting where the general subject was discussed; and -2- 1 WHEREAS, Clarke Walden has recognized the substantial amount of time which will be involved in preparing such a written transcript be- cause the court reporter listening to the tape recordings will not be familiar with the voice of the person who may be speaking so that he will require assistance from a person familiar with the voices on any particular tape to identify the voice of any person speaking at the particular moment of the recording; and WHEREAS, Clarke Walden has further recognized that literally dozens of hours of the city clerk-auditor 's time will be required if she is called upon to assist the court reporter in transcribing each and every tape recording because of the numerous interruptions which I will be required to identify voices; and i WHEREAS, Clarke Walden has stated that he has retained Donald i L. Bohanan, a person formerly employed in the record and tape industry who is familiar with the technical details of reproducing records and tapes; and WHEREAS , such person has informed Clarke Walden that all of the tape recordings of all meetings of the city commission over any prolonged period of time can be immediately reproduced, within a period of less than one day, through the use of high speed tape reproduction equipment which is used or maintained by commercial recording studios; and WHEREAS, in order to minimize the time which might be required of the city clerk-auditor if she were called upon to review each and every tape with the court reporter employed by Clarke Walden, said Clarke Walden has asked for permission to have a complete reproduction made of all of the tape recordings of every meeting of the city com- mission at which any phase of the Dania Country Club, Inc./Seadade transaction was discussed; and WHEREAS, said Clarke Walden has further requested that the originals of all tape recordings be kept in the custody of the city clerk-auditor at all times (that is , without being placed in his posses- sion or custody) , even when delivered ro any commercial recording studio acceptable to the city; and -3- i l 1 WHEREAS, the city commissions believes the requests of Clarke Walden are reasonable and will minimize the time required of the city I clerk-auditor if she were required to spend extensive amounts of time I with the court reporting firm employed by Clarke Walden; and WHEREAS, the city commission desires to cooperate with Clarke Walden in the matter, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DANIA, FLORIDA: Section 1. That the city clerk-auditor and the city manager are instructed to recognize Donald L. Bohanan as the representative of Clarke Walden with respect to the commercial reproduction of all tape recordings of meetings of the city commission of City of Dania, Florida, at which any part of a transaction involving either Dania Country Club, Inc. , or Seadade Industries was discussed. Section 2 . That if Donald L. Bohanan suggests or furnishes the name of a commercial recording firm, experienced in the reproduc- tion of tape recordings or records , to the city manager and if such firm is either in Broward County, Florida, or Dade County, Florida, the city manager shall make a reasonable investigation to verify that such firm is reliable and experienced in the field of commercial re- cording. If the city manager finds that the firm is reliable and ex- perienced, he shall instruct the city clerk-auditor to assume the direct and personal responsibility of transporting all tape recordings of city commission meetings , for dates indicated by Donald L. Bohanan, to such commercial recording firm. In the presence of the city clerk- auditor, such commercial recording firm shall be allowed to use what- ever processes are necessary to make a full and complete reproduction of all tape recordings of all meetings of the city commission requested by Clarke Walden. Section 3. The city clerk-auditor shall not allow such com- mercial recording firm to retain any tapes belonging to City of Dania in its possession overnight and all such tapes belonging to City of Dania shall be returned by the city clerk-auditor to the city hall j -4- f 1 on the exact same date that same are made available to recordingthe commercial firm making the reproduction of same for the use of Clarke Walden. � Section That all charges and expenses of i o� commercial any court reporters recording firms shall be paid by Clarke Walden and City Of Dania shall not incur any expenses with reference to the matter. Sect g, That all resolutions conflict herewith are repealed to the extent parts of resolutions, in p of such conflict. Section That this resolution shall become effective as of its passage and adoption. i PASSED and ADOPTED this day of January, 1974. 3 Mayor-Commissioner J Attest: I 1 City Clerk Auditor I I i I ! I 1 -5- I i' _