Failure to Distribute Applicant's Information - John R. Hixenbaugh's letter and response from Community DevelopmentI will be asking the Chair for an additional five minutes to speak this evening regarding your staff's withholding of information I provided to you in advance, at your direction, for distribution to the Planning Board. As we all agreed both verbally and by email, this information was to be provided to the Board at the same time as your staff report so the Board would have the benefit of the arguments by both the applicant and staff in advance of the meeting. We discussed this at our initial meeting and you and I and Mr. Ready had multiple emails during November and December discussing this same plan to provide the Board with the information in advance of the hearing. I am terribly troubled by the fact that the Board was only provided this information last evening after I called and asked about the distribution. If I had not called, the information never would have been provided. I do not see how something that was at the front of all of our minds in repeated discussions was "inadvertently" forgotten as Mr. Ready stated to me on the phone this morning. These types of intentional acts are not acceptable in the arena involving a quasi-judicial hearing where due process is paramount. Given the history of this action, I see your staff's action as an intentional act of denying my client his right to due process and a fair hearing. I also see it as retaliatory for Mr. Hopengarten's presentations to the City Commission regarding your Department's handling of this case. Last week, Mr. Ready told me that he supported this application but was doing as he was told by you. He told me that as recently as last Tuesday, you had come to him to figure out a game plan to defend your position; that you did not know how to recommend on this application upon receipt of my materials. Based upon my discussion with Mr. Ready, the subsequent failure to provide the Planning Board with any of the comprehensive analysis I provided to you by your prescribed deadline, and the weak and unsubstantiated recommendations in the staff report provided by your staff, I can only assume that your actions were intended to deny the Planning Board the benefit of both arguments. Mr. Ready's flippant remark that he inadvertently forgot without any apology or intent to remedy the situation is evidence of your intentional acts in this regard. I do not believe that I should not have to use any of the 10 minutes I have allotted for presentation to discuss this matter. Therefore, a formal letter to the Chair, to be included in the record, is forthcoming. I will present that letter to the Chair at the meeting. - John Hixenbaugh
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Thank you for your email. The Chair will determine the time available for your presentation. I regret that your packet was left out of the distribution and staff immediately distributed when it was brought to their attention as well as contacting the Planning Board members to make them aware that the material was distributed for their review. I also regret that you feel that staff's actions were in any way deliberate or "retaliatory", which I assure you is not case. Staff has provided their best professional recommendation and it is up to the Planning Board to make a recommendation to the City Commission based upon the merits of the case. Should you have any further questions regarding the conduct of the hearing from a process perspective, I would refer you to Mary Hale, Assistant City Attorney. - Carol Stricklin, AICP, Community Development Director, City of Largo
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