Probe into alleged Sunshine law violations in Maitland goes dark

No charges will be filed against three Maitland City Council members, or the city’s attorney, after an Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office investigation into alleged Sunshine Law violations by the local officials came up empty.

Angela Starke, the Public Information Officer for Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office, confirmed this week that the State Attorney’s investigations into alleged “government in the Sunshine” violations has closed and that no charges will be filed. A detailed report of the probe’s findings will be released in the next week or two.

A letter sent to the State Attorney’s Office penned by Maitland resident Marc Round – husband of former Maitland councilwoman Linda Frosch – sparked the investigation. The letter alleged that City Attorney Cliff Shepard had contacted Council members Ivan Valdes and Bev Reponen, and Mayor Howard Schieferdecker over the phone following a Council meeting, had taken a vote from each of them to obtain a majority opinion, and used that “vote” to overturn a previously approved Council decision.

The decision in question had to do with the city seeking its own opinion on open-government policies asking for its own Attorney General’s opinion on whether or not Maitland’s cultural partner, the Art & History Museums – Maitland, was subject to Sunshine laws. Though the Council unanimously approved seeking out that opinion in 2012, it never happened.

The investigation, which became public in September 2014, prompted Valdes, Schieferdecker and Shepard to each hire legal counsel to defend themselves against the allegations. Councilwoman Bev Reponen said she chose not to hire a lawyer because she knew the claims against her would be unfounded. Councilman Valdes said he plans to seek reimbursement for the money he spent on a lawyer now that the investigation revealed no wrongdoing.

“It was important to get closure and official documentation that there was no merit to the allegations,” Valdes said. “… It just clears up any doubt. There just wasn’t anything there.”

Starke said that full details of the investigation and its findings will be made available before the end of the month.