RESULTS OF THE GRAND JURY CALLED BY THE STATE ATTORNEY AT MY REQUEST

I wrote the State Attorney, Mr. Golden, on July 19, 2001: 

“I have written to you three times about the city breaking the law regarding the certificate of occupancy and public records.  Each time, you have stated that this is not within your jurisdiction and you have refused to take any steps to investigate.

I believe that it is your jurisdiction when the city breaks the law, apparently in the criminal arena and people suffer financial loss and sometimes financial ruin.  In the process, many historic houses, such as ours which was built in 1883, have been lost because of the illegal actions of city officials…"

I received the letter, printed below, on the State Attorney’s Office letterhead, dated July 19, 2001, and signed by the grand jury foreman, Mr. Ronald Jackson. 

 

“Dear Ms. Mead:

The Escambia County Grand Jury met today and, among other things, considered your recent allegations concerning problems with local government.  After deliberation, the grand jury voted to take no action on the matter.

Thank you for taking the time to refer you concerns to us.

Sincerely,

 

(signed) Ronald Jackson

FOREPERSON
Escambia County Grand Jury”

 

I had not been notified that the grand jury would be reviewing my case so that I could appear and testify.  The State Attorney did not inform me of what information was presented to the grand jury.  I was not given an opportunity to present documentation to show there was wide-spread illegal activity being committed by City Public Officials which was harming the citizens of Pensacola, i.e. over 300 people illegally forced to obtain Certificates of Occupancy after the City had been formally notified that the Florida Building Commission had determined that this policy, enforced by City Public Officials, was against construction law.

I googled Ronald Jackson, Pensacola, the Grand Jury Foreman, with the following results: 
 

The President, since 1991, of Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, a very large Pensacola accounting firm.  I signed onto the Pensacola City website, ci.pensacola.fl.us, and searched the City contract files for Saltmarsh, Cleaveland and Gund.  There were many lucrative contracts between Saltmarsh, Cleaveland and Gund and the City of Pensacola including a current contract signed on July 10, 2000, for 5 years, until FY 2003-2004 for Saltmarsh, Cleaveland and Gund to supply auditing services for the City.

The members of the Grand Jury, or any jury, should be independent and impartial.  This apparent conflict of interest on the part of Mr. Ronald Jackson appeared to be a violation of Florida Statutes regarding conflict of interest as the firm of Saltmarsh, Cleaveland and Gund was doing business with the City, was dependent on the City of Pensacola for part of their income and appeared to be deFacto employees of the City.

It appeared there was a bias in this case for the City.  This raised concerns in my mind about the credibility of any auditing services provided by Mr. Jackson’s company if Mr. Jackson can freely sign a statement refusing to address and stop widespread apparent criminal actions on the part of City Officials which was his duty as a grand jury foreman.

I think that we in Pensacola deserve better than this from our State Attorney’s Office and from our grand juries.