Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey is asking Blueprint staff to tell him how much taxpayer dollars are being spent on outside counsel to defend City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow’s 2-year-old open government-lawsuit against the infrastructure and economic development agency.
He asked for the information at the last Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency meeting, saying he did so publicly because “other(s) may want the same information.”
Matlow sued Blueprint in June 2022, asking a judge to determine if the Blueprint Intergovernmental Management Committee (IMC) − consisting of City Manager Reese Goad and County Administrator Vince Long − falls under the state’s Sunshine Laws.
The 6-page lawsuit, filed in Leon County Circuit Civil court, questions whether the IMC can discuss official Blueprint action outside of publicly-noticed and open-to-the-public meetings, and, if so, whether the two need to keep publicly-available minutes of their meetings.
Dailey’s request, the latest round of sniping between the two political rivals, came amid the shortest Blueprint meeting of the year. It also included a unanimous vote to keep its schedule at four meetings rather than shrinking to three and ratification of the agency’s budget, fueled with $53.7 million in revenues from sales taxes and other line items.