By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Williston Mayor Charles Goodman registered a formal protest at the end of Tuesday’s city council meeting saying there weren’t enough voting members of the board present to have a legal meeting.

            “In my opinion, the entire meeting should never have happened. I have heard but two votes the entire night — that is the two councilors who are attending the meeting,” Goodman said.

            The city charter requires a quorum of three voting council members to be present to conduct city business in a board meeting. Goodman doesn’t have a vote on the council.

            The only councilmen present in the board meeting room were Zach Bullock and Michael Cox. Board president Debra Jones isolated herself in a closed-door room next to the council chambers due to having had COVID.

            Councilwoman Marguerite Robinson and Councilman Elihu Ross were absent from the meeting.

            When the meeting began, Jones asked City Attorney Kiersten Ballou if the council had a quorum to conduct business.

            “We have a quorum,” Ballou said in her tiny voice.

            Ballou told Spotlight before the meeting started that she considered Jones to be “present” for the meeting even though she wasn’t physically in the council meeting room. Ballou said Jones’ position in an adjoining room fit the definition of being “present” for the meeting.

Jones couldn’t be seen during the meeting. The internet broadcast system she used from the neighboring room didn’t work well and sometimes not at all. She had a difficult time figuring out if motions were made or seconded. Sometimes she had to be coached by staff as to who was saying what in the council meeting or if a motion was made or seconded.

            Before going forward with the agenda, Jones asked if Bullock or Cox wanted to run the meeting instead of her.

            Bullock said he doesn’t do that type of thing well.

            Cox didn’t want the job of chairmanship either.

            “I’m comfortable with her being in an adjoining room,” Cox said drawing laughter. Cox looked serious when he made the statement, but it came out sounding humorous.

            The only time Jones came out from her room during the meeting was to stand in the open door and challenge Goodman’s statement that there was no quorum for the meeting. She was wearing a mask.

            “I’ll just add I asked for an opinion before I started the meeting. I also asked for someone else to do it. I did everything I could do to make a quorum tonight,” Jones said.

            “I know you did madam president, but you did not have a quorum,” Goodman responded.

            “I did have a quorum – I‘m right here,” Jones said.

            “I’m not going to argue with you,” Goodman said.

            “If you had a problem, you should have stated it earlier, not at the end of the meeting,” Jones replied.

            “In view of the fact that the president made that comment, I will tell her that counsel (City Attorney Kiersten Ballou) told the president that she had a quorum, and counsel knows that’s not correct. The council is well aware that the Attorney General said that you cannot vote in absentee from a meeting,” Goodman said. Goodman was quoting from a Florida Attorney General’s opinion in 2020 that he said forbids members of elected boards to vote remotely from outside the meeting room.

            Ballou responded that she analyzed the situation before the meeting.

            “For the record, I would just like to say I analyzed the situation and I stand by the opinion that I gave at the beginning of the meeting,” she said.

            City Manager Jackie Gorman asked Ballou for a clarification.

            “You are saying three is a quorum? Is that what I’m hearing?” Gorman said.

            “I’m saying I stand by the opinion I made at the meeting that there is a quorum,” Ballou responded.

            Many people attending the council meeting weren’t aware of why Jones appeared to be absent from the meeting until she announced over a loudspeaker that she had contracted COVID and was in an adjoining room. Some people grabbed their masks.

            Gorman was asked before the meeting began why there were no face masks provided for people in the audience. In prior meetings, the city always provided a small basket of blue disposable masks that members of the public could use free of charge. Gorman was wearing a blue disposable mask when she came into the meeting and wore it throughout the meeting.

            Jones had given an opening statement at the start of the meeting. Her booming voice was broadcast into the council meeting room.

            “I have had COVID. I haven’t had a fever for three days. I’m in an adjoining room. If I need to stick my head in to vote, I can do that. I’m trying not to do that,” she said.

            She never poked her head through the door to vote. Some residents grumbled that she shouldn’t have come to City Hall if she had COVID. Not everyone was comfortable with Jones being in the building.

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City of Williston Regular Meeting July 20, 2022; Posted July 21, 2022