ORANGE PARK – One Orange Park council member’s misunderstanding of Florida law led him Tuesday in a council meeting to accuse fellow council members of meeting in secret with each other and town officials, which would be a violation of the state’s Sunshine Law.

The accusation surfaced when council member Ron Raymond feuded with Town Attorney Sam Garrison during a meeting recess.

Raymond accused council member of violating the law that prohibits elected officials to meet outside of regular meetings when they discussed council business with Town Manager Jim Hanson. Raymond went on to order Garrison to provide a written opinion of the alleged misconduct.

Raymond said he intended to forward Garrison’s written response to the allegations to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

According to the state’s Sunshine Law, which was crafted to help make government more transparent, any meeting between any board or commission of any state agency must be a public meeting. There are only a few exceptions in which boards and councils can meet privately.

“I think if nothing else, that the spirit of the Sunshine Law has been violated,” by every council member, Raymond said. “These meetings were done with the expressed purpose of changing the outcomes of these committee meetings.”

The exchange occurred in recess between two committee meetings, while Raymond and Garrison both sat at the dais. While Raymond argued, other council members attempted to ignore the exchange until the allegations and volume rose to uncomfortable levels in the room.

Current Town Clerk and incoming Town Manager Sarah Campbell interrupted the exchange.

“You need to speak privately…” she said. “Because right now, it’s a council discussion.”

“What difference does it make?” Raymond said.

The argument began, however, in the meeting prior during a budget workshop.

Raymond accused Hanson of creating a budget that the public could not understand and parlayed that accusation into another, saying it was just another example of town administration violating the Sunshine Law.

“If you want to put a budget out that you’re the only one who understands, then go ahead, but I just think to me in the back room is exactly what the Sunshine Law is opposed to, is having council members meet in the back room and having the legislative process interfered with,” Raymond said.

“As far as I’m concerned with, there’s not a whole lot of difference between [replying all on an email] and having conversations with the Town Manager, especially on the budget, especially when you’re talking about spending the town’s money. That should be done right here just as we’re doing it. You called for three workshops and I showed up. I didn’t find out until tonight that there wasn’t a whole lot of point in doing it.”

Raymond persisted in his allegations even after Garrison and Hanson stated that the meeting with town staff was legal.

“I don’t need the lecture, Jim. As far as I’m concerned, what you’re doing is wrong. You folks have to decide, you have to decide, you have to look at the mirror and decide what you think is wrong,” Raymond said.

Mayor Scott Land immediately refocused the conversation back to the budget.

After the heated exchange, Raymond abstained from voting on every item relating to the town budget. However, he interrupted the following meeting with his allegations as well.

While the council discussed revenues from emergency services, Raymond interrupted to ask his fellow council members which ones had met with Hanson. Under the Sunshine Law, elected officials can meet one on one with government staffers, but are prohibited from having two or more meet to discuss official business.

Each council member said they had spoken with the town manager privately, but alone, not with another council member present. Under Florida Law, council members may not speak to each other outside of public meetings.

Council member Connie Thomas said the times she has spoken with town staff has been to gather facts and data so she can thoroughly understand problems facing the town.

“I know I haven’t done anything to violate Florida Law,” she said. “I want to be educated…it’s my job.”