CANNADA-WYNN COVERUP ON MORRIS COURT PARK?

INTRODUCTION

There can be no doubt in the public mind that City of Pensacola Council member Jewel CANNADA-WYNN is covering up her involvement in the proposed transfer of Morris Court Park from the ownership by the City to the Area Housing Commission.  She has apparently refused to disclose the date of her meeting or meetings with the Area Housing Commission.  This refusal of a simple public records request for the date of her known meeting with the head of the Area Housing Commission suggests she will also hide her previous conversations, emails, and meetings with the Mayor's Office regarding the closure and transfer of the beloved park.

Moreover, the neglect of the Morris Court Park extends back to Fiscal Year 2013, when Mayor Ashton apparently directed that the Department of Parks and Recreation not spend the $59,907 that the City Council had budget to improve the equipment and fencing.  So, where was the money spent, if not on Morris Court Park?  Months before Cannada-Wynn had a meeting with the Area Housing Commission (AHC) to transfer the park from the City to the AHC, the Mayor directed that the park be closed to the neighborhood's children.

The City Council and the local media need to begin looking into what looks like a bigger problem than just closing a local park.  This gives off the whiff of a political fix.

BACKGROUND

On April 19, 2017, CJ's Street Report submitted a public records request (W001828-041917) to the City of Pensacola's "Sunshine Center" requesting "all correspondence, text messages, emails, phone calls, and records related to meetings between City Council member Jewel CANNADA-WYNN and the Area Housing Commission regarding Morris Court Park."

The Sunshine Center asked for clarification and I responded on April 22nd with the following response:

On 4/22/2017 5:46:21 PM, drscaminaci@hotmail.com wrote:
On September 16, 2016, Dr. Abe SINGH sent a letter to Mr. Keith WILKINS, Deputy City Administrator, noting Singh's prior phone conversation with Wilkins, and a previous undated meeting with CANNADA-WYNN. The subject of the phone calls and meeting(s) was the Morris Court Park located on J Street and Lloyd Street. That is all the public information that has been disclosed. Surely, Cannada-Wynn knows when she met with the Area Housing Commission. Ask her.

Seven business days later, I wrote the following email to the Sunshine Center:

On 5/2/2017 6:38:10 PM, drscaminaci@hotmail.com wrote:
Have you been able to query Council member Jewel Cannada-Wynn as to all her correspondence, meetings, and phone calls with the Area Housing Commission? How difficult is this task? She knows who and when she interacted with.

On May 9, 2017, the Sunshine Center closed public records request W00128-041917 with three documents: an email from Dr. SINGH, head of the Area Housing Commission, to Mr. Keith WILKINS, the Assistant City Administrator, with an attached letter from Singh to Wilkins that had been previously disclosed at a City Council meeting; and, two Verizon phone bills for her City Council phone (850) 490-4247.

The letter from Dr. Singh to Mr. Wilkins clearly states that prior to September 16, 2016, the date of the letter, that Dr. Singh had previously met with Council member Cannada-Wynn to discuss Morris Court Park.   Dr. Singh wrote:

Now, if Dr. Singh can freely disclose "my previous meeting with...Canada-Wynn [sic]" regarding Morris Court Park, why is Cannada-Wynn failing to disclose the date of this meeting and the substance of this meeting?  What were the prior meetings, emails, or phone conversations that led to this meeting?

There are more moving parts to this closing of Morris Court Park and the proposed transfer of the park from the City to the Area Housing Commission.  

First, it is difficult to believe that Cannada-Wynn originated the idea and took the initiative.  Why?  Because, according to a confidential source, the initiative to close Morris Court Park and lock-out the neighborhood's children came several months prior from the Mayor's Office.

Second, closing the park would trigger the conditional clause in the deed that transferred the land for the park from the Area Housing Commission (Grantor) to the City of Pensacola (Grantee).  The City was bound to "keep and use the property as a playground area for children and shall not use the property for any other purpose without the written consent of the Grantor or its successors or assigns."

Third, and finally, it appears that the Mayor has been planning this for some time.  According to the approved Fiscal Year 2017 budget for the City of Pensacola, on page 124 of the budget, under "Park Improvements" in FY2013, there is a budget of $59,907 for such improvements.  On page 133 of the budget, the City Council specified that improvements were to "Improve equipment, fencing..."  The same is true for the FY2013 budget document.

But, neither the Mayor nor the Department of Parks and Recreation spent that FY2013 money on "equipment, fencing."  We know this because Rick's Blog (Inweekly) reported on Monday, November 14, 2016, that on the previous Saturday they observed first-hand: "On Saturday, Inweekly visited Morris Court. The playground had been chained and padlocked.  A ‘Danger’ signs hung on the gates.  The playground equipment was old and needed repair.  Children were playing kickball in the side yard of home one block north of the park and having to dodge traffic when the ball went into the street.  A parent said the playground had been closed for months" [emphasis added].

CONCLUSION

You put all the pieces together--not spending almost $60,000 on park equipment and fencing in 2013; closing the park months before November 2016; Cannada-Wynn having a meeting with the Area Housing Commission at undisclosed date to discuss transferring the closed park to the AHC; and, the head of the AHC talking to the Assistant City Administrator about accepting the closed park--and you have the makings of a political fix engineered by the Mayor.  Cannada-Wynn appears to be a witting or unwitting pawn in the Mayor's wheelings and dealings.  The losers are her constitutents in District 3, in general, and the many children who need and use Morris Court Park, in particular.