CANNADA-WYNN ROLE IN CLOSING MORRIS COURT PARK

INTRODUCTION

This is the sixth article on the closure of Morris Court Park.  It is based almost entirely on emails released to CJ's Street Report under W001859-051217 which requested "documentation generated by or received by the Office of the Mayor (and subordinates) regarding Morris Court Park between January 1, 2016 and May 12, 2017."

This evidence is incontrovertible.  District 7 City Council member Jewel CANNADA-WYNN was a key player performing three substantive roles: (1) she was the go-between the Office of the Mayor and the Area Housing Commission, (2) she helped concoct the cover story that criminal activity was the reason for the closure and proposed transfer, and, (3) she was to mislead the community by putting them under the impression that nothing was amiss--particularly before the November 2016 election.

This article is written in two forms--short and long.  The short version is a succinct summary of all the events related to the closure and proposed transfer of Morris Court Park from the City of Pensacola to the Area Housing Commission, emphasizing Cannada-Wynn's role.  The long version goes into more detail and explanation.  Links to the evidence can be found in the long version.

SHORT VERSION

Criminal activity in and around Morris Court Park was the concocted cover story used to justify closing Morris Court Park and eventually transferring control from the City of Pensacola to the Area Housing Commission [AHC].

Criminal activity, both drug- and gang-related, originated with the head of the Area Housing Commission, Dr. SINGH.  Dr. Singh held a meeting in late June 2016 with Mr. Brian COOPER, director of Parks and Recreation, and Assistant Police Chief Timothy LYTER to discuss the criminal situation at Morris Court Park.  The outcome of this discussion is not known.

Eight months later, in early March 2017, Cannada-Wynn sent a request for Pensacola Police crime data for Morris Court Park to Mr. Eric OLSON, City Administrator.  Cannada-Wynn's request for crime data came after the Area Housing Commission's board of directors had already voted in February 2017 to request the city transfer the park to its control.  On March 9th, that request was fulfilled within 100 minutes when the PPD emailed Olson 29 pages of crime data.  The PPD provided no analysis, no conclusions, and no recommendations.

In November 2016, Cannada-Wynn told the Westside Redevelopment Board that she was working with the community to "institute a plan to deal with some of the concerns."  This was a misleading statement, at best.  The only concerns about criminal activity had come from the Area Housing Commission and the only plan Cannada-Wynn was working on was the plan to close the park under false pretenses and transfer the park from the City of Pensacola's control to the Area Housing Commission.

At every step in the process to close Morris Court Park and transfer the park from the City of Pensacola to the Area Housing Commission, District 7 City Council member Jewel Cannada-Wynn was deeply involved.  She held meetings with the Area Housing Commission to convey information and/or requests from the mayor's office.  She was instrumental in requesting five years of crime data related to Morris Court Park, a request that most likely originated with Dr. Singh as a cover story for the park's closure.  She coordinated and conferred with the Area Housing Commission and the Office of the Mayor.  She was briefed by the mayor's office.  There is essentially no part of the process that Cannada-Wynn was not involved.  Moreover, she mislead her constitutents about the process and the intended outcome.

LONG VERSION

The Criminal Activity Cover Story

On June 21, 2016, Dr. Abe SINGH, Director of the Area Housing Commission, sent an email to Mr. Brian COOPER, Director of Parks and Recreation, raising concerns about people "experimenting with drugs, breaking into neighboring buildings, stealing cars and gang fighting. These individuals are using the park as their 'hangout' arena."  In the email he was requesting a meeting with then Chief of Police David ALEXANDER and Assistant Police Chief Timothy LYTER.

On July 1, 2016, in response to a request from Cannada-Wynn to close Morris Court Park for the upcoming holiday weekend duty to Facebook indications of future criminal activity, Mr. Eric OLSON, City Administrator, reported that in late June Singh, APC Lyter, and Cooper had met and discussed the criminal situation around Morris Court Park.

Olson's email told Cannada-Wynn that "Morris Court Park is being closed and will remain closed until the Parks & Recreation Department can complete its planned maintenance (that may take several weeks).  All the gates have been chained and locked and signs were going up this afternoon."  We know of no maintenance that was done at Morris Court Park.

In short, the criminal activity around Morris Court Park was the cover story, the fig leaf, the plausible excuse, for closing the park and transferring the property to the Area Housing Commission--a cover story that apparently originated with the Area Housing Commission.

This interpretation of a cover story becomes abundantly clear when it is demonstrated that 8 months would go by before the Office of the Mayor and Cannada-Wynn actually requested crime data for the area.  Moreover, Cannada-Wynn would request the crime data after the Area Housing Commission's board of directors had already approved requesting the property's transfer.

On March 5, 2017, Cannada-Wynn informed Olson that she had requested Pensacola Police crime data for Morris Court Park.  Specifically, Cannada-Wynn requested the "number of complaints for the last five years for Morris Court Park.
Please include the types of calls, deaths, arrests, citations, assaults, batteries/trespassing/gang activity etc.  I need the information for an action item for April."

On March 9, 2017, within a period of 100 minutes, from 1426H when Olson sent Cannada-Wynn's request to Chief Alexander to 1606H when Ashley JONES from the PPD emailed Olson 29 pages of data for crimes reported at 1200 N W Street, 1301 N M Street, and 1401 W Lloyd Street, Cannada-Wynn's request for crime data was satisfied.

According to the released crime data, there was no analysis of the crime data and there were no recommendations from the Pensacola Police Department.  CJ's Street Report will be doing a separate analysis of the crime data.

Cannada-Wynn's role in misleading the community and giving them a false impression can be seen in the minutes of the November 15, 2016, board meeting of the Westside Redevelopment Board.  According to the minutes of the meeting, "Ms. Cannada-Wynn indicated there was a concern with activities at the Morris Court Park, and it has been difficult for the neighborhood.  She has been working with the neighborhood to institute a plan to deal with some of the concerns."

The only demonstrable "concern with actitivities" came from the Area Housing Commission who wanted the park transferred back to its ownership under the ruse of drug and gang activity at the park, and there is no record she had been working with the "neighborhood...to deal with some of the concerns."

In fact, it is only November 30, 2016, that Cannada-Wynn announced a community meeting scheduled for December 7, 2016, a meeting that appears on the Office of the Mayor's weekly update as an important action item.  In other words, Cannada-Wynn's role is to put the community's concerns asleep with a soothing bedtime story.

The Choreography of the Transfer

We have already established that Dr. Singh, head of the Area Housing Commission, Brian Cooper, director of Parks and Recreation, and Assistant Police Chief Lyter met in late June 2016 to discuss the crime situation at Morris Court Park.  On July 1, 2016, as a result of that meeting and Cannada-Wynn's request to close the park temporarily, Morris Court Park was closed for "planned maintenance."

On August 4, 2016, Cannada-Wynn emailed Olson informing him that she had "had a meeting with Area Housing in ref. to Morris Court.  I would like to meet with you to discuss the meeting."

On September 16, 2016, Dr. Singh sent a letter to Mr. Keith Wilkins, Assistant City Administrator, suggesting that Morris Court Park be returned to the Area Housing Commission.

The documentary evidence is dispositive that Cannada-Wynn's meeting with Dr. Singh was instrumental to the process of transferring control of Morris Court Park to the Area Housing Commission.  Dr. Singh only mentions his prior meeting with Cannada-Wynn, which we now know happened between July 1, 2016, and August 4, 2016.  Cannada-Wynn still has not  disclosed when this meeting took place.

According to a February 28, 2017, weekly update on the status of the Morris Court Park transfer, in addition to a revised legal opinion on Morris Court Park, apparently in reaction to an inquiry from Mr. Don KRAHER on the legal status of the park, it is noted that Cannada-Wynn has been tasked to "confer with AHC" [Area Housing Commission].

It is after the tasking to confer with the Area Housing Commission that Cannada-Wynn submits her request for five years of criminal data.  One can surmise this request originated with Dr. Singh who had originally raised this issue in June 2016.

On March 28, 2017, the legal transfer of Morris Court Park is put on the agenda of the City Council.  The originator is the Office of the Mayor.

Proof that the criminal data had absolutely no bearing on the closing and transfer of Morris Court Park to the Area Housing Commission comes from a March 21, 2017, email from Dr. Singh to Mr. WILKINS, Assistant City Administrator.  Singh informed Wilkins, "Keith, I presented this transaction to our board last month and they agreed to take back the land in discussion, thanks."

In short, the Area Housing Commission's board approved the transfer in February 2017--before Cannada-Wynn requested the crime data.  Some time in late February 2017 Cannada-Wynn had been tasked to "confer with AHC."  It is reasonable to assume that Cannada-Wynn requested the five years of crime data at the behest of Dr. Singh.  It is also reasonable to assume that the crime data is a fig leaf, a cover story.

Between April and May 2017, the Office of the Mayor was waiting for the Area Housing Commission's board to make a decision or provide guidance.  It is not clear.

We do know that an action item from the mayor office's in early April was to "coord w/JCW."  In mid-April, the mayor's office was awaiting some action by the Area Housing Commission's board for a possible transfer of the property at a May City Council meeting.  They mayor's office was waiting for the AHC board to meet on April 27th to effect the transfer at a June City Council meeting.  And we know from the last email we received in the Public Records Request, that the AHC board did meet on April 27th, the mayor's office was contacting the AHC staff, and that Cannada-Wynn was to be briefed on the developments.

CONCLUSION

In summary, at every step in the process to close Morris Court Park and transfer the park from the City of Pensacola to the Area Housing Commission, District 7 City Council member Jewel Cannada-Wynn was deeply involved.  She held meetings with the Area Housing Commission to convey information and/or requests from the mayor's office.  She was instrumental in requesting five years of crime data related to Morris Court Park, a request that most likely originated with Dr. Singh as a cover story for the park's closure.  She coordinated and conferred with the Area Housing Commission and the Office of the Mayor.  She was briefed by the mayor's office.  There is essentially no part of the process that Cannada-Wynn was not involved.  Moreover, she mislead her constitutents about the process and the intended outcome.

CANNADA-WYNN TO ENDORSE MAYOR ASHTON

According to leading African American community activists, they are hearing from sources inside City Hall that Democratic City Council member Jewel CANNADA-WYNN is expected to endorse Pensacola mayor Ashton HAYWARD, perhaps as soon as this week.  These reports cannot be confirmed.  Cannada-Wynn stopped answering my phone calls back in May.

But, these unconfirmed reports do make sense in the context of everything Cannada-Wynn has done to close Morris Court Park and deceive her constitutents throughout her successful re-election campaign in 2016.

Previous public disclosures and CJ's Street Report articles have proven that Cannada-Wynn had at least one meeting with Dr. SINGH, head of the Area Housing Commission (AHC), prior to September 16, 2016 to discuss returning Morris Court Park to the AHC.

Both Cannada-Wynn and Dr. Singh have failed to comply with public records requests (PRR) to specify when that prior meeting(s) occurred.

In response to my PRR W001587-051217 asking for "the specific date of this meeting prior to September 16, 2016.... includ[ing] letters, emails, memoranda, and calendar or diary entries of the meeting" all I received was information already in the public domain that shed no light on any prior meeting(s) between Cannada-Wynn and Dr. Singh.

I also submitted PRR W001858-051217 coming at the problem a different way.  In this request, I asked for "all documentation generated by or received by the Area Housing Commission regarding Morris Court Park from 1 January 2016 to 12 May 2017."

The information I received was the same given for W001587-051217.

In other words, neither Cannada-Wynn nor Dr. Singh want to disclose when they met prior to September 16, 2016.  Now, the language "prior meeting" does not necessarily exclude that there was more than one meeting.  The "prior meeting" could mean the last meeting in a series of meetings.

I also submitted PRR W001859-051217 to determine who ordered Morris Court Park closed and when did they issue that order.  Specifically, I requested "documentation generated by or received by the Office of the Mayor (and subordinates) regarding Morris Court Park between January 1, 2016 and May 12, 2017.  And, to request all documentation received by or generated by the Parks and Recreation Department regarding Morris Court Park specifically focused on the closure of the park. This would include any instructions, directives, and guidance to close the park."

And I received, wait for it, nothing.  So, Morris Court Park is ordered closed and there is not one piece of paper, not a post-it note, in the Mayor's office or in the Department of Parks and Recreation ordering the park closed.

Apparently, everyone in Pensacola's city government operates by telepathy, or, they communicate via means not susceptible to discovery via Public Records Requests.

Then, CJ's Street Report discovered through a search of Florida's online public records that neither the man, James A. Wolfe, nor the company, Wolfe Construction located on Nine Mile Road, were certified as contractors.  On February 20, 2013, James A. Wolfe, or whoever he is, filed a fictitious name document with Florida's Secretary of State.  Two days later, he acquired a tax account for Escambia County.  And, by March 23, 2013 the City of Pensacola issued a Purchase Order to Wolfe Construction for $90,510 to improve three city parks.

I then submitted PRR W001865-051717 asking for "Records of all City inspections and approvals of work done by Wolfe Construction on Morris Court Park in 2013."

The response from the city was that "there are no responsive records or documents to your request for public records."

So, a man named "James A. Wolfe," who may or may not actually exist, creates a fictitious company called "Wolfe Construction" located on Nine Mile Road, gets a contract in excess of $90,000 in just over a month after declaring this company exists, improves three parks, and the City of Pensacola has no records of design approvals, permits, or inspections.

What does that suggest?

It suggests one of two possibilities.  One, "James A. Wolfe" was someone closely connected to a city official or city employee who manipulated and exploited the city for profit.  Two, "James A. Wolfe" was a city employee or city official who could manipulate and exploit the city for profit.

Of course, Wolfe Construction of Nine Mile Road did, in fact, make improvements to Morris Court Park, and presumably Armstrong Park and Estramadura Park.  If the company had not done those improvements, surely an investigation would have been warranted.  But, since the improvements were done, no one bothered to look at or for the documentation.

Is the closure of the park and deeding the park back to the Area Housing Commission related?  I do not know.  That may be doubtful.

But, the history of the City of Pensacola's machinations and backroom deals related to Morris Court Park suggest that one cannot rule it out.

What is clear is that the City of Pensacola--the Mayor's Office, Cannada-Wynn, and Dr. Singh of the Area Housing Commission--want to provide the public as little information as possible about Morris Court Park.

The mayor also wants to give Cannada-Wynn all the credit for saving the park and having it refurbished.  That is an outright lie.

Public pressure from community activists and County Commissioner Lumon MAY forced the mayor and Cannada-Wynn to back out of the agreement with the Area Housing Commission.  Throughout 2016 and into 2017 Cannada-Wynn has been double-dealing and selling-out her constituents.

So, it is entirely plausible that Cannada-Wynn will endorse the mayor's re-election bid this week or some time in the future.  She has tied her fortunes to the mayor's.  She has proven that her loyalty to the mayor takes precedence over her duty to her constituents.

And, rumor also has it that the mayor and Cannada-Wynn are planning to close Kiwanis Park located on W Romana Street.

MORRIS COURT PARK: CITY'S GROSS INCOMPETENCE

INTRODUCTION

This is the fourth article on Mayor Hayward's and Council member Cannada-Wynn efforts to close Morris Court Park, deed it back to the Area Housing Commission, and deprive children of a safe, clean park to play in after-school, on weekends, and during the summer. Their efforts are unconscionable.  The City awarded a contract to a company that was not a certified construction company run by a man who was not a certified contractor.  Second, given the simplicity of the structures built, the City wildly overpaid.

The first three articles can be found here: "UWF's Parks Assessment Study Reconsidered;" "Cannada-Wynn Abandons Children in Morris Court;" and, "Cannada-Wynn Coverup on Morris Court Park?."

The "Assessment" article determined that the Mayor is using the University of West Florida's study to close community parks.  However, not only is the UWF assessment flawed, but it's claims about the unsustainability of the city's parks is unsubstantiated.  The UWF omits any discussion of class and race related to city parks.  And, as will be shown in this article, the City's mayor, and directors of Public Works and Parks & Recreation spend money very unwisely.

The second article observed that Cannada-Wynn had been misleading her constitutents for several months, assuring them she was concerned about the park while she worked with the mayor's office and the Area Housing Commission (AHC) to close the park and return it to the AHC.

The third article noted that Cannada-Wynn has refused to divulge how many meetings she had with the Area Housing Commission and when those meetings took place. She has not divulged that information in response to a Public Records Request, nor after I told the City Council at a Boyd Forum that her information was not forthcoming, and after a second Public Records Request.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the mayor's claim, based on the UWF assessment, that the city's park system is "unsustainable" is highly questionable.  In fact, the mayor and the two key directors demonstrate they are grossly incompetent in the execution of the contract to improve Morris Court Park and over-spent taxpayer's money.

NO DUE DILIGENCE WORTHY OF NAME

Had city officials conducted fifteen minutes of due diligence they would not have awarded a contract of $90,510 on March 27, 2013, to a man, James A. Wolfe, and a construction company, Wolfe Construction, that did not have a contractor's license and was not a certified construction company.

In fact, they awarded that contract to improve three city parks to a man who had only filed a fictitious name document with the Secretary of State on February 20, 2013.  Two days later, he filed for a business tax account with Escambia County.  That business tax account was closed on January 9, 2014.

Neither "James A. Wolfe" nor "James Wolfe" nor "Wolfe Construction" at Nine Mile Road were certified contractors, according to records at the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation.

What explains how a man without a contractor's license and without a certified construction company, can get a contract for $90,510 to improve three city parks?  The first thought is rank incompetence by the mayor and his directors of Public Works and Parks & Recreation.  The second thought is that someone in the city government was a witting or unwitting accomplice in this negligent activity.

Not only did the business tax account expire in January 2014, but the Mayor and the Department of Public Works continue, as of 2017, to include Wolfe Construction at Nine Mile Road as a bonafide vendor in contacts worth millions of dollars.  Wolfe Construction is listed in the February 2017 contract for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program Baywoods Gully Phase II, but also the April 2017 contracts for the Bayou Chico Stormwater Treatment Enhancement Project and the Pensacola Airport Fuel Farm Road Reconstruction.

Wolfe Construction has not been in business for over three years.  In fact, the only valid thing about Wolfe Construction is that its fictitious name filing is still valid.  Can the mayor and the director claim they are doing due diligence?    Of course not.  This is rank incompetence.

And, when it comes to university professors opining about what is sustainable and unsustainable, perhaps they should first consider how much the mayor and the Director of Public Works wasted just on the improvements for Morris Court Park.

CITY WILDLY OVER-PAID FOR MODEST IMPROVEMENTS

The invoice for Morris Court Park was for $42,236.  For that price, Wolfe Construction built two dugouts, one shade structure over benches, two picnic structures, and a new sidewalk (5' x 120').  Very simple construction.

Wolfe Construction bought, for all three parks, materials worth $5,533, of which $2,192 was for Morris Court Park.  Wolfe Construction did not pay one penny for those materials.  The costs of those materials were deducted from the final payment of the contract.  Home Depot and American Concrete Supply billed the Department of Public Works directly.  All Wolfe Construction had to do was distribute the costs between the three parks.

How much profit did "James A. Wolfe" and "Wolfe Construction" make on the Morris Court Park improvement?  Probably around $25,000 for that one park.

If you use the standard accounting calculations from the Business Economics website run by a certified public accountant, the Final Net Profit after direct and indirect costs, overhead, and taxes was $3848.

The calculations using the Business Economics model for a residential contractor looks like this: Adjusted Contract Price is $41,640. Cost of Construction is $24,884 (60%), though in this case that is wildly inflated.  Direct Margin of 40% is $16,656.  Indirect Cost, 21% of ACP is $8,744.  Gross Overhead, 7% of ACP is $2,195.  Gross Profit Before Taxes, 12% of ACP is $4,997.  Notice that these three components add up to the Direct Margin of 40%.  Taxes (23%) on Gross Profit is $1,149.  That leaves a Final Net Profit of $3,848.

But, Wolfe Construction does not appear to be a normal construction company with investments in equipment and trucks.  Wolfe Construction appears to have been a one-man operation run out of an office on Nine Mile Road.  At worst, Wolfe had to cover office rent, telephone, and maybe a receptionist for a few months.  Wolfe Construction could have subcontracted the concrete work (four bases and sidewalk) and the five wooden structures.  There were no materials costs.

For all three parks, using the Business Economics calculations, the Final Net Profit would have been $8,363.  But, the other two parks added just four shade structures and two more sidewalks.  So, out of $90,510, Wolfe Construction could be looking at a total profit of $54,000 for all three parks.

Now, given how little due diligence the City of Pensacola did in awarding a contract to Wolfe Construction and given how little work was actually probably done by Wolfe Construction, a profit of $54,000 appears excessive.

So, before City officials and university professors start talking about what is "sustainable," the City Council ought to investigate how much the departments of Public Works and Parks & Recreation wasted giving a contract to an unqualified company that may or may not have had a witting or unwitting partner in city government.

And, two further points.

One, the building of the two dugouts was a complete waste of money on two grounds.  For one thing, baseball has not been played at Morris Court Park for at least a decade, according to informed sources.  And, for another thing, dugouts are intended to protect players from batted and thrown balls.  These two dugouts do neither.  The players are completely unprotected.

The two dugouts:

DUGOUT: FIRST BASE SIDE

DUGOUT: THIRD BASE SIDE

Second, no one in Parks & Recreation bothered to ask the residents and the children who use the park what they wanted in terms of a facility upgrade.  We know that the City did not spend money on equipment, as the City Council specified.  Pictures of the basketball court and the playground equipment show wear and tear.  In the case of the playground equipment, it should have been replaced.  In the case of the basketball courts, they should have been repaired.

And, here are pictures of the two other picnic/shade structures with concrete bases and the shade structure over benches that need to be repaired or replaced so that children and adults do not rip their clothes while sitting on them.

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.