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Sarasota attorney Andrea Mogensen.

SARASOTA - A Sarasota attorney known for her litigation of area open government cases will take the lead in a lawsuit filed Tuesday against Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet.

Andrea Mogensen represents the nonprofit Citizens for Sunshine in the lawsuit filed Tuesday, which claims that Scott violated the state's Sunshine Law in communicating with Cabinet members about a controversial change in leadership at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Also joining the suit were the Associated Press, the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors and St. Petersburg attorney Matthew Weidner, who has called for an investigation of the replacement of FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey.

Disagreements over how Bailey left his position in December have grown to involve other members of the state Cabinet and attracted statewide media attention. The case, filed in the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County, seeks a ruling that the Florida Cabinet is subject to the Sunshine Law and a prohibition on polling members about appointments and communicating decisions to them before meetings.

Mogensen often represents Citizens for Sunshine, which has advocated for open government across the state. Most often the group files cases in and around Sarasota and Manatee counties. Citizens for Sunshine became a plaintiff in the case because it involved citizen access to government decision-making.

That's the purpose of the group government transparency, Mogensen said. The group hoped the case would expose to the public a pervasive evasion of the Sunshine Law in the state's executive branch, she said.

Bailey resigned in December and has publicly contradicted Scott's version of events. Scott and other members of the Cabinet unanimously confirmed his replacement, Rick Swearingen, in January. Since then, Scott and Cabinet members have been criticized over the details of Bailey's ouster.

Scott said that the commissioner resigned, only to have Bailey contradict him in statements to the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee bureau, saying I did not voluntarily do anything.

Since then, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam have voiced displeasure with how the matter was handled. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she thought Scott's staff may have acted without the governor's knowledge.

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Sarasota attorney involved in Scott Sunshine suit

TALLAHASSEE Floridas top elected officials Thursday agreed to begin considering an overhaul of the way state agency heads are hired, evaluated and fired, but they didnt immediately accept Gov. Rick Scotts suggestions for making the reforms.

Scott, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam held a Cabinet meeting in Tampa before they opened the annual Florida State Fair.

The discussion was brought on by the Dec. 16 ouster of longtime Florida Department of Law Enforcement director Gerald Bailey. As FDLE head, Bailey was in a handful of state jobs that the governor with the Cabinet must agree to replace.

They approved Baileys successor, former Capitol Police director Rick Swearingen, but did so because Scott said at Januarys Cabinet meeting that Bailey was stepping down.

Bailey since has created a firestorm by saying he was forced out, ordered by the governors staff to retire or resign.

He has also alleged, among other things, that the governors staff asked him to state falsely that acting Orange County Clerk of Court Colleen Reilly was under investigation for a high-profile prison break that embarrassed the states corrections department.

The maelstrom surrounding Scott and the Cabinet, all of them Republicans, includes a lawsuit filed by news organizations and government openness advocates that the states open meetings law was broken by Scott staff members acting as back-channel conduits.

Scott repeated his contention Thursday that there are no lifetime jobs in state government, but said that in hindsight, I could have handled it better. The buck stops here.

His public perception has not suffered, according to a Mason-Dixon poll released Thursday, showing his approval and disapproval ratings at 45-45, consistent with past poll results.

Besieged by reporters after the meeting, Scott repeated many of the same answers hes been giving, including referring to a question and answer page on his website.

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Scott: I could have better handled Bailey situation

Plans to make major renovations to the second floor courtroom at the Wright County Courthouse are in the preliminary stages of development.

The board of supervisors talked last week with Andy Yackle, director of building and grounds, and Sonja Wilson and John Bloom of Slingshot Architecture in Des Moines.

This is not going to be done right away, Yackle explained. We will start saving money to pay for the project. His hope is for construction to begin sometime in the spring or summer of 2016.

The courthouse was built in the early 1890s for about $50,000 and was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1981. It has been renovated numerous times. A major remodel of the second floor courtroom was completed in the 1970s, according to Yackle.

Bloom explained the first proposal. The jury box would be on the south rather than the north side of the courtroom. A series of six-foot high walls would also be installed to keep the judge obscured from view as he enters. The judge would not be seen until he almost gets to the witness stand, Yackle explained. The public would enter through the main door on the west side of the room. County and state employees would have their own bathroom. Similar to the current courtroom, the holding room and conference room would be on the west side, opposite the judge's seat. There would be no third room (office) as there is now.

In the second proposal, the jury box would be on the south side rather than the north side. The judge would be completely out of sight until he reaches his seat. Rather than a conference and holding room on the west side, they would be on the south side of the courtroom next to the jury box. It allows for a little bit more seating than the first option because the room is aligned with the back entrance, Wilson said.

In the third option, the jury box is back on the north, with the conference and holding room on the west, opposite the judges seat, which is comparable to the current set up. There would be no third room, but a vestibule closed off by a six-foot wall would separate the two rooms.

In each of the proposals, the existing pews and the judges seat would be re-used, but the judges platform would be rebuilt. Also, each plan calls for a mezzanine overlooking the courtroom. The public would access the room on the third floor. According to Yackle, the room could be used in several ways and would hold around 40 people. It would be used if you need more seating, and would also be a great place to seat the media, he added.

The four windows on the east wall would be opened up after having been blocked for approximately 40 years. Wall, floor and ceiling repairs would be completed as needed.

A key to the whole project is making sure to follow the guidelines of the National Registry of Historic Places in order to qualify for grants and other funding. Yackle said he would be applying for a number of other grants and other options.

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Supervisors hear about courtroom remodeling

For this Santa Barbara home, Cathy Haslem and Julie Pickert of Duet Interior Design transformed a spare but cluttered laundry room into an efficient, inviting and comfortable work space. (Duet Interior Design photo)

For this Santa Barbara home, Cathy Haslem and Julie Pickert of Duet Interior Design transformed a spare but cluttered laundry room into an efficient, inviting and comfortable work space. (Duet Interior Design photo)

By Dave Bemis, Noozhawk Contributing Writer | @NoozhawkNews | Published on 02.04.2015 1:15 p.m.

[Click here for a related Noozhawk photo gallery.]

Anyone who has ever carried a heavy load to a laundromat knows what a joy it is to have a laundry room at home. Lately, however, some homeowners are taking that happiness to another level by putting serious thought and money into these utilitarian rooms.

Based on photos posted by viewers, Mitchell Parker of Houzz.com a website for home remodeling and design has compiled a list of this years top trends in laundry rooms.

By far the biggest buzz is about pets, Parker notes, and particularly pet-washing stations. If that seems like an extravagant use of space, try getting a muddy, 80-pound German shepherd into and out of the family bathtub. And then try to clean the tub well enough that you would like to sit in it yourself. Be sure to leave enough time to wipe off the floor, walls and ceiling as well, after the clean dog shakes off all that water.

Because the washing machine already requires the same water pipes and drains, it makes some practical sense to put a pet-washing station in the same room. People planning a new home can build the idea into their design. Some homeowners who have remodeled their laundry rooms have made space for the pet-washing station by stacking their washer and dryer.

Another popular feature is a drying rack, or more than one. Some racks are rows of rods that fold down from a wall or from under a cabinet. Others pull out like drawers to reveal a screen that is perfect for laying a garment flat to dry.

Third on Parkers list are cubbies of all sizes. In tight spaces, perhaps theyre just big enough to hold laundry supplies. In larger rooms, some people have created spaces big enough so that each cubby can hold its own laundry basket. By labeling each basket with the name of a family member, the parent who does the laundry can teach the kids to take their own clean clothes back to their rooms and put it all away.

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Todays Laundry Room Trends Elegantly Raising Profile of Utilitarian Spaces

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