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12. H. RECREATION - NONE <br /> 12,L PUBLIC WORKS - NONE <br /> 12. J. UTILITIES SERVICES - NONE <br /> 13 . COUNTY ATTORNEY MATTERS - NONE <br /> 14 . COMMISSIONER ITEMS <br /> 14.A. COMMISSIONER BOB SOLARI• CHAIRMAN <br /> 14.A. 1 , PUBLIC DISCUSSION <br /> Chairman Solari conveyed that he had recently become aware of a series of e-mails <br /> between Indian River County activist Dr . Stephen Faherty and Barry Moline, an out-of-town <br /> lobbyist for the Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) , which led him to believe the <br /> FMEA lobbyist was attempting to stifle public discussion on the important issue regarding the <br /> sale of the City of Vero Beach electric utility . He read a few lines from the e-mail <br /> correspondence between Dr. Faherty and Mr . Moline (in the Agenda Packet) , and concluded that <br /> there was a threat by the FMEA lobbyist to sue Dr . Faherty . <br /> County Attorney Polackwich believed citizens should have the right to speak freely and <br /> openly on such issues without fear of litigation. He revealed that if an organization tries to sue , <br /> they would need to overcome a high hurdle of proving actual malice ; and he did not believe the <br /> comments in the e-mails had risen to the level of defamation for which FMEA could file suit . <br /> Chairman Solari commented on Dr. Faherty ' s integrity, and did not appreciate a <br /> Tallahassee lobbyist coming to Indian River County and threatening one of its citizens . <br /> nu 11 PG 529 <br /> October 11 , 2011 11 <br />