impromptu; he was appalled at the last meeting about what happened between Item J.1. and
J.2., he thinks it was; nobody knew what was going on; he sat through the meeting and nobody
said the name of the Citizen’s Oversight Committee (COC) member that was being removed;
he asked others if this was about a lobbyist; and then he believes it was the Co-Chair that said
it was Ms. Hodgers that was being removed. He added with that, he is asking for anybody that
is on the COC to be reviewed and for the Board to weigh the possible removal of anybody that
might have a conflict of interest serving on the Save Our Indian River Lagoon (SOIRL) COC; he
is also asking for and audit for 2020 to be done, the Internal Audit for SOIRL; he does not
believe that was done per the referendum and that needs to be completed; he mentioned in
recent weeks, he has seen a lot of deflection and redirection about this issue; he has seen the
COC member, Ms. Hodgers and another board member go at this issue one way, and the
Board react another; and with that it was three different aspects of this last week. He stated
number one, a conflict of interest in the SOIRL COC that had to do with dredging and the septic
to sewer; number two, this is textbook redirection and deflection; it seems that when the COC
is doing exactly that, providing oversight, that instead of promoting Ms. Hodgers, which she
should be, she is being removed; and number three, he believes this entire issue is a $750
million slush fund and that is really what needs to come to light, as the best disinfectant is light
and this needs to be brought out into the light.
Sandra Sullivan stated there is both a lack of transparency and accountability for the Save the
Indian River Lagoon (SOIRL); the optics are not good for public trusting the oversight; Matt
Reed wrote in 2016 “Don’t burn our trust on the Indian River, all we can do is trust these people
for every good step one Florida politician has made recently, another has done something that
shakes the trust. It’s more of a problem of optics. The people in charge must act better if they
want our votes and tax dollars to see this cleanup through”; the people of Brevard have a
problem with optics now; they have a problem with transparency; a problem with getting public
records; and a problem with conflicts of interest. She added promises were made to the people
of Brevard; the people trusted the Board to provide oversight; they are watching who will be the
bad actors who obstruct oversight; there is a problem that 19 entities told the Board in 2020 of
a conflict of interest issues; and the Board did nothing. She stated the Board’s lack of action in
2020 and recently obstructing transparency undermines the very trust that was the primary
concern when voters approved the SOIRL tax; this is half a billion dollars over 10 years, plus an
intent to double with State and Federal grants; Virginia Barker, Natural Resources Management
Director, was put in charge of the Lagoon in 2008 and again promoted to the Director of
Natural Resources Management in 2015; and it appears that this Lagoon tax is a slush fund for
friends and families of the insiders under her management of the Lagoon Plan, starting with not
disclosing family tied to Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). She went on to say since the
Board was told in 2020 alleged conflicts of interest have been allowed to continue is a violation
of trust; now she understands why people were promised and not delivered, and instead got
the muck tax in 2018; the letter of 2020 signed by 19 entities highlights issues with dredging
and conflicts of interest that asks the Brevard County Commission for: one-new and better
management of the SOIRL program, two-removal of any Citizens Oversight Committee (COC)
member with a conflict of interest, and three-external expert review of SOIRL projects by
individuals who are not paid consultants or otherwise, from institutions receiving SOIRL
funding; she agrees with these requests and has one more to add; and she respectfully request
this Commission to put on the next Agenda a vote for an external audit of the SOIRL tax and
State and Federal grants. She exclaimed the genie is out of the bottle and trying to skirt this
issue will only serve to degrade public trust.
Chair Zonka remarked she had a question; she stated she sees as part of Ms. Sullivan’s
conspiracy theory, there is a picture of herself and Courtney Barker; and she asked why the
other two in the picture were blocked out.
Ms. Sullivan replied because this is pertaining to this conversation.
