One of the many reasons politicians are despised is that they enact laws exempting themselves from the laws they already enacted for the rest of us to follow.

Case in point:  On June 2, 2015, North Miami Beach Councilwoman was served with a lawsuit challenging her “win” in the runoff on May 19, 2015.  By law she had 20 days to file a response.  It is now July 10, 2015, or 38 days later.  Even if you only count “business days” as opposed to “calendar days,” today makes 27 “business” days since the clock started ticking.

If the justice system worked the way it was intended, Phyllis Smith would now be in contempt of court for ignoring that deadline.

Ah, but here’s the rub.  Phyllis is a politician.  And because she knows how to work the system, the lawyer she hired to represent her also happens to be a politician.

Imagine the possibilities!

In the case of Michael Joseph and the Jewish Leadership Coalition vs. Phyllis Smith, et al, Phyllis hired Joseph S. Geller, Esq. to defend her.

Joe Geller also happens to be a politician who was elected last year to the Florida House of Representatives.

Since the Florida Legislative Session ended on May 1, 2015, Mr. Geller normally would have been available to represent his client after she was served on June 2, 2015.

However, since the politicians in Tallahassee needed more time to figure out how to waste spend more of your money, they required an additional twenty day Special Legislative Session from June 1st to June 20th, during which the House of Representatives spent a grand total of 20 hours in session.

Yes, you read that correctly.  During the course of twenty days, they spent T-W-E-N-T-Y hours in session.

Presumably working.

To be fair, the legislative body also spent a combined total of 45 hours in committee meetings over the course of those approximate three weeks.

However, not all 120 members of the Florida House of Representatives spent 45 of those hours in committee.  But, let’s be generous and assume that each of them sat for about one third of those committee meetings, or about 15 hours’ worth.

That being the case, each of your House Representatives spent at most a total of 35 hours actually working during this twenty day Special Session.

Or about 11.66 hours per week.

Keep in mind that the rest of us non-political grunts, who work our asses off for 40 hours or more a week, pay their salaries.

Feeling warm and fuzzy toward politicians yet?

I didn’t think so.

On June 12, 2015, ten days after Phyllis was served, her attorney filed a Notice of Mandatory Continuance, claiming that because he is “an elected member of the Florida Legislature,” Florida Statute 11.111 grants his client a convenient excuse not to comply with responding to the lawsuit in a timely manner like the rest of us would have to do.

This Statute, which was legislated by the “elected members of the Florida Legislature,” states:

11.111 Continuance of certain causes for term of Legislature and period of time prior and subsequent thereto and committee workdays.—Any proceeding before any court, municipality, or agency of government of this state shall stand continued, without the continuance being charged against any party, during any session of the Legislature and for a period of time 15 days prior to any session of the Legislature and 15 days subsequent to the conclusion of any session of the Legislature, and during any period of required committee work and for a period of time 1 day prior and 1 day subsequent thereto, when either attorney representing the litigants is a legislator or when a member of the Legislature is a party or witness or is scheduled to appear before any municipal government, administrative board, or agency, when notice to that effect is given to the convening authority by such member. The time period for determining the right to a speedy trial shall be tolled during the period of the continuance, but the providing of such a continuance shall not act as a waiver to the right to a speedy trial. The immunity herein granted shall, upon the filing of a notice by the witness, extend to any member not an attorney who is engaged in any proceeding before any court or any state, county, or municipal agency or board in a representative capacity for any individual or group or as a witness in any proceeding. After said notice has been filed by a member of the Legislature called as a witness, the proceeding may proceed notwithstanding such notice if the party calling such member as a witness shall agree.

Mr. Geller’s Notice of Mandatory Continuance also states that since a “Special Session of the Florida Legislature has been called beginning June 1, 2015 and ending June 20, 2015 … no hearings may be held within 15 days prior, or 15 days subsequent, to the Special Session.”

Isn’t that special?

Notice that Mr. Geller waited a full ten days after Phyllis was served to file this Notice of Mandatory Continuance.

Somehow Representative Geller managed to squeeze in the filing of this Notice on June 12, 2015 between not attending the House Appropriations Committee meeting that was held from 9:00 to 10:00 AM (he’s not on that committee), and actually attending the Legislative Session from 10:00 to 11:28 AM, before adjourning for the day.

In fact, Representative Geller didn’t attend any Committee meetings or Legislature Sessions again until three days later on June 15, 2015, when the House met for a 31 minute session from 11:00 to 11:31 AM, before adjourning for the day.

On Thursday, June 18, 2015, the members of the Florida House of Representatives actually had to earn their keep.

Well, sort of.

The Reps sweat it out from 10:00 AM to 3:39 PM that day.  This grueling 5 hour and 39 minute Session was one of the longest work days of the Special Session, second only to the tortuous 6 hours and 12 minutes they had to sit through on June 5, 2015.

Honestly, I don’t know how they cope with such a backbreaking schedule!

Of course they just had to exempt themselves from actually working at their “real” jobs for at least “15 days subsequent to the conclusion of any session of the Legislature.”

Lord knows they need at least two weeks to recover from all those meetings!

In any event, even though the Florida House of Representative’s Special Session officially ended on June 20th (the final session took place on June 19, 2015 from 6:00 to 6:50 PM), 20 days have now passed since Representative Joseph S. Geller has completed his official legislative duties.

He’s had more than enough time to file a response to the lawsuit against his client.

Hey, Joe…

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”