Sebastian Daily by Andy Hodges
April 30, 2020
It’s been over a week since three council members held a meeting that residents say was an attempt to take over the City, as they tried to remove the mayor, and fire its staff.
Since then, we witnessed two press conferences from two people declaring they were the mayor of Sebastian.
Last Friday, Mayor Ed Dodd, City Manager Paul Carlisle, and City Attorney Manny Anon filed an injunction against Council members Damien Gilliams, Charles Mauti, and Pamela Parris.
Then on Monday, Damien Gilliams filed a countersuit against the three individuals.
But on Monday, the attorney for Councilman Damien Gilliams said he is no longer declaring to be mayor, and both sides agree that the “illegal coup” is null and void.
That led attorneys from both sides to seek mediation to work out their lawsuits. However, that didn’t go as planned for Thursday.
Attorneys for Dodd, Carlisle, and Anon wanted to postpone the mediation after Florida Sunshine Law defenders Barbara Petersen and Michael Barfield filed an emergency motion to cite the need for the mediation to be open to the public. Mauti’s attorney objected.
