Two members of the St. Johns County Airport Authority have resigned.
The Board Chair is also expected to step down soon.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
All three members were facing criminal charges for open government law violations.
Board Members Dennis Clarke and Len Tucker officially submitted their letters of resignation Sunday.
Both were charged with Sunshine Law violations and Tucker also faced a felony charge related to witness tampering.
An internal email obtained by Action News Jax suggests the resignations come as part of a deal struck with the State Attorney’s Office, which filed the charges back in June.
Action News Jax reached out to the State Attorney’s Office asking to confirm weather deals were struck, and if so, what the terms are.
We are waiting on a response.
“It should have happened sooner,” Board Member Jenifer Liotta said.
Liotta told Action News Jax the resignations reflect accountability after the members were accused of repeatedly ignoring the state’s open government laws by discussing board business in private.
Those allegations were at the center of the board’s former law firm withdrawing its representation in February.
“We need to take this opportunity to learn from this and become better. It would be unacceptable to move on and go back to the old way of doing business at the airport,” Liotta said.
According to the internal email, Board Chair Reba Ludlow is also expected to submit her resignation, “later today or tomorrow.”
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Ludlow was also charged for Sunshine Law violations.
If and when Ludlow resigns, Liotta noted that will only leave two remaining members.
Three members are required for the Board to be able to take votes and conduct business, so Liotta is hoping Gov. Ron DeSantis will fill the vacancies as quickly as possible.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
“The airport has not been able to function properly since the charges were filed. So, the airport has a lot of catchup work to do and I’m glad that there’s a path to start working on that now,” Liotta said.
We reached out to the Governor’s Office asking if it had a timeline for filling the vacancies.
We were told the Governor’s Office does not comment on pending appointments.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
