No decision during hearing of Alfie Oakes v. Collier School Board over superintendent

Nikki Ross
Naples Daily News

No decision was made Thursday during the hearing of Naples grocer Alfie Oakes' lawsuit against the Collier County School Board, which claims the board and its search firm violated the Sunshine Law in the superintendent search.

The hearing lasted roughly 90 minutes and was held over Zoom.

Judge Joseph Foster said he would look over all the evidence submitted in more detail ― which includes roughly 20 hours of school board meeting footage ― and said he would provide a ruling "as soon as I can."

About the lawsuit

In his lawsuit, which was filed May 17 with the Collier County Circuit Court, Oakes claims that the school board violated the Sunshine Law by allowing search firm Hazard Young Atea Associates to select 10 candidates out of 45 applicants privately, without public notice, public comment or minutes.

Attorney Sam Zeskind of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman, who represented the school board at the hearing, said the Sunshine Law only applies to discussions between two or more public officials, which the search firm is not. He also added that all 45 candidate applications and resumes were provided to the school board on April 3, two days before the public school board meeting.

The board's response to the lawsuit, which was filed May 30, asked that the court dismiss the complaint. Since Hazard Young Atea Associates is a private search firm and was only given power to fact-find and have advisory responsibilities, it is not subject to the Sunshine Law, the response said. At no point was the search firm given decision making authority.

Oakes' Attorney Steve Bracci argued that while they agree certain functions of the search firm were fact finding, others were decision making including: identifying the best qualified candidates, preparing application materials and presenting the slate of candidates to the board.

In addition, the board's response also states that even if for some reason the search firm was subject to Sunshine Laws and violated them, the violations would have been remedied by the board's public meetings following the search firm's responsibilities and final action on the superintendent search.

Judge Foster said during the hearing if there was in fact a violation of the Sunshine Law, it would be a "big deal."

Alfie Oakes speaks during a gathering in opposition to the mask mandate passed by the Collier County Commissioners on Tuesday, at Oakes Farms Seed to Table Market on Saturday, July 25, 2020. Oakes announced that he and his legal team will be filing multiple lawsuits against Collier County and against the three individual commissioners that voted for the mandate.

More:Collier School Board asks court to dismiss Alfie Oakes' superintendent search lawsuit

What is the Sunshine Law?

The Sunshine Law is a Florida law that requires all meetings of an agency, including school boards, to be open to the public. This extends to all documents or other materials made or received in connection to the agency.

Violations of the Sunshine Law can result in removal from office, noncriminal infractions and criminal penalties.

What is the intent of the lawsuit?

On May 4, the Collier County School Board in a 3-2 voted selected Leslie Ricciardelli, who had been serving as interim superintendent, as the district's superintendent.

Ricciardelli took over as interim superintendent in December after former superintendent Kamela Patton, who was set to retire at the end of the 2022-23 school year, signed a mutual transition agreement with the school board.

Oakes, who publicly supported Charles Van Zant Jr. for the next superintendent, claims the selection of Ricciardelli as the next superintendent of Collier County Schools should be void due the alleged violation of the Sunshine Law.

"This complaint only arose with the outcome," Zeskind said. The lawsuit was not filed until after the decision was made by the board.

In his lawsuit Oakes is asking the board to temporarily stop from entering into a contract with Ricciardelli until they go through the selection process again with the 45 original applicants in public meetings.

While Bracci questioned who made the decision regarding the 10 finalists, Zeskind stressed that at no point was the board required to discuss all 45 candidates at any of the public meetings.

Who is Alfie Oaks?

Alfie Oakes is a Naples grocer who owns Oakes Farms, Seed to Table, Oakes Farm Market and Food & Thought. 

More:Who is Alfie Oakes? What to know about the Naples businessman suing the Collier County School Board

His operations include a more than 1,400-acre farm and a fleet of trucks and drivers that distribute his produce across the country, according to his website. 

He's a high-profile Republican supporter.

And he's no stranger to government battles.

Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oakes filed several pieces of litigation.

In 2020, he filed a federal lawsuit challenging Collier County’s mask order. A federal judge tossed that lawsuit out in 2021. 

Oakes also filed a federal lawsuit against the School District of Lee County in 2020 after the district ended its multi-million dollar contract when the CEO called George Floyd a “disgraceful career criminal.”