Hollywood, FL - Synagogue Sues City Over Closed Meeting

Hollywood, FL - city commissioners plotted a vote behind closed doors in 2004 to avoid public input and debate over the controversial issue of ousting a synagogue from a residential neighborhood, according to a lawsuit filed by the synagogue's lawyer.  
The commission then took a formal vote to sue the synagogue at the end of a city commission meeting with almost no debate and zero public input.  "The City Commission 'pre-agreed' to file suit against [the Hollywood Community Synagogue] notwithstanding the requirement that a decision of that kind must be made in public following open debate and discussion," the synagogue's lawyer, wrote in the civil suit.