RELATED STORIES RELATED LINKS "I don't think he likes me very much," said 48-year-old John Patten, a Web site operator and community watchdog. "I'm the son he never wanted." Advertisement  "He's still a figure of public interest here in Venice," said the former radio broadcaster and one-time probation officer. "We're still dealing with issues from his time here." Patten's online commentary about a federal investigation into the city of Venice for the illegal dumping of treated wastewater led Hunt to file the suit. The city pled guilty to three felony counts of violating Clean Water Act laws in 2002 as part of a settlement. "We, as a city, are a convicted felon," Patten said. "I resent being part of a corporate conviction." The lawsuit says Patten stated Hunt was a subject of the ongoing investigation in the matter and possibly faced an indictment. Hunt said he's known since September through a former federal attorney he retained that he was not the subject of an investigation. However, the speculation continued through the beginning of the year and impacted Hunt's bid for the city manager job in Fernandina Beach, the lawsuit claims. Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Venice City Attorney Bob Anderson also confirmed recently that Hunt was not a target of the investigation. Before now, city officials were vague about who was targeted in the investigation, Hunt said. "The lawsuit has had the effect that we wanted," Hunt said. The strained relationship between Hunt and Patten began six years ago when Patten questioned a deal the city made to buy equipment from a computer company owned by the city's former information systems director, Steve Randall. Hunt said Patten's true motivation was that he wanted the information systems job. That's when Patten began writing his articles, including some where he dubbed the city manager "Furious George." "Under no circumstance is he a legitimate journalist," Hunt said. Recently, the state Commission on Ethics found Randall had a conflict of interest in the matter and recommended a $12,000 civil penalty fine for him, according to state documents. Patten, who cites the writer Hunter S. Thompson and comedian Jon Stewart as influences, said he approaches his Web site with humor, though he acknowledges his style won't make everyone laugh. He's taken the lawsuit seriously, though. On the site, he has a legal defense fund link set up. "This is not a joke," Patten wrote on the site. "We need to raise a substantial sum to pay the lawyer to fight this ridiculous legal abuse." Some of his readers have taken the lawsuit seriously as well, he said. They've made donations, though Patten wouldn't disclose how much. http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_4623054,00.html
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