The
Official Website of Stacy Harris
Dear
General Funk:
Nearly
a decade ago I met you on the campaign trail, where,
laughing as though you were hearing my corny (variations of a) Glenn Funk
Railroad “joke” for the first time, you asked for my vote.
I
found you very personable and, after doing some research and
familiarizing myself with your credentials, I voted for you.
The
next time I encountered you was on December 19, 2019, where,
in your capacity as Nashville’s
District Attorney, you attended then-presidential
candidate Mike Bloomberg’s Nashville rally.
As
the rally was winding down I approached you and,
reintroducing myself, asked if we might speak at a later date about
what I
described as a sensitive manner of ongoing concern.
You
reached for your cellphone, asked for my phone number and
indicated you would return the call the next morning at the time
specified.
When
you failed to do, I briefly spoke with your assistant Diane
Hunt. Ms. Hunt indicated “someone” would get back with me.
No
one did.
Distracted
by other pressing concerns, more limited in scope, I
directed my energies elsewhere until I decided to take a back door
approach,
having some brief, but extended, archival records correspondence with a
Nashville police department official about what, at times, has been a
traumatic
matter.
Fast
forward to circa May 2021.
After pursuing the matter further with your office I received a
call
from investigator David
Zoccola. As the
D.A.’s office is in the same building as a criminal defense attorney
integral
to what had transpired with regard to the broader issue at hand, Mr.
Zoccola,
after first requesting more information, agreed to speak with the
attorney whom
he described as an acquaintance.
Mr.
Zoccola indicated he would initiate the conversation and
report back to me on what had transpired, not as my advocate at that
point but,
as there are at least two sides to every story, more appropriately, on
my
behalf.
I
realized that this “favor” was not a priority matter for Mr.
Zoccola, so I was prepared to accept delays.
I not only encountered delays, but, over time, a distancing that
increasing
appeared to be excuses.
Mr.
Zoccola first indicated he had touched base with the
attorney but that, due to poor timing, they’d have to speak again. After receiving apologies from Mr. Zoccola
for the delay and for not returning my phone calls I finally reached
the
investigator. All Mr. Zoccola would say
at that point, to justify the delays, was that he was of the impression
that
the attorney was in the process of retiring.
The
Nashville Bar Association confirmed the attorney’s license
was active so I called the lawyer’s office.
His assistant told me that the attorney’s retirement was not
imminent
(and as of this date his license remains active).
After
my patience ran out I requested an appointment with you,
General Funk. When I did not receive
that appointment, at her suggestion I filed a public records
request
with Ashley Mondelli, your office’s public records
custodian
When,
after a reasonable period of time, Ms. Mondelli had yet to
respond to my request, I sensed that there was not only an ongoing
conversation
within your office, the substance of which I did not know, but also an undercurrent that I could not more
precisely define. Determining
cooperation had, for all intents and purposes ceased, having chosen the
form’s
on site pickup option, I came to your office during normal business
hours.
On
that afternoon, as I signed in and your office’s
receptionist, Mona (who
informed me “I don’t give out my last name”) called Ms.
Mondelli, Ms. Mondelli’s response to
Mona was that in order to have my request fulfilled I would have to
speak with
Mr. Zoccola.
At that
point, my understanding is
that Mona attempted to call Mr. Zoccola.
When Mr. Zoccola did not answer I asked that she call
Investigator Randy
Martin, with whom I had briefly spoken when Mr. Zoccola was
impossible to
reach.
Mr. Wills indicated that I had just missed Mr. Zoccola, that the two men had been able to speak and that Mr. Zoccola requested I see him by appointment.
I responded by emailing Mr. Zoccola, indicating that “Since I don't know your schedule, having just left another message on your voicemail to expect this email, I hope you will respond in a timely fashion with some appointment options. I prefer any day other than Wednesdays and also have a preference for an afternoon appointment, though frankly, I find it highly unusual that public records requests are handled by the District Attorney's office in the manner indicated.”
Clearly,
this was not the
case. I was not prepared for the ambush interview and litany of
personal
attacks that followed.
Mr.
Zoccola described the
interchange as "a tortuous phone call." He indicated that I
"twist everything," though he would not respond to my request for
specifics, only that "You can email me for the next 50 years and I
won't
respond."
I
then
received a letter from Ashley Mondelli indicating she wouldn’t be providing
the information I requested because it didn’t exist. That would have
been a
reasonable response if she hadn’t first suggested otherwise.
In any
event if, as Mr. Zoccola now
claims, there have been no interoffice memos, written public records,
or any
other materials that would be available to me from your office via a
written
public records request, remaining in the possession of Ashley Mondelli,
Mr. Zoccola's simply repeating, in writing as I
requested, what he
told me during his September 17, 2021 phone call re: the substance of
his
conversations, ostensibly on my behalf, with the lawyer, specifically
the statements,
in their totality, the attorney made to Mr. Zoccola about the former's
history/interactions with me and when they occurred, would be all I
would need
from him and your office. (I could not listen as closely as I
needed to
AND simultaneously take notes about what was the only constructive
portion- in
that it was incriminating- of Mr. Zoccola's victim-shaming half-hour
early
morning diatribe.)
Surely
this request is reasonable,
not too much to ask, and can be easily accomplished in a short amount
of time.
On
January 11, 2022 you made a
public promise to me, during an appearance on the WTVF-TV
subchannel
“Morningline” call-in show that, were I to call
your office and ask for you,
this serious matter, the bungled investigation that I believe resulted
in a
“leak” contributing to a suicide, would at last be dealt with
professionally
and with transparency.
I
followed your instructions, my
call being intercepted by Ms. Hunt who indicated she would deliver my
message
to you.
My
message to you now is this: I
suspect I am not the only taxpayer who voted for you, pays your salary
but has
been disappointed that either your employees- whose salaries we also
fund- are
either not keeping you informed or that you are sanctioning their
behavior.