Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/87353
Sarasota News Leader October 12, 2012 OPINION the open meetings and public records laws, including the use of email for public business. If you would like to tag along and learn more, Tuesday, Oct. 23, and Monday, Oct. 29, are the dates, with both sessions starting at 2:30 p.m. at City Hall. Florida has some of the most sweeping public meetings and records laws in the nation. They go under the generic name of "Government in the Sunshine." The rules are simple: You can- not talk about issues outside formal meetings if you might – repeat might – vote on them in the future — you cannot discuss them in per- son, by email or on the phone. You also cannot meet without giving the pub- lic advance notice of when and where you plan to convene. In the past four days, I have witnessed two seemingly innocent Sunshine violations. One advisory board I covered this week adjourned and members left the room. When I left, they were in the hallway, still talking about public business. I went over and told them to stop. They did not seem to know better. Even more telling was the situation at the Coalition of City Neighborhoods Association meeting on Saturday, Oct. 6. Two city commis- sioners were briefing neighborhood leaders about proposed charter amendments that will appear on the November ballot. On its face, this should have been OK. The commissioners had already voted to put the amendments on the ballot and no longer would vote as a body on any of the seven issues — or would they? After the meeting, a paralegal knowledgeable about Florida's Sunshine laws asked, "What if one of these measures fails, and you want to put it on the ballot again? Won't you have to vote on it?" I offer two comments from "the old days." Be- fore public records and official notice were the law of this land, government bodies regu- larly made important and expensive decisions in unlikely places. Former City Manager Ken Thompson used to load up the city commis- sioners in his car and drive from place to place, pointing out locations for rezoning ac- tions and other decisions. City Commission meetings were mercifully shorter in those days because the decisions were already made. Motion; second; vote. Next item? The same was true for school boards and county commissions across the state. Sun- shine put an end to all this, forcing commis- sioners and board members to do their busi- ness in the public, in front of microphones and then cameras. The change happened decades ago, and you would think modern policy makers – people with the ability to tax and spend or recom- mend spending – would swim nicely in this new sea of openness. But apparently that is not so. In the past, it was the responsibility of the news media to find and publicize Sunshine vi- olations. But recently, private attorneys have been using a provision of the Sunshine Laws to seek payment of legal fees for uncovering alleged violations and then filing suit. The Page 72