Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
August 26, 2016 1:00 a.m.
I had the opportunity to attend my first Florida League of Cities conference last week. The Florida League of Cities is the advocacy organization representing the 412 cities in Florida. Cities continue to be incorporated throughout the state, with the most recent incorporation being the City of Westlake in June, 2016. More cities have incorporated since 1990 (25) than incorporated during the 1970s and 1980s. The annual conference is an opportunity to gain additional knowledge related to municipal operations and issues and to meet with other city officials from throughout the state.
Westlake shares the distinction of being the least populated city with two other communities, Weekie Wachee and Marineland- all have a population of five (yes, 5). Approximately sixty percent of Florida cities have a population less than 10,000, with the median population being approximately 5,700. In other words, Fernandina Beach is not a small city by Florida standards. The most populated Florida city is Jacksonville- 861,252.
The first training session that I attended was related to Florida ethics, “sunshine,” and public records laws. It was critical for me to attend this session as such laws greatly vary from state to state. Municipal elected officials are required to annually complete four hours of specific continuing education in ethics. Although as an appointed official I am not required to complete such training, my membership in the Florida City and County Managers Association was conditional upon completing similar ethics training (which was completed several months ago, but I believed this session would provide additional details related to Florida statues- and it did).
The basic principle of Florida ethics is that public officials hold their positions for the benefit of the public, and not for private gain. The subjects related to ethical behavior include gifts, unauthorized compensation, misuse of office, financial disclosures, business relations, and conflicts of interest or relationships.
Many of the issues can be accommodated by simply using common sense, but, as is sometimes the case, common sense is not necessarily common. One item of interest that I learned was that members of any state, county, or municipal governmental board, commission, or agency are not permitted to abstain from voting unless a legal conflict is disclosed. In some of my former communities, some officials would simply abstain so as not be tied to a controversial vote, but that practice is not permitted in Florida.
The “sunshine” law training offered additional insight into public meetings. A “meeting” is specifically defined as any communications between two or more board members of the same board on any matter which may come before that board. In other words, the interactions of board members of the same board are significantly restrained: any conversations related to an issue that is not only currently before the board but any that may also later come before the board are forbidden. These restrictions apply to local governing and advisory boards, but not to staff meetings.
I meet with City Commissioners on a regular and routine basis, and during those meetings, the Commissioners often share insight regarding issues pending before the Commission. Florida statues prohibit me from sharing those conversations with other Commissioners: it is unlawful for any person to act as a liaison or conduit of information between board members. As with many other aspects of the digital era, the use of social media platforms is beginning to draw increased scrutiny- communication programs and sites such as Twitter and Facebook can be utilized to surreptitiously communicate with others to circumvent the provisions of state statutes.
As with most legislation, several exemptions to public meetings exist- discussions related to specific pending litigation, labor negotiation bargaining teams, and security system meetings. Social functions with colleagues on a board are permitted, but again, as long as no discussions occur on matters before or what may appear before the board. Penalties for violating public meeting laws include criminal and non-criminal penalties and fines.
With regard to public records, it is the policy of the state that all government records are open for personal inspection and copying. The City receives many requests for public records- as of today, nearly three hundred such requests have been filed with the City Clerk. All responses to public records requests must be completed within a reasonable time. As described previously, some exemptions to public records exist, but those exemptions must be specifically defined in state statutes and very narrowly applied.
I look forward to sharing more of more League of Cities experiences in a future column.
Excellent post. Clear, concise, and to the point. Florida’s Sunshine law is designed to keep the lights on – not turn them off.