For use Sunday, March 15

Sunshine Week: Public gains from more access, information

David Plazas
dplazas@news-press.com

Public records and access to official proceedings play a critical role in understanding how government works (or sometimes doesn’t) for citizens.

Consider:

- Public records, such as memos and personnel files, helped The News-Press explain the story of the recent shake-up in senior management at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

They showed Sheriff Mike Scott’s recognition in a memo to a subordinate that Chief Deputy Charles Ferrante, now under paid administrative leave and under investigation, displayed a pattern of abusive behavior.

- Public records helped us understand the role of Lee County Manager Don Stilwell in one of son-in-law Samir Cabrera’s land deals. Stilwell’s $200,000 “passive” investment was rolled into Cabrera’s Daniels View LLC, which owned land in south Fort Myers the county considered buying for Three Oaks Parkway right-of-way. Stilwell was cleared of lying to commissioners about his involvement in the deal.

- The News-Press requested a database of employee salaries from Florida Gulf Coast University to inform the public about how its state university’s administrators and faculty are being compensated while they negotiate salary and benefits - including raises - during a time of state cutbacks.

- Court records requested by The News-Press shed light on the case of a man whose former foster daughter is suing the Florida Department of Children and Families, alleging the agency is responsible for his sexual abuse against her.

DCF records showed 39-year-old Jeff Woodring had failed a background screening and had a criminal history and problems with alcohol abuse, yet he successfully appealed to be a foster father.

These examples are especially important today, the start of Sunshine Week, which celebrates open government and freedom of information.

Led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the celebration - which started in Florida in 2002 - is about creating a national dialogue about upholding and strengthening the freedoms we have as citizens. Learn more at sunshineweek.org.

The Sunshine Law is the cornerstone of the rule of law in this state. It constitutionally mandates access to proceedings of government in most all cases.

The News-Press is committed to fighting for access to public records. Through our Web site news-press.com/data, the public can learn how to make public records requests and explore data ranging from the FGCU salaries to crime statistics to foreclosures.

On Friday, I received an e-mail from the Florida attorney general’s office, announcing the creation of a Web site, myflsunshine. com, focused on Sunshine Law training for law enforcement, municipal governments and citizens. The site officially launches Tuesday, but it is already up, and has several resources, ranging from frequently asked questions about the law, legal opinions, and explanatory videos.

One opinion that caught my eye was from Dec. 10, opining on whether the city of Delray Beach may use online bulletin boards to hold workshop meetings for advisory boards.

Attorney General Bill McCollum opined they could do so “if proper notice is given and interactive access to members of the public is provided.”

The opinion addressed the area of changing and improving technology, but laws don’t always change as quickly.

I wonder, would officials be in violation of the Sunshine Law if they spoke about government business in a text message, on FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, or other technologies, used more and more by news organizations, businesses and politicians?

I e-mailed the attorney general’s office requesting clarification on the issue of texting and mobile device posts. Sunshine Law Attorney Alexis Lambert left me this voicemail message:

“Text messages are a lot more complicated because content is really what determines what a public record is, but with nuanced technology of text messaging, it’s really tough to draw the line when it comes to matters like archiving.

“There’s some litigation in Broward County going on right now about some city officials using text messaging which may or may not have been used to skirt the Sunshine Law.”

Public interest should dictate that the Legislature ought to make public records as expansive as possible, from the paper records in a file cabinet to the digital files in an iPhone. The more public access, the better.

Reproduced courtesy of the Fort Myers News-Press.
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