For use Sunday, March 15

An editorial from Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

Your rights under the law

Sunshine Week holds relevance for every person who resides, pays taxes in Florida

“A popular government, without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both,” said President James Madison in August 1822.

From our nation’s inception to today, there has always been a tension between popular (i.e. representative) government and popular (i.e. public) information. Too often, government operates in secrecy while the public languishes in ignorance.

One of the goals of Sunshine Week (March 15-21), first initiated in Florida in 2002 by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, is to increase public access to both the deliberations and decisions of elected officials, as well as the records generated by government.

The uninformed may view Sunshine Week as a media creation an annual event designed to accentuate the media’s role as a public “watchdog” but devoid of relevance for the average citizen. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sunshine Week is teeming with relevance for every citizen of our state.

In June 2007, Gov. Charlie Crist created the Commission on Open Government Reform. The nine-member panel held public hearings and conducted a top-to-bottom review and analysis of the state’s open government and open record laws. In January, commissioners released their final report, which champions dozens of recommendations designed to increase public access to the operations of government. These include:

Verifying personal information. The personal information you have on file with state agencies is accessed routinely by businesses and individuals that may have a vested interest in learning more about you. For example, a prospective employer may review the criminal record of a job candidate through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. An insurance company will review an individual’s driving record with the state before issuing an insurance policy. If your information with a state agency (or agencies) is incorrect, it may negatively affect your ability to get a job, obtain insurance or receive benefits or services through the state.

Here’s the rub: While some state agencies allow citizens to request copies of their personal information, “an individual (in Florida) does not have the specific right to verify the accuracy of personal information collected and maintained by government,” the report states. For this reason, the commission has urged the Florida Legislature to enact a Fair Information Practices Act “to ensure the accuracy of personal information.”

Requesting public records. Florida’s public records law is clear: Anyone can request a copy of a public record from any state agency. The person making the request is not required to submit a written request or explain why he or she is seeking the record.

How well is the system working? Last year, a statewide audit of 163 school, sheriff’s and administrative offices in 56 Florida counties found that almost 43 percent of offices improperly handled citizen requests. Consequently, the commission recommends legislators “amend the law to require all elected and appointed government officials to undergo education and training on the requirements of Florida’s open government laws.”

Financial transparency. The state’s budget crisis has heightened the public’s scrutiny of legislative spending especially with respect to costly capital projects. Looking for this information on the Web sites of state agencies? It’s not there.

Twelve other states post all their spending online. The 2008 Florida Legislature rejected a proposal to give taxpayers electronic access to agency expenditures. Recommendation: Lawmakers should “enact legislation that requires all agencies to provide Internet access to all contracts over a fixed dollar amount.”

Improving public access to government meetings and records is in everyone’s best interest.

Reproduced courtesy of the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers
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