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Florida Today
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Right to know
‘Sunshine Sunday’ spotlights threats to Florida’s open government
The Florida Legislature is using your money to do your business, and so far this session, members have suggested dozens of times that you – and other Floridians – butt out.
Despite a tradition of open government that goes back to 1909, the right of residents to know what’s going on in their own government is under constant attack.
The weapon is the public-records exemption — as in “exemption” from the open records law — and it’s continually exploited by those who want to keep secrets from the public.
With this years’ session barely two weeks old, legislators already have filed bills seeking as many as 60 new exemptions to state Sunshine laws that mandate open government.
Some limited exemptions can protect the public good. For example, shielding the blueprints of major public venues from those who might want to plan an attack.
But many are proposed simply to protect the interests of certain groups.
One such bill aims to keep secret the new Florida Alzheimer Center’s information on the performance of managed care contracts and corporate officer and personnel information.
Funded by $20million in taxpayer dollars, it’s a pet project of House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant City.
Another is a danger to public safety. It prohibits the government or any private person from making any list of privately owned firearms. It also threatens any government agency doing so with a fine up to $5 million, and demands destruction of any existing list.
Worse, every year, lawmakers file sneaky “shell bills,” with details hidden until it’s too late for the public to protest.
There’s no question that Florida voters feel strongly about their right to know.
In 1992, they approved an amendment to the state Constitution assuring open access to all government meetings and records, unless a specific exemption restricts it.
In 2002, voters overwhelmingly demanded that legislators in both the Senate and House pass any exemption by a two-thirds majority, to make approval much harder.
Voter know there are plenty of people eager to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense, or to save themselves embarrassment, or to create a false public image, and they can do so only if the public can’t get at the facts.
But open government offers more.
As long as the protections stand, the average citizen can find out such information as why the city council changed the zoning on that nearby lot. Or who won the contract for the county road job and for how much. Or what went into that recent controversial school board decision.
Freedom of information is essential to maintain the confidence of citizens in government and to assure that oversight by the people survives.
That’s why today we join newspapers across the state in the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors “Sunshine Sunday” campaign.
Our goal is to shine a bright light on the importance of free access. And to warn those who would slam the door on the public that their efforts will not be tolerated.