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Palm Beach Daily News
Help sun shine
Support open-government law
This season in Palm Beach has seen a dramatic increase in public awareness and participation in local government. From the menorah-Nativity scene controversy in December and the contested Town Council elections to the keen citizen interest in upcoming forums on noise, power lines and the town's finances, Palm Beachers have shown they want — indeed insist — on being kept in the loop on civic decision-making.
Nothing protects and nurtures that right more than Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine laws, which guarantee every citizen public access to most meetings of elected officials and the ability to request and read most government documents, from budgets to meeting minutes. Because of the Sunshine Law, we can witness the discussion of issues large and small that affect our lives and, armed with that right, we can make our voices heard.
To celebrate, defend and publicize these rights, the Florida Association of Newspaper Editors has declared today to be "Sunshine Sunday" and newspapers around the state are printing editorials and other articles in support of open-government laws.
Sunshine laws affect issues as overarching as the responsible waging of war and as local and immediate as an appointment to a local zoning board. They are the direct line between the ordinary citizen and the people and institutions that represent our interests, spend our tax dollars and craft the kind of communities in which we live.
And open government is the highest testimonial to the strength and the grace of the American democratic ideal. Exercise your right to stand in the sunshine.