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Time for state leaders to embrace sunshine By Barbara A. Petersen President, First Amendment Foundation
Sunshine Sunday, now in its fourth year, is a campaign sponsored by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors (FSNE) to remind Floridians about the importance of their right to oversee government through application of the state's open government laws. This year the event has taken on new significance: Sunshine Sunday has become a week-long national campaign with the widespread support and participation of many of the nation's newspapers and broadcast stations. According to Tom Curley, president and CEO of the Associated Press, "A better climate for keeping government as open as possible has to begin with improving public understanding and support for freedom of information." Florida has the most progressive public access laws in the nation. Under the State Constitution, the records and meetings of government -- state agencies, local governments, school boards, special districts -- are presumed open and accessible to the public, unless there is a specific statutory exemption. Only the Legislature can create exemptions to our constitutional right of access. Our laws have set the standard for open government in states around the nation and many foreign countries, and undoubtedly will receive particular praise and scrutiny this week. Yet despite Florida's reputation for openness, we're reminded daily of the struggle to ensure that our government remains open and accountable. Whether it's a story on the evening news about a citizen's battle to obtain copies of public records, a report in the local newspaper on a commission meeting wrongfully closed, or telephone calls from frustrated citizens denied the opportunity to speak at a public meeting, the fight for access is occurring all over the state of Florida and at all levels of government. So Sunshine Sunday provides us with more than the opportunity to educate the public. It also allows us to shine light on the actions of our elected officials and the attempts by government to shut us, the public, out of the processes of our government. On past Sunshine Sundays I've generally focused my efforts on our legislators and their attempts to create new exceptions to our constitutional right of access -- the annual parade of horribles. And this year is not so different from years past There are, to date, more than 30 new exemptions being proposed, many of them truly outrageous, pandering to the interests of various corporations and special interest groups. But this year I'd like to take a different approach. It's time, I think, for us to encourage government officials to step up and truly embrace open government in Florida. First, let's ask our legislators to enact laws that bring true reform to our public records and open meetings laws, reforms that shift the burden of enforcing the constitutional right of access from the citizens of this state to a government ombudsman, that ensure an equal right of access to records in all formats, that require reasonable and affordable fees for copies of public records, and that punish those government employees who wrongly and intentionally deny access. Second, we need to demand that state agencies and local government develop non- restrictive public access policies, policies that adhere to the spirit and intent of the law and allow unfettered access to all non-exempt public records and meetings. To that end, the Legislature must ensure that government agencies, particularly local governments, have sufficient resources -- whether personnel or technology or both -- to train all employees in sunshine law requirements so they may provide access to records and meetings quickly and efficiently. Finally, let's call on Gov. Jeb Bush to set the standard for open government in Florida and across the nation by embracing not only Florida's constitutional requirements for open government, but the spirit of the law as well. We shouldn't have to beg or battle for openness, ever. We're fortunate to have a growing cadre of reform-minded legislators: Dan Gelber, Dudley Goodlette, Arthenia Joyner, Jack Seiler, Anne Gannon, Fred Brummer. And our new legislative leaders, Senate President Tom Lee and House Speaker Allan Bense, have continually shown strong support for open government, as has Attorney General Charlie Crist. Let us all hope that next year, the fifth anniversary of Florida's Sunshine Sunday, we have a growing list of public servants to honor and reforms worth celebrating. To quote Senate President Tom Lee, it's imperative that our government recognize "that the public's confidence is shaken when" its actions are "cloaked in secrecy."
Photograph of Barbara Petersen
Barbara A. Petersen is president
of the First Amendment Foundation, a private non-profit,
non-partisan organization based in Tallahassee, Florida.
If you'd like more information about the foundation,
please check the FAF website at www.floridafaf.org. |
