|
The (Leesburg) Daily Commercial While privacy and national security offer officials emotionally appealing reasons to obscure what government does from scrutiny, it is imperative the public not stand for the closing of public records or meetings. Florida’s Sunshine Law still allows citizens here more access than any other state, and the desire to hide embarrassing facts about what employees of the public do is no reason to sacrifice that privilege. Consider some of the information about our local officials that came to light in the past year. It was the public records law that allowed The Daily Commercial over the course of several months in 2004 to investigate the circumstances of Ronnie Simmons’ disappearance. When the body of an infant believed to be was discovered buried in the Ocala National Forest on Feb. 8, the Department of Children and Families found themselves in the spotlight again. The baby was believed to be Ronnie Simmons, a child under state supervision. From a review by this newspaper of DCF files, it appears officials overlooked several issues that might have protected the child. Investigators were aware that father Chris Simmons was a part of the gypsy-like Rainbow People, but were unconcerned that he might return to that lifestyle. The case supervisor assigned to the case was not qualified for the job, lacked experience and had received poor reviews, but was promoted all the same. When the father did indeed abscond with Ronnie into the forest, DCF officials were unprepared for the search and waited nine months to get an arrest warrant. And the father was arrested at least four times, but law enforcement were not informed of his connection with the missing child. While negative attention complicated things at DCF short-term, the revelations resulted in new policies that better protect children today. Now missing children reports are cross-referenced by police so what happened in the Simmons case is not as likely to happen again. Better training of investigators and supervisors at DCF is now required as well. But that is just one example of the benefits of the public records law. Unsurprisingly, journalists as a group champion this issue more frequently than others. Reporters are more likely on any given day to invoke their right to know than most people. But in truth, the vast majority of citizens taking advantage of open government rules are not members of the media. Consider what citizens in Sumter County did when they suspected county officials were abusing cell phone privileges. Through public records requests, regular citizens discovered that thousands were being spent on unofficial calls, resulting in a state investigation, a refund of expenditures and a change in policy at the county level. The fact that allowing the public access to information provides more benefit than good for society as a whole must not be overshadowed by the desire of public officials to hide the facts. Lawmakers must not further abridge the right to know.
Reproduced courtesy
of The (Leesburg) Daily Commercial. |
