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Northwest Florida Daily News Each year, about the time the Florida Legislature convenes, the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors asks newspapers statewide to remind readers of the importance of open government. And each year the task is vital, because the Legislature seems never to run out of excuses for closing the doors and drawing the blinds. Example: A House bill, HB 467, would restrict any record revealing the name of a candidate or nominee for CEO of a public hospital. It would also close public access to the meetings of a public hospital’s search committee where the selection of CEO candidates or nominees is discussed. “If this stinker exemption passes,” the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation said, “government will be able to hide records and close meetings relating to who’s under consideration to run our public hospitals. … What’s next? School board presidents? University presidents?” This is why vigilance, by both the press and the citizenry, is required to keep public meetings open and public records accessible. If left alone, lawmakers tend not to work in the sunshine. They prefer shadows. Reproduced courtesy of the Northwest Florida Daily
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