The Tallahassee Democrat

It’s a day to honor open government

Isn’t sunshine beautiful? It defines Florida, the Sunshine State.

To the citizens of Florida, though, sunshine means even more. It’s conveys the beauty of open government and the public’s right to know, concepts that we celebrate during Sunshine Week, which begins today. And, with Charlie Crist in the Governor’s Mansion, there is much to celebrate.

Government in the sunshine is so basic in Florida that it’s in our constitution. In Article I, the Declaration of Rights — right in there with religious freedom and habeas corpus — Section 24 provides access to “any public record made or received in connection with the official business of any public body, officer, or employee of the state, or persons acting on their behalf” and “all meetings of any collegial public body of the executive branch of state government or of any collegial public body of a county, municipality, school district, or special district, at which official acts are to be taken or at which public business of such body is to be transacted or discussed.”

In simple terms, what does that mean to you, the citizen and reader of the Tallahassee Democrat?

• In February, Paige St. John used the law to gain admission to an unannounced meeting at which House Budget and Policy Chairman Ray Sansom warned lawmakers against putting pet local projects, aka turkeys, into the state budget. A number of area projects were among those that might be affected.

• Ms. St. John and reporter Aaron Deslatte used public-records requests to look at the money spent by lobbyists to influence government. The figures were provided electronically, allowing the Democrat and other news organizations to make use of what would otherwise have been very inaccessible data.

• Even Jennifer Portman’s fascinating look at the case of Mike Williams, who disappeared without a trace in 2000, would not have been possible without access to court records and old investigation reports.

It’s not that way everywhere.

After the last election, a number of Pennsylvania House staffers who had worked on the campaigns of two powerful Democratic leaders received $1.9 million in bonuses — along with a letter that warned: “Since this bonus payment is of an extraordinary nature not widely received by your colleagues, we cannot stress strongly enough the need for you not to discuss this with any other staff person or member.”

When reporters asked for details, the House Democratic leader refused, calling it an “internal caucus matter.”

Only the embarrassment of seeing Republicans itemize bonuses that they had handed out let Pennsylvania’s taxpayers learn the details.

No wonder the famous Pennsylvania groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, is afraid to see his shadow.

In the past several years, clouds have dimmed government in the sunshine here in Florida, too, thanks to post-9/11 legislation and a governor who caught on that there is no actual requirement about how quickly the public should be given access to records. Foot-dragging became the norm, not the exception, in response to many public-records requests in state government.

This year, it seems, the sky has cleared.

As attorney general in 2005, Charlie Crist was given the Friend of the First Amendment award by the First Amendment Foundation. And one of his first acts as governor was to create an Office of Open Government, for the purpose of ensuring compliance with open-government laws.

The agency has a Web site (www.flgov.com/og_home) that lists the people in each state agency in charge of compliance. It also has arranged training for 500 top managers in the governor’s agencies.

“Respecting the public trust that is bestowed on all of us who serve the people of Florida is a top priority for me and for my administration,” Crist said in a statement when the office was announced.

And a priority for all citizens is to make sure Florida remains the Sunshine State, a leader in open government.

Reproduced courtesy of The Tallahassee Democrat.
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