Stop the stampede of secrecy at Florida’s Capitol

Blog editor's note: Excellent piece from the Orlando Sentinel - essentially the interests of greed, development, and profiteering are driving the public out of the public square. This has parallels in Sarasota County, where the Board has over years edged the public out of the planning process -- for example, the timing of hearings so that people never know when they will begin; the obfuscation of plans so that no one even knows they're coming, and the reduction of formerly in-person Neighborhood Workshops to useless Zooms.

Florida is in danger of being totally corrupted by the oligarchs: 

Sentinel Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of editorials on major issues facing the state in the legislative session that begins March 4.

Florida legislators will soon flock to the Capitol in Tallahassee for their annual 60-day session, and that means the public’s right to know will once again be under siege.

Year after year, legislators in both parties work relentlessly to reduce access to information by carving out new exemptions from a public records law that was once the nation’s strongest.

We’re used to it by now, and that’s part of the problem. Floridians and even segments of the news media have become too complacent about the chipping away of access to information so essential to a functioning democracy.

Secrecy breeds cynicism and mistrust. About 1,100 exemptions are already on the books, and more than a dozen new ones have been filed for the session that begins March 4.

A stampede of secrecy

This annual secrecy stampede is part of a larger crisis, created by former Gov. Rick Scott and greatly expanded by Gov. Ron DeSantis, of overt hostility to sunshine, even though a public right of access to records and meetings is enshrined in the state Constitution.

DeSantis got a passive Legislature to throw a blanket of secrecy over his taxpayer-funded travel. It’s even a secret who visits him at the Governor’s Mansion.

State college and university presidential searches are now mostly secret. DeSantis has made legally dubious “executive privilege” claims to keep secrets and judges have been weakly complicit.

State agencies casually slow-walk or ignore lawful requests for public records. The DeSantis administration default setting is to delay, deny or do both, and to respond only after a threat of a lawsuit. (Most cities, counties and school districts remain diligent about compliance, in our experience, on everything from personnel files to text messages to 911 calls.)

In the upcoming session, new exemptions would deny public access to home addresses and phone numbers of city managers and county administrators, their assistants, spouses, and adult children (SB 842); sexual assault counselors (SB 856); employees of Crime Stoppers organizations (SB 710); appellate court clerks, spouses and their adult children (SB 300); and current and former members of Judicial Qualifications Commissions (SB 302).

The stated justification for the exemptions, which the Legislature must provide, is that public employees “may be targets” of revenge seekers, putting them at physical risk.

A far-reaching loophole

But the most far-reaching exemption (SB 268) would block the release of home addresses and phone numbers of thousands of public officers, including legislators, county and city commissioners, mayors, school board members and constitutional officers.

State Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, has filed a bill for the upcoming session that would hide addresses and phone numbers for a broad swath of public officials.

Sponsored by Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones of Miami Gardens, the bill sailed through its first committee on a 7-0 vote, as senators in both parties unquestioningly approved it.

They included Democrats Kristen Arrington of Kissimmee and Tina Polsky of Boca Raton, members of an oxymoronically named Senate Government Oversight and Accountability Committee.

No one testified in opposition or raised a single question. The chairman, Sen. Randy Fine, who’s likely headed to Congress in a special election, wondered why members of Congress aren’t covered by the exemption.

Death threats cited

Fine cited cases in which he received death threats. So did Jones, he said, while he was publicly opposing the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill. He reported the threats to the Senate President and to the Sergeant at Arms.

“This is looking at the times we’re living in right now,” Jones told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board. “People are in harm’s way.”

Shouldn’t be secret

Public officials’ safety is paramount. But exempting so much information for thousands of public officials could make it difficult if not impossible to know if a commissioner lives in the right district, pays property taxes, is properly registered to vote, qualifies for a homestead exemption or was issued code violations.
Why should all that be a secret? The answer is, it shouldn’t be.

A leading Republican, Sen. Don Gaetz of Niceville, says he would “have a hard time” voting for such an exemption, even though he too has had tense confrontations with constituents. He said running for office carries with it a loss of personal privacy.

“I don’t think I have the right to hide and have my address blacked out,” Gaetz said. “I don’t believe I should have the privilege of being anonymous.”

If more legislators felt the same way, “sunshine” would not be in such grave peril in Florida.

What can you do? Call or email your legislators. Tell them to vote “no” on public records exemptions. Or send us a letter to the editor, and we’ll spread the word.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant, Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney and editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.

See Also: Florida's Council of 100