The Business Journal

From the March 7, 2003 print edition

The Business Journal Serving Greater Tampa Bay

Editor's Notebook

Security guise shades Sunshine law

Mac McKerral

Editor

With the new legislative session under way, the secrecy fruits of the past session are being gobbled up by our elected "private" officials.

On March 6, a state Senate committee met in secret. It can do that under a rule previously passed by the Senate.

The rule allows senators to bar the public when discussing "security."

Yep, that color-coded buzzword that trumps open government and common sense, and that bypasses the state's Constitution, led the senators into a secret meeting.

The newly created Home Defense, Public Security and Ports Committee scheduled its closed-door meeting outside the Capitol.

Fittingly, the senators met inside the Tallahassee headquarters of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. This weak effort to lend credence to their preposterous behavior only enhances the police state mentality held by these "black ops" of state government.

What might they have talked about? It seems the conversation might have focused on raising our taxes to pay for counter-terrorism intelligence efforts.

So, for the first time in nearly 40 years, senators now take advantage of a rule that allows them to make decisions about you and I without you and I or anyone else around.

Now, check out the spin from the office of Emperor Jim King, R-Jacksonville, Senate president: "This is not meant to exclude the public from information, but rather to protect Floridians," said King's spokeswoman, Sarah Bascom. "It is in the interest and name of homeland security."

Huh? Someone needs to take some duct tape and plastic wrap and seal that quote up to keep its stench from serving as a weapon of mass destruction.

Behind all this patriotic, make-our-lives-safer blabber from Tallytown stand the same people who for years have relished the idea conducting government — in our best interest, of course — in secret.

The secret-meetings rule comes to the "Sunshine State" via former president of the Senate John McKay.

McKay, R-Bradenton, reasoned that the Boys Club should be allowed to conduct Florida's business without fear that terrorists might listen in.

So now, the Senate president, under the rule, can close meetings called to discuss "security, espionage, sabotage, attack and other acts of terrorism.'' Whether the Senate, under the rule, can vote in secret on spending remains an issue.

Also remaining an issue is now that the senators have protected the public from terrorists, who will protect the public from the senators?

It seems that if the state senators and House members hooked up in a game of "The Missing Link," the House members would win. Its members displayed a modicum of intelligence by rejecting the same rule. Heck, even "devious" Gov. Jeb Bush ridiculed the senate rule.

Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the Senate Comprehensive Planning Committee met “in the sunshine” but to discuss closing more public information.

The committee considered and approved 6-1 Senate Bill 304, creating a public records exemption for all personal identifying information held by a public water, wastewater, natural gas, electric, cable television or telecommunications utility.

The idea here is to protect us from identity theft.

But as drafted, the bill exempts information for all public utility customers, including commercial entities not subjected to identity theft. Likewise, much of the information it seals already is widely available from a variety of sources, including a telephone book. And remember, they are called “public” utilities.

Maybe someone could make a reality TV program from the Legislature modeled after the old game show "I've Got a Secret."

Floridians could try to uncover how they got shafted.

Mac McKerral is the editor of The Business Journal Serving Greater Tampa Bay and president elect of the Society of Professional Journalists. He can be reached at (813) 342-2472 or by e-mail to mmckerral@bizjournals.com.