Vero Beach Press-Journal 

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Editorial cartoon by James Casciari

Sunshine Sunday column

By Laurence A. Reisman

Editor

The Press Journal

Vero Beach, Fla.

As I sit down to write, I don’t know if today is cloudy or bright, but I only have eyes for our readers.

Well, sort of.

Today is Sunshine Sunday, a day when editors across Florida hope to make as clear as a brilliant, cloudless sky, our mission to keep access to government within reach of those who are governed.

Florida editors regularly do this together because there are annual and constant threats to keep under wraps what’s going on in Tallahassee, Indian River County, our municipalities and other tax-supported entities.

Locally, Peter Seed, lawyer-brother of an Indian River County Hospital District trustee, has been one of the organizers behind a so-far, ill-fated, effort to change state practice to allow two members of boards to discuss items they plan to vote on.

The purpose of the state’s strict Sunshine Law is to ensure that decisions are made in public meetings, so that the public hears discussion of issues, knows how and where their representatives stand, and can express their own opinions before it’s too late.

Such openness and public input should be a strength in our democracy. Naysayers, including those who are used to working behind the scenes to get their way, see the law as an obstacle, blocking better governance, that can’t be overcome.

And while the Sunshine Law’s intent is valid, it doesn’t always work. All too often, despite the law, we see local boards vote unanimously or down straight lines with little or no discussion on issues. We wonder how many times administrators have worked behind the scenes to reach solutions, or acted as a liaison between elected officials, so that no tough questions are asked in front of the public. Or how often elected officials have held “private” conversations with constituents within convenient hearing of fellow board members.

The other part of constitutionally protected open government in Florida is access to public records. At a time when privacy and security issues come to the fore more often, we all have to be vigilant to make sure that only necessary exemptions to open-records law be made, and that they are rare.

Our reporters, especially those from other states where government is not as open, are taught to assume every record created by a public agency or a contractor doing the business of a government agency is accessible. Certainly, there are exceptions to this assumption. Many records, or portions therein, are not available.

The public should know, though, that all any person has to do is ask for a record. The burden is on public officials to cite a statute number explaining why the record is not open for inspection. If they can’t, the officials, based on a record-seeker’s complaint, can be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office criminally or civilly.

What’s more, public officials, in the vast majority of records, have no right to ask who you are or what your purpose for wanting the record is. You do not have to answer.

Furthermore, the law states that answers to requests for public records must be made in a reasonable time period. Generally, unless compiling the records are difficult, reasonable means within 24 hours.

As journalists, we deal with these matters more often than others. Recently, for example, we asked Indian River County Commission officials for records on the performance of its attorney, Paul Bangel.

At first, we were told there were none. The next day, as we prepared to contact our attorneys to press for the release of records we had been told existed, we asked again and were told they had been found.

Most local agencies are fairly good about our requests. Our biggest problems over the past year have been with Indian River Memorial Hospital and the Indian River County School District. We are optimistic, though, that our problems with the hospital are over. We’re hopeful about future dealings with the district, too.

Open government protects you, citizens of Indian River County. It enables you to do important research, whether it’s finding out the values of homes in a neighborhood you may be considering, to finding out the background of a teacher your child has been assigned to. There are thousands of records that may be useful.

What’s more, our daily news report is based largely on information we obtain through the Sunshine and public-records laws. Without them, our readers really would be in the dark.

Today, in addition to checking the weather, heading to the Pelican Island celebration or PGA golf at Mirasol, please think about how important it is that the sun keep shining on Florida’s governments.

Reisman, whose e-mail address is Laurence.reisman@scripps.com, writes a periodic column.