By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Commentary
When Levy County Commissioners took a break Tuesday after adjourning a marathon three-hour workshop concerning their Land Development Code, they disappeared into a small rectangular room, a dingy little hole in the wall, located behind the area where they sat during the workshop. They were having lunch in a private setting before starting their second meeting of the day.
Most people didn’t know where they went for lunch, or if they were having lunch, and few people in the public knew there was even a room behind the area where they sat as commissioners during the workshop – until they emerged from the room single file, some carrying cups with leftover soda, some picking at their teeth, to get ready for their second board meeting that followed.
Florida’s Sunshine Law is widely respected by elected officials if for no other reason than that it can carry criminal penalties if they break it, but many elected officials don’t particularly like the law because it prevents two or more of them from holding a private meeting to discuss the public’s business. The law is designed to protect the public from elected officials making decisions behind closed doors or just out of sight that might affect how they spend tax dollars.
That being said, commissioners aren’t being accused by Spotlight of any wrongdoing when they disappeared for about 15 minutes to grab a bite to eat in a room that few people in the public even knew existed. If they had left the door open so anyone could walk in and see and hear what they were saying and doing, it wouldn’t have been quite as suspicious. But better yet, if the chairman of the board had announced that commissioners were going to disappear through a door to eat lunch, and the door would be left open to avoid the appearance of a secret meeting, it would have been a better situation. Not perfect, but better.
Appearances Matter
Appearances mean everything. When this journalist was a cub reporter back in the 1970s working for the Panama City News Herald, a daily newspaper, and covering the Bay County Commission, some of the commissioners became angry for being questioned publicly in news stories about what they were discussing when all five of them would stand on the lawn during breaks in the meeting to talk in hushed voices.
One of the commissioners became so aggravated with the situation he asked then County Attorney Les Burke in a board meeting if anything could be done about the reporter questioning their integrity when they were gathered on the lawn talking. The commissioner said they could be talking about fishing for all the reporter knew. Why did it matter?
Burke’s reply to the commissioner was classy. First of all, he said, there was nothing the county commission could do to stop the reporter from raising questions about what they were discussing as a group outside of the meeting. He added that commissioners needed to be aware that appearances matter. He said the appearance of wrongdoing can be just as damaging as getting caught violating the Sunshine Law. The issue was never raised again.
Private Meetings in Public
The Sunshine Law can also be violated during public meetings by elected officials communicating privately with other elected members on their board by texting or emailing each other or passing private notes concerning the business they are discussing in a meeting. Whispering to another commissioner or councilman next to them is also forbidden. A case in point was a recent Williston City Council meeting when the board was discussing how they would go about evaluating the performance of City Clerk Latricia Wright. At one point, Councilman Zach Bullock held up a large envelope on which he had written a message offering an alternative method for scoring Wright on her performance as clerk. He held it high, without saying a word, to show Council President Debra Jones. She blew the whistle on him, in a polite way, by announcing the scoring method he was proposing. Under the law, Bullock’s effort to communicate privately with Jones during the meeting was a possible violation of the Sunshine Law because Wright and members of the public didn’t know what was written on the envelope or what he was proposing as an alternative method of scoring the clerk’s performance. Jones is well aware of the requirements of public meetings and disclosed what Bullock had written on the envelope during the meeting to her credit.
The Sunshine Law Is Necessary, but Not Easy
No one ever said it was going to be easy for public officials to obey the Sunshine Law. Jones has publicly acknowledged she doesn’t like the law but is careful not to violate it. Like many elected officials, she feels it’s awkward not being able to talk to fellow board members privately about sensitive issues like Wright’s evaluation before they sit down as a board in a public meeting and talk about it openly. But the discussions need to be public. Wright needed to know what they are talking about when it came to her evaluation, and so did the public.
It’s also true that many elected officials spend a good bit of their time at public events like the Beast Feast, a fundraiser for the Levy County Schools Foundation scheduled for this Saturday at Brad Etheridge’s farm near Williston. There could be three or as many as five county commissioners at their food table at the Beast Feast. Commissioner John Meeks said they were going to provide clams. He announced the event at Tuesday’s county commission meeting. It’s likely that most of the Levy County School Board members, if not all of them, will be present for the feast and will have a table of their own. The event raises money for scholarships and other worthy endeavors such as providing educational materials, including books, to Levy County public schools.
Golden Rule for Elected & Advisory Boards
Elected officials have the right to attend churches, social events, and other private settings where they might see another elected official from the same board. They may stop to chat with that elected official or they may meet for lunch at a restaurant. Obviously, they can’t be bound and gagged everywhere they go to avoid violating the Sunshine Law. But the golden rule for local elected officials who sit on boards, and for those volunteers who sit on public advisory boards always applies regardless of the situation – don’t make it look like you might be having a conversation about the public’s business out of the Sunshine if you’re really just having lunch or talking about fishing.
Explaining the Sunshine Law and how it applies to elected officials may sound like nitpicking, but it’s not. Obviously, the Levy County Commission could have been accused of having a private meeting in the ratty little room behind the stage where they conduct official business, but Spotlight isn’t making that allegation. We don’t know what was discussed. That’s the problem. The room, by the way, has a back door exit. When County Commissioner Rock Meeks left the regular meeting early on Tuesday, he departed through the door at the rear of the little back room where the board had eaten lunch. He didn’t walk past members of the public on his way out of the meeting. He disappeared through an exit door in the back room that no one in the public could see. He announced his departure publicly in the meeting, saying he needed to get some sleep, but once again didn’t explain he was about to vanish through a door the public knew nothing about.
Appearances mean something. That’s why they pay you the big bucks, commissioners. You may indeed spend much of your commission salary giving to public charities. It’s an unavoidable reality in public life for elected officials. Many charities have their hand out when an official from an elected board walks past them or if they see an elected official who is not on a board. But it’s still important, even at charitable events, to make sure elected board members aren’t perceived as violating the Sunshine Law if they are innocent. Commissioner Rock Meeks didn’t violate any law walking out of the board meeting early Tuesday. He waved to the audience as he left the meeting. But he should have explained he was headed home through an exit that members of the public couldn’t see in the little room behind the board. Transparency is important. Appearances are important.
Accidental Dingy Little Room
By the way, the little room behind the area where commissioners sit for their meetings was created largely by happenstance during the remodeling of the former Bronson High School auditorium. Commissioners use the former auditorium as their meeting room. One of the improvements they made was to build a wall behind the table (dais) where they sit during meetings. The wall looks nice but they accidentally created a space where they met for lunch Tuesday. Staff added a ceiling to the room and a couple of tables and some chairs.
Livestreaming Commission Meetings
Speaking of transparency, the county commission appears totally opposed to live-streaming their commission meetings. Livestream is a fancy word that means broadcasting meetings live on internet television. They haven’t really explained why they oppose broadcasting their meetings live. They could use that dingy little room to provide whatever electrical hookups would be needed for live broadcasts of their meetings. They might as well use the ratty-looking little room for something other than private lunches between meetings. Members of the public who can’t attend commission meetings could watch board meetings live on YouTube or replay recordings of the meeting by clicking on the link. Williston is ahead of the game on this issue. They broadcast every city council meeting on YouTube and provide most of the recordings on the city internet site. Transparency matters. Not to harp on the issue, but appearances also matter. Spotlight would like to see county commission meetings broadcast to the public on internet television. It wouldn’t hurt anything and it would help make the meetings more transparent for the public.
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BoCC Commentary Posted February 24, 2023
