Orlando Sentinel: Local leaders pledge accessibility, legislators undermine the principle

EDITORIAL

Open government is a constitutional right in Florida, but you might never know it from watching state lawmakers. Lately they’ve been indifferent or even hostile to this principle.

Lawmakers have left it up to more enlightened leaders, such as those in Sanford, to stand up for open government. Late last month, Sanford’s mayor and four commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance “to ensure that the public may fully participate in all of its hearings, meetings, processes, programs and operations.” Now, when any city commission or board convenes to take action in Sanford, it must allow citizens a chance to speak first.

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