Updated: Monday, 19 Mar 2012, 6:35 PM EDT Published : Monday, 19 Mar 2012, 3:44 PM EDT TAMPA – Florida received a grade of C-minus, but that was still good enough to tie for 18th best with three other states in a first-of-its-kind assessment of corruptibility released Monday. The report praises Florida’s open-records and open-meetings “Sunshine” laws. It faults…
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In a February 28 message to district employees, Manatee School District Superintendent Tim McGonegal reported that the School Board met in an Executive (i.e. “secret” “private” “outside the Sunshine”) Session on Monday (February 27) night and: 1.) “decided it was not in the best interest of the School District or its employees to become involved in…
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March 02, 2012 3:05 PM TOM McLAUGHLIN / Daily News CRESTVIEW — All five members of the City Council have been charged with violating Florida’s Sun-shine Law. The charges are considered “non-criminal violations” which, Councilman Phillip Berezo told the Crestview News Bulletin, amounted to being issued a “traffic ticket.” Council President Charles Baugh and members…
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The city of Port St. Lucie is accepting applications for two voluntary positions on the Planning and Zoning Board. Applicants must have been residents of the city for at least one year. Members serve on a voluntary basis and are subject to the provisions of the Florida Sunshine Law, which requires board members to file…
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by Larry Geller The House Judiciary Committee today deferred HB2742, the bill that would have exempted county councils from the Sunshine Law. I was attending a court martial today and could not be at the hearing, but I’m pretty sure that the publicity the bill received from Common Cause tweets, Ian Lind, Civil Beat, this…
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Daily News Correspondent Social media remains a hot topic, especially for librarians. The Collier County Library Advisory Board met last week to discuss Sunshine and public records laws and how they pertain to social media and new e-book checkouts. Assistant County Attorney Colleen Greene answered board members’ questions at their meeting Wednesday at the…
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Public and legal notices bills hit the Florida Legislature this year in separate waves. Fortunately one bill, as Dean Ridings, president and CEO of the Florida Press Association said, is “effectively dead” and the good one, in a House and Senate version, is moving forward. HB 149 would have removed the requirement to put public…
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LAKELAND | When University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft removed the leader of the Polytechnic campus from office, she knew hiring a new regional chancellor would be quite a project. Facts “References are typically written and submitted, which risks the real plus and minus assessment, since no one … would say anything derogatory.” Ted…
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On occasion in Tallahassee, bills are introduced in the State Legislature to amend Florida’s Sunshine Law. Usually that’s cause for alarm among those who believe ardently in open government and the public’s right to know. That’s not the case with Senate Bill 206, which is making its way to a vote during the 2012 session.…
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EDITORIAL In December 1996, Anderson Tate was arrested on driving violations and taken to the St. Lucie County Jail. Uncooperative, he was bound to a chair where he moaned, prayed, thrashed about and asked for help for three hours. Jail employees and deputies walked by him and ignored his pleas and at least one taunted…
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