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Newspaper to file complaint that agency violated Sunshine Law
Newspaper to file complaint that agency violated Sunshine Law
02/03/05 MICHELLE L. START Staff Writer Email this story to a friend OCALA Officials with The Daily Commercial announced plans Wednesday to file a grievance against Kids Central Inc. for violations of the state’s Government in the Sunshine Law. The complaint stems from a Wednesday-morning meeting with the Department of Children and Families that was initially scheduled to be held in Ocala, but was abruptly switched to Wildwood about 16 hours before the meeting was to begin. “Clearly this agency does not want to cooperate with us, which is very unfortunate,” said Managing Editor Rick Madewell. “We hate to have to take it to this level, but the public has every right in the world to know about these meetings with an acceptable amount of time and they (KCI) are not helping the cause.” The Sunshine Law requires “reasonable notice” for all meetings, and the state Attorney General’s Office has cited 24 hours notice as reasonable for an emergency meeting. “The courts define notice as the amount of time that would enable a member of the public to have a reasonable opportunity to attend,” said Florida Press Attorney Sam Morley. “If an agency is subject to a statutory notice requirement like the Administrative Procedures Act (s. 120.525) for its board meetings, then you have to comply with those requirements. In this case, if the meetings are with the DCF staff (rather than a state board) and the private entities, the standard would probably be ‘reasonable notice’ for Sunshine Law purposes.” Sara Brady, spokeswoman for Kids Central, said the agency is privately owned and therefore does not have to adhere to the Sunshine Laws. Morley said that because Kids Central is a private company that has taken over services that would otherwise be handled by a government entity, the laws are actually stricter. “This raises in my mind the issue of whether this is in fact a public meeting of an agency board, which would trigger the seven-day requirement,” he said. That would mean Kids Central would have to advertise meetings seven days in advance and would have to list the general subject matter to be considered during any meeting. It would also require the agency to have an agenda prepared prior to that seven day period so the public could obtain a copy. Officials with Kids Central on Tuesday said no agenda was available for Wednesday’s meeting. At 5:15 p. m. Tuesday, a spokeswoman with Kids Central called the newspaper to say the location had been changed. The meeting began at 9 a. m. Wednesday. At a board meeting that ended around 2:30 p. m. Tuesday, officials with Kids Central said the meeting was still scheduled to be held in Ocala. By 6 p. m. Tuesday, the Kids Central Web site also still said the meeting was scheduled for Ocala. “I would argue that changing the meeting location at 6 p. m. and calling the media does not constitute public notice,” said Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation. “They are certainly not providing the public with the opportunity to enjoy the constitutional amendment of oversight.” Madewell contends that 16 hours advance notice was not sufficient to notify the public, particularly since the announcement was made after closing time and no one was available for confirmation. “We didn’t change the time,” said board Chairwoman Irene Rickus. “It was a misunderstanding. We assumed it would be in Ocala. The department thought it would be over here (in Wildwood).” DCF District Administrator Don Thomas said he thought the meeting was always supposed to be in Wildwood, but when he learned of the misunderstanding, he insisted upon it. “There was a mix-up as to where it should be,” he said. “I didn’t have to notice the meeting because I am not on a board.” Wednesday’s meeting change was not the first time the agency violated the spirit of the Sunshine Law. The Web site was updated to show Tuesday’s 1 p. m. meeting shortly after 1 p. m. Monday, less than the 24 hours cited by the Attorney General as “reasonable time” and six days less than the legal requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act. A meeting held on Friday to discuss whether the agency planned to disband was not advertised until three days beforehand. It was rescheduled from Jan. 24 but not advertised until Jan. 25. http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/70...ews608072.html Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action. |
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