1 Government in a Fishbowl Alachua County Attorney’s Office

Good Day, Sunshine Good Day, Sunshine Good Day, Sunshine

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4 THE LAWS  SECTION , Florida Statutes, known as the “Sunshine Law”  CHAPTER119, Florida Statutes, known as the Public Records Law

5 THE SUNSHINE LAW Open Meetings Location of Meeting Reasonable Notice of Meetings Minutes must be taken Agendas

6 MEETINGS OF:  Boards, commissions and committees created by formal action of governing body  Two or more members of same body  Single member with delegated authority

7 The Purpose of Open Meeting Laws Commissions, boards, and committees exist to conduct the people’s business. These laws ensure that the deliberations and actions of boards and commissions are conducted in public.

8 What Is a Meeting? Discussions of two or more members of same board/commission on some matter that foreseeably may come before the board/commission for action Memorandum/letters Daisy chain

9 EXCEPTIONS TO THE SUNSHINE LAW Collective Bargaining Litigation Risk Management

10 Are Social Occasions Meetings?

11 Retreats A retreat is a meeting and must be open to the public. Seminar Topics

12 PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS Misdemeanor (knowingly) Action vacated Attorneys Fees

13 Voting Conflicts of Interest When you can not vote as a member of an advisory committee!

14 Special Gain or Loss Yourself Your relative (parents, children, siblings, and in-laws) Your business associate Your Principal (lawyer working for client)

15 If you have a Voting Conflict You can not vote You must declare at the meeting you have a conflict You must complete a CE Form 8B You may participate in discussions only if you publicly disclose your conflict.

16 What is special? Very fact specific – call us well in advance How big is the group that will gain or lose ? How speculative is the gain or loss ? CEO opinions Example: Florida Keys – Charter boat owner on Board – Funding to promote recreational fishing

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18 County Attorneys Office

19 Pop Quiz 1) If A and B attend a meeting of the city Regional Utility Committee, are they automatically under the sunshine and able to voice opinions and participate in discussions about ECSC business? 2) May B and C write a joint letter to the editor of the Sun as they did before being appointed to the ECSC? The point of discussion would have been GRU's solar project with Wal-Mart. A, B and C refer to members of the ECSC.

20 Pop Quiz (cont.) 3) If A attended the Land Use Subcommittee meeting and B did not, can A brief B about it or would B have to wait for the briefing by the chair at the next full ECSC meeting? 4) The SolarCity Gainesville group has an online discussion list; A and B are members. If A sends a broadcast message to the list and B receives it would that be ok as long as B doesn't respond or would A have to remove B from the list before sending the broadcast message? 5) If A and B are both on the SAC mailing list and C or someone would posts a message would A and B be restricted from responding since our response would automatically be broadcasted to each other?