§1-C-3 | COMMUNITY FORUMS SPONSORED BY PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS
Similarly, in AGO 94-62, the Attorney General’s Office concluded that the Sunshine Law does not apply to a political forum sponsored by a private civic club during which county commissioners express their position on matters that may foreseeably come before the commission, so long as the commissioners avoid discussions among themselves on these issues. And see AGO 08-18 (participation by two city council members in a citizens police academy does not violate the Sunshine Law; “[t]he educational course is not changed into a meeting of a board or commission... by the attendance and participation of members of the city council in the course work of the academy”).
However, caution should be exercised to avoid situations in which private political or community forums may be used to circumvent the statute’s requirements. AGO 94-62. See Town of Palm Beach v. Gradison, 296 So. 2d 473, 477 (Fla. 1974) (Sunshine Law must be construed “so as to frustrate all evasive devices”). For example, in State v. Foster, 12 F.L.W. Supp. 1194a (Fla. Broward Co. Ct. September 26, 2005), the court rejected the city commissioners’ argument that the Sunshine Law permitted them to attend a private breakfast meeting at which the sheriff spoke and the commissioners individually questioned the sheriff but did not direct comments or questions to each other. Instead, the court denied the commissioners’ motion for summary judgment and ruled that the discussion should have been held in the Sunshine because the sheriff was a “common facilitator” who received comments from each commissioner in front of the other commissioners.
More recently, members of a city planning and zoning commission violated the Sunshine Law when they participated in discussions at meetings of a community improvement organization which involved planning and zoning matters. City of Bradenton Beach v. Metz, No. 2017 CA 003581 (Fla. 12th Cir. Ct. August 9, 2019), available online in the Cases database at the open government site at MyFloridaLegal.com. The trial judge found that the commissioners’ participation in the discussions was particularly troubling because they continued to attend, despite Sunshine Law concerns expressed by the city attorney.
Use these in conjunction with the Guide for Filing Criminal Charges against an Agency/Officer that Violates Public Records Law.
As always, please get the justice you deserve.
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