Court to decide public's
right to speak, be heard
Tallahassee, FL (posted Feb
19, 2010 • 08:10am)
By Jim Ash -
Florida Capital Bureau Chief
A Tallahassee appellate court will soon weigh in on
whether Florida's Sunshine Law gives citizens the right
to be participants, not merely spectators, in government
meetings.
An attorney for two Pensacola activists told the
First District Court of Appeal on Tuesday that Community
Maritime Park Associates, an arm of the Pensacola City
Council, violated the Sunshine Law by failing to let the
public speak at its open meetings.
The board eventually created a public comment period,
but that doesn't go far enough because it comes before
the board discusses the agenda, said attorney Sharon
Barnett.
"That forum does not allow any meaningful
participation," she said. "It isn't really open to them.
It's something they can watch on TV or on their computer
screens."
In March, Escambia Circuit Judge Frank Bell tossed
out the suit, saying that the law only guarantees that
meetings are open to the public. The plaintiffs, LeRoy
Boyd and Byron Keesler, appealed. They are asking the
court to nullify the board's actions.
Hanging in the balance is a $40 million maritime
museum and waterfront park that the CMPA is charged with
developing. The city has already spent $2.9 million on
design fees, site preparation and environmental permits,
said City Manager Al Coby.
The board's attorney, Ed Fleming, points to a 1983
Florida Supreme Court decision, "Marston," in which a
newspaper sued when a search committee for a University
of Florida law school dean met privately.
"We hasten to reassure respondents that nothing in
this decision gives the public the right to be more than
spectators," the justices wrote.
If everyone is allowed to speak, CMPA meetings would
drag on for hours, and it would be difficult to recruit
business and civic leaders to serve on the appointed
panel, Fleming said.
"I know some members who would quit," he said.
Barnett counters with a 1969 Florida Supreme Court
Decision, "Doran." Parents sued when the Broward County
School Board banned the public from some of its
meetings.
The public has, "an inalienable right to be present
and to be heard at all deliberations wherein decisions
affecting the public are being made," the justices
wrote.
"Participatory democracy, as a concept, is that the
more ideas you get, the better," she said.
Local boards could easily establish rules and limit
the amount of time for public comment, Barnett said.
Barbara Petersen, President of the First Amendment
Foundation, agrees.
"The right to speak is the number one complaint I get
all across the state," Petersen said. "This is our
government, we elect these people to represent us. How
are they supposed to know what we want if they don't
allow us to speak?"
This
article originally appeared in the Florida Capital
News and can be seen
here.