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Highlands Today

Laws Provide Floridians Incredible Access To Their Government

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Highlands Today staff

Published: May 9, 2008

The negotiation with proposed Highlands County administrator Michael Wright demonstrates again just how lucky Floridians are to have a government that operates in the sunshine. The process to hire a county administrator has been transparent from the start and continues to be open to anyone wanting to be part of the process.

Florida is known around the nation as having one of the most open governments in America. Sunshine laws passed years ago give citizens the right to access public documents and observe more than most people know when it comes to their government. It's incredibly refreshing considering our federal government – especially our presidency – is so steeped in secrecy.

During Wright's hiring process, candidates for the job were made available for public scrutiny all along. There was no hiding the applicants from the public until an offer was made. Even now, a final negotiation regarding his contract will be done on speaker phone and the public can listen in. We are proud that our county, and all our local government entities, do such a good job understanding and enforcing the state's open meetings and records laws.

There are times when people question whether some decisions are made outside of Sunshine Law standards, and sometimes they are. Often newcomers to government or employees promoted to new positions make these mistakes. It's rarely malicious and if a mistake is made, it typically is remedied quickly.

Floridians can walk into any government office and ask for public documents pertaining to just about anything. If you want the school superintendent's cell phone bill, you can have it. If you want the wages of every city worker, you can access it. It's all there, and government workers cannot ask who you are or why you want the information. If they do ask, tell them it's none of their business.

Although Florida's Sunshine Laws are very good, there are some problems that continue to anger the public. The Legislature closes public access to some meetings that should be open. These aren't the floor debates, but instead deal with sub-committees and caucus meetings. It's the same thing in almost every state, so Florida isn't alone.

Locally, though, it doesn't get much better than what we have in our county, city and school offices. So appreciate what you have. Only through a transparent government can the public truly trust what their elected officials are doing.

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