As Originally Published in Key West the Newspaper June 24, 2011
I’m not a fan of the Sunshine Law. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I love the intent of the Law, just not the law itself. You see very often politicians in the interest of appearance “solve” a problem by creating legislation, then pat themselves on the back, give themselves accolades and add the accomplishment to their campaign rhetoric. Regardless of whether or not they actually resolved the problem.
In the case of the Sunshine Law, who could argue with trying to stop public officials from conducting business behind closed doors, or working back room deals. But as with many of these feel good laws it only serves to keep legal people legal. Those intent on doing back room deals will continue to do so simply because the parties involved and benefiting from the meeting behind closed doors wouldn’t turn each other in. It is also important to note that the legislature in all it’s great concern, exempted themselves from the law. Go figure.
So what does that leave us with? Those trying to abide by the law have to struggle with understanding it, abiding by it, and need to worry about the occasional minor slip up. That slip up then becomes the fodder of political opponents, and a consumption of time for the State Attorney to diagnose. In addition, the State Attorney has sponsored symposiums that only a handful of locally elected officials have attended, or even expressed interest in.
What a cataclysmic waste of time and resources. However, if any politician had the courage to propose a change to it, it would be political suicide. Imagine the simple minded headlines, “Gardi wants to promote back room deals!”
However, it is the law. There are many laws as individuals we may not agree with, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is the law. Until someone has the cojones to step up and change this law, we’ll keep experiencing the only product of it, political footballs.
This was evident yet again with the recent boondoggle between the school board and it’s audit committee. Ultimately, the only truth or revelation that this latest debate revealed was that all that we voters needed to see was right out in the open all along. We didn’t need a law to see how some elected officials behaved right out in the sunshine.
The abbreviated version of the latest “fun in the sun” is that it appears that School Administration met with the Teachers Union officials to iron out the details, or a Memorandum of Understanding for a contract that was subsequently ratified in a second meeting open to the public. According to School Board Chairman John Dick, concerned that the first meeting may have been a Sunshine violation as suggested by the School Board’s attorney, Internal Auditor Ken Gentile asked Dick if it was something that should be discussed with the State Attorney. Audit Committee Chair Stuart Kessler proactively raised the concern with Gentile as well. Dick appropriately suggested that they didn’t have the luxury to cherry pick when they should go to the State Attorney. A subsequent discussion with Dennis Ward resulted in a determination by Assistant State Attorney Mark Wilson that there was in fact a Sunshine Law violation. While neither party benefited from the infraction it was suggested that the contract should be renegotiated to cure the infraction to eliminate any subsequent legal challenges. Since then a myriad of arguments have been made regarding whether or not the infraction occurred and what should be done about it. Even Jesus Jara, second in command of the School District, and School Board Vice Chair Andy Griffiths got in the fray with opinions from the Florida Education Negotiators.
While I think it is a classic example of the waste of time and resources the Sunshine Law creates, those reporting the infraction did exactly what they were supposed to do. Again, it is the law, end of story.
But that’s my whole point about the Sunshine Law, it sounds good, but is useless and a waste of our tax dollars. But more importantly, who needs it when we have such a glaring example of what we should really be paying attention to as evidenced by what happened next. You see, apparently Gentile’s and Kessler’s concern about the violation irked a few School Board members. I guess they stepped on some toes.
So in a hastily drawn up motion at a School Board meeting on Tuesday, June 14 the School Board “disciplined” the audit committee by suspending them for sixty days, and requiring them to take ethics training. Ethics training? Really? This occurred while Board Chairman John Dick was out of the country and the meeting was led by, and motion promoted by Vice Chair Andy Griffiths. The motion was supported by Griffiths, and board members Duncan Mathewson, and Ron Martin.
Folks, the audit committee is a group of incredibly gifted professional accountants and auditors, and this is their reward? These individuals have volunteered for up to 25 hours per week as a service to their community. In essence, they serve to make up for the shortcomings of the skill sets of paid politicians like Griffiths and Mathewson. I struggle to remember a time when Griffiths or Mathewson did anything proactively aside from cheerleading, and this is when they decide to step up and assert their tenacity. And excuse me but didn’t Ron Martin just campaign on a theme of transparency?
Now the latest Griffithism is to profusely apologize and offer to rescind the sanctions? He should consider resigning instead.
Regardless of this wishy washy backpedalling, this brand of “leadership” only serves to discourage talented professionals from volunteering to help our schools, in exchange for controlling the release of truth. The preference for appearance over reality is exactly what we as members of the public are fed up with. That’s all the sunshine I need. We don’t need feelgood cheerleaders, we need more watchdogs like John Dick. Keep that in mind next time you vote.
In the case of the Sunshine Law, who could argue with trying to stop public officials from conducting business behind closed doors, or working back room deals. But as with many of these feel good laws it only serves to keep legal people legal. Those intent on doing back room deals will continue to do so simply because the parties involved and benefiting from the meeting behind closed doors wouldn’t turn each other in. It is also important to note that the legislature in all it’s great concern, exempted themselves from the law. Go figure.
So what does that leave us with? Those trying to abide by the law have to struggle with understanding it, abiding by it, and need to worry about the occasional minor slip up. That slip up then becomes the fodder of political opponents, and a consumption of time for the State Attorney to diagnose. In addition, the State Attorney has sponsored symposiums that only a handful of locally elected officials have attended, or even expressed interest in.
What a cataclysmic waste of time and resources. However, if any politician had the courage to propose a change to it, it would be political suicide. Imagine the simple minded headlines, “Gardi wants to promote back room deals!”
However, it is the law. There are many laws as individuals we may not agree with, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is the law. Until someone has the cojones to step up and change this law, we’ll keep experiencing the only product of it, political footballs.
This was evident yet again with the recent boondoggle between the school board and it’s audit committee. Ultimately, the only truth or revelation that this latest debate revealed was that all that we voters needed to see was right out in the open all along. We didn’t need a law to see how some elected officials behaved right out in the sunshine.
The abbreviated version of the latest “fun in the sun” is that it appears that School Administration met with the Teachers Union officials to iron out the details, or a Memorandum of Understanding for a contract that was subsequently ratified in a second meeting open to the public. According to School Board Chairman John Dick, concerned that the first meeting may have been a Sunshine violation as suggested by the School Board’s attorney, Internal Auditor Ken Gentile asked Dick if it was something that should be discussed with the State Attorney. Audit Committee Chair Stuart Kessler proactively raised the concern with Gentile as well. Dick appropriately suggested that they didn’t have the luxury to cherry pick when they should go to the State Attorney. A subsequent discussion with Dennis Ward resulted in a determination by Assistant State Attorney Mark Wilson that there was in fact a Sunshine Law violation. While neither party benefited from the infraction it was suggested that the contract should be renegotiated to cure the infraction to eliminate any subsequent legal challenges. Since then a myriad of arguments have been made regarding whether or not the infraction occurred and what should be done about it. Even Jesus Jara, second in command of the School District, and School Board Vice Chair Andy Griffiths got in the fray with opinions from the Florida Education Negotiators.
While I think it is a classic example of the waste of time and resources the Sunshine Law creates, those reporting the infraction did exactly what they were supposed to do. Again, it is the law, end of story.
But that’s my whole point about the Sunshine Law, it sounds good, but is useless and a waste of our tax dollars. But more importantly, who needs it when we have such a glaring example of what we should really be paying attention to as evidenced by what happened next. You see, apparently Gentile’s and Kessler’s concern about the violation irked a few School Board members. I guess they stepped on some toes.
So in a hastily drawn up motion at a School Board meeting on Tuesday, June 14 the School Board “disciplined” the audit committee by suspending them for sixty days, and requiring them to take ethics training. Ethics training? Really? This occurred while Board Chairman John Dick was out of the country and the meeting was led by, and motion promoted by Vice Chair Andy Griffiths. The motion was supported by Griffiths, and board members Duncan Mathewson, and Ron Martin.
Folks, the audit committee is a group of incredibly gifted professional accountants and auditors, and this is their reward? These individuals have volunteered for up to 25 hours per week as a service to their community. In essence, they serve to make up for the shortcomings of the skill sets of paid politicians like Griffiths and Mathewson. I struggle to remember a time when Griffiths or Mathewson did anything proactively aside from cheerleading, and this is when they decide to step up and assert their tenacity. And excuse me but didn’t Ron Martin just campaign on a theme of transparency?
Now the latest Griffithism is to profusely apologize and offer to rescind the sanctions? He should consider resigning instead.
Regardless of this wishy washy backpedalling, this brand of “leadership” only serves to discourage talented professionals from volunteering to help our schools, in exchange for controlling the release of truth. The preference for appearance over reality is exactly what we as members of the public are fed up with. That’s all the sunshine I need. We don’t need feelgood cheerleaders, we need more watchdogs like John Dick. Keep that in mind next time you vote.
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