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AveriuraNOVEMBER 5, 2015 -
9:30 A.M.
5th Floor Executive Conference Room
Aventura Government Center
19200 W. Country Club Drive • Aventura, Florida • 33180
MEETING AGENDA
1. Call to Order/Roll Call
2. Selection of Commission Chair
3. Procedures
4. Meeting Schedule
5. Issues/Revisions
6. Adjournment
This meeting is open to the public. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, all persons who are
disabled and who need special accommodations to participate in this meeting because of that disability should contact the
Office of the City Clerk,305-466-8901,not later than two days prior to such proceeding. One or more members of the City
of Aventura Commission and/or Advisory Boards may be in attendance and may discuss matters which may later come
before their respective Commission and Boards.
Weiss Serota Hellman
•
Memo
To: City Commission Members (�
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From: David M. Wolpin, City Attorney's Office '1( (
Date: January 21, 2015
Subject: Sunshine Law Reminder
I. SUNSHINE LAW
A. The Provisions of the Law
The Florida Sunshine Law is provided by Section 286.011, Fla. Stat., entitled "Public
Meetings and Records; Public Inspection; Criminal and Civil Penalties" and provides in subsection
1 thereof as follows:
All meetings of any board or commission of any state agency or
authority or of any agency or authority of any county, municipal
corporation, or political subdivision, except as otherwise provided in
the Constitution, including meetings with or attended by any person
elected to such board or commission, but who has not yet taken
office, at which official acts are to be taken are declared to be public
meetings, open to the public at all times, and no resolution, rule, or
formal action shall be considered binding except as taken or made at
such meeting. The board or commission must provide reasonable
notice of all such meetings. (emphasis added)
B. Applicability
The City Commission, as well as committees or advisory boards created by the City
Commission or by the City Charter, must comply with the Sunshine Law. The Sunshine Law
prohibits two or more members of the same commission,board or body from discussing(i.e.: any
interchange of ideas) any item or matter of public business which may come before the body upon
which those two or more members both serve, except in an open public meeting, duly noticed, for
which minutes are kept. Compliance with the Sunshine Law requires that reasonable notice of the
meeting be given; that the meeting be open to the public; and that minutes of the meeting be kept
and provided.
It should be noted that the Sunshine Law also applies to advisory boards and to ad hoc
committees which are created for particular purposes. For example, if a screening committee were
established and composed of risk management directors from adjoining communities to help select
a risk management director for the City,the Sunshine Law would apply to such ad hoc committee,
unless the committee was confined to performing strictly a fact-finding role. Once an ad hoc
committee is given the authority to make recommendations, screen candidates or create a short list,
it is considered that the committee has gone beyond a fact-finding status and must comply with the
Sunshine Law. See Krause v. Reno, 366 So.2d 1244(Fla. 3d DCA 1979)
The wide sweep of the Sunshine Law forbids government board members from taking
actions which may seem perfectly reasonable and be done with the best of intentions. For example,
two or more members of the same board may attend a social function, only if any discussion
between members of any item which may come before the board is strictly avoided, or the social
function complies with the Sunshine Law requirements of public notice, public access and the
provision of minutes of the meeting. Likewise, members of the same board may attend a seminar
or lecture as members of the audience, without complying with the Sunshine Law provisions, so
long as any interchange of ideas between board members upon any matter which may come before
the board is strictly avoided.
C. Example of Situations Which May Arise
An illustrative example may be helpful. If two or more members of the City Commission
were to attend a meeting of a civic association, it would not be advisable for either of the City
Commissioners to engage in a discussion or presentation at such meeting (upon any matter which
may come before the Commission) in the presence of the other City Commissioners, unless the
meeting complies with the requirements of the Sunshine Law. If City Commissioners attend such a
meeting which has not been duly noticed, and one City Commissioner proceeds to speak, the other
City Commissioners should absent themselves from the room. (This example likewise applies to
advisory board members,as to matters within the jurisdiction of the board).
D. Recommendations
The following recommendations are respectfully offered to City Commissioners in an effort
to assist in compliance with the Sunshine Law. These recommendations would likewise apply to
City boards and committees and the members of such boards and committees.
1. Do not pass around a memorandum from one member of the Commission to
another for signature, initial or check-off indicating approval or disapproval of a proposal. This
may be viewed as an unlawful meeting.
2. Do not hold a social luncheon or other social gathering of two or more members of
the Commission, which is not open to the public and duly noticed, unless any discussion of the
business of the Commission is strictly avoided.
3. Do not utilize a staff person or any third party to create an indirect discussion or
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interchange between two or more Commissioners on City business.
4. Do not privately poll or canvas other Commissioners by telephone or otherwise to
obtain their approval or lack of objection to the business of the Commission. (Staff should also
avoid this since Commissioners may ask what other members said and the staff response may create
an indirect discussion of the public business by two or more members. Nor should staff use this
approach to obtain a piece-by-piece decision of the Commission.)1
5. Even if only giving or seeking information, a Commissioner cannot talk to another
member of the same Commission about any City matter which is within the scope of the business
of such Commission that may come before such members, except at a duly-noticed public meeting.
One Commission or advisory board member should not write ( by email or otherwise) to or
copy another member of the same body on which the writer serves on a matter within the
jurisdiction of the body, since this may invite a prohibited interchange of ideas if the recipient
who serves on the same body replies. (A Commissioner or advisory board member may prepare a
memorandum for inclusion in a public meeting Agenda).
6. A Commissioner may discuss City business with an individual member of a
different City board not composed of members of the Commission,so long as he or she does not go
from one member of that board to another member of that board communicating what has been
said.
7. Please do not proceed when in doubt about whether a proposed action is allowed
under the Sunshine Law. Request the City Attorney's opinion. Leave the room, if necessary, and
protect yourself and the City.
8. Avoid making inspection trips with other Commissioners. Since discussion may
easily ensue,reasonable public notice must be provided.
9. Do not forget that for all required public meetings,reasonable notice must be given,
public access must be allowed,and minutes must be made for public inspection.
10. Be advised that the State Attorney General opined that the Sunshine Law applies to
the action of just one council, commission or board member when that member has been delegated
a portion of the decision-making authority by the body upon which he serves. The Attorney
General has determined that if a Commissioner has been authorized, formally or informally, to
exercise any decision-making authority on behalf of the Commission, such as approving or
rejecting certain contract provisions, he or she is acting on behalf of the Commission and such
meetings are subject to the Sunshine Law. See Attorney General Opinion 90-17.
1/ This does not preclude the City Manager or City Attorney from separately asking
each Commissioner his or her position on an issue, so long as such process is not a substitute for
any required consideration as a body and the thoughts of the members are not circulated through a
liaison approach.
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E. Necessity for Compliance
Compliance with the Sunshine Law is vital. Aside from potential invalidation of the
municipal action taken, the statute contains sanctions for non-compliance. A knowing violation is
punishable as a misdemeanor of the second degree by imprisonment for 60 days and a fine of up to
$500. Pursuant to a 1985 amendment to the statute, even an unknowing and unintentional violation
may result in a non-criminal infraction punishable by a fine not exceeding$500.
The goal of the Sunshine Law is to forbid members of a government board from secretly
dealing with the public business. The statute has been broadly interpreted by the courts so as to
achieve that goal. Commissioners and other board members must utilize great caution, lest their
public service be rewarded with fines,penalties and unnecessary aggravation.
DMW/1/21/15
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