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Home My WebLink AboutHandouts_Historic_Tab 02_09/20/2016 Lori McWilliams From: Lori McWilliams Sent: 1Nednesday, September 07, 2016 12:04 PM To: 'Keith Davis' Subject: RE: History Committee Okay, I will let the committee know and let them know they now need to file a financial disclosure. From: Keith Davis [mailto:Keith@cwda-legal.com] Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2016 2:10 PM To: Lori McWilliams <Imcwilliams@tequesta.org> Subject: RE: History Committee Mimecast Attachment Protection has created safe copies of your attachments. Lori: I I've been thinking on this one for a while because I was not landing at the same underlying premise that this is not a board subject to Sunshine law requirements. This is a committee that the Village Council appoints. This committee is the final say on what it does, what. it collects, and how the history of the Village is kept. They are more than just fact — finders. They decide what will be archived, catalogued, and kept. They decide whom to interview and they decide how th Village's history will be presented for public access view. I terms o wor ing with Village staff, they have access to , Village resources (limited resources, yes, but nevertheless, resources). Therefore, our (I kicked this around with Jennifer as well) opinion based on the above is that this is a sunshine committee. The 3 specific questions you pose below are all implicated by this Sunshine Law (as you know). If this will create procedural issues for this committee, we can discuss changing it from a Council appointed board to a privately organized group. This would eliminate it from Sunshine law requirements, but I suppose will create other challenges in terms of interfacing with Village staff and resources. Specific answers to the 3 questions are therefore : 1. Yes. 2. They can work on board business in groups whenever they want to so long it's noticed, etc. 3. The e-mail correspondence back and forth regarding the board's work would not be allowed. I have attached text from 2 informal AGOs which I also find instructive on the topic; feel free to read them if you like. I know this is not what you were hoping to hear from me on this topic. We can discuss further when convenient for you. � V � U n d.t✓ `�-� G��2i/![.s p�'c,� Keith W. Davis, Esquire Attorney � �k�t�rr � �� . � ,_ � . � ��- �� . ..�, T �. ¢ �� f '� �11 n �� 1 . � , �� aC-�--r �W��c;. . �� I��'i� ��[�. �1�I,��i'�N, t�;�: 701 Northpoint Parkway, Suite 205 West Palm Beach, Florida 33407 Tel: (561) 586-7116 Fax: (561) 586-9611 Email: Keith@CWDA-le�al.com Please make a note of our new business address Incoming e-mails are filtered which may delay receipt. This e-mail is personal to the named recipient(s) and may be privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you received this in error. If so, any review, dissemination, or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. Please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the original message. From: Lori McWilliams [mailto:lmcwilliams@tequesta.or�] Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2016 4:22 PM To: Keith Davis <Keith@cwda-le�al.com> Subject: Re: History Committee They gather historical memorabilia, catalog it, and archive it. They will be holdin� interviews with long time residents on the Village and archive them. They may from time to time sponsor a day where people can come in and look at the archives. That's it. Sent from my iPhone On Aug 24, 2016, at 2:18 PM, Keith Davis <KeithC�cwda-le�aLcom> wrote: <image002.gi� Lori: What DOES this group do? I know it is appointed by the Village Council, but I am not clear what its role is in Village government. Keith W. Davis, Esquire ' Attorney <image003.jpg> ' <image004.jpg> 701 Northpoint Parkway, Suite 205 West Palm Beach, Florida 33407 ' TeL• (561) 586-7116 Fax: (561) 586-9611 Email: Keith@CWDA-le�al.com Please make a note of our new business address Incomin e-mails are filtered which ma dela recei t. This e-mail is ersonal to the named reci i nt s an ma b iv'I n g y y P ' ' e ( 1 � y e'r i ege� a d confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you received this in error. If so; any review, dissemination, or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. Please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the original message. � 2 : . , From: Lori McWilliams [rnailto:lmcwilliams@tequesta.or�] Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 201611:36 AM To: Keith Davis <Keith@cwda-le�al.com> Subject: History Committee Keith, I just had a history committee with my new group. We have a couple questions. The committee is not a sunshine committee as it doesn't make recommendations to Council and doesn't have any decision making authority. With that said: 1. Do we need to notice the meetings and do minutes? 2. The nature of the committee is to research, catalog and archive historical memorabilia. Can two or more members work together on this at any given time that is convenient for them without public notice and minutes being done? 3. Can they email each other? Thanks, Lori Lori McWilliams, MMC Village Clerk / PIO 561-768-0443 Imcwilliams@tequesta.orq Follow us on Facebook This email has been scanned for email related threats and delivered safely by Mimecast. For more information please visit http://www.mimecast.com This email has been scanned for email related threats and delivered safely by Mimecast. For more information please visit http://www.mimecast.com � 3 ' � J GOVERNMENT-IN-THE-SUNS HINE-MANUAL PART I GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE LAW A. WHAT IS THE SCOPE OF TI�E SUNSHINE LAW? Floridas Government in the Sunshine Law, s. 286.011, F.S., commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law, provides a ri ht of access to overnmental roceedin s of ublic boards or commissions at both the state and local eve s. e aw is equally applicable to elected and appointed boards, and ��lies to an��atherin� of two or more members of the same bo^rd to discuss some matter which will foreseeablv come before that board for action. Members-elect to such boards or commissions are also subject to the Sunshine Law, even though they have not yet taken office. There are three basic requirements of s. 286.011, F.S.: (1) meetings of public boards or commissions must be open to the public; (2) reasonable notice of such meetings must be given; and � (3) minutes of the meetings must be taken and promptly recorded. �� The complete text of the Government in the Sunshine Law and related statutes may be found in Appendix B. A constitutional right of access to meetings of collegial public bodies is recognized in Art. I, s. 24, Fla. Const. See Frankenmuth Mutual Insurdnce Company v. Magaha, 769 So. 2d 1012, 1021 (Fla. 2000), noting that the Sunshine Law "is of both constitutional and statutory dimension:' Virtually all collegial public bodies are covered by the open meetings mandate of this constitutional provision with the exception of the judiciary and the state Legislature, which has its own constitutional provision requiring access. 1he only exceptions are those established by law or by the Constitution. The complete text of Art. I, s. 24, Fla. Const., may be found in Append'vc A of this manual. S. WHAT AGENCIES ARE COVERED BY THE SUNSHINE LAW? 1. Are all public agencies subject to the Sunshine Law? 1he Government in the Sunshine Law applies to "any board or commission of any state agency or authority or of any agency or authority of any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision." The statute thus applies to public collegial bodies within this state, at the local as well as state level. City of Miami Beach v. Berns, 245 So. 2d 38 (Fla. 1971). "All governmental entities in Florida are subject to the requirements of the Sunshine Law unless specifically exempted:' Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government v. City of Sarasotu, 48 So. 3d 755, 762 (Fla. 2010). The Sunshine Law is equally applicable to elected and appointed boards or commissions. AGO 73-223. Special district boards (AGO 74-169) and boards created by interlocal agreement (AGO 84-1 � are also included. And see Inf. Op. to Martelli, July 20, 2009 (State Fair Authority, created by statute as a public corporation, subject to Sunshine Law). Cf. Turner v. TT7ainwright, 379 So. 2d 148, 155 (Fla. lst DCA 1980), a, fJirmed and remanded, 389 So. 2d 1181 (Fla. 1980) (legislative requirement that certain board meetings must be open to the public does not imply that the board could meet privately to discuss other matters). 2. Are advisory boazds which make recommendations or committees established only for fact-finding subject to the Sunshine Law? a. Publicly created advisory boards which make recommendations Advisory boards and committees created by public agencies may be subject to the Sunshine Law, even though their recommendations are not binding upon the entities that create them. , 1he "dispositive question' is whether the committee has been delegated "decision-making authori ," as opposed to mere "information-gathering or fact-finding au ority." Sdrasota Citizens for Responsible Government v. City o arasota, o. , a. ). "Where 02 GOVERNMENT-IN-THE-SUNSHINE-MANUAL the committee has been delegated decision-making authority, the committee's meetings must be open to public scrutiny, regardless of the review procedures eventually used by the traditional � governmental body." Id. For example, in Town of Palm Beach v. Gradison, 296 So. 2d 473 (Fla. 1974), a citizen planning committee appointed by a city council to assist in revision of zoning ordinances was found to be subject to the Sunshine Law The Gradison court, concluding that the committee served as the alter ego of the council in making tentative decisions, stated that "any committee established by the Town Council to act in any type of advisory capacity would be subject to the provisions of the government in the sunshine law" Id. at 476. See a/so Spillis Candela er Partners, Inc. v. Centszist Savings Bank, 535 So. 2d 694, 695 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988) (committee which compiled a report that was perfunctorily accepted by the board made a significant ruling affecting decision-making process and was subject to s. 286.011; an "ad hoc advisory board, even if its power is limited to making recommendations to a public agency and even if it possesses no authority to bind the agency in any way, is subject to the Sunshine Law'); and Lyon v. Lake County, 765 So. 2d 785 (Fla. Sth DCA 2000) (Sunshine Law applies to site plan review committee created by county ordinance to serve in an advisory capacity to the county manager). Accord AGOs 98-13 (citizen advisory committee appointed by city council to make recommendations to the council regarding city government and ciry services), and 01-84 (school advisory council created pursuant to former s. 229.58 [now s. 1001.452], F.S). The Sunshine Law does not establish a lesser standard for members of advisory committees that are subject to the Sunshine Law See Monroe County v. Pigeon Key Historical Park, Inc., 647 So. 2d 857, 869 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) ("[T]he Sunshine Law equally binds all members of governmental bodies, be they advisory committee members or elected officials"). Accordingly, in the absence of statutory exemption, any gathering of two or more members to discuss any matter on which foreseeable action may be taken must be open to the public, noticed to the public, and minutes kept. b. Advisory committees appointed by a single public of�'icial The Sunshine Law applies to advisory committees appointed by a single public of�icial as well as those appointed by a collegial board. For example, in �ood v. Marston, 442 So. 2d 934 (Fla. 1983), the Florida Supreme Court determined that the Sunshine Law applied to an ad hoc advisory committee appointed by a university president to screen applications and make recommendations for the position of law school dean, because the committee, in deciding which applicants to reject from further consideration, performed a policy-based, decision-making function. See also Silver Express Company v. District Board of Lower Tribunal Trustees, 691 So. 2d 1099 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997) (committee established by agency purchasing director to consider and rank various contract proposals subject to Sunshine Law). Accord OS-OS (fact that advisory group was created by chief of police and not city commission and its recommendations were made to police chief would not remove group from ambit of the Sunshine Law); 85-76 (ad hoc committee appointed by mayor for purpose of making recommendations concerning legislation); 87-42 (ad hoc committee appointed by mayor to meet with Chamber of Commerce and draft proposal for transfer of city propeny); and Inf. Op. to Lamar, August 2, 1993 (uansition team appointed by mayor to make recommendations regarding governmental reorganization). c. Fact-finding committees A limited exception to the applicability of the Sunshine I.aw to advisory committees has been recognized for advisory committees established for fact-finding only. "�$1s.Qffi_mittee is not sub'ect to the Sunshine Law if the committee has only been dele ated information- atherin or fact-findin� au ority and only conducts such activities. Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government v. City of Sarasota, 48 So. 3d 755 762 (Fla. 2010). See also Cape Publications, Inc. _ v. City of Palm Bdy, 473 So. 2d 222 (Fla. Sth DCA 1985). Accord AGO 95-06 (when a group, on behalf of a public entity, functions solely as a fact-finder or information gatherer with no decision-making authority, no "board or commissiori' subject to the Sunshine Law is created). "In determining whether a committee is subject to the Sunshine Law, the actual function 03