Blog: Publisher’s Decision On Consolidation Committee Service

May 18, 2009

One of the 25 seats on the commission created by the Florida Legislature to study governmental consolidation was offered to the publisher of NorthEscambia.com by Escambia Commissioner Kevin White.

But after much thought and consideration, I will decline to accept the position. The simple answer? Florida’s “Sunshine Law”.  The longer answer? For that, let’s take a look at some background.

Background

Each Escambia County Commissioner is allowed one appointee to the study commission that was created by the Legislature to draft a proposal  that would combine the governments of Century, Pensacola and Escambia County into one, if approved by voters.  Once a consolidation plan is created by the study commission, it is to be submitted to the Escambia County Commission, the City of Pensacola and the Town of Century for action before submission to the Escambia County legislative delegation by January 15, 2010. Once approved by the legislature, the plan would be presented to Escambia County voters.

A person that serves on the committee is not necessarily for or against consolidation. The commission will not study if there should be consolidation. It will create a plan for consolidation that goes into effect if approved by the voters according to a bill already signed by the governor. A special interest group “All For One” lobbied the Florida Legislature to mandate the creation of the commission, and a bill sponsored by Rep. Greg Evers passed this past session to create the study committee.

The question of whether or not there should be a consolidated government will be answered by the voters in 2010.

The Need

The idea of serving on the consolidation committee seemed like a very good thing in the beginning. The committee will be made up of  25 members, very few of which will have connection whatsoever directly to North Escambia, District 5 or anything north of 9 Mile Road.

As publisher of NorthEscambia.com, I have seen the interests and needs of North Escambia residents, and NorthEscambia.com has worked to give our communities a real voice in this county. Serving on the committee would have been a great opportunity for your voices to be heard directly in the creation of the consolidation document.

The Sunshine Law

But another serious question became more important. After consulting with a couple of attorneys and the Florida Attorney General’s Office, there would very likely be a problem with serving on the consolidation committee and publishing NorthEscambia.com.

In a simple nutshell, Florida’s Open Government and Public Records laws, commonly called the “Sunshine Laws”, prohibit the member of a committee from speaking to any other committee member about items that will be voted on, or recommended by that committee. It turns out the whole “freedom of the press” thing can actually be constricted by the state’s open government laws.

If Mr. John Q. Public where chairman of the consolidation study commission, I could not call Mr. Public and ask him questions about the consolidation for a story on NorthEscambia.com. It was also the consensus of the attorneys that I spoke with, both of which are very versed in the Sunshine Laws, that I could not easily have an employee call Mr.  Public and ask those questions.

I could serve on the committee and report on what happens in any meeting. That would not be a problem. But presenting an issue to a committee member and questioning their motives following a meeting could not be done. A violation, by the way, is a criminal offense that can land you in jail.

I feel that I can best work to ensure that the commission does not forget North Escambia as a journalist, not as a committee member. It’s no secret — I don’t believe this 25 member committee will have the best interests of North Escambia in mind. I really doubt that many of them will even understand much about North Escambia beyond what they have seen at 65 mph along Highway 29.

As a journalist, I can present the issues and questions directly to each and every committee member and the public as often and as strongly as I wish.  As a committee member, my input would be limited to only meetings.

As a journalist, I can call committee members and ask how they plan to vote on a particular issue and print those answers, thereby possibly influencing the total vote of the commission. As a committee member, I could not.

If I were a committee member, the only consolidation commission reports you would read on NorthEscambia.com would be from meetings themselves. Residents of North Escambia would have to rely on the Pensacola News Journal and Channel 3 to look out for our interests with the hard hitting, direct questions with North Escambia in mind. Yeah, right.

At this point, it is not a matter whether you are for or against consolidation. What matters at this point is the fact the legislature, because of Greg Evers’ bill, has mandated the creation of the consolidation commission and plan. We must as the communities of North Escambia fight to make sure we are not forgotten in the document headed to voters, just in case it should pass.

It’s much like hurricane season. You can very much not want a hurricane, but when the warnings are issued you better get prepared to defend your position.

As a journalist, I will continue to represent North Escambia stronger than would ever be possible as a consolidation committee member. Each of you have served to make NorthEscambia.com a powerful voice. As a committee member, I would have been once voice in the process. As NorthEscambia.com, we will be thousands and thousands of voices, and votes, looking out for our neighbors.

I invite your comments below.

Comments

8 Responses to “Blog: Publisher’s Decision On Consolidation Committee Service”

  1. E.M.D. on May 18th, 2009 9:53 pm

    I think Lawson should be on the committee.

    As for you, William, let me know when you are going to run for President. If you haven’t changed, I will support you with gladness and sadness. Gladness that there is someone running for President who cares about his constituents more than about his own interests in money and power. :D Saddness, because we would cease to have The North Escambia News. :(

  2. me on May 18th, 2009 6:47 pm

    I feel that you made the best decision for all of us – the Sunshine laws like everything else have their pro and cons – this being one of the cons – I wonder if there is someone else that you may know and be able to suggest to the committee that would be a “local” voice, to replacve your spot?

    Thank you so much for all that you do for us – Yours is the ONLY site that I read several times a day. I can’t imagine the amout of time and sacrifice that you put forth for all of us. Much appreciation and hopefully you will continue with this venture for many years to come – I just hope that you can manage to get some sleep and an occasional vacation! Thanks again

  3. Bob on May 18th, 2009 8:38 am

    Dear Sir. I don’t know how you managed to cross our trail in this area but you have provided a very valuable service to the residents of N.E. I could keep on printing words but simply put, I thank you very much.

  4. T S on May 18th, 2009 8:09 am

    Thank you for caring about North Escambia… this site is the first one I read every day…. You care about the community and it shows…. Keep up the VERY GOOD work.

  5. Walnut Hill Roy on May 18th, 2009 7:10 am

    I believe that it was Ben Franklin who said: “Never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel!” (The press in those days.)

    It’s unfortunate that this county has the same problem with elections that some states have; that the population of a large city can overrule the wishes of the geographical majority with their larger population. I understand and respect William’s reasons for not being on the committee; however, I still feel that we need someone with a strong local interest on that committee. Even if they are not passed by the majority of the members of the committee, we need someone who can make the motions that will benefit North Escambia.

    I don’t believe that we have the population necessary to affect the outcome of an election, therefore, a man on the inside will trump 1000 on the outside.

  6. Jack Moran on May 18th, 2009 6:40 am

    Good work, William. Wise. We need wisdom & understanding.

    Glad you caught the Sunshine issue. NorthEscambia.com is too valuable to us to be choked by a technicality.

  7. Lawson on May 18th, 2009 5:47 am

    I respect your decision and I am glad you took the time to check out the legality of it all.

  8. bob hudson on May 18th, 2009 5:27 am

    Thank you Sir for your service, and for Northescambia. com. At least we have one voice that will speak the truth.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under Blog, News