COVID-19 vs Florida Sunshine laws as Ron DeSantis approves virtual meetings

Updated: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an emergency order on Friday that suspends the Florida statutes that require a quorum be present in person for government meetings and that they be conducted in a specific public place.

This means that the Miami city commission, which had been pushing for the approval, might be able to meet on what Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla said would be a “limited agenda” on COVID-19 issues either teleconferencing or by video. ADLP pressured his pal, Senate President Bill Galvano, to pressure the governor to allow the meetings.

And he has already requested a special emergency meeting for 6 p.m. Monday.

But will the public get a chance to listen or chime in?

“This is being done precisely so that all Miami residents know what their government is doing in the sunshine,” Diaz de la Portilla texted Ladra. “The legalities have been dealt with, now IT needs to handle the technology.”

The executive order “does not waive any other requirement under the Florida Constitution and ‘Florida’s Government in the Sunshine Laws,’ including Chapter 286, Florida Statutes,”

Florida League of Cities General Counsel Kraig Conn sent out a memo to all municipal attorneys and officers explaining that the general requirements of the Sunshine Law under Section 286.011 “are reasonable notice of the meeting, that the meeting be open to the public (such as using communications media technology under this Executive Order) and that minutes be prepared.”

Reportedly, that is why there hasn’t been a meeting scheduled yet. City Attorney Victoria Mendez and others City Hallers working from home were trying Friday afternoon to figure out a way to comply with the law that requires public participation, which was not waived in the governor’s order.

“The City is working hard to ensure the public can participate fully in these virtual meetings,” Mendez told Ladra in an email.

Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, who is one of four commissioners running for mayor, also immediately asked Commission Chairwoman Audrey Edmonson to schedule an “emergency briefing call” for Monday to update the commissioners on the latest coronavirus respsonse and “to urge the mayor to activate our Emergency Operations to Level 1.”

She said the matters were too important to leave until the next commission meeting, which is scheduled for April 7 at the Adrienne Arsht Center, where commissioners, their staff and the public can adhere to the Center for Disease Control recommendations of staying six feet apart. That’s gonna look weird. but at least it allows for public participation in person in a way that they can’t be cut off or deprived access because they don’t have internet.

“I believe it’s imperative that we have a full briefing on our community’s response and next steps that are coming from our state and federal partners,” she wrote. She also wants a briefing from Jackson Health System’s President and CEO Carlos Migoya.

“There has been no opportunity for commissioners in a formal way to weigh in and have input,” Levine Cava told Ladra Friday.

The commissioner has requested to reserve legislation on several items she wants to discuss right away:

A resolution to express support for Governor Ron DeSantis’ activation of the Emergency Business Damage Assessment Survey for Coronavirus (COVID-19), and direct the Mayor to use available County resources to share the survey with businesses in Miami-Dade, encourage local businesses to participate, obtain county specific results and share those results with the commissioners.
A request to use a portion of the county’s budget reserves to address the county’s response to COVID-19 and address economic recovery for small businesses and families
A resolution to direct the mayor to explore the creation of a sick leave pool for county contractors in which the time can be donated by county employees for contractors whose employees take sick days related to the pandemic.

Commissioner Xavier Suarez and Joe Martinez have also said they have been frustrated with the way some measures have been taken unilaterally by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez without any input from the commissioners or even many civic leaders. After closing all private institutions on Thursday morning, Gimenez got a letter from the presidents of Florida Memorial, Barry and St. Thomas universities asking him to reconsider for the students who lived on campus and could not get home. That is why the mayor had to issue an addendum allowing for university residences to remain open but for education to be online.

Said Suarez, who posted the letter from the university presidents on his twitter hours before Gimenez made the addendum or clarification late Thursday: “There needs to be more transparency and more ability for us to weigh in.”