South Florida Sun-Sentinel
May 30, 2019
Rarely has Florida’s Cabinet received so much attention — for all the wrong reasons.
For the first time in Florida history, Gov. Ron DeSantis and three elected Cabinet members met on foreign soil Wednesday at the U.S. embassy annex in Jerusalem — more than 6,000 miles and seven time zones away.
Problem was, there was no way for Average Joe to exercise his constitutional right to attend unless he was able to buy a $1,300 round-trip airline ticket.
Florida news outlets tried to prevent the meeting from happening, but Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey of Tallahassee dismissed the complaint, ruling that Florida’s top officials couldn’t be served overseas.
Consider the message this ruling sends government leaders at all levels: If you want to keep the public out of a public meeting, meet outside the state. Need a retreat? Hawaii, here we come.
