July 28, 2016 – Florida Politics
by Peter Schorsch
What a difference four years can make. Especially in the world of politics.
Elected officials change their positions. Sometimes it can happen when new facts emerge, or because of a desire to follow the will of the people who elected them to serve. And then there are the other scenarios.
Take my friend Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano.
In 2012, Florida’s First Amendment Foundation gave him the Friend of the First Amendment award in part for complaining that the Public Service Commission was demonstrating a “lack of access to public records.”
Last week, Fasano posted comments on social media condemning a person for asking his office for public records. “We received public records request for Tax Collector personnel file from @AlexHolzbach Data Targeting. Shame!”
The beauty of Florida’s Sunshine laws is that anyone can ask for any document and does not need to provide a reason. Have we entered an era where someone receiving a paycheck from the taxpayers feels that it’s acceptable to shame people requesting records? [READ MORE]