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Removal of City Hall Transparency Kiosk Sparks Criticism

Government Technology by Nicole Rodriguez, Sarasota Herald-Tribune 

April 30, 2018

(TNS) — SARASOTA, Fla. — Instant public access to the emails of hundreds of Sarasota city officials and employees has been restricted by the city in a move some citizens and public records experts call an abandonment of transparency and erosion of public trust.

The removal more than a year ago of a city hall kiosk containing access to the emails of hundreds of city employees only recently gained attention after some commissioners discovered immediate access to the emails was revoked. Public access to emails is available online, but only a fraction of the previously viewable emails are shown, prompting an increase in public records requests, citizen complaints and questions about the city’s motives.

“Government should never be in the business of making it more difficult for citizens to find out how they are being governed,” said Michael Barfield, president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and an expert on Florida’s Public Records Act and Sunshine Law.

“Generally, the city does a good job at being transparent, but in this case, it was a step back,” Barfield added.

The online portal shows only emails between two or more of the five elected commissioners, city manager, city attorney and city auditor and clerk. The state’s Sunshine Law, which prohibits elected officials from discussing public business outside of a public meeting, means there are likely no emails among commissioners.

City hall watchdog and former commission candidate Martin Hyde estimates less than 10 percent of the previously accessible emails are available online.

“This, to my mind, is an egregious backdoor attempt to shutting down the legitimate route for the public to know what’s going on at city hall,” Hyde said at a recent commission meeting. “As it stands now, the only way to get information is to know of the existence of a subject in the first place and to ask for the information under a public records request. There is no honest reason to do this.” [READ MORE]

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