Now here’s a first: Some people think the ethical standards for Florida elected officials are too strict.
The result is a growing exodus of public officials who are quitting in protest of a new state law that took effect New Year’s Day. It requires them to reveal more of their personal finances than they want to, or than they did when they took office. Some consider this overly intrusive, and rather than comply, they are resigning, especially in small towns.
This overreaction is unnecessary. But anyone who is so hostile to state ethics laws probably should not run for public office.
The root of this controversy is this: After years of inaction, the Legislature last year finally changed the law to require municipal elected officials to disclose the same level of personal financial detail as school board members, sheriffs, county commissioners and legislators, not to mention the governor and Cabinet members.
Form 1 and Form 6
The old law allowed city officials to skirt full transparency by filing a bare-bones statement known as Form 1, listing only sources of income, not amounts. The new law requires them to electronically submit a Form 6 and disclose amounts of all income, assets and debts over $1,000 including bank accounts, cash, addresses and values of property owned and major clients of their business representing 10% or more of a firm’s annual income. They also must list a net worth, the value of assets minus debts.
“Cash on hand?” asked an incredulous Cooper City Mayor Greg Ross, president of the Florida League of Cities. He predicts a “chilling effect” with fewer good people running for office, but said he will comply: “I’m filling it out.”
That’s the right decision. As we said in an editorial on this subject in support of the stricter law back when the Legislature was debating it, the old system created an unjustifiable double standard. People are just as entitled to ethical safeguards at City Hall as at the school district. Why must school board members in Liberty County (population: 7,900) have to fully disclose their finances, but the mayor of Miami (population: 440,000) does not?
A statewide backlash
The Form 6 backlash, which applies to about 2,600 people statewide, is being felt in many places. Three of five elected council members in the village of North Palm Beach, including Mayor David Norris, resigned rather than file Form 6. Nowhere has resistance been more intense than in Palm Beach County, where so far, 24 elected officials in 11 municipalities have quit, according to WLRN.
Four council members resigned in St. Pete Beach and four more in McIntosh, a town near Gainesville. According to multiple reports, officials have resigned in Bartow, Bradenton Beach, Cedar Key, Daytona Beach Shores, Deltona, Dunnellon, Eagle Lake, Fort Myers Beach, High Springs, Inglis, Jacksonville Beach, Lake City, Orange City, Sanibel and Williston.
We understand the privacy concerns, especially in an era of cyberthreats and identity theft. But pardon us for not shedding any crocodile tears, and shame on those few officials who have used scare tactics to exaggerate the law’s impact.
Financial disclosure has been the law of this state since 1976. In a state with a long history of corruption scandals, it acts as a safeguard against conflicts of interest and reaffirms the principle that a public office is a public trust.
A robust Form 6 will tell you things you should know — that the mayor owns land the city wants to buy, or why a commissioner has gotten so much richer while in office, or why another commissioner is so deeply in debt. The public has a right to know all this.
Some officials are especially upset that the information will be posted on the internet on the Commission on Ethics website, to which we say, welcome to 2024. (The commission offers a training video and a thorough explanation of how the new law works on the League of Cities’ website).
‘Truly abhorrent’
“I find it truly abhorrent that this piece of legislation was allowed to pass and that none of us were aware, until this late date, of the extensive and invasive overreach into what is and should remain our personal lives,” Casandra Jones wrote in her letter of resignation in Orange City, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
For the record, the law was championed by conservative Republicans with overwhelming bipartisan support. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 774 into law last May. Sponsored by Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, it passed the Senate, 35-5, and in the House by a vote of 113-2 (all seven of those no votes were cast by Democrats from Broward, Palm Beach and Orange counties).
After almost 50 years, it’s time for everyone in Florida to fully embrace full financial disclosure. An overwhelming 79% of Florida voters put it in the state Constitution in 1976 after the Legislature repeatedly refused to pass anything effective. It would be disastrous if the Legislature now overreacts and repeals the new law in a knee-jerk response to a flurry of resignations.
Then-Gov. Reubin Askew championed what was then called the “Sunshine Amendment” (not to be confused with the Sunshine Law, which covers open meetings). There was strong resistance then, too, but the people who were affected didn’t quit — they fought the Legislature in court, where they lost.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, opinion writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at .
