Cities joining suit over disclosure rules

New law has led to mass resignations of elected officials across the state

A growing number of cities in South Florida and other parts of the state are joining a planned lawsuit against a finance disclosure law that has led numerous elected city and town officials to resign.

The new law’s proponents say filling out more detailed financial forms will provide more transparency, while the law’s opponents say it’s an intrusion of privacy and risks their safety. In recent months, more than 125 city elected officials have resigned in Florida as a result of this law, according to Jamie Alan Cole, the Weston city attorney spearheading the effort to challenge the law.

Under the law, city and municipal elected officials must file a Form 6, a public disclosure detailing their exact net worth, 401(k) plans and personal assets and liabilities over $1,000. It already has been a requirement for more than a decade for county commissioners, state lawmakers and the governor.

But Cole said the new requirements for city and town politicians is “more intrusive and detailed disclosures than any other state and the federal government. Even the president, vice president and senators’ (disclosure requirements) is less than a Form 6.”

Why does the public need to know the value of the “stamps and coins in your house, what does that have to do with fighting corruption?” Cole said. “It violates their privacy, potentially exposes them to extortion, burglary, kidnapping, identity theft.”

Before the change that went into effect Jan. 1, some city officials filed a less extensive form that didn’t disclose net worth or names of business clients. It listed assets and liabilities over $10,000 and required sources of income but not dollar amounts.

Planning a legal challenge

The legal challenge is seeking a “declaration that the law is invalid” as well as an injunction, Cole said.

The law went into effect on Jan. 1 but the first forms are not due until July 1. Anyone in non-compliance faces daily fines of $25 and there’s a maximum up to $1,500.

Cole said the lawsuit will be filed in early February.

Among the cities that have already committed to join are:

„ ■ The town of Palm Beach and Delray Beach in Palm Beach County.

„ ■ Cooper City, Coral Springs, Lighthouse Point and Weston in Broward County.

„ ■ Golden Beach, Indian Creek,

Miami Springs, North Bay Village and Bal Harbour in Miami-Dade County. The village of Key Biscayne is one of the most recent to join. „

■ Safety Harbor in Pinellas County. „

■ Marco Island in Collier County.

„ ■ St. Augustine in St. Johns County.

The decision for Lighthouse Point to join the lawsuit was unanimous. Mayor Kyle Van Buskirk said at least three people thought about running for office in the March election, but chose not to because of the form.

There were only two open commission seats and there was no competition, so no election. Commissioners earn $1,800 a year for their service, he said. He said he wasn’t against the idea of transparency, but it made some potential commissioners fearful.

“People told us Form 6 stopped them from running,” the mayor said. “People are going to know the value of every asset you own? You could be a victim of crime.”

The Coral Springs City Commission recently voted unanimously to join the lawsuit, citing invasion of privacy and unfair judgments of their finances. “I never heard of any of my citizens say, ‘Mayor, I’d like you to give me more of your financial information,’ “Mayor Scott Brook said. “I don’t think it’s meant to inform. Whether it was intended to harass, many of us feel it’s too much of an invasion of privacy.”

Cole said there’s the potential that more cities will decide to join.

The city of Margate is among those that have yet to vote on it, but Vice Mayor Arlene Schwartz is going to push for Margate to join the list.

When the law passed, “it was a shocker,” Schwartz said. “It’s tremendously invasive.”

According to news reports, many elected officials have resigned across Florida.Among them:

„ ■ More than two dozen officials have resigned across Palm Beach County, reported the publication Stet Media Group in December. In Manalapan, the six-member Town Commission saw four of its members resign along with the former mayor, the Palm Beach Daily News reported.

„ ■ The Orlando Sentinel surveyed all local governments in Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties, and found that as of last month eight elected officials have resigned — including two in Edgewood, one in Casselberry, and one in Windermere, and four in Belle Isle.

„ ■ At least 18 elected officials in nine Pinellas County municipalities, and three in Pasco County have left office or were set to resign because of the law, according to the Tampa Bay Times in December.

Backing the new law

Despite some cities’ concerns, State Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, who sponsored the Senate version of the legislation, argues the new finance-oriented law will boost accountability.

Taxpayers deserve transparency and “if a simple disclosure that hundreds of other elected officials already do makes someone quit, then voters should be glad,” Brodeur said in a written statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“City officials, presumably with the highest spending authority and the lowest vote count thresholds, have very little transparency, so the bill lined them up with everyone else in public office,” he wrote.