Editorial: Why is Broward Mayor Dale Holness hiding information about COVID-19?
Everyweek, Broward County invites the mayors of its 31 cities and towns to join a conference call to discuss the most challenging public health crisis in Florida history: COVID-19.
Broward Mayor Dale Holness convenes the call and is often joined by County Administrator Bertha Henry or one of her assistants, hospital executives, public health officials and business leaders. In one recent call, the group discussed howmany Broward residents are dying every day, how and where the virus is spreading, and the county’s three-day rolling average of positive tests.
But Holness refuses to let you— and the news media, on your behalf— listen in.
That needs to change. Now. With lives and livelihoods on the line, Broward citizens have a right to knowwhat our elected leaders know, and what is being discussed or planned as a result.
Anumber of leading mayors agree. “Are we hiding something?” Margate Mayor Tommy Ruzza no posted on Facebook after last Friday’ s call .“Thank you to all the mayors that agreed and questioned why the meetings were not open or recorded.”
“We’re talking about things that impact the public,” Pompano Beach Mayor Rex Hardin told us. “People should have every right to hear what’s going on.”
Mayors Dean Trantalis of Fort Lauderdale, Bill Ganz of Deerfield Beach, Lori Lew ellen of Dania Beach, Christine Hunch of sky of Parkland, Judy Paul of Davie, Lou Sarbone of Coconut Creek and Joy Cooper of Hallandale Beach also are on record as supporting the public’s right to know.
“By invitation only”
For four months now, the South Florida Sun Sentinel has urged Holness to open up these meetings, but it’s only gotten worse. In July, after reporters Lisa Huriash and Wells Dusenbury also requested the audio recordings of past meetings, Holness went so far as to stop recording the calls.
Last Friday, editorial writer Steve Bousquet tried again. He called into the meeting, identified himself and asked to listen in. An operator said the call was “by invitation only, fromthe office of themayor” and disconnected him. At least one private citizen, Bob Swindell, head of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, was allowed to remain on the line.
What is Holness hiding?
Sure, it’s tough to be criticized in public, and from what our reporters heard in the recordings of the first 11calls, the mayors have raised concerns about the county’s lack of contact tracing, its follow-the-leader posture toward Miami-Dade, its timid county health director, its refusal to open beaches and its habit of issuing surprise orders on Friday nights.
Framed as “polling the mayors,” Holness has held at least one vote without public input. In May, he said 13mayors voted yes on the question of whether gyms should be reopened, 11voted no, two were undecided and the rest did not vote.
Ruzzano says Holness promised to poll the mayors on whether the meetings should be open to the public or recorded, too, but has yet to call the roll.
Holness maintains that letting the public listen in would “blindside” the mayors. Our lawyer maintains that by anyone’s account, four months is sufficient heads-up.
“This group of mayors is essentially functioning as a board that casts votes— all without input fromthe public and without permitting the press to inform the public of how these decisions are being made,” Sun Sentinel attorney Daniela B. Abratt wrote in a Monday email to Holness and Broward’s 31 city mayors, along with a number of government attorneys.
“This runs afoul of both the text and the spirit of the Sunshine Laws.”
Florida’s Sunshine Law requires public access if two or more members of the same board— elected or appointed— meet to discuss a matter on which they are likely to take action.
On at least one call, our reporters discovered two members of the same city commission participating. County Attorney Andrew Meyers advised cities that that cannot happen. Absent outside eyes, you’ll have to trust that it’s not.
Holness’s choice
Holness does not have to allow public access to the Mayor’s Conference Call because its participants aren’t part of an official government body. And since he doesn’t have to, it seems he doesn’t want to.
Holness is in charge because he’s this year’s county mayor, a ceremonial position that annually rotates among the nine commissioners. (Broward voters do not get to elect the county mayor. Afew months ago, commissioners rejected an effort thatwould have given voters that option, saying today’s system isn’t broken.)
As we’ve said before, the quasi-government Mayor’ s Conference Call represents a new structure of local government, one that’s blossomed in the vacuum of Broward’s fractured power structure. For while close to 2million people call this county home, all but 27,000 live within a city’s boundaries, giving Broward’s cities much more local influence than those in most Florida counties.
During emergencies like the pandemic or hurricanes, however, emergency orders grant the county special powers. Still, because the county needs the cities’ communication and enforcement arms, it convenes conference calls to keep everyone in the loop and cooperating.
During past emergencies, County Administrator Henry has convened such calls with city managers, dodging the issue of elected leaders talking in secret. At a state level, former Gov. Rick Scott also convened information-sharing calls with city mayors, though he didn’t take votes or let the media listen in. Since the pandemic began, city mayors tell us that Gov. Ron DeSantis has yet to convene a call with them.
Who’s being blindsided?
It must be said that there is no expectation of confidentiality coming out of these calls. After last Friday’s call, Mayor Hunschofsky of Parkland, the Democratic nominee for a state House seat, posted a summary on her Facebook page. Read it and decide whether this is the public’s business.
“Deputy County Administrator confirmed that bars in Bro ward County will remain closed. She stated that while our percent positivity rate has been under5% for the past 14 days, we will not see the effects of Labor Day weekend until 8 days afterward. She mentioned she remains hopeful for additional openings in the upcoming weeks. Also, they are starting to write face mask violations. Business violations are down. Complaint volumes are also down20%.… Some of the mayors requests included easing the restrictions on HOA pools, allowing VFW halls to open (they currently fall under the bar restrictions) and opening countertop dining in restaurants (this also currently falls under the bar restrictions) to the 50% that is allowed for dining roomdining.”
Holness’s next meeting is scheduled for Friday. We encourage him to let the public and its media representatives listen in. We encourage every city mayor to demand transparency. Andwe encourage our state lawmakers to draft legislation that ensures public access to such information-sharing calls while emergency orders stand in place.
It is the people of Broward County who are being blindsided with these calls.
It’s time to stop the secrecy.