Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Cabinet meeting deemed unofficial
Critics say ‘ceremonial’ trip to Israel violates state’s Sunshine Law
TALLAHASSEE – A meeting of the Florida Cabinet next week in Israel will be “ceremonial” and not official, according to an itinerary of the weeklong trip to the Middle Eastern country released by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office Thursday.
Open government advocates had questioned whether the meeting would comply with Florida’s Sunshine Laws requiring meetings to be noticed and available to the public to attend.
Helen Ferre, told the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday there would be no substantive action taken involving state government business but that the meeting would not be merely ceremonial.
“I never affirmed or confirmed that official business was going to occur. What I said to (the Orlando Sentinel) was: I didn’t want to call it ceremonial because it will be substantive and historic,” Ferre stated in an email Thursday. “It is will be an important fact-gathering meeting. This meeting of Florida Cabinet members is not considering board or agency business; it will be an information gathering meeting where they will listen to Israeli best practices on issues of mutual interest for Florida and Israel, such as water resources and security.”
An agenda for the meeting, in the works for more than a month, was posted online Wednesday, showing there would be no official action taken, but there would be a resolution honoring the “IsraeliFlorida relationship” and three presentations on victims of terror, water quality and emergency management. Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation, a Tallahassee-based open government advocacy group, said calling the meeting ceremonial doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to comply with the law if public business is being discussed.
“The fact that the (Governor’s office) is saying the meeting is ceremonial doesn’t mean anything in terms of the right of access,” Petersen said in an email.
The meeting will take place Wednesday in the afternoon Israeli time at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, but no official time of the meeting has been revealed.
A note at the bottom of the agenda states “this agenda does not involve the composition of any collegial body consisting of the Governor and Cabinet as a board, commission, or otherwise.”
The state constitution states that “all meetings of any collegial public body of the executive branch of state government … at which official acts are to be taken or at which public business of such body is to be transacted or discussed, shall be open and noticed to the public.”
Because the meeting is being held in a foreign country, Florida can’t guarantee entry to the meeting because Israel controls who can enter the country. It has detained people involved in a boycott protest against it over its treatment of the West Bank and Gaza.
In October, a University of Florida student was detained for weeks for being involved in a boycott protest, but that decision was later overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.
In addition to the meeting, DeSantis and Cabinet members – Attorney General Ashley Moody, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis – will take part in business development meetings and panel discussions on Florida issues like tourism.
A retinue of nearly 100 will take part in the trip, including 32 state and local elected officials, members of academia, business leaders and religious leaders.