The Economic Development/Tourism Committee, headed by County Commissioner Sara Comander, is working to get the word out about DeFuniak Springs by attracting new visitors and residents to the area.
The all-volunteer committee meets every two weeks to brainstorm new ideas, meet with community leaders and plan upcoming events. The group spear-headed the recent Snow Bird Day event, and is planning a First Friday Night event in May, among other things.
The group has made a practice of recording its meetings, but, to-date, we have not seen any sort of minutes or written recording of its sessions on the city’s website.
What we have noticed is that, at the close of the March 6 meeting, Comander wraps up the meeting this way: “If we could adjourn the meeting… If we have no other comments… so we can turn the recorder off… I have something I want to (unintelligible).”
We find ourselves wondering what Comander needed to say that couldn’t be included on the recording. What was it that Comander couldn’t, or wouldn’t, say on the audio?
We are not seeking an argument about Comander’s contributions to this community. We are simply addressing the fact that she said something to the committee that presumably was not intended for public consumption.
Incidents like this one do nothing to further the cause of transparency within our government. In fact, it serves to reinforce the recent finding by the Center for Public Integrity that Florida’s state government received a C- in a state integrity investigation.
It underscores the finding by WLRN | Miami Herald News that Florida has a national reputation for its Public Records Law and yet, one of the state’s lowest scores was for “Public Access to Information.”
In light of recent violations of the Sunshine Law in our local government, it isn’t surprising. And it isn’t acceptable. And Comander, as an elected government official, should know better.