DeSantis imposes secrecy and destroys Florida’s long tradition of open government | Opinion

A series of scandals in the 1970s led Florida to adopt some of the nation’s strictest requirements for governmental transparency. With a few exceptions, all meetings of public officials must be publicized in advance and open to the public. In addition, government documents and records are supposed to be promptly provided when they’re requested.

Gov. Reubin Askew and the other reformers who championed open government back in the 1970s deliberately made it more difficult for future lawmakers to create exemptions. Doing so now requires separate bills approved by a two-thirds majority in the Legislature and then the governor’s signature.

Historically, this was a reach, but it isn’t as much of an obstacle now that the party of a governor who’s uncomfortable with open government has a compliant supermajority in the legislature.

Notably, the first six Florida governors who followed Askew — Bob Graham, Bob Martinez, Lawton Chiles, Jeb Bush, Charlie Crist and Rick Scott — generally complied with the law rather than deny or delay records requests.

Now, however, Gov. Ron DeSantis is repeatedly demonstrating that he’s about as fond of open government as he is of Democrats, Disney and drag queens. The last-minute disclosure of plans to add intrusive features at nine of Florida’s state parks was typical of this administration’s preference to act behind closed doors.

The Department of Environmental Protection has fired whistleblower James Gaddis, the DEP cartographer who leaked the state park plans. His abrupt termination was undoubtedly intended as a chilling message to any other potential whistleblowers.

DeSantis’ aversion to open government has also been on display in the realm of higher education, where added layers of secrecy now surround the hiring of university presidents.

The lack of transparency arguably has led to worrisome missteps at Florida Atlantic University and, most recently, at the University of Florida, where the handpicked President Ben Sasse, a former Republican Senator from Nebraska, resigned after only 17 months on the job.

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is asking the state university system to investigate Sasse’s profligate spending, which included hundreds of thousands of dollars in dubious travel expenses and the exorbitant salaries paid to his former associates in Washington D.C. and Nebraska.

Yet the most egregious example of DeSantis’ trashing of Florida’s tradition of open government is his administration’s refusal to release information about the cost and other details of his travels when he was campaigning for president. The Washington Post, with support from other media organizations, has sued to obtain this information. DeSantis’ lawyers are fighting the request, using the specious argument the releasing information about his travels two years ago would somehow place him and his family in danger now.

Leon County Circuit Judge Jonathan Sjostrom has promised to render a decision soon. If DeSantis loses, expect an appeal to higher courts, eventually including a Florida Supreme Court packed with DeSantis’ appointees.

DeSantis’ argument that releasing the information would undermine his security was undercut last week when Darrick Waller, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent familiar with the agency’s protection protocols, testified under oath that releasing such information would not pose a danger to anyone.

It took courage for Waller to testify because FDLE had previously fired Shane Desguin, who has filed a whistleblower lawsuit in which the former FDLE chief of staff alleges that DeSantis’ office routinely stonewalled legitimate public records requests pertaining to the governor’s travels.

As for the underlying issue of stifling information about political rallies, it seems oddly counterintuitive to the whole culture of politics. Typically, such rallies are well publicized so they’ll be well attended. After all, as Donald Trump seems obsessed with pointing out, when it comes to these kinds of crowds, size matters.

Robert F. Sanchez, of Tallahassee, is a former member of the Miami Herald Editorial Board. He writes for the Herald’s conservative opinion newsletter, Right to the Point. It’s weekly, and it’s free. To subscribe, go to miamiherald.com/righttothepoint.

This story was originally published September 6, 2024 at 5:00 AM.