"Closed Door" City Commission meeting tomorrow - 12/9

Elected officials can meet in a closed door session under the State's Sunshine Laws, but there are certain requirements. Section 286.011(8), Florida Statutes reads as follows:

(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), any board or commission of any state agency or authority or any agency or authority of any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision, and the chief administrative or executive officer of the governmental entity, may meet in private with the entity's attorney to discuss pending litigation to which the entity is presently a party before a court or administrative agency, provided that the following conditions are met:

(a) The entity's attorney shall advise the entity at a public meeting that he or she desires advice concerning the litigation.

(b) The subject matter of the meeting shall be confined to settlement negotiations or strategy sessions related to litigation expenditures.

(c) The entire session shall be recorded by a certified court reporter. The reporter shall record the times of commencement and termination of the session, all discussion and proceedings, the names of all persons present at any time, and the names of all persons speaking. No portion of the session shall be off the record. The court reporter's notes shall be fully transcribed and filed with the entity's clerk within a reasonable time after the meeting.

(d) The entity shall give reasonable public notice of the time and date of the attorney-client session and the names of persons who will be attending the session. The session shall commence at an open meeting at which the persons chairing the meeting shall announce the commencement and estimated length of the attorney-client session and the names of the persons attending. At the conclusion of the attorney-client session, the meeting shall be reopened, and the person chairing the meeting shall announce the termination of the session.

(e) The transcript shall be made part of the public record upon conclusion of the litigation.

I really think that the City has to state what "the litigation" is - I would assume by title. The City of Lake Worth chose not to do this in their notice. How else are we to know that subject matter concerns an item related to currently pending litigation? One, however, is left to believe that it might be over the Greater Bay lawsuit. Perhaps we are not including it to conceal the lawsuit from the County? Wouldn't the Palm Beach County Commission, who is poised to grant the City $5 million, have an interest in whether or not there was an existing lawsuit regarding this property and the City of Lake Worth?

This is how the Town of Palm Beach provides notice of a closed door session. Note that they specifically mention the case under discussion: