The Palm Beach Post editorial board: Confusing the public

This appeared in The Palm Beach Post today, a "Point of View" on Everglades restoration:

Our state is proud to be the Sunshine State. Our “Sunshine Laws” are second to none. Let’s have this debate — in the sunshine. Shady deal-making in Tallahassee is not the way.

Who wrote these lines isn't important. What's sad is it got past the editorial board in the first place. Public confusion about the Sunshine Law abounds; even people involved in government sometimes misunderstand. Two things get confused quite often: the Sunshine Law and the open records laws.

Simply put, the Sunshine Law doesn't apply to the state legislature. Period. But many people believe it does. It applies to those elected or appointed persons, on the same advisory or governing board, and they may not communicate about matters that may or will come before their particular board. If more than two are gathered to talk about an issue, there has to be a published agenda, notice of the meeting and minutes need to be taken. But this only applies to county and local governments, not the state legislature.

You would think that Post editorial board would know this. Maybe they don't. Maybe they do. The Sunshine Law is very specific and very clear on what elected and appointed officials can and cannot do. The Sunshine Law is also very specific about who must comply with the law. Those four sentences published in the Post confuse the public.