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Minutes 02-05-04 • MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY'BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, 208 SOUTH SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2004 AT 6:00 P.M. Present Beverly Agee, Chairperson Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Jean Cairo, Vice Chairperson David Tolces, Assistant City Attorney Joan Pleasants Floyd Beil, Voting Alternate Phyllis Pacilli, Voting Alternate Kyle Dencker, Student Absent Lillian Artis Jacqueline "Kelly" Daniels _ Erica Hammond Dennis Osborne I. Pledge Chairperson Agee called the meeting to order at 6:23 p.m. and led members in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared a quorum was present. • III. Minutes: January 8, 2004 . Chairperson Agee requested that the motion cited on Page 4 of the minutes be changed to reflect that the motion carried 6-1 with Chairperson Agee dissenting and not unanimously as indicated in the minutes. Ms. Farace requested that a copy of the corrected minutes be forwarded to her. IV. Public Audience None V. 'Chair's Report— Assistant City Attorney David Tolces Sunshine Law/Public Records Update Chairperson Agee introduced Attorney Tolces. Attorney Tolces thanked the Board for allowing him to address the Board and explained that City Attorney Jim Cherof has Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 5, 2003 asked the Assistant City Attorneys to provide updates on the Sunshine Law, Public Records and the Florida Ethics Law to all City advisory boards. The applicable statutes that he would be referencing were distributed and members should feel free to ask questions at anytime. • Sunshine Law The Florida Sunshine Law is covered in the Florida Statutes in Section 286.011. The purpose of the Sunshine Law is to ensure that the public has access to its government. The three basic requirements of the Sunshine Law are that all meetings must be open to the public, properly noticed, and minutes taken. This would apply to any meetings of elected or appointed boards at which some kind of action will be taken. Notices: Notices of meetings are usually prepared by the Board Liaison or the City Clerk's Office by posting in City Hall and the Library, advising the public that the Education Advisory Board will be meeting at a certain time and place. Minutes: The City Clerk's Office provides the minutes for all City Boards by recording, preparing, publishing and distributing them for approval by the Board. All minutes are kept on file and are available to the public through the City Clerk's Office. The purpose of these requirements is to ensure that the public is aware of what is happening, to make sure that the integrity of the process is maintained, and nothing is done behind closed doors. Attorney Tolces explained that any gathering of two or more Board members, at which matters that would be coming before the Board are discussed, is considered a public meeting for Sunshine Law purposes. Vice Chair Cairo noted that the Board held a program entitled Principal for a Day that required a lot of work. Invitations had to be sent and members were concerned if two or more Board members did some of this work at the same time it would have to be done as a public meeting. Attorney Tolces responded that it would depend upon what was being done. He did not think that preparing a letter and then printing and copying the letter would necessitate a meeting. The persons performing those functions would not necessarily be discussing items that would be coming before the Board that would require action, especially if the Board had previously authorized these functions. Ms. Farace questioned this because she recalled the last time Attorney Cherof gave a presentation on the Sunshine Law to the Board, he said that any time two or more members are together, it would be considered a meeting. Chairperson Agee said that the Board acted on this requirement and it caused a great hardship and negated having sub-committee meetings. Attorney Tolces said that a sub-committee meeting was different than just performing approved functions. Ms. Pacilli said that they were not 2 - r • , Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 5, 2003 having meetings, but merely performing the necessary work for the program and it was very difficult getting these functions done. Ms. Farace requested that Attorney Tolces speak with City Attorney Cherof for clarification of this issue. Attorney Tolces pointed out that if the members did get together to perform these functions they must be cognizant at all times of what they discuss. Also, he pointed out that members cannot meet in someone's home to conduct public business. Attorney Tolces read from Section (1) of 286.011 that stated "all meetings of any board... except as otherwise provided in the Constitution, at which official acts are to be taken are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times, and no resolution, rule, or formal action shall be considered binding except as taken or made at such meeting." Therefore, the issue is what are those members doing when two or three members are getting together. He did not think that this would apply to making copies, stuffing envelopes, making calls, etc. However, he will speak to City Attorney Cherof and provide a memo to the members and Ms. Farace. Dr. Bell said that with these stringent laws, it is very difficult to get things done and it posed a problem with keeping members on the Board. Attorney Tolces referred to Section (3)(a) that states, "Any public officer who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a noncriminal infraction, punishable by fine not exceeding $500." Section (b) states that if "a member knowingly violates the provisions of this section by attending a meeting not held in accordance with the provisions hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in Section 775.082 and Section 775.083." Ms. Pleasants felt that the key word was "logistics" and asked for the definition of "logistics." Attorney Tolces said he would look into this. He explained that they are City Attorneys and do offer advice to the Board members. However, if a Board member feels that they need their own legal representation, it would be to their benefit to do so. Next discussed was communication by E-mail and telephone and these are prohibited under the Sunshine Law. Board members are not allowed to exchange information through E-mail or on the telephone, which would be a violation of the Sunshine Law. • Public Records Any document handled by a Board member in connection with work on the Board is considered public record. The Public Records Law is discussed in greater detail in the handout. Section 119.011(1) defines public records to include "all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recording, data processing software, or other material, regardless of the physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any agency." This means that any action taken by this Board is considered official business of the agency (the City). The public has the right to access records and requests are normally done through the City Clerk's Office. 3 - . -` • • Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 5, 2003 When Board members receive correspondence or E-mails, they should provide copies to Ms. Farace so that they can be kept for public record. If records are kept, but not produced, the City could be sued. If the judge determines that the City did not comply with the law, the City would have to pay the attorney fees of the person requesting the records. Attorney Tolces stressed that any correspondence or information received by Board members should be turned over to Ms. Farace for distribution and filing. All Board members should have the same information when decisions need to be made. Also, any notes that Board members take are considered public record and should be retained. Ms. Pleasants inquired that if the Board decides to send out a letter, does that letter, after it has been approved, have to be brought back to the Board. Attorney Tolces responded that If the letter and its contents had been previously authorized, it would not be necessary to bring it back; however, a copy must be maintained for public record. Attorney Tolces recommended that members read Section 119.07, which he provided that deals with inspection, examination, and duplication of records, as well as exemptions. • Ethics and Voting Conflicts Attorney Tolces reported that under Florida Law, each Board member isrequired to vote on an item, unless a Board member has a conflict. If a member has a conflict, they must abstain from voting. A conflict could be considered a financial benefit or loss to that member, spouse, relative, business, clients of their business, or their employer. When a member abstains, it must be declared on the record as well as the reason for abstaining. The City Clerk has a form that must be completed and filed with that Office. Ms. Farace inquired if a Board member left the room when a vote on a motion was' being considered, does it have to be noted in the record. Attorney Tolces responded that if the Board wanted to have a policy to do this, it would be permissible. Chairperson Agee thanked Attorney Tolces for his informative presentation and requested that it be done on a yearly basis for new members. (Mr. Decker left the meeting at 7:07 p.m.) Recess was declared at 7:10 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 7:17 p.m. Discussion ensued about starting the meetings later in order to obtain a quorum. Dr. Beil thought that the Board had previously voted to change the meeting time to 6:15 p.m. Chairperson Agee stated that this was voted upon at a prior meeting. Members agreed that the meetings would start at 6:15 p.m., beginning with the March meeting. • 4