Three Upper Keys organizations want county commissioners to hear from local residents regarding issues over traffic through a listening session on Tuesday, May 20 at the former courthouse building on Plantation Key. County commissioners aren’t expected to attend the listening session, however, due to other obligations including a ribbon-cutting at the Key West airport on May 20 and a commission meeting in Key West the next day on May 21.
In addition, county officials say the Sunshine Act prevents county commissioners from attending the session organized by the Keys Accountability Project, Islamorada Community Alliance and Tavernier Community Association. Together, the group invited commissioners and members of the public to the listening session to address issues of heavy congestion and traffic safety along U.S. 1 in the Upper Keys.
Per the communication, the session initially would give residents an allotted three minutes to speak on their experiences and concerns regarding traffic. At the end of the listening session, county commissioners would have three minutes to speak and respond to constituent concerns while presenting possible solutions.
“ICA, KAP and TCA are dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in the Florida Keys,” reads the invitation. “Your presence at this Listening Session ensures that the voices of our community are heard by their elected officials, and that actionable steps will be proposed and taken.”
Upon receiving a certified letter, commissioner Michelle Lincoln told the three organizations via email that commissioners wouldn’t be able to participate in the meeting due to sunshine laws. Per County Attorney Bob Shillinger, “While this event seems well intentioned, the announced format is a recipe for a potential sunshine law violation should more than one of you (commissioners) attend and speak on matters that are reasonably foreseeable to come before you for a vote.”
In addition, Shillinger expressed concerns over whether minutes would be taken — and by whom — a key component of complying with sunshine law, which governs public meetings and communication among elected officials.
“To make matters worse, the three-minute speaking limit being placed on each of you (commissioners) has potential to take this session out of the realm of a ‘public meeting,’ which a clever prosecutor or civil plaintiff could use as further evidence of a sunshine violation. In public meetings, public officials generally have an unlimited ability to speak subject to their own adopted rules. The announced format is not consistent with that.”
In her email, Lincoln said a notified BOCC workshop, where everyone in the audience would be allowed to speak with commissioners responding, would be the best way to remedy the situation.
In response to Lincoln’s email, the organization replied by stating the sunshine law prohibits commissioners from conducting official business behind closed doors and out of the sunshine of the public discussion. But when officials do not consider official business, the sunshine law doesn’t apply.
“As with these common types of events, our Listening Session will not include any official business because we have eliminated the Commissioner response section of the event. Commissioners need only to listen,” stated KAP, ICA and TCA. “This removes that portion of the program identified by County Attorney Shillinger whereby … ‘a clever prosecutor or civil plaintiff could use as further evidence of a sunshine violation.’ Commissioners will not be asked to speak in any capacity.”
Despite the concerns from the county, the organizations are still requesting commissioners’ attendance to hear from residents about problems on U.S. 1. Organizers note the meeting is not just regarding traffic issues due to the installation of new water transmission main in Islamorada, but more the issues of overcapacity and backups due to accidents, events and more development.
The listening session, which will go from 6 to 8 p.m., will be held at the old courthouse building at 53 High Point Road on Plantation Key.
