North Port to clarify meeting guidelines to ensure Sunshine Law compliance

Earle Kimel, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·3 min read
North Port city commissioners directed staff to craft language to clearly separate the process of establishing a team-building retreat and strategic planning workshop at their Oct. 11 meeting. The need to do so grew out of questions raised about an April 20 retreat that some observers considered a violation of Florida’s open meetings laws. Pictured from left: Commissioner Debbie McDowell, Commissioner Alice White, Mayor Pete Emrich, Vice Mayor Barbara Langdon, and Commissioner Jill Luke.

NORTH PORT – The North Port City Commission will separate team-building sessions from strategic planning workshops, with strategic planning being handled in advertised meetings with recorded minutes.

Some observers – including City Commissioner Debbie McDowell – questioned whether an April 20 strategic planning retreat by the board violated Florida's open government laws.

At that meeting – which was  neither legally advertised nor open to the public – facilitator Doug Thomas, a vice president with Strategic Government Resources, posted a slide listing what commissioners had told him in one-on-one meetings were accomplishments they wanted to see as their legacy for the city.

Related: Did North Port 'retreat' violate Sunshine Law?

Earlier: North Port commission won't seek attorney general opinion on retreat

In the eyes of several observers, notably Sarasota paralegal Michael Barfield, an open government advocate, the discussion that followed was a violation of Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine law.

In addition to that, the meeting was available to select city staff via a live YouTube stream and some residents were allowed into the room.

“There were members of the public in this chamber and that was very disconcerting,” McDowell said this week.

McDowell, whose management style was criticized during that meeting, took offense to both of those issues and voiced her displeasure at a May public workshop.

At a subsequent board meeting, McDowell made a motion to ask the office of Attorney General Ashley Moody for a legal opinion on how state open meeting laws should apply to such meetings.

Her motion died for lack of a second.

On Tuesday, City Commissioner Jill Luke brought the topic up again.

City Clerk Heather Taylor had surveyed surrounding municipalities and consulted clerks in her professional association and learned that municipalities always handle strategic planning in a meeting that’s publicly noticed with an agenda.

Team-building retreats could be offsite with a prohibition of any discussion of city business and attendance of city department heads.

Luke stressed that the city needs a policy that sets a clear distinction between strategic planning and a retreat, “which is simply that – team building.”

McDowell contacted the state attorney general's office that had a broader interpretation.

“She said every time we meet, it’s to do city business,” McDowell said, then added that even team-building could be construed as such.

Vice Mayor Barbara Langdon agreed with Luke, that team-building isn’t city business.

“It’s more of an opportunity for us to get to know each other better, to know our work styles and communication styles,” Langdon said. “A lot of items when there’s a failure to communicate, it’s the way we go about it.”

She later added that it would make sense to restrict outside attendance of team-building gatherings to charter offices and not department heads.

Luke ultimately moved for a resolution to clarify the definition of a retreat and that strategic planning only be conducted during a noticed workshop.

That motion, which was seconded by Langdon, passed unanimously.

In other action

Also on Tuesday, the North Port City Commission:

• Approved spending $4,700 from public art fund contributions on creation of a mural on the sponsorship wall at the North Port Aquatic Center.

• Approved a resolution authorizing the Peace River Manasota Water Supply Authority to build Phase 2B of an inter-connection project.

On Oct. 6, in a meeting that was postponed from Sept. 26, the commission:

• Approved, in a 4-1 vote with City Commissioner Debbie McDowell dissenting, an 8% pay increase for City Manager Jerome Fletcher. McDowell favored capping the raise at the same 4% given other charter officers

• Approved a budget amendment to pay the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County $151,000, which represented a contribution for two fiscal years.

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: North Port to clarify rules on retreats to avoid Sunshine Law problems