Palm Beach council OKs resolution to join pending suit against state's controversial finance law

The Palm Beach Town Council has voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to join a budding litigation effort against Florida's controversial new financial disclosure law. Since the law's implementation, Florida has experienced a mass exodus of elected officials.

“Thirty-four officials (resigned) in Palm Beach County,” Mayor Danielle H. Moore told her colleagues during Tuesday's regular Town Council meeting.

In Manalapan, the wealthy town south of Palm Beach, the six-member Town Commission saw four of its members resign over the past few months along with former Mayor Stewart Satter. Stepping down from the commission because of Form 6 were Aileen Carlucci, Kristin Rosen, Richard Granara and Chauncey Johnstone.

All of the commission seats were subsequently filled by new appointees, with former Vice Mayor John Dees stepping into the mayor's seat.

Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman, the South Florida-based government and business firm spearheading the litigation effort, brought the resolution before the council for approval.

Resolution 005-2024 says the firm will represent Palm Beach in its lawsuit against the state law. Beyond challenging the law, the resolution also states that the planned lawsuit will include seeking injunctive relief for elected officials.

As of Tuesday's meeting, no Palm Beach council member had completed Form 6, the extensive financial disclosure form part of the financial disclosure law, Florida SB 774.

Passed during the 2023 Florida Legislative Session, the law requires city and municipal elected officials to file a Form 6, a public disclosure of an official’s exact net worth, 401(k) plans and personal assets and liabilities over $1,000.

“Just figuring out what falls under the personal assets is a challenge in itself,” Moore told the Daily News. Citing antiques as an example, she said, “how are they supposed to know what's worth $1,000 without paying for an appraiser?”

Prior to the passing of the new law, town and municipal officials were required to fill out the more limited “Form 1,” a disclosure which did not require officials to list their net worth or exact values of their personal property, except for properties valued at over $10,000.

Under both forms, officials also are required to fill out a “secondary income” section, where they list clients who make up more than 10% of their business’ income if the official owns more than 5% of the business. The new law also requires officials to name clients whose businesses have given them more than $1,000. Under Form 1, the margin was $5,000.

Elected officials who did not plan to comply with the new law were given until Dec. 31 to resign. However, as is the case with Palm Beach’s Town Council, those who did not resign have until July 1 — with a grace period of no penalties until Sept. 1 — to file.

Officials who fail to comply with the law then could face a daily fine of $25 and, if their noncompliance continues, their eventual removal from office.

While state lawmakers championed the law as increasing government transparency, the resolution that won approval from the town argues that the disclosure violates the privacy rights of elected officials; potentially puts their safety at-risk regarding crimes like identity theft, burglary and extortion; and deters citizens from running for office.

The resolution said the law also violates due process since it affects sitting officials who were elected without those requirements.

“The legal theories are based on (Florida’s) the rights of privacy and free speech,” Town Attorney Joanne O’Connor said of the resolution.

However, the litigation process won’t begin until at least 10 municipalities join the effort.

According to O’Connor, two unnamed municipalities have already signed on, while Jupiter and Martin County’s Jupiter Island planned to discuss the resolution during their meetings Tuesday.

Some members of Jupiter Island’s Town Commission voiced strong interest in joining the litigation effort, possibly after the Florida legislative session.

The Daily News was unable to reach Jupiter officials. 

O’Connor asked if the council wished to remove the threshold of 10 municipalities for initiating the legal process.

“I don’t have any problem with it,” Council President Margaret Zeidman said.

Council Member Lew Crampton, while supportive of the resolution, emphasized the need to correctly frame the town’s opposition.

“The problem is, the headline is town fights law that makes officials more accountable,” Crampton said.

Town Manager Kirk Blouin expressed concern that the resolution would negatively affect the town's relationship with the state government.

“We also do cooperate with (the) state on a lot of other issues … a lot of state-funded projects, and we’re the recipients of grants,” Blouin. “I don’t want to spoil that relationship, at least until we find out more information.”

Addressing Blouin’s concern, Council Member Julie Araskog said any retaliation can be dealt with.

“If they punish us due to a stance on legislation … we can also go after them for retaliation, unfair retaliation,” she said.

O’Connor said there was still time to discuss the lawsuit before voting on the resolution, but council members decided to vote.

“I think we move forward. This is too important,” Araskog said.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to clarify that not all members of the Jupiter Island Town Commission supported joining the litigation effort.

Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach council OKs joining pending suit against new finance law