Local governments’ adoption and use of new technologies is refreshing and commendable, but there will be growing pains in many areas, including the Florida’s Sunshine and Public Records laws.
CORAL SPRINGS – There are still some technicalities to work out, but after a nod from the Florida Attorney General's Office, the city plans to debut on Facebook within months.
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“It might wind up being the best way for us to communicate regularly, easily and efficiently,” he said.
While Coral Springs isn’t the first city to have a Facebook page (Tamarac and Pompano Beach already beat them to it), it is the first city to ask the state for a legal opinion about the social networking tool, said Sandi Copes, communications director for the attorney general.
The city still must work out how to retain copies of Web pages for public inspection, to comply with the state’s open records law, said City Attorney Sam Goren. “It has to be retained in the computer system,” he said.
The question is how to make the Facebook page comply with state law, said City Manager Michael Levinson. “And to what extent. That’s what we’re looking at now.”
The rest is easy: The state said commissioners can’t talk to each other on Facebook since that would violate the Sunshine Law requirement that politicians discuss city business in the open. And comments posted to the city’s page by its “friends” will be public, too.
Florida’s public records and Sunshine laws safeguard the public’s right of access to government records and proceedings. Memos and e-mails, for example, are public records that must be disclosed to residents upon request.
