Hillsborough County Schools have been faced with difficult times along with everyone else. Hillsborough County school leaders have planned for a budget cut of $26 million by the end of this year. The problem they are now faced with is that they may see an additional budget loss.
The school district may see an additional budget cut of $28.9 million that they were not expecting. Right now people are looking towards our governor and Legislation to come up with more funding to provide money for education and other services.
Hillsborough County Schools have already stopped hiring new teachers; they have cut other jobs, travel, supplies and bus routes. Even though there isn’t room for more cuts, the economy’s downfall hasn’t stopped; which means more cuts will have to be made.
In total for the Hillsborough County school year, they are expected to have a pay cut around $54.9 million. The budget cuts still continue; there is an expected $30 million in cuts next school year, 2009-2010.
The budget cuts don’t stop at Hillsborough schools. Earlier this year, local media outlets have had to layoff employers. Back in June, Media General’s Tampa Tribune and WFLA-Ch. 8 planned to have involuntary layoffs of 21 positions in the newspaper’s editorial staff, and they also planned on a loss of 10 positions from the television station’s newsroom. Prior to the layoffs, Media General presented buyout offers to almost half of their employees in the Tampa Bay area.
Just last month, the Tampa Tribune had to layoff 18 newsroom employees. Top managers, mid-level editors, photographers, reporters, and some of the paper’s most visible faces lost their jobs. My opinion on this decision is that it came down to who would accept less pay. I don’t believe that the paper let go some of their best employers because of their performance, but rather made the decision based on what they could afford, and where they could save money. I hate to see what the economy has done to some of our Bay Area companies.
Families are taking the heat too. Although the morale of some employers have been affected, the hardest part for me to digest is to know that they can’t provide for their families in the same manner as before their job loss.
I believe Hillsborough County has fought the budget struggle as best as they could. I hate that people have lost their jobs, but our county can’t be responsible for the economy breakdown. Our upcoming generation of workers lay within our school’s hands, so I hope the budget cuts don’t begin taking away our much need teachers.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Profile: Arthenia L. Joyner
Arthenia L. Joyner is a member of the Florida Senate. She is a Democrat and has represented the 18th District of the Florida Senate since 2007. She was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2001 through 2006 representing the 59th District. This year, Joyner helped Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.Arthenia L. Joyner was born February 3, 1943 in Lakeland, Florida. Joyner lived in Lakeland until the late 1940’s when she and her family moved to Tampa. Her father, Henry Joyner, opened The Cotton Club, which was in the heart of Tampa’s black community. Joyner’s religious affiliation is African Methodist Episcopal and she enjoys spending her free time reading, traveling and walking.
While attending Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 1963, Joyner spent two weeks in jail after being arrested in an effort to desegregate movie theaters and churches in Tallahassee. (Three different websites had confirmed the arrest, but after looking further to hcso.tampa.fl.us, dc.state.fl.us, and lcso.leonfl.org/sheriff.htm, I could not find proper documentation to prove it.) In 1964, she graduated with her B.S. in Political Science. She became a teacher for a short time from 1964 until 1965. Joyner quoted, “We need to increase the salaries of our teachers because we’re $6,000 below the national average; and that just will not cut it.” Joyner became an attorney after graduating from Florida A&M University College of Law in 1968. “Justice should have not deadline,” Joyner stated.
Joyner is now 65 years old, and she is a founding partner in the Tampa Law Firm of Stewart, Joyner and Jordan-Holmes. Her current assets consist of her household goods, car and home. She has a law firm salary and her only liability is her mortgage.
After researching Arthenia Joyner on Opensecrets.org, I found she has contributed to multiple groups since 1993, begging with $500 towards the Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte. Her next contribution was $500 in 1994 to DNC Services Corp, then two in 1995 one for $1,000 to Bill Clinton (D) and the second was for $1,000 to the Democratic National Committee. The next contribution was in 1996 for $250 towards Sandra W. Freedman (D), and in 1999 she gave $1,000 to Al Gore (D). This year, Joyner also gave $500 to Hillary Clinton (D). Moneyline.cq.com confirmed Joyner’s contribution to Hillary Clinton, but the previous contributions did not show on this site.
According to the Hillsborough Property Appraisers, Arthenia L. Joyner currently lives in a single family home at 7810 N Whittier St in Tampa, FL 33617. The house has three bedrooms and two baths. In 2008 the just value was $135,691, assessed value was $91,455, exemptions were $50,000 and the taxable value was $41,455. According to the Tax Collector’s Office, Joyner has paid her property taxes in full since 2001, but they are still currently waiting for this year’s payment. She owns two other houses, one at 3219 Deerfield Dr and it is a two bedroom and one bath home. Her just, assessed and taxable values of this house were $88,704 this year, and she has paid her taxes every year since 2001 on this house. Her third house is located at 4604 Pompano Dr, and this is a two bedroom and two bath house. She has also paid her taxes for this house since 2001.
Joyner is not married and she doesn’t have any children. She has devoted her life to other activities such as committee memberships, legislative services, other public services and she has received multiple awards and honors.
Joyner’s legislative service include her being elected to the Senate in 2006, Minority (Democratic) Whip 2006-2008, House of Representatives 200-2006, Democratic Policy Chair 2004-2006, Democratic Floor Leader 2002-2004, Democratic Whip 2000-2002 and finally she was appointed by Speaker Bense to NCSL Law and Criminal Justice Committee.
This entire semester at USF, our class has been told to “Follow the money,” so I did just that…Followthemoney.org shows Joyner ran for District 18 in the Senate as a Democrat in 2006. It shows she won the election and she raised a total of $178,054. The bulk of the money raised was from Lawyers and Lobbyists, totaling $60,950. The least amount of money raised was from Candidate Contributions totaling $100. The state of Florida provided 86.8% of the total money collected and the other 13.2% was provided from out of state contributions. It was Tampa, Florida that provided the most money in Florida totaling $40,647.
Continuing through followthemoney.org I found that Joyner ran for District 59 in the House as a Democrat in 2004. She won this election after raising $30,669. This time Joyner received the most money from Health Sectors totaling $9,625 and second were Lawyers and Lobbyists totaling $5,500. Florida provided 92.4% of the contributions while 7.2% was from out of state, and 0.3% was from unknown locations.
Another election Joyner won was District 59 for the House as a Democrat in 2002. Followthemoney.org showed she raised $87,858 and Lawyers and Lobbyists provided the highest amount of money totaling $25,258. Eighty-eight point eight percent of the money was from Florida while 11.1% was from out of state, and only 0.1% was an unknown location.
Finally in 2000, Joyner won District 59 in the House as a Democrat after raising $92,421. About 1/3 of the money raised was from Lawyers and Lobbyists, and 84.3% of the money was from the state of Florida. The other 15.5% was from out of state while 0.2% was from an unknown location.
Votesmart.org shows multiple things about candidates. In Joyner’s case, she voted yes on many bills. Some bills she voted yes on were rejected while others passed. The bills Joyner voted for that did pass consisted of the Property Insurance Regulations in 2008, the Electronic Gaming Machines in 2008 and the Casino Regulations in 2007. Joyner also voted no on twenty-seven bills from 2006 through 2008 that did end up passing in the Senate.
Joyner has multiple other public services noted on her senate website. These services include:
- University Community Hospital Trustee, 1986-Present
- National Labor Caucus, Executive Committee, 2004
- Hillsborough Head Start Community Foundation Board, Inc., Board of Directors, 2002
- Federal Aviation Authority Management Advisory Council, 2000-2001
- Florida A&M University Foundation, Board of Directors, 1996-2000
- Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, 1991-1999
- Tampa Bay Partnership, Policy Board, 1993-1999
- U.S. Delegation United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, China, 1995
- Governor's Commission on African-American Affairs, 1993-1994
- Hillsborough County Overall Economic Development Committee, 1992-1994
- Tampa Economic Development Board, Board of Directors, 1992-1994
- U.S. Delegation World Population and Development Conference, Cairo, Egypt, 1994
- Clinton-Gore Administration, Justice-Civil Rights Transition Cluster, Senior Advisory Council, 1993
- Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, Board of Governors, Executive Committee,
- Minority Economic Development Council, 1990-1993
- Florida Supreme Court Racial and Ethnic Bias Commission, 1990-1991
- Governor's Commission on Government for the People, 1991
- Bay Area Legal Services, Board of Directors, 1977-1986, 1990
- City of Tampa General Employees Pension Fund, Board of Trustees, 1988-1990
- Hillsborough County Partners in Progress Committee, 1989
- Travelers Aid Society, Inc., Board of Directors, 1980-1988
- Governor's Task Force on the Black Family, 1986
- Helping Hand Day Nursery, Board of Directors, 1978-1986
- Hillsborough County Charter Review Board, 1985-1986
- State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Committee, 1984-1986
- Hillsborough Community Housing Resource Board, 1984-1985
- Criminal Justice Planning Council of Hillsborough County, Charter Member, 1974-1984
- Hillsborough County School Board, Citizen Advisory Committee, 1983-1984
- Florida Probation & Parole Qualifications Selection Committee, 1977
- YWCA, Board of Directors, 1976-1977
- Hillsborough County Nursing Home Ombudsman Committee, 1975
- Tampa Urban League, Board of Directors, 1975
- Legal Assistant to Representative Joe Lang Kershaw, Florida House of Representatives, 1969
Also noted on the Joyner website were her honors and awards. These include:
- Bible-Based Fellowship Church, Living Legend Award, 2006
- St. James House of Prayer Episcopal Church, Service Award, 2006
- Hillsborough County Sheriff and Tampa Urban League, Salute to Leadership Award, 2006
- Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa, Inc., Legislator of the Year Award, 2005
- The Florida League of Cities, Legislative Appreciation Award, 2005
- The Florida A&M University, Distinguished Community Service Award, 2005
- NAACP, Morris W. Milton Memorial Award, 2005
- Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, Rosemary Barkett Award, 2005
- Tampa Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, (ACORN), Representative of the Year Award, 2005
- Florida A&M University, College of Law, Outstanding Graduate Award, 2005
- Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers, West Coast Chapter, Appreciation Award, 2005
- Ferrell Middle Magnet School, Trailblazer Award, 2005
- 1st Amendment Foundation, Special Recognition Award, 2004
- Flemming Leadership Institute Fellowship, 2004
- Hillsborough Association of Women Lawyers, Achievement Award, 2004
- Friend of Florida Association of Women Lawyers Award, 2003
- Florida Consumer Action Network, Consumer Champion Award, 2002
- The Florida Bar, Celebration of Florida's First 150 Women Lawyers and the First 5
- African-American Women Lawyers, Honoree, 2000
- Airport Minority Advisory Council, Leadership Award, 1999
- Women of Distinction-Suncoast Girl Scouts Award, 1995
- George E. Edgecomb Bar Association, Francisco Rodriguez Award, 1993
- Leadership Florida, 1992-1993
- National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Officers', Achievement Award, 1993
- American Jewish Committee, Project Interchange's African-American Leaders Seminar in Israel, 1993
- National Bar Association, Women Lawyers Division, Founders Achievement Award, 1992
- The Charmettes Inc., Eunice Thompson Service Award, 1992
- College Hill Resident Council, Supporting The Struggle Award, 1991
- Executive Woman of the Year, 1990
- Leadership Tampa, 1988-1989
- Plant City Business and Professional Women's Club, Dedication and Outstanding Performance Award, 1989
- Bay Area Legal Services, Pro Bono Award, 1985-1988
- Governor's Distinguished Black Floridian Award, 1987
- Who's Who Among Black Americans, 1985
- Dollars and Sense Magazine, America's Top 100 Black Business and Professional Women, 1985
- Ebony Magazine, America's 100 Most Influential Black Americans, 1985
Her other affiliations noted on her senate website were:
- American Bar Association
- Florida Association of Women Lawyers
- George E. Edgecomb Bar Association, Hillsborough County
- Greater Tampa Urban League, Life Member
- Hillsborough Association of Women Lawyers
- Hillsborough County Bar Association, Board of Directors
- NAACP, Life Member
- National Association of Bond Lawyers
- The Florida Bar
- Links, Inc., National Parliamentarian 1997-2000
- Commissioners' Roundtable, Airports Council International, North America, Steering Committee and Vice Chair 1992-1999
- Legal Steering Committee, Airports Council International, North America 1995-1999
- Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida 1992-1996
- Judicial Nominating Commission, 13th Judicial Circuit, Chair 1993-1994
- National Coalition 100 Black Women, Inc., National Legal Counsel 1992-1993
- Delta Sigma Theta Inc., National Legal Advisor 1985-1992
- National Bar Association, President 1984-1985
- Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter National Bar Association, President 1974-1976
Joyner has showed her commitment to many organizations through her continued involvement. From my research, I find Joyner to be a strong willed and dedicated woman.
http://moneyline.cq.com/pml/search.do?indivName_0=Arthenia+joyner&matchType_0_indivName=c&electionCycleId=15<N=campaignFinance
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=Joyner&state=FL&zip=&employ=&cand=&all=Y&sort=N&capcode=w55sw&submit=Submit
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4221&SessionId=42
http://www.flsenate.gov/Legislators/index.cfm?Members=View+Page&District_Num_Link=018&Submenu=1&Tab=legislators&chamber=Senate&CFID=115636911&CFTOKEN=95316584
http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=53758
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=20069&c=415651
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=20049&c=404214
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=20009&c=349630
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=20029&c=19822
http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/pub/default.asp?/Online/sname02
http://www.leoncountyso.com/jailinfo/inmate_results.asp
http://www.dc.state.fl.us/AppCommon/searchall.asp?Action=Find&SexOffOnly=0
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBUC366O5E.html
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/23/Knowyourcandidates/Democrats_run_on_same.shtml
http://www.transitionsofamerica.org/index.php/latest/restoration-of-rights-a-summit-on-successful-re-entry.html
http://www.jjhlaw.net/index.html
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2008/05/arthenia-joyner.html
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/rep._arthenia_joyner/
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Funding Cuts
Jacksonville’s Nonprofit Organizations
Companies have laid off employees, gave pay cuts and even put holds on projects due to the budget crisis. Many people have used the budget crisis to their advantage by buying distressed real-estate. It’s disturbing to know that the businesses that took advantage of unknowledgeable real-estate buyers are now having troubles, and they are the ones receiving help. Nonprofit organizations have also taken the heat from the budget crisis.
Demand for services are increasing as the economic conditions are deteriorating, and this is bringing intense pressure for all nonprofit organizations. Almost all nonprofit organizations have increased enrollment in one way or another, whether it is people looking for a place to stay, medical care or even a meal for the family. Nonprofits in Jacksonville are experiencing funding cuts from the federal government, the State of Florida, the City of Jacksonville and the Duval County School Board.
Duval County’s nonprofits are expecting to see a drop in government funding at the end of this year. The expected loss is averaged at $25 million. The majority of funding loss is a result of state funding cuts, and this is where $16 million of the $25 million loss comes from. The other $9 million loss is divided between federal funding cuts and local funding cuts. To make up for the estimated reduction of funding to these nonprofit organizations, they would have to experience a 39.9% increase in income from contributions and gifts than they did in 2007.
Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement reductions, Head Start and related USDA funding, State of Florida Pre-K funding, the anticipated loss of Mayor’s Literacy Program funds and other city grants to nonprofits are experiencing reductions which has driven the funding cuts. It’s very difficult for the nonprofit organizations to replace the loss of government funding. In fact, the only way for these nonprofits to make up for the losses would be to raise fees and charges, or generate more private contributions. Since neither option has high potential for large sums of money, and because the economy is the reason for the initial funding cuts, it is difficult to rely on other resources.
Michigan’s Nonprofit Organizations
With our nation’s automakers having difficulties, it has triggered a financial concern for some charities in Michigan. GM, Ford and Chrysler provided an average of 40% of the overall giving last year through workplace fundraising pledges to the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. This years funding goal has been set at 35% due to the troubles automakers are experiencing.
This year, United Way’s local 211 has received five times the volume of calls than the previous year, needing assistance for housing aid. In conjunction with Michigan, the United Way in Central Ohio had an increase of 14% for demand of groceries at local food banks.
According to USA Today, the Catholic Charities USA reports that January-to October contributions fell to $7.6 million, down 4% or $300,000 from the same period last year. The Meals on Wheels Association of America says roughly two-thirds of its members surveyed recently reported drops in both corporate and individual donations. Programs in Texas, Minnesota and California were forced to close this year. The Salvation Army reports its western territory suffered a 9% drop in overall fundraising since August alone. Data for the organization's other territories weren't available. Goodwill Industries International says public support from cash donations, bequests and special events fell 2.3% for the first eight months of 2008 in comparison with the same period last year.
In closing remarks…Almost everyone is experiencing rough times in this economy. As our great ancestors held together in years past, we too must keep strong for the upcoming generations.
Companies have laid off employees, gave pay cuts and even put holds on projects due to the budget crisis. Many people have used the budget crisis to their advantage by buying distressed real-estate. It’s disturbing to know that the businesses that took advantage of unknowledgeable real-estate buyers are now having troubles, and they are the ones receiving help. Nonprofit organizations have also taken the heat from the budget crisis.
Demand for services are increasing as the economic conditions are deteriorating, and this is bringing intense pressure for all nonprofit organizations. Almost all nonprofit organizations have increased enrollment in one way or another, whether it is people looking for a place to stay, medical care or even a meal for the family. Nonprofits in Jacksonville are experiencing funding cuts from the federal government, the State of Florida, the City of Jacksonville and the Duval County School Board.
Duval County’s nonprofits are expecting to see a drop in government funding at the end of this year. The expected loss is averaged at $25 million. The majority of funding loss is a result of state funding cuts, and this is where $16 million of the $25 million loss comes from. The other $9 million loss is divided between federal funding cuts and local funding cuts. To make up for the estimated reduction of funding to these nonprofit organizations, they would have to experience a 39.9% increase in income from contributions and gifts than they did in 2007.
Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement reductions, Head Start and related USDA funding, State of Florida Pre-K funding, the anticipated loss of Mayor’s Literacy Program funds and other city grants to nonprofits are experiencing reductions which has driven the funding cuts. It’s very difficult for the nonprofit organizations to replace the loss of government funding. In fact, the only way for these nonprofits to make up for the losses would be to raise fees and charges, or generate more private contributions. Since neither option has high potential for large sums of money, and because the economy is the reason for the initial funding cuts, it is difficult to rely on other resources.
Michigan’s Nonprofit Organizations
With our nation’s automakers having difficulties, it has triggered a financial concern for some charities in Michigan. GM, Ford and Chrysler provided an average of 40% of the overall giving last year through workplace fundraising pledges to the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. This years funding goal has been set at 35% due to the troubles automakers are experiencing.
This year, United Way’s local 211 has received five times the volume of calls than the previous year, needing assistance for housing aid. In conjunction with Michigan, the United Way in Central Ohio had an increase of 14% for demand of groceries at local food banks.
According to USA Today, the Catholic Charities USA reports that January-to October contributions fell to $7.6 million, down 4% or $300,000 from the same period last year. The Meals on Wheels Association of America says roughly two-thirds of its members surveyed recently reported drops in both corporate and individual donations. Programs in Texas, Minnesota and California were forced to close this year. The Salvation Army reports its western territory suffered a 9% drop in overall fundraising since August alone. Data for the organization's other territories weren't available. Goodwill Industries International says public support from cash donations, bequests and special events fell 2.3% for the first eight months of 2008 in comparison with the same period last year.
In closing remarks…Almost everyone is experiencing rough times in this economy. As our great ancestors held together in years past, we too must keep strong for the upcoming generations.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Steve Andrews WFLA
Steve Andrews, Senior Investigative Reporter with WFLA, spoke with our class about his experiences with investigative reporting. Andrews has worked on multiple stories and told our class about a few of his most interesting stories.
Andrews started off by saying, “the game has changed.” He was referring to the media world. At WFLA, they are not just TV news, but they are TV, print and online. Although WFLA still takes part in the print world of news, Andrews said, “the newspaper is gone…it’s a dinosaur.”
One of Andrews’s investigative reports was about a bay area reservoir. The reservoir had multiple cracks along the edges, and through his investigation, he realized the cracks expanded throughout the entire reservoir. When Andrews first asked about public documents to begin research on the reservoir, he was given a run around. Andrews persisted and received a stack of paperwork to discourage his investigation. Andrews looked at the paperwork as a gold mine. He took the papers and read every bit of detail, realizing they gave him the wrong documents. Andrews again went back to gain the proper documents, and was once more handed an enormous amount of documents. He went through each and every paper, founding very interesting clues to his investigation.
I was discouraged to partake in investigative reporting at the beginning of Andrews’s testimony. If I were to receive a large some of documents that were something completely different than what I requested, I wouldn’t have wanted to pursue the story. After seeing the excitement and the accomplishment Andrews expressed about his investigation, it made me realize how rewarding in-depth reporting could be.
Becoming a reporter requires investigation and request of public records. If I learned one thing from Andrews it would be that, “if you get a public record, make sure you sit down and read it! Each story is it’s own animal, and it could take 18 months for a story to change.”
I now have a greater appreciation of investigative reporting, and the reporters who take on the responsibility.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/05/report-says-reservoir-safe/
Andrews started off by saying, “the game has changed.” He was referring to the media world. At WFLA, they are not just TV news, but they are TV, print and online. Although WFLA still takes part in the print world of news, Andrews said, “the newspaper is gone…it’s a dinosaur.”
One of Andrews’s investigative reports was about a bay area reservoir. The reservoir had multiple cracks along the edges, and through his investigation, he realized the cracks expanded throughout the entire reservoir. When Andrews first asked about public documents to begin research on the reservoir, he was given a run around. Andrews persisted and received a stack of paperwork to discourage his investigation. Andrews looked at the paperwork as a gold mine. He took the papers and read every bit of detail, realizing they gave him the wrong documents. Andrews again went back to gain the proper documents, and was once more handed an enormous amount of documents. He went through each and every paper, founding very interesting clues to his investigation.
I was discouraged to partake in investigative reporting at the beginning of Andrews’s testimony. If I were to receive a large some of documents that were something completely different than what I requested, I wouldn’t have wanted to pursue the story. After seeing the excitement and the accomplishment Andrews expressed about his investigation, it made me realize how rewarding in-depth reporting could be.
Becoming a reporter requires investigation and request of public records. If I learned one thing from Andrews it would be that, “if you get a public record, make sure you sit down and read it! Each story is it’s own animal, and it could take 18 months for a story to change.”
I now have a greater appreciation of investigative reporting, and the reporters who take on the responsibility.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/05/report-says-reservoir-safe/
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Trial
Choosing a trial to attend wasn’t an easy choice. I couldn’t figure out what type of trial I would like to experience. I decided to attend a sex offender trial, and I couldn’t have prepared myself enough. I was informed that the content I was going to be exposed to could be very disturbing, and I chose to attend anyway. The defendant had four convictions: Lewd/Lascivious-Child, Possession of Photo/Picture Showing Sexual Performance by a Child, Sex Battery/Coerce Child by Adult, and Abuse of Child, Engaging Sexual Performance.
The attorneys for the case gave explanation of the defendant’s history to paint a picture of why this man shouldn’t be released from the housing center. He had been forced to live at a housing center after he served his jail time, because a psychologist didn’t see him fit to be released. He had sexually been involved with 10 boys ranging from 7 to 10 years of age.
During the entire trial, the defendant was able to give his testimony. He had a smirk on his face that I could never forget. He constantly expressed that he didn’t feel he was molesting the boys. On one account, he said that he was replacing the father figure in a young boy’s life. This was completely disturbing, and the defendant said that he didn’t think he was wrong for anything he had done. In all of the cases presented, the defendant said that each boy had the choice to be with him. My main concern was that he didn’t see how a boy, at such a young age, can be confused and not know what is right or wrong.
The defendant went on to give extra information saying that he enjoyed boys with blond hair and blue eyes the best. He even said that one of the boys that he had been with had dark hair, and that was why he didn’t have sexual relations with him as long as most of the other boys. He also said that he would give some of the boys money, and his excuse for doing this was because he was the boys’ father figure. One boy in particular, he would buy food for the whole family and take it to their house. He said that the mother knew about his relationship with her son.
This experience was a complete eye opener. There wasn’t a verdict at the end of the trial. The trial was to resume at a later date. If I were the judge/jury, I would never let him out of a halfway house. He had mental problems, and there was no way that the man would ever see his wrong doing. He would continue his same ways outside of the house today as he did many years ago.
The attorneys for the case gave explanation of the defendant’s history to paint a picture of why this man shouldn’t be released from the housing center. He had been forced to live at a housing center after he served his jail time, because a psychologist didn’t see him fit to be released. He had sexually been involved with 10 boys ranging from 7 to 10 years of age.
During the entire trial, the defendant was able to give his testimony. He had a smirk on his face that I could never forget. He constantly expressed that he didn’t feel he was molesting the boys. On one account, he said that he was replacing the father figure in a young boy’s life. This was completely disturbing, and the defendant said that he didn’t think he was wrong for anything he had done. In all of the cases presented, the defendant said that each boy had the choice to be with him. My main concern was that he didn’t see how a boy, at such a young age, can be confused and not know what is right or wrong.
The defendant went on to give extra information saying that he enjoyed boys with blond hair and blue eyes the best. He even said that one of the boys that he had been with had dark hair, and that was why he didn’t have sexual relations with him as long as most of the other boys. He also said that he would give some of the boys money, and his excuse for doing this was because he was the boys’ father figure. One boy in particular, he would buy food for the whole family and take it to their house. He said that the mother knew about his relationship with her son.
This experience was a complete eye opener. There wasn’t a verdict at the end of the trial. The trial was to resume at a later date. If I were the judge/jury, I would never let him out of a halfway house. He had mental problems, and there was no way that the man would ever see his wrong doing. He would continue his same ways outside of the house today as he did many years ago.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Citizen's Advisory Committee Meeting
I attended the Citizen’s Advisory Committee meeting on October 24th. The meeting began with an explanation of what the Citizen’s Advisory Committee does and what their purpose is. The Citizen’s Advisory Committee has a total of 14 members, all of whom are Hillsborough County citizens, and they are responsible for reviewing the Hillsborough County issues brought up by the County Commissioners or County Administrators.
The Committee then explained that the public would have two opportunities to speak about the meeting. Before moving forward, the Committee gave everyone their first opportunity to make comments. After giving a few seconds for someone to make a move to the podium, the Committee continued the meeting by proceeding to ask Valmarie Turner, Contracts Unit Manager for the Affordable Housing Office for Hillsborough County, to speak.
Turner started off by talking about the Affordable Housing Office, and she said that they are who provide opportunities for low income families that live in Hillsborough County. Not only do they provide the opportunity to buy an affordable home for the families, but they also provide community development opportunities; they also give three different federal and state grants.
With the economic problems within our Country, Turner began speaking about the housing foreclosures. A new program called the Neighborhood Stabilization Program will be a part of Hillsborough County. The new program has $3.92 billion to buy foreclosures, and Hillsborough County will be provided $19.1 million for their foreclosures. The new program is part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act which was enacted in July of this year. The idea of the new program is to provide a more stabilized community.
“Even though $19.1 million sounds like a lot of money, with the amount of foreclosures in our county, we had no choice but to designate target areas in order to make a difference,” Turner said.
Various partnerships would be formed thorough the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and they would purchase foreclosed and abandoned properties in our county. The newly formed partnerships would go into targeted neighborhoods, which would be the neighborhoods that have the most foreclosed homes. The reason for this is to keep the neighborhoods in tack and in good condition. To my surprise, our county has already seen more than 15,000 foreclosures filed since January of this year.
Elba Garcia, “I am very excited about the new program, and my neighborhood is one of the target areas so I hope they come soon to give the neighborhood a facelift. Garcia was an audience member, and so was Elizabeth Barrett. Barrett was also excited about the new program, “I feel horrible for everyone that has had their homes foreclosed on them, but it has made it hard on the whole neighborhood too.” She said this because she and other neighbors have had to clean up surrounding properties.
Overall, I really enjoyed this meeting more than all other public meetings I have attended thus far. I think that this program can benefit our community in many ways! I’m excited about the improvements that Hillsborough Community is moving toward.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Mid-Term
1) If I were assigned to come up with an in-depth report on Al Zimmerman after being arrested on child pornography charges and booked by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, I would look at multiple public records to begin my report.
The first place I would go to look for public records would be on the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office web page, http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/ , to obtain Zimmerman’s arrest records. I would then go to the H.C. Sheriff’s Office and obtain the full arrest report known as a Criminal Report Affidavit. This report will have a statement showing the officer had probable cause to arrest Zimmerman, which the arrest records would not have shown. I would also speak with the Sheriff’s Office to gather any further information they have on the case. I would get any warrant inquiries they had on Zimmerman as well. I would like to interview the Sheriff, or his spokesman, and also the officer who arrested Zimmerman. I would speak with the arrest officer to see the reactions of Zimmerman, and try to understand his demeanor.
I would then go to the jail where he was being held to get any video footage they have of the booking Zimmerman went though. Again, this video could show the attitude of Zimmerman, and this could paint a good picture of the type of person he is. If Zimmerman has already been released, I would get the records from the courts showing his bond.
The Hillsborough County Court House also keeps the warrant reports, and I would find out more on the case against Zimmerman. This will show what information they had against Zimmerman. There is a short time after the warrant has been served that reporters can receive a copy of the whole warrant, as long as leaking the information will not hurt the case they have against him.
The next step would be to obtain paperwork from the Department of Children and Families. I would use their web site, http://www.state.fl.us/cf_web/ , and look for an application to see what their hiring process is. At this point of my investigation, I would have known of his prior criminal history, and I would like to see if they did any prior investigation of Zimmerman before hiring him. I would like to speak directly with the hiring agents that interviewed and made the decision to hire Zimmerman. Knowing that Zimmerman had prior ‘red flags’ before applying with the DCF, I would like to know why they didn’t realize this sooner. I would try and gather any paperwork concerning reports on Zimmerman while working for DCF. I would like to know if they had comments regarding his behavior (in a report format, either email or in a folder), and see if he had any complaints from families he had been in contact with while he was working for them. If complaints were filed, I would obtain the person who filed the complaint to interview them as well.
I would also have an IT from DCF look into Zimmerman’s computer at work and look for any child pornography. I would also look for any emails conducted on his work computer between him and other employees to see who he was closest to. I would then conduct interviews with the closest employee’s of Zimmerman. I would see if they had any suspicion of his child pornography problems, and if they believed they did suspect anything, “Did they file a report?” I would also interview any relatives willing to attest to Zimmerman as a person.
If I were working for a newsroom, they would have access to the National Comprehensive Reports, and I would also look here for public records on Zimmerman. This will give me a background on Zimmerman to help further my investigation. This will provide any AKA’s that Zimmerman goes by, his date of birth, driver’s license information (this could include: issue date of license, height, eye color, previous driver’s license states, expiration date of license and hair color), his possible addresses associated with Zimmerman (this could include: dates he lived at residences and locations), phone listings for Zimmerman, possible property ownerships and deed transfers, vehicle registrations, Florida accidents, and any other licenses such as fishing and hunting.
After obtaining the legal residents of Zimmerman, I would locate his neighbors from his current residences, and also previous residences. I would find out if they ever suspected this from Zimmerman. I would check locations of other child predators in his communities to interview them. Many times, convicted criminals will provide good detailed information. After interviewing child predators in his area, we could find out if he had befriended them, and what relations they had with one another.
One last interview would be with Zimmerman’s attorney. The attorney could give insight as to what they are expecting, and what they are working towards as an outcome. This would give both sides of the story so that I am not bias in any way.
2) Florida is nationally known for putting a very high priority on the public's right of access to all governmental meetings and records. In fact, the principles of open government are embodied in and guaranteed by the State Constitution. Florida has the most open access to public records. Florida has the longest and richest regulations for open records. It is in the Florida Constitution that we are able to access public records. In Article 1 section 24 of the Florida Constitution, it expresses that every person has the right to receive public access.The Department of State is in charge of determining the retention of records. Each record has to be provided in the form that it is kept, but if a person ask to receive the information in another form, it is not the responsibility of the provider. The agent does not have to provide any records that they do not maintain. An agent can get in trouble for not providing records that they do maintain, and this is only if they know of the violation that they committed.
The Florida Sunshine Law gives the right to access governmental meetings, and it allows the right to access records made and received in connection with an official business of a public person. The law applies to any meeting with any state agency. The law requires that all meetings are open to the public, and each meeting must have reasonable notice of time, place and reason for the meeting. All minutes of public meetings must be recorded and available to the public.
There are a few ways of requesting public records, one being an over the phone request, another being an in-person request and also a written request. Requesting public records by a written request is the most accurate way to request records, because the agency will be fully aware of exactly what you are requesting. When requesting records, agencies will often make a requestor feel overwhelmed by giving them a large amount of paperwork, and the agency thinks the requestor will not deal with sorting though that much paperwork. Agencies are allowed to charge a maximum of $0.15 per copy, and also charge minimum wage for the amount of time recovering the record. If the requestor asks for a list of the fees inquired, the agency must provide the fee assessment.
If an agency is requested to provide a record they feel they do not have to provide, the agency must state the Florida Statute that gives them the right to prohibit access. The Legislature is the only governmental agency that can create an exemption to the public access requirement of Chapter 110, although other agencies do have exemptions.
Some of the exemptions that do apply to public information are school records (including exams), proprietary records (software, certain marketing agreements), private emails, most juvenile records and investigatory materials that are in process are some of the exemptions. In most investigatory cases, the time, date, location, nature and very existence of a crime, any arrest, name, age and address of victim (except sex related crimes) are not exempt.
All public gatherings, when two or more members are present, are considered a public meeting if there is any form of action that may take place, and these are considered public records. This also includes phone conversations or emails. If two members from a public agency meet at a restaurant for lunch, and they discuss a public matter, they must have first given awareness of their meeting in a timely manner prior to the meeting. After the lunch was over, they would be required to log the minutes too.
According to the First Amendment Foundation, www.floridafaf.org , a public agency must provide access to its records. The definition of public records is broad and public records include: “all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, 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 the connection with the transaction of official business by any agency.”
Http://myfloridalegal.com also provides more on Florida’s Sunshine Laws saying that they provide the right of access to governmental proceedings at both the state and local levels. We have a constitutionally guaranteed right of access. “All state and local collegial public bodies are covered by the open meetings requirements with the exception of judiciary and the state Legislature which has it’s own constitutional provision relating to access.
In June of 2007, Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist issued Executive Order 07-107, creating the Commission on Open Government Reform, according to www.flgov.com. The commission is made up of nine members within the Governor’s Office of Open Government in which they review, evaluate and issue recommendations on Florida’s public records and public meetings laws. The Commission looks over the public right to access records according to Section 119 and Section 289.011 of the Florida Statues, as well as Article 1, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution. To obtain the Executive Order 07-107 go to http://www.flgov.com/pdfs/orders/07-107-ogreformcomm.pdf. Governor Christ is making sure that Florida stands by it’s Sunshine Laws and allows public access to public records.
Some of the testimonies presented to the commission by editors and others have been agency not presenting public records when requested. The main problem has been that non-media people have been rejected when requesting public records, because agencies know that most non-media people don’t know their rights to public records. Another problem that has been brought up is that agencies will lie to anyone requesting public records to try and get out of presenting the proper paperwork requested. Agencies tell people that they will charge a large sum of money to provide the records requested to discourage the requestor. The main issue has really been that agencies just don’t follow the laws that are in place. Editors and others just want agencies to abide by the laws in place.
3) When preparing for an in-depth documentary on State Sen. Victor Crist, four websites come to mind, such as: www.senate.gov, www.moneyline.cq.com, www.opensecrets.org, and www.usaspecialservicesllc.com/background.
The first website I would use is the special services one. This website in particular would provide in-depth information on Sen. V. Crist like his assets, driver licenses, professional licenses, real properties, vehicles and much more. This web site provides the National Comprehensive Report that William March spoke about, and the site provides an extremely focused and thorough composite on people. This information will help show the amount of money he has by looking at the types of cars he drives, and also looking at the house he lives in and how many he owns.
The next web site that I would find useful is the Senate website. With this website, I could report on Sen. V. Crist voting records. This is very vital to the people at election time, because we can see where the candidate really stands on issues. This will show their voting habits, which can help determine whether the candidate changes their mind often on issues or whether they stay consistent with voting.
I would then look at Money Line. This is a web site that provides the campaign finance and lobbyist relationships. This source will show who has contributed to Sen. V. Crist campaign, this is important because it shows who the candidate associates with. Knowing the relationship between a candidate and lobbyists is good, because this will show what laws a candidate would like to change, and this is like getting more in-depth to their voting habits. We have learned to always, always follow the money.
OpenSecrets.org is “your nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy. Whether you’re a voter, journalist, activist, student or interested citizen, use this free site to shine light on our government. Count cash and make change.” OpenSecrets.org helps you follow patters also. This will show who goes out of their way to provide money to candidates. The importance of this money arises the question, why is this person providing this much money to this candidate. This will help raise the question, “are they providing money in return of ‘promises’ a candidate is to follow through with?” This website is to help voters make decisions and have an interest as to why they should do research on candidates.
One extra website that would come handy would be the tax collector web page. This will show if Sen. V. Crist pays his taxes or not. Since Sen. V. Crist is from Tampa we would use www.hillstax.org. As tax payers, this is very important in helping decide whether or not to vote for a candidate. This will help show if they are lying about what they believe in when it comes to paying taxes. This will also show if a candidate claims homestead, and even if the candidate shares the house with anyone.
The first place I would go to look for public records would be on the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office web page, http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/ , to obtain Zimmerman’s arrest records. I would then go to the H.C. Sheriff’s Office and obtain the full arrest report known as a Criminal Report Affidavit. This report will have a statement showing the officer had probable cause to arrest Zimmerman, which the arrest records would not have shown. I would also speak with the Sheriff’s Office to gather any further information they have on the case. I would get any warrant inquiries they had on Zimmerman as well. I would like to interview the Sheriff, or his spokesman, and also the officer who arrested Zimmerman. I would speak with the arrest officer to see the reactions of Zimmerman, and try to understand his demeanor.
I would then go to the jail where he was being held to get any video footage they have of the booking Zimmerman went though. Again, this video could show the attitude of Zimmerman, and this could paint a good picture of the type of person he is. If Zimmerman has already been released, I would get the records from the courts showing his bond.
The Hillsborough County Court House also keeps the warrant reports, and I would find out more on the case against Zimmerman. This will show what information they had against Zimmerman. There is a short time after the warrant has been served that reporters can receive a copy of the whole warrant, as long as leaking the information will not hurt the case they have against him.
The next step would be to obtain paperwork from the Department of Children and Families. I would use their web site, http://www.state.fl.us/cf_web/ , and look for an application to see what their hiring process is. At this point of my investigation, I would have known of his prior criminal history, and I would like to see if they did any prior investigation of Zimmerman before hiring him. I would like to speak directly with the hiring agents that interviewed and made the decision to hire Zimmerman. Knowing that Zimmerman had prior ‘red flags’ before applying with the DCF, I would like to know why they didn’t realize this sooner. I would try and gather any paperwork concerning reports on Zimmerman while working for DCF. I would like to know if they had comments regarding his behavior (in a report format, either email or in a folder), and see if he had any complaints from families he had been in contact with while he was working for them. If complaints were filed, I would obtain the person who filed the complaint to interview them as well.
I would also have an IT from DCF look into Zimmerman’s computer at work and look for any child pornography. I would also look for any emails conducted on his work computer between him and other employees to see who he was closest to. I would then conduct interviews with the closest employee’s of Zimmerman. I would see if they had any suspicion of his child pornography problems, and if they believed they did suspect anything, “Did they file a report?” I would also interview any relatives willing to attest to Zimmerman as a person.
If I were working for a newsroom, they would have access to the National Comprehensive Reports, and I would also look here for public records on Zimmerman. This will give me a background on Zimmerman to help further my investigation. This will provide any AKA’s that Zimmerman goes by, his date of birth, driver’s license information (this could include: issue date of license, height, eye color, previous driver’s license states, expiration date of license and hair color), his possible addresses associated with Zimmerman (this could include: dates he lived at residences and locations), phone listings for Zimmerman, possible property ownerships and deed transfers, vehicle registrations, Florida accidents, and any other licenses such as fishing and hunting.
After obtaining the legal residents of Zimmerman, I would locate his neighbors from his current residences, and also previous residences. I would find out if they ever suspected this from Zimmerman. I would check locations of other child predators in his communities to interview them. Many times, convicted criminals will provide good detailed information. After interviewing child predators in his area, we could find out if he had befriended them, and what relations they had with one another.
One last interview would be with Zimmerman’s attorney. The attorney could give insight as to what they are expecting, and what they are working towards as an outcome. This would give both sides of the story so that I am not bias in any way.
2) Florida is nationally known for putting a very high priority on the public's right of access to all governmental meetings and records. In fact, the principles of open government are embodied in and guaranteed by the State Constitution. Florida has the most open access to public records. Florida has the longest and richest regulations for open records. It is in the Florida Constitution that we are able to access public records. In Article 1 section 24 of the Florida Constitution, it expresses that every person has the right to receive public access.The Department of State is in charge of determining the retention of records. Each record has to be provided in the form that it is kept, but if a person ask to receive the information in another form, it is not the responsibility of the provider. The agent does not have to provide any records that they do not maintain. An agent can get in trouble for not providing records that they do maintain, and this is only if they know of the violation that they committed.
The Florida Sunshine Law gives the right to access governmental meetings, and it allows the right to access records made and received in connection with an official business of a public person. The law applies to any meeting with any state agency. The law requires that all meetings are open to the public, and each meeting must have reasonable notice of time, place and reason for the meeting. All minutes of public meetings must be recorded and available to the public.
There are a few ways of requesting public records, one being an over the phone request, another being an in-person request and also a written request. Requesting public records by a written request is the most accurate way to request records, because the agency will be fully aware of exactly what you are requesting. When requesting records, agencies will often make a requestor feel overwhelmed by giving them a large amount of paperwork, and the agency thinks the requestor will not deal with sorting though that much paperwork. Agencies are allowed to charge a maximum of $0.15 per copy, and also charge minimum wage for the amount of time recovering the record. If the requestor asks for a list of the fees inquired, the agency must provide the fee assessment.
If an agency is requested to provide a record they feel they do not have to provide, the agency must state the Florida Statute that gives them the right to prohibit access. The Legislature is the only governmental agency that can create an exemption to the public access requirement of Chapter 110, although other agencies do have exemptions.
Some of the exemptions that do apply to public information are school records (including exams), proprietary records (software, certain marketing agreements), private emails, most juvenile records and investigatory materials that are in process are some of the exemptions. In most investigatory cases, the time, date, location, nature and very existence of a crime, any arrest, name, age and address of victim (except sex related crimes) are not exempt.
All public gatherings, when two or more members are present, are considered a public meeting if there is any form of action that may take place, and these are considered public records. This also includes phone conversations or emails. If two members from a public agency meet at a restaurant for lunch, and they discuss a public matter, they must have first given awareness of their meeting in a timely manner prior to the meeting. After the lunch was over, they would be required to log the minutes too.
According to the First Amendment Foundation, www.floridafaf.org , a public agency must provide access to its records. The definition of public records is broad and public records include: “all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, 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 the connection with the transaction of official business by any agency.”
Http://myfloridalegal.com also provides more on Florida’s Sunshine Laws saying that they provide the right of access to governmental proceedings at both the state and local levels. We have a constitutionally guaranteed right of access. “All state and local collegial public bodies are covered by the open meetings requirements with the exception of judiciary and the state Legislature which has it’s own constitutional provision relating to access.
In June of 2007, Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist issued Executive Order 07-107, creating the Commission on Open Government Reform, according to www.flgov.com. The commission is made up of nine members within the Governor’s Office of Open Government in which they review, evaluate and issue recommendations on Florida’s public records and public meetings laws. The Commission looks over the public right to access records according to Section 119 and Section 289.011 of the Florida Statues, as well as Article 1, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution. To obtain the Executive Order 07-107 go to http://www.flgov.com/pdfs/orders/07-107-ogreformcomm.pdf. Governor Christ is making sure that Florida stands by it’s Sunshine Laws and allows public access to public records.
Some of the testimonies presented to the commission by editors and others have been agency not presenting public records when requested. The main problem has been that non-media people have been rejected when requesting public records, because agencies know that most non-media people don’t know their rights to public records. Another problem that has been brought up is that agencies will lie to anyone requesting public records to try and get out of presenting the proper paperwork requested. Agencies tell people that they will charge a large sum of money to provide the records requested to discourage the requestor. The main issue has really been that agencies just don’t follow the laws that are in place. Editors and others just want agencies to abide by the laws in place.
3) When preparing for an in-depth documentary on State Sen. Victor Crist, four websites come to mind, such as: www.senate.gov, www.moneyline.cq.com, www.opensecrets.org, and www.usaspecialservicesllc.com/background.
The first website I would use is the special services one. This website in particular would provide in-depth information on Sen. V. Crist like his assets, driver licenses, professional licenses, real properties, vehicles and much more. This web site provides the National Comprehensive Report that William March spoke about, and the site provides an extremely focused and thorough composite on people. This information will help show the amount of money he has by looking at the types of cars he drives, and also looking at the house he lives in and how many he owns.
The next web site that I would find useful is the Senate website. With this website, I could report on Sen. V. Crist voting records. This is very vital to the people at election time, because we can see where the candidate really stands on issues. This will show their voting habits, which can help determine whether the candidate changes their mind often on issues or whether they stay consistent with voting.
I would then look at Money Line. This is a web site that provides the campaign finance and lobbyist relationships. This source will show who has contributed to Sen. V. Crist campaign, this is important because it shows who the candidate associates with. Knowing the relationship between a candidate and lobbyists is good, because this will show what laws a candidate would like to change, and this is like getting more in-depth to their voting habits. We have learned to always, always follow the money.
OpenSecrets.org is “your nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy. Whether you’re a voter, journalist, activist, student or interested citizen, use this free site to shine light on our government. Count cash and make change.” OpenSecrets.org helps you follow patters also. This will show who goes out of their way to provide money to candidates. The importance of this money arises the question, why is this person providing this much money to this candidate. This will help raise the question, “are they providing money in return of ‘promises’ a candidate is to follow through with?” This website is to help voters make decisions and have an interest as to why they should do research on candidates.
One extra website that would come handy would be the tax collector web page. This will show if Sen. V. Crist pays his taxes or not. Since Sen. V. Crist is from Tampa we would use www.hillstax.org. As tax payers, this is very important in helping decide whether or not to vote for a candidate. This will help show if they are lying about what they believe in when it comes to paying taxes. This will also show if a candidate claims homestead, and even if the candidate shares the house with anyone.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Tax Collector's Office
Most people in Florida do not realize the access of public records that is available. Preston Trigg, with the Tax Collector’s office, does not require a person to pay for copies of records. He says, “Why should we charge you twice.” He was referring to the fact that Florida residences already pay taxes which pays for the paper, copier, ink, and employee’s salaries.
Trigg says that the best way to request records from the Tax Collector’s office is in writing. He said that most people will do a phone request, and in many cases he will have to call them back and say, “I think this is what you want but I’m not sure.” Often, when a request is made, communication isn’t as accurate over the phone as it is in writing.
“Records are the backbone of investigative reporting,” according to Trigg. A story I found to be very interesting was the one that Trigg shared with us about his friend who had requested all documents for a highway that was being built. That may not seem interesting, but the fact that all documents consisted of two truck loads of paperwork was. His friend was in Tallahassee and he did have to pay a fee because of the amount of paperwork involved. Amazingly, Trigg’s friend went through every document.
When requesting a public record and having your request denied; the agency has to provide the statue that prohibits them from providing your request. “If someone ask for a record that I know exist and I don’t give it to them, that’s a crime and that’s on me,” Trigg says.
There are exemptions of public records that are not available. School records (including exams), proprietary records (software, certain marketing agreements), private emails, most juvenile records and investigatory materials that are in process are some of the exemptions. In most investigatory cases, the time, date, location, nature and very existence of a crime, any arrest, name, age and address of victim (except sex related crimes) are not exempt.
In closing, one of the best advises that I took from Trigg was to, “Always, ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY, when doing any form of reporting.”
Trigg says that the best way to request records from the Tax Collector’s office is in writing. He said that most people will do a phone request, and in many cases he will have to call them back and say, “I think this is what you want but I’m not sure.” Often, when a request is made, communication isn’t as accurate over the phone as it is in writing.
“Records are the backbone of investigative reporting,” according to Trigg. A story I found to be very interesting was the one that Trigg shared with us about his friend who had requested all documents for a highway that was being built. That may not seem interesting, but the fact that all documents consisted of two truck loads of paperwork was. His friend was in Tallahassee and he did have to pay a fee because of the amount of paperwork involved. Amazingly, Trigg’s friend went through every document.
When requesting a public record and having your request denied; the agency has to provide the statue that prohibits them from providing your request. “If someone ask for a record that I know exist and I don’t give it to them, that’s a crime and that’s on me,” Trigg says.
There are exemptions of public records that are not available. School records (including exams), proprietary records (software, certain marketing agreements), private emails, most juvenile records and investigatory materials that are in process are some of the exemptions. In most investigatory cases, the time, date, location, nature and very existence of a crime, any arrest, name, age and address of victim (except sex related crimes) are not exempt.
In closing, one of the best advises that I took from Trigg was to, “Always, ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY, when doing any form of reporting.”
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Land Use Appeals
I attended the Land Use Appeals meeting on October 3rd. To my surprise the meeting was very hard to follow compared to the previous Code Enforcement Board Hearing I attended.
I felt that the structure of the Land Use Appeals meeting wasn’t very informative for people that had not attended one before. The meeting began with an oath of witness. This meeting didn’t have a pledge of allegiance, or roll call like the Code Enforcement Board Hearing. The Code Enforcement Board Hearing also began the hearing with a PowerPoint slide to help everyone follow along. Each person in violation of a code enforcement would go to the podium and explain their case.
In the Land Use Appeals meeting the board called the first person up to the podium, Barbara Dowling. Dowling began her case by asking for a continuance. She proceeded to say that the board did not have November 16, 2007 hearing information in the January 25, 2008 hearing, and she had not realized the mistake until recently when speaking with a board member. She felt that the current hearing wouldn’t be fair to continue without all information provided to each board member. Now that each member had the information (as of that day) she asked to continue the meeting, so each member would have accurate time to fully review all information provided.
After Dowling had presented her case, and with the request of a continuance, the board gave the opportunity for all members opposed to the continuance to stand and present their reasoning. Susan Spurgeon, with the council of Tampa Bay Water, and Steve Algen made their way to the podium to oppose. Algen said, “this has been the second time Downing had asked for a continuance, and I do not agree with giving her the opportunity for another one.” Spurgeon had began to speak without going to the podium and a board member said, “Mam, you have to be on the recorded,” and the board member pointed to the podium. Spurgeon had agreed with Algen and the board still granted Dowling a continuance.
After this case, I spoke with Spurgeon. She said that she was aggravated that the board granted Dowling a continuance. In reference to Dowling’s case Spurgeon said, “she was already heard,” and she didn’t feel the board would be bias if the board continued the hearing that day.
The next case concerned Jason Garrison of Lutz. This case was much longer, but I understood this one better than the previous case. The problem was that Garrison had built a fence 6 ft tall after a code had been in place stating that a fence within 15 ft. of the road had to be 4 ft tall or less. Garrison came to the hearing with pictures of his fence and the location of his property. He expressed that he had two children and no backyard. He had built the fence to allow his children to play outside in a safe environment. He didn’t feel safe allowing his children out in the yard playing without a private fence.
Patricia Ortiz with Planning and Growth Management Department of Hillsborough County opposed Garrison’s request to keep the fence at the 6 ft tall. Ortiz stated to the board that his variance request for the fence was adjacent to Hannah Rd and Sunset Lane in the Lutz rural area. She ask that the decision to make the fence 4 ft tall or less be upheld, and her request was granted.
Immediately after the hearing, Garrison stated, “they’re denying me what everyone else has. We build our fence exactly the way the surrounding neighbors did, we didn’t build it 10 ft tall and paint it hot pink.” He was upset with the board’s decision.
After speaking with Ortiz, she said, “his (Garrison’s) request was already denied in the first meeting that heard his case.” She was very pleased with the decision of the board.
I felt that the structure of the Land Use Appeals meeting wasn’t very informative for people that had not attended one before. The meeting began with an oath of witness. This meeting didn’t have a pledge of allegiance, or roll call like the Code Enforcement Board Hearing. The Code Enforcement Board Hearing also began the hearing with a PowerPoint slide to help everyone follow along. Each person in violation of a code enforcement would go to the podium and explain their case.
In the Land Use Appeals meeting the board called the first person up to the podium, Barbara Dowling. Dowling began her case by asking for a continuance. She proceeded to say that the board did not have November 16, 2007 hearing information in the January 25, 2008 hearing, and she had not realized the mistake until recently when speaking with a board member. She felt that the current hearing wouldn’t be fair to continue without all information provided to each board member. Now that each member had the information (as of that day) she asked to continue the meeting, so each member would have accurate time to fully review all information provided.
After Dowling had presented her case, and with the request of a continuance, the board gave the opportunity for all members opposed to the continuance to stand and present their reasoning. Susan Spurgeon, with the council of Tampa Bay Water, and Steve Algen made their way to the podium to oppose. Algen said, “this has been the second time Downing had asked for a continuance, and I do not agree with giving her the opportunity for another one.” Spurgeon had began to speak without going to the podium and a board member said, “Mam, you have to be on the recorded,” and the board member pointed to the podium. Spurgeon had agreed with Algen and the board still granted Dowling a continuance.
After this case, I spoke with Spurgeon. She said that she was aggravated that the board granted Dowling a continuance. In reference to Dowling’s case Spurgeon said, “she was already heard,” and she didn’t feel the board would be bias if the board continued the hearing that day.
The next case concerned Jason Garrison of Lutz. This case was much longer, but I understood this one better than the previous case. The problem was that Garrison had built a fence 6 ft tall after a code had been in place stating that a fence within 15 ft. of the road had to be 4 ft tall or less. Garrison came to the hearing with pictures of his fence and the location of his property. He expressed that he had two children and no backyard. He had built the fence to allow his children to play outside in a safe environment. He didn’t feel safe allowing his children out in the yard playing without a private fence.
Patricia Ortiz with Planning and Growth Management Department of Hillsborough County opposed Garrison’s request to keep the fence at the 6 ft tall. Ortiz stated to the board that his variance request for the fence was adjacent to Hannah Rd and Sunset Lane in the Lutz rural area. She ask that the decision to make the fence 4 ft tall or less be upheld, and her request was granted.
Immediately after the hearing, Garrison stated, “they’re denying me what everyone else has. We build our fence exactly the way the surrounding neighbors did, we didn’t build it 10 ft tall and paint it hot pink.” He was upset with the board’s decision.
After speaking with Ortiz, she said, “his (Garrison’s) request was already denied in the first meeting that heard his case.” She was very pleased with the decision of the board.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Vice Presidential Debate 2008
William March is the Chief Political Reporter for the Tampa Tribune. The day he came to speak with us was the same night of the Vice Presidential debate between Sarah Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, and Joe Biden, the Democrat senator from Delaware. The debate was held in St. Louis, Missouri. According to the Nielsen Media Research, 69.9 million people watched as Palin and Biden went face to face for the first time.
Both Palin and Biden shared their views of the presidential candidates, but they did not attach one another. Surprisingly to me, they both kept a smile on their faces almost the entire time. I was concerned that Palin wasn’t going to perform very well, because of her previous on air interviews earlier in the week. For Biden, there were also some concerns of how he would perform. I believe that each vice presidential candidates spent the entire week preparing for the debate, and that each candidate presented themselves and their presidential running mate very well. For Palin and McCain, I believe the VP debate helped bring confidence back to the Republican voters.
The financial market was a hot topic in the early exchanges between Palin and Biden. Palin used the word “maverick” to describe John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, multiple times during the debate. Biden laughed as Palin described McCain as a “maverick,” and he criticized McCain as being out of touch. One thing that Palin stressed was how the Democrats are supposed to be for the middle class American’s and give tax breaks, but it was “Senator Obama that voted 94 times for higher taxes.
Comparing the debate between the vice presidential candidates and the presidential candidates, I was surprised at the professionalism and knowledge that both groups had. I thought the VP candidates did just as well as the presidential candidates, and I did not expect for that outcome. The VP candidates discuss the war issues, while their biggest topic seemed to be on the financial market. On the other hand, the presidential candidates’ biggest topic was the war issues.
Both Palin and Biden shared their views of the presidential candidates, but they did not attach one another. Surprisingly to me, they both kept a smile on their faces almost the entire time. I was concerned that Palin wasn’t going to perform very well, because of her previous on air interviews earlier in the week. For Biden, there were also some concerns of how he would perform. I believe that each vice presidential candidates spent the entire week preparing for the debate, and that each candidate presented themselves and their presidential running mate very well. For Palin and McCain, I believe the VP debate helped bring confidence back to the Republican voters.
The financial market was a hot topic in the early exchanges between Palin and Biden. Palin used the word “maverick” to describe John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, multiple times during the debate. Biden laughed as Palin described McCain as a “maverick,” and he criticized McCain as being out of touch. One thing that Palin stressed was how the Democrats are supposed to be for the middle class American’s and give tax breaks, but it was “Senator Obama that voted 94 times for higher taxes.
Comparing the debate between the vice presidential candidates and the presidential candidates, I was surprised at the professionalism and knowledge that both groups had. I thought the VP candidates did just as well as the presidential candidates, and I did not expect for that outcome. The VP candidates discuss the war issues, while their biggest topic seemed to be on the financial market. On the other hand, the presidential candidates’ biggest topic was the war issues.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Circuit Court
Pat Frank, Clerk of Circuit Court, was energetic and proud of the position she holds. She said that her office is "the most important office in the county that people know least about. We handle hundreds of millions of dollars of the counties money." It was shocking to hear that eleven people in her office are responsible for sending 65,000 employees a paycheck every two weeks. We were informed that they keep records of the county and all official records. One big rave that is evolving more and more every day is the use of internet and Frank said that the most recent transactions are accessible via the web.
"As the economy goes sour" crime will rise, Frank said. Because we are facing a touch economy, I thought it was very relevant to get on the topic of foreclosures. Frank said that the only way people are avoiding forecloses is by going bankrupt. "This economy is horrible, unemployment rate is increasing. I was born in the depression and I was a depression baby," Frank continued.
Since the year 2005, the Circuit Court has returned an average of $8.9 million to the Board of County Commissioners, because it is unspent money. As the economy has been run down, in 2007 they only returned $4.6 million, and Frank suspects money returned this year will be very minimal...much less compared to last year.
"As the economy goes sour" crime will rise, Frank said. Because we are facing a touch economy, I thought it was very relevant to get on the topic of foreclosures. Frank said that the only way people are avoiding forecloses is by going bankrupt. "This economy is horrible, unemployment rate is increasing. I was born in the depression and I was a depression baby," Frank continued.
Since the year 2005, the Circuit Court has returned an average of $8.9 million to the Board of County Commissioners, because it is unspent money. As the economy has been run down, in 2007 they only returned $4.6 million, and Frank suspects money returned this year will be very minimal...much less compared to last year.
The Circuit Court employees a total of 917 people. Frank says, “there’s always something going on in this office.” I was surprised to hear that they receive 1,000 calls a day, and even more surprising, 20%, if not more, are calls intended for other groups other than the Circuit Court. Also, about 30-35% of the calls need a Spanish speaker on the receiving end. The Circuit Court records a total of forty-two types of documents, and there are 100 documents being e-recorded each day.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Orient Road Jail....Direct Supervision Jails
Major Robert Lucas took us on a tour of the Orient Road Jail. Lucas started the tour off in the processing area for inmates, and said that there are usually 200 inmates processed a day. One thing I learned on our tour was that strip searches were no longer legal, and in replace of the strip searches they did pat downs, and then had each inmate sit in the “Boss” chair. The “Boss” chair is a detection chair that traces all metal objects an inmate may have in his/her possession. The Orient Road Jail is a direct supervision jail, which is different from the traditional style jails.
Direct supervision jails are the new generation of jails. The direct supervision jails have pods that all inmates stay in. There are multiple pods in the jails. Each pod has separate rooms that house one to two inmates for lock downs, and it is where the inmates sleep. With the pod style layout, inmates have a more sense of freedom. The inmates are able to interact more with one another, and they are in an atmosphere more alike the real world (outside of jail).
The designs of direct supervision jails provide safer, more humane environments for the inmates. Studies show that detention facilities that use direct supervision have tremendously lowered rates of assaults, extortions and lawsuits compared to the traditional linear style of jail management. Another positive improvement is that there is less expensive construction due to behavior improvements of the inmates, and in my opinion this helps to saves ‘us’ tax payers money. The inmates are more stable, and they are able to cope with the environment in a more positive way than with the traditional jails.
There is a Corrections Deputy that continuously supervises all inmates and is in control with the direct supervision model. Major improvements made due to this model have been: a cleaner facility, lower noise levels, less vandalism, reduction in inmate assaults, inmates follow directions better, staff has more confidence and the stress for everyone has reduced.
There are some inmates that do not respond well to the pod style jail sells, and those inmates are placed in segregation units. Usually, most of the inmates that are placed in segregation units are know as “high risk” type inmates and have fewer privileges than the general population.
The older movies that show jail sells are traditional style jails, and many people have the perception that they are the same today. Traditional jails keep inmates separated from one another, leaving one or two in a room alone until recreation time. This will cause many inmates to build aggression, and that is one reason fights break out.
Overall, I enjoyed the tour. I enjoy watching TV shows and movies that deal with inmates, so experiencing what a jail is like in person without going through ‘processing’ as an inmate was fun. I was able to a lot of knowledge from the tour that I didn’t know previously.
Direct supervision jails are the new generation of jails. The direct supervision jails have pods that all inmates stay in. There are multiple pods in the jails. Each pod has separate rooms that house one to two inmates for lock downs, and it is where the inmates sleep. With the pod style layout, inmates have a more sense of freedom. The inmates are able to interact more with one another, and they are in an atmosphere more alike the real world (outside of jail).
The designs of direct supervision jails provide safer, more humane environments for the inmates. Studies show that detention facilities that use direct supervision have tremendously lowered rates of assaults, extortions and lawsuits compared to the traditional linear style of jail management. Another positive improvement is that there is less expensive construction due to behavior improvements of the inmates, and in my opinion this helps to saves ‘us’ tax payers money. The inmates are more stable, and they are able to cope with the environment in a more positive way than with the traditional jails.
There is a Corrections Deputy that continuously supervises all inmates and is in control with the direct supervision model. Major improvements made due to this model have been: a cleaner facility, lower noise levels, less vandalism, reduction in inmate assaults, inmates follow directions better, staff has more confidence and the stress for everyone has reduced.
There are some inmates that do not respond well to the pod style jail sells, and those inmates are placed in segregation units. Usually, most of the inmates that are placed in segregation units are know as “high risk” type inmates and have fewer privileges than the general population.
The older movies that show jail sells are traditional style jails, and many people have the perception that they are the same today. Traditional jails keep inmates separated from one another, leaving one or two in a room alone until recreation time. This will cause many inmates to build aggression, and that is one reason fights break out.
Overall, I enjoyed the tour. I enjoy watching TV shows and movies that deal with inmates, so experiencing what a jail is like in person without going through ‘processing’ as an inmate was fun. I was able to a lot of knowledge from the tour that I didn’t know previously.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
J.D. Callaway Hillsborough County Sheriff Spokesman
USF’s Public Affairs Reporting class met at the Hillsborough County Sheriff Department September 16, 2008. The class was escorted to an empty room with chairs surrounding a table, and at the head of the table sat J.D. Callaway. Each classmate took their seats to give Callaway our undivided attention.University of South Florida 1983 Graduate, J. D. Callaway, has worked for the Hillsborough County Sheriff Department for four years as the Sheriff’s spokesman. Callaway presented a criminal report affidavit, incident report, news release and an individual’s charge report to each classmate.
During Callaway’s presentation, he proceeded to explain that an estimated 30 percent of all reports/tips that come through their office are dispatched over the radio, and the other 70 percent is put into computer documents.
With the demand for online news reports increasing, and competition getting stronger with who presents the news first; many news stations are putting inaccurate information on the web. Most news stations have a police radio on at all times, and as soon as a “good story” is announced over the radios each news station presents the story via internet. As Callaway stated, “some radio calls are to check out a house situation with an assumption that a dead body is inside.” He continued to state that those calls can be inaccurate, and may turn out to be a dead dog rather than a person. He said that the news stations will put the story online that there is a dead body in a house before the story is proven, and that’s when online news stories may be incorrect. He mentioned that is was just an example, but there are many other incidences that occur.
One interesting fact that Callaway provided was that search warrants are not provided as public records through the Sheriff Department, but they can be retrieved at the Court House. A search warrant is a court order issued by a judge so that law enforcement is authorized to conduct a search of a person/location for evidence that can contribute to an investigation. The evidence may be seized for further investigation. Callaway stated that good stories can be presented when reporters obtain search warrants from the Court House.
Many reporters make mistakes, including J.D. Callaway himself. (Attached is a link to a story where Callaway admits giving wrong information about rape case.)
http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=631e479c-db36-40dd-8e4b-766a5a88e905
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Public Meeting #1: Code Enforcement Board Hearings
For the first public meeting assignment I attended a Code Enforcement Board Hearing. The hearings consisted of property owners who had been in violation of code enforcements. Almost all violations had similarities which consisted of improper use of zoning, accumulation of junk, trash or debris and overgrown conditions. The meeting allowed each property owner in violation to come before the board and explain their situation, give reasons to why they were in violation and what they have done to improve the violation presented.
Pledge of allegiance, roll call and an oath of witness started the meeting. Up first, Agnes Bak, was in violation of improper use of zoning. The Code Enforcement became involved when Bak’s neighbor complained that Bak was using residential property as commercial property. The Code Enforcement Board went to Bak’s property, and after investigation, they found Bak in violation. Bak explained that she had purchased the property five years ago along with the business in that same location. “I was shocked I had been in violation,” explained Bak. She continued by asking the board for more time, promising to file for rezoning. A motion was set that Bak would have a 30 day extension to comply with filing for rezoning; along with that, a $250 per day fine would be issued if rezoning wasn’t filed within the allotted time. The motion was passed after being seconded by board members.
The second, third and fourth cases were presented by the board and each property owner spoke on their behalf. Each case had a lot in common, but the fifth case caught my attention. This case involved Paul D. Mascato, and Debra K. Mascato. The two were in violation of accumulation of trash, debris and junk. Although the cases presented before had to do with accumulation, this case in particular had a heart felt story along with it. I decided to interview Debra K. Mascato and realized her husband had been a drug addict for years. When Paul and Debra received the violation notice, Paul felt the violation was irrelevant, and he had no interest in cleaning up the yard to comply with the violation according to Debra. Debra continued, “I did think the violation notice was important, and I had to do something about it, but I work over 50 hours a week.” She explained that her husband had gone to jail the previous night, so she was determined to comply with the violation notice. The board did allow 30 days to come into compliance.
Following Mascato’s case, Edward Deridder presented himself before the board. The case was for property owner Bobby James Jackson Jr., and to the boards surprise, Jackson had passed away five years ago. Deridder explained to the board he had purchased the property with partner Lee Chuck and he had papers to prove it. The board couldn’t believe that their records still showed Jackson as the owner, and in confusion they began to laugh. Deridder also explained that when he received the notice, he and his son spent 16 hours cleaning the property. The board dismissed the case completely. When Deridder walked out, I hurried out the door to get a quick interview. Deridder, “I was so nervous.” He said he was confused to why he had been nervous, because he had been involved in 25 immigration cases prior to this.
The final interview was with Code Enforcement Operations Manager, Jim Blinck. I wanted to know why he got involved with code enforcement and he replied saying he didn’t really know, but he has been doing it for 23 years. He says that he doesn’t enjoy fining property owners, but he wants to achieve making our communities beautiful. I asked why more than half of the property owners didn’t show for their hearing and he said most of them don’t care.
What more can I say about my first public meeting assignment….? Well, I know I don’t want to attend another Code Enforcement Board Hearing. I was relieved to have two interesting stories come from this meeting, but I know I was fortunate. In final remarks, I will try and find a better meeting to attend for my second assignment.
Pledge of allegiance, roll call and an oath of witness started the meeting. Up first, Agnes Bak, was in violation of improper use of zoning. The Code Enforcement became involved when Bak’s neighbor complained that Bak was using residential property as commercial property. The Code Enforcement Board went to Bak’s property, and after investigation, they found Bak in violation. Bak explained that she had purchased the property five years ago along with the business in that same location. “I was shocked I had been in violation,” explained Bak. She continued by asking the board for more time, promising to file for rezoning. A motion was set that Bak would have a 30 day extension to comply with filing for rezoning; along with that, a $250 per day fine would be issued if rezoning wasn’t filed within the allotted time. The motion was passed after being seconded by board members.
The second, third and fourth cases were presented by the board and each property owner spoke on their behalf. Each case had a lot in common, but the fifth case caught my attention. This case involved Paul D. Mascato, and Debra K. Mascato. The two were in violation of accumulation of trash, debris and junk. Although the cases presented before had to do with accumulation, this case in particular had a heart felt story along with it. I decided to interview Debra K. Mascato and realized her husband had been a drug addict for years. When Paul and Debra received the violation notice, Paul felt the violation was irrelevant, and he had no interest in cleaning up the yard to comply with the violation according to Debra. Debra continued, “I did think the violation notice was important, and I had to do something about it, but I work over 50 hours a week.” She explained that her husband had gone to jail the previous night, so she was determined to comply with the violation notice. The board did allow 30 days to come into compliance.
Following Mascato’s case, Edward Deridder presented himself before the board. The case was for property owner Bobby James Jackson Jr., and to the boards surprise, Jackson had passed away five years ago. Deridder explained to the board he had purchased the property with partner Lee Chuck and he had papers to prove it. The board couldn’t believe that their records still showed Jackson as the owner, and in confusion they began to laugh. Deridder also explained that when he received the notice, he and his son spent 16 hours cleaning the property. The board dismissed the case completely. When Deridder walked out, I hurried out the door to get a quick interview. Deridder, “I was so nervous.” He said he was confused to why he had been nervous, because he had been involved in 25 immigration cases prior to this.
The final interview was with Code Enforcement Operations Manager, Jim Blinck. I wanted to know why he got involved with code enforcement and he replied saying he didn’t really know, but he has been doing it for 23 years. He says that he doesn’t enjoy fining property owners, but he wants to achieve making our communities beautiful. I asked why more than half of the property owners didn’t show for their hearing and he said most of them don’t care.
What more can I say about my first public meeting assignment….? Well, I know I don’t want to attend another Code Enforcement Board Hearing. I was relieved to have two interesting stories come from this meeting, but I know I was fortunate. In final remarks, I will try and find a better meeting to attend for my second assignment.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Public Access Laws_Matt Doig
Matt Doig is an Investigative Reporter with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. While pondering what Matt had spoken about, I decided to do some research using the internet. I clicked upon an interview conducted between Matt and Brooke Gladstone with On the Media, and it surprisingly was an interview about public records.
Doig spoke about an undercover audit that he and his colleague, Chris Davis, had completed. Doig and Davis had continued to experience multiple roadblocks while trying to access public records. They had discussed the topic of an audit for quit some time and they were finally disgusted.
The public records law states that every person can get public records with some exemptions, and it is their Constitutional right. Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, is commonly known as Florida's "Public Records Law," which provides information on public records in Florida including: policies, definitions, exemptions, general information on records access, inspection, examination and duplication of records. Keeping Florida’s government open is mediated by the Attorney General’s Office.
Doig and many other reporters played the role as regular citizens asking for public records. They were to maintain anonymous, “the law gives you anonymity,” Doig stated. Out of the 234 various local agencies in almost all state’s counties, they found only 57 percent were in compliance with the laws of public access.
One story in particular that Doig spoke about during the interview with Gladstone was about a volunteer asking for emails in Broward County. Doig said that the man from Broward County had made threats to the volunteer. The man actually told the volunteer that he could make life difficult, required the person’s name and then contacted him by phone leaving messages saying he could find them.
The interview was conducted in February 2004, shortly after the undercover audit, and one reason many agencies denied the public records requests was because of the September 11th terrorist attach. Doig confronted those individuals in particular and found that it was just an excuse to not give up information. Doig argued that terrorist wouldn’t find use for cell phone bills to help in committing an attack.
The interview ended with closing remarks. Since 1909 the public records law has been written into the Florida Constitution. It’s clear what the laws are, and EVERY person is allowed to access public records.
Doig spoke about an undercover audit that he and his colleague, Chris Davis, had completed. Doig and Davis had continued to experience multiple roadblocks while trying to access public records. They had discussed the topic of an audit for quit some time and they were finally disgusted.
The public records law states that every person can get public records with some exemptions, and it is their Constitutional right. Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, is commonly known as Florida's "Public Records Law," which provides information on public records in Florida including: policies, definitions, exemptions, general information on records access, inspection, examination and duplication of records. Keeping Florida’s government open is mediated by the Attorney General’s Office.
Doig and many other reporters played the role as regular citizens asking for public records. They were to maintain anonymous, “the law gives you anonymity,” Doig stated. Out of the 234 various local agencies in almost all state’s counties, they found only 57 percent were in compliance with the laws of public access.
One story in particular that Doig spoke about during the interview with Gladstone was about a volunteer asking for emails in Broward County. Doig said that the man from Broward County had made threats to the volunteer. The man actually told the volunteer that he could make life difficult, required the person’s name and then contacted him by phone leaving messages saying he could find them.
The interview was conducted in February 2004, shortly after the undercover audit, and one reason many agencies denied the public records requests was because of the September 11th terrorist attach. Doig confronted those individuals in particular and found that it was just an excuse to not give up information. Doig argued that terrorist wouldn’t find use for cell phone bills to help in committing an attack.
The interview ended with closing remarks. Since 1909 the public records law has been written into the Florida Constitution. It’s clear what the laws are, and EVERY person is allowed to access public records.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
1st Amendment Foundation...Adria
Adria was with the 1st Amendment Foundation and she help clear up the right of access for public records. 1st Amendment Foundation is a small non-profit organization in place to help provide seminars for anyone who has interest in public access. They have an active role in the Legislative and the report Legislative activities and bills. They also focus their efforts on the Sunshine Laws.
In the Adria’s speech, she informed us that Florida has the longest and richest regulations for open records. It is in the Florida Constitution that we are able to access public records. In Article 1 section 24 of the Florida Constitution it expresses that every person has the right to receive public access.
The Department of State is the one in charge of determining the retention of records. Each record has to be provided in the form that it is kept, but if a person ask to receive the information in another form, it is not the responsibility of the provider. The agent does not have to provide any records that they do not maintain.
There are ways that an agent can get in trouble for not providing records that they do maintain, and this is only if they are knowing of the violation that the committed. Brechner.org is a website where we can see who has got in trouble and what their charges where.
If someone is looking to obtain information the agent must provide the information in a reasonable time frame. There also must be a reasonable notice of meetings when two or more people are meeting from the same agency. They would have to provide the timing, placement and content. They must keep the minutes of every meeting and they may not ask public member and press to leave an open meeting unless the person/person’s are being disruptive.
Overall, Adria was very informative and I think she will be a great resource in the near future.
In the Adria’s speech, she informed us that Florida has the longest and richest regulations for open records. It is in the Florida Constitution that we are able to access public records. In Article 1 section 24 of the Florida Constitution it expresses that every person has the right to receive public access.
The Department of State is the one in charge of determining the retention of records. Each record has to be provided in the form that it is kept, but if a person ask to receive the information in another form, it is not the responsibility of the provider. The agent does not have to provide any records that they do not maintain.
There are ways that an agent can get in trouble for not providing records that they do maintain, and this is only if they are knowing of the violation that the committed. Brechner.org is a website where we can see who has got in trouble and what their charges where.
If someone is looking to obtain information the agent must provide the information in a reasonable time frame. There also must be a reasonable notice of meetings when two or more people are meeting from the same agency. They would have to provide the timing, placement and content. They must keep the minutes of every meeting and they may not ask public member and press to leave an open meeting unless the person/person’s are being disruptive.
Overall, Adria was very informative and I think she will be a great resource in the near future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)