Editorial: Sunshine complaints against Mosquito board members need timely review

Editorial: Sunshine complaints against Mosquito board members need timely review



Publication Date: 07/27/07


Two Anastasia Mosquito Control District board members are on the hot seat for what may be a violation of Florida's Sunshine Law governing open meetings.

A video camera in the meeting room on July 10 had not been turned off at the end of the regular meeting. Its tape shows Board Chairman Barbara Bosanko and board member Linda Wampler talking together with the board's attorney, Audrie M. Harris. Bosanko told The Record no Sunshine violation occurred. Wampler said she talked separately to Harris. In a memo to board member John Sundeman, Harris said she only talked to Bosanko and that there was no Sunshine violation. She said Wampler was nearby packing up her belongings.

The Sunshine Law prohibits two or more members of the same board from talking to each other about the public's business without advance public notice of the meeting. It also requires minutes be taken.

From what we have seen of the videotape of the two board members talking after the July 10 meeting, we believe it is important for an outside agency to conduct an investigation to assess the complaints. In this case, two agencies are involved.

Complaints were filed by Robin Nadeau, a citizen, and Sundeman. Both viewed the video independently. Nadeau filed hers with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Sundeman filed his with the Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney's office.

It's a shame this has happened. Florida's open meetings law is 40 years old. By now we would expect that public board members would understand the law's meaning.

Looking at the video, it is hard to overlook the fact that the three women are talking to each other. While some comments are hard to make out, they do not appear to be talking about the weather or picking up groceries. What can be clearly heard is Wampler's comment, "I'm not going to put up with this anymore." She added that she was going to call a Record editor.

In the regular meeting, board members were so upset with some members of the public and their conduct at the meeting that they called law enforcement. But no one was ejected or arrested and the meeting continued.

The kind of suspicion a Sunshine law complaint raises does not need to hang over Bosanko and Wampler and the board for a lengthy period and cause further distraction for them. We urge FDLE and the State Attorney's office to complete their investigations in a timely manner.

Too many black clouds hang over this taxing agency already for questionable million-dollar-plus purchases of a helicopter and land without an appraisal to now have complaints of an open meetings violation.

Asked about the situation, Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation, a watchdog group, said in Thursday's Record, "I always recommend that board members not discuss anything outside the sunshine. They have to be very careful. There is a reason for this law."

We agree. The public's business must always be done in publicly noticed meetings whether they last three hours or three minutes.


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