IN HAEC VERBA: Letter to DoI re: ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA 450TH COMMEMORATION COMMISSION MUST FOLLOW THE FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT

May 2, 2011
Honorable Kenneth Salazar
Secretary of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W. via fax to 202-208-6950
Washington, D.C. 20240

RE: ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA 450TH COMMEMORATION COMMISSION SELECTION PROCESS MUST FOLLOW THE FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT (FACA) – PLEASE CORRECT MAJOR ERROR IN COMMISSION’S CHARTER

Dear Secretary Salazar:

I wrote you July 15, 2009 regarding the charter for the “St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission,” PL-111-11, Sec. 7404. I appreciate your appointing diverse, well-qualified, knowledgeable members to the Commission last month.
However, upon reviewing the Charter of the 450th Commission, I note a major error in clause 8 – “FACA Non-Applicability. The Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. Appendix, does not apply to operations or meetings of the Commission.”

This statement is erroneous and could lead to FACA violations. In fact, Congress provided that only Section 14(b) of FACA does not apply. The rest of FACA is intact and is mandatory legal authority for the Commission. In the interests of open government, will you please issue a corrected charter as soon as possible, clarifying that the Commission is only exempt from FACA Section 14(b)? Thank you.
Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin
P.O. Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (o)
904-471-9918 (fax)
EASlavin@aol.com
Clean Up City of St. Augustine
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

pc: Honorable Susan Sher/Honorable Michelle Obama via fax to 202-456-2461
Honorable Bill Nelson via fax to 202-228-2123
Honorable Earl E. Devaney via fax to 202-219-3856
Honorable Melinda Loftin, via fax to 202-208-5515
Honorable Cass Sunstein via fax to 202-395-6102
St. Augustine Record Ponte Vedra Recorder Folio Weekly Times-Union
City of St. Augustine via fax to 904-825-1096
Rev. Ron Rawls, NAACP via fax to 904-827-1266