Top adviser avoids creating public records as she shapes FL Gov. Rick Scott's policy, e-mails show

[seafan]

Source: St. Petersburg Times

TALLAHASSEE — When U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's office tried to contact Gov. Rick Scott's top lieutenant, Mary Anne Carter offered her cell number, her state e-mail address and a warning.

"I rarely check and almost never respond to work e-mail because of the open records law," Carter wrote from her private e-mail account.

The admission stunned an open government advocate who said it was a chilling insight into an administration that has created roadblocks to Scott's own goal of accountability.

.....

The e-mail, along with hundreds of other(s) received by the Times/Herald, shows why Nelson was interested in Carter: She's the main operator within the new governor's nascent administration.

Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/gubernatorial/top-adviser-avoids-creating-public-records-as-she-shapes-gov-rick-scotts/1166647

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This woman has led the charge advising Rick Scott to:

1. Reverse Governor Charlie Crist's effort to restore voting rights for ex-felons who have served out their sentences.

2. Drag his feet on redistricting, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters last year.

3. To intentionally obfuscate the problem with Carl Littlefield, Scott's pick to head the Agency for Persons with Disabilities by emphasizing a "deficit problem" with the agency instead of the actual problem with this nominee. The problem with Carl Littlefield was that he had been in charge of a group home for disturbed men, including sex offenders, and had allowed them to engage in sexual activities with each other. He beat a hasty retreat before his Senate confirmation process.

(Scott later found another job for Littlefield, in a lower-profile position in the Department of Children and Families. Just swell.)

4. Cut state spending for the disabled.



So far, in the first four months of his disastrous term, Rick Scott's office has received 560 public records requests.


But Miss Mary Anne Carter refuses to comply with state laws, so she can protect her fraudster boss.


When will it be enough, Florida?

[yourout]

1. Isn't there a law against doing public business on a private email or phone?

[seafan]

4. The Florida Sunshine Law decrees the public's right of access to our government's business.

.....

Florida is renowned for putting a high priority on the public's right of access to governmental meetings and records. In fact, the principles of open government are not only embodied in Florida statutes, but also are guaranteed in the state Constitution.

Florida began its tradition of openness back in 1909 with the passage of what has come to be known as the “Public Records Law,” Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes. This law provides that any records made or received by any public agency in the course of its official business are available for inspection, unless specifically exempted by the Florida Legislature. Over the years, the definition of what constitutes “public records” has come to include not just traditional written documents such as papers, maps and books, but also tapes, photographs, film, sound recordings and records stored in computers.

Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine Law was enacted in 1967. Today, the Sunshine Law can be found in Chapter 286 of the Florida Statutes.

.....

Link


Karl Rove and his henchmen set this ugly precedent of using private e-mail servers for official government business during the years of the * catastrophe. And no one has held them accountable.

And it is still poisoning our democracy.

[yourout]

6. So sounds like to me she is breaking the law.

[24601]

9. I don't believe the law requires the creation of records - just that

any actually created must be open.

How is this morally different from Obama holding fund-raisers with no media allowed?

[No Elephants]

11. Among many other things, a speech/appearance at a fundraiser is

1/ Not official government business (so, case closed, right there).

2/ Not subject to Florida's sunshine law (or anyone's sunshine law)

2/ Heard/seen by all in attendance, all of whom are free to speak about it to anyone they choose, including media. (Lord knows, every time Pres. Obama's said something at a fundraiser, it's hit the press immediately.)

Barring the media from some fundraisers is probably more for the comfort of the donors who attend than it is for Obama.

[24601]

12. Any president is on the job 7/24 unless they invoke the 25th

amendment and make the VP Acting President (like when they go under for colonoscopies). So unless what they say either classified or covered by executive privilege because it involves unclassified but sensitive advice from advisers, there should be full transparency. What they really are trying to do is let politicians make secret promises to special interest groups while hiding them from the general electorate.

It's just as true with Obama as it was with Bush.

That's the only way voters will know what candidates REALLY think.

But you already knew that.

[OnyxCollie]

8. I suspect that is why John Kasich (Ohio governor)

chose to stay in his home, rather than the governor's mansion.

[bambooshooti]

10. She may use private email but it's still a public record.

She can use her private accounts, but that does not mean that the messages are not public records. If it's about public business it's a public record. That cannot be "avoided." Florida officials have lost lawsuits in recent times by trying to defeat public records law and Sunshine Law using private email. Texting is of course the next battleground.

[dmr]

2. For that admission, she needs to step down for betraying public trust

:rofl: what am I thinking?!?

Seriously, though, she has cast an even bigger cloud over Scott's slimy head.

It looks like they have much to hide; and I bet they do, too!

[Plucketeer]

3. WOW! This team's leaving a slime trail

bigger than the slug that ate Los Angeles!

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. And Chamber of commerce groups which partner with local gov. are becoming ad hoc committees instead

of task forces in order to avoid following the Sunshine Laws.

[LiberalFighter]

7. Overload her own personal cell phone with text messages.

Send zillions of requests to her underlings.