Downtown Vision Inc.’s selection committee will meet next week to again choose an executive director, this time at a public meeting.
Last week, Jacob Gordon from Camden, N.J., was selected by the committee to replace Terry Lorince.
However, the choice was discussed by committee members during telephone conversations and the decision was not made in a public meeting.
Both violate the state’s Sunshine Laws that require those conversations and decisions occur in public, as reported Friday by the Daily Record. The violations made the committee’s choice voidable.
The group will convene April 22 in a publicly noticed, open meeting to reconsider candidates and re-select the organization’s next chief executive.
Board Chair Debbie Buckland said Monday she is calling for the properly noticed “cure meeting,” which will give the public the opportunity to witness and participate in the selection process.
Asked why the meeting will be scheduled seven days after the notice instead of only 24 hours as required by the Sunshine Law, “We want to make sure the public has plenty of time to attend (the meeting),” she said.
Buckland also said city staff will conduct Sunshine Law training for DVI’s board members, all of whom are volunteers. The training probably will occur at the regularly scheduled board meeting May 27.
Alexis Lambert, director of the city Office of Public Accountability, will present an overview of Sunshine Law requirements.
The presentation will address topics such as notice requirements, making meeting minutes available to the public and “what and when and where discussions may take place,” she said.
It’s a 15-20 minute presentation, followed by questions.
“Different boards have different questions,” said Lambert, who is an attorney. “Each board has its own needs.”
Buckland said she and the committee members did not realize they weren’t adhering to open government laws when they made the decision regarding the new executive director.
“Whatever violations we committed were certainly not intentional,” said Buckland. “We’re going to have a cure meeting and put this behind us.”
Between the committee’s April 1 meeting with four finalists and April 9, when the announcement was made that Gordon had been hired, there were no public meetings of the committee or the board.
Committee Chair Pat McElhaney said last week he had discussed the final candidates with committee members, including via telephone conversations, between the two public meetings.
Florida law provides that no resolution, rule, regulation or formal action shall be considered binding except as taken or made at an open meeting.
The remedy, according to the 2015 Sunshine Law manual published and distributed to the public by the state Attorney General’s Office, is for the committee to reconvene in a public meeting to consider the candidates and vote again to select a new executive director.
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