Island cities decline to join financial disclosure lawsuit
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – A Florida law firm plans to file a lawsuit challenging the recently expanded Form 6 financial disclosure requirements that now also apply to elected city officials.
Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach city commissioners recently discussed the pending lawsuit, but none of the Island cities are so far joining the lawsuit as plaintiffs.
On Jan. 9, city attorneys throughout Florida received a group email from attorney Jamie Cole, a longtime attorney with the Weiss Serota Helfam Cole and Bierman law firm’s Fort Lauderdale office. According to the firm’s website, Cole “represents local officials and governments in matters that help to improve their communities and preserve home rule power.”
In his email to city attorneys, Cole stated, “As I know you are all aware, the Florida Legislature last year passed a law that requires all municipal elected officials to complete a Form 6 rather than a Form 1 financial disclosure form as of Jan. 1, 2024. Over a hundred municipal elected officials have resigned rather than fill out the new form, which requires them to disclose their exact net worth, income and asset values.”
Former Bradenton Beach Commissioner Jake Spooner and Longboat Key Town Council Member Debbie Murphy were among the city officials statewide who resigned rather than be subjected to the same annual financial disclosure requirements that have long applied to elected state and county officials.
The expanded financial disclosure requirements also resulted in candidates John Kolojeski, Pat Olesen and Susan Stephen withdrawing their applications for potential appointment to the Anna Maria City Commission.
In his email, Cole stated, “Numerous city officials have contacted us regarding the filing of a lawsuit for declaratory and injunctive relief. Our firm has decided to file such a lawsuit if at least 10 municipalities sign on as plaintiffs. Attached is a form resolution that can be used by cities and their elected officials to join the lawsuit. Our legal theories are set forth in the resolution and are based upon the right to privacy and free speech.”
The resolution notes each city joining the lawsuit will be charged a $10,000 flat fee that covers the litigation of an initial court trial, but not a subsequent appeals process.
As of Jan. 18, the 11 cities joining the lawsuit were Golden Beach, Indian Creek, Miami Springs, Lighthouse Point, the Town of Palm Beach, North Bay Village, Bal Harbor, Weston, Delray Beach, Cooper City and Safety Harbor, according to Cole. He expects to file the lawsuit in February, after allowing more time for additional cities to potentially join in the suit.
The resolution claims the Form 6 disclosure requirements are unconstitutional and are not the least restrictive means to carry out the state Legislature’s desired financial disclosure requirements. It also says requiring unpaid or low-paid elected city officials to disclose their net worth, income and assets does not serve any compelling public interest and may potentially make them targets of burglary, identity theft and extortion while deterring other qualified citizens from seeking elected city office.
“Even the President of the United States and members of the U.S. Congress are not required to make such extensive disclosures,” the resolution states.
Elected city officials were previously required to file the significantly less intrusive Form 1 which doesn’t require the disclosure of net worth, income earned or tangible assets.
Elected city officials in office as of Jan. 1 must now file a Form 6 disclosure form by July 1, and future mayoral and city commission candidates must file a Form 6 when qualifying to run for office. Form 6 requires elected officials to report their net worth, income sources, income earned from each source, real estate holdings, bank accounts and account balances, stock holdings, tangible assets valued at more than $1,000 and debts owed.
Once filed, Form 6 becomes a public record that can easily be viewed and downloaded at the Florida Commission on Ethics website.
LOCAL DISCUSSION
Holmes Beach commissioners discussed the proposed lawsuit on Jan. 11 when Commissioner Terry Schaefer provided a recap of the Form 6 discussion that occurred earlier that day at the ManaSota League of Cities meeting. Schaefer said Florida League of Cities President and Cooper City Mayor Greg Ross is not in favor of the proposed lawsuit.
On Jan. 9, the Cooper City Commission voted 3-1 to join the proposed lawsuit and the three supporting commissioners will be named individually as plaintiffs acting on behalf of the city. Ross, an attorney, voted against Cooper City joining the lawsuit.
Holmes Beach City Attorney Erica Augello said she and her fellow attorneys at the Trask Daigneault law firm are not advising any of their municipal clients to join the lawsuit.
“Whatever decisions are made are going to impact you one way or another, so save your money,” she said. “It’s going to be an uphill battle.”
Commissioner Dan Diggins said, “I would really like us to stop talking about Form 6. It’s law. Let’s live with it. Let’s move on.”
Schaefer noted that anyone still in office as of Jan. 1 had the opportunity to resign before the expanded disclosure requirements took effect.
Anna Maria City Attorney Becky Vose told The Sun she received Cole’s email, however, she did not mention the email or the lawsuit during the Anna Maria Commission’s Jan. 11 meeting.
During that meeting, Commissioner Jon Crane provided some general comments on the Form 6 requirements and said, “I think it’s more home rule terrorism, stomping a foot on the neck of little cities. I’ve been talking to the mayor about having our lobbyist talk to the legislators about an exception for smaller cities, or something else that would take that pressure off of us. I also understand there might be a lawsuit being filed.”
to “home rule terrorism.” – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Commission Chair Mark Short noted Form 6 was discussed at the ManaSota League of Cities meeting, but the Florida League of Cities is not taking any action in opposition to the expanded disclosure requirements.
On Jan. 18, Bradenton Beach City Attorney Ricinda Perry initiated a commission discussion on the proposed lawsuit. She said she agrees with the legal argument that the expanded disclosure requirements are a violation of the right to privacy.
Perry said it’s unfair to subject elected city officials to financial disclosure requirements that were not in effect when they took office, some of whom own businesses and would have to disclose information that could be used by their competitors.
“I tend to agree with the attorneys who are putting this lawsuit together. There are other means of getting to where the legislators wanted to be,” Perry said.
Mayor John Chappie said, “As a county commissioner for eight years, I filled out the Form 6. Do I like doing it? No, not at all, but it is what it is. I’m not in favor of being part of the lawsuit.”
Commissioner Ralph Cole said he understands the Form 6 disclosure requirement being applied to higher-paid state and county elected officials, but not to a Bradenton Beach commissioner who earns $4,800 per year for serving.
Cole noted the disclosure requirements were expanded without grandfathering in city officials elected before the expanded disclosure requirements took effect. He said determining one’s net worth and the value of tangible assets could be challenging. Chappie agreed that determining the value of some assets, including works of art, can be difficult.
None of the Island city commissions took formal votes on joining the lawsuit.
ATTORNEY INSIGHTS
The Sun spoke with Cole by phone on Jan. 10 and Jan. 18.
“In the long run, if we win the case and get a declaration that the law’s invalid, I think it will benefit everyone,” he said. “But that’s not going to be for a while, so we’re going to try to get a temporary injunction that would only run in favor of the plaintiffs – the individuals who are actually named in the lawsuit. Just because a city joins that’s not going to be enough. The individuals who are named plaintiffs are the ones who would benefit from the temporary injunction and the cities would be paying for their fees.”
Cole thinks the expanded disclosure requirements are going to have a bigger impact in Florida’s smaller cities.
“Big and small cities are both concerned, but to some extent, it could be a bigger problem in smaller cities where everyone knows each other, and some people feel it’s a bigger invasion of their privacy. Some small cities are going to have problems filling their commissions,” Cole said.
Cole said the Florida Legislature can revisit the 2023 legislation and enact less invasive disclosure requirements for elected city officials, or all elected officials in Florida.
“They certainly could fix this and it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. It doesn’t have to be Form 1 or Form 6. It could be something in between. They could also change the rules for themselves because it’s not really clear why the net worth of county commissioners or state legislators needs to be disclosed,” Cole said.
He said the Florida Legislature could also research how other states handle their financial disclosure requirements.
“If you were to do that, you will find that none of them require their officials to disclose their net worth, their income and every single asset they own,” Cole said, noting there are some states that require disclosure reporting in dollar ranges rather than specific dollar amounts.
Cole said the Form 6 disclosure requirements provide teenage and adult children the means to look up their parents’ net worth and earnings. He said some city officials resigned because their employers don’t allow them to disclose their salaries and others may be involved in legal disputes or family issues in which disclosing financial assets could be detrimental.
“There’s so many different scenarios that people can’t or don’t want to disclose their financial information. It’s a huge intrusion into their privacy and it forces them to speak in a way that don’t want to speak – and that clearly violates fundamental constitutional rights,” Cole said.
He noted paying an accountant to assist with a Form 6 filing can cost $2,000 or more.
