The Sarasota City Commission is asking the city attorney to find a way for them to meet in private to discuss the FPL franchise agreement. I took issue with that the other day. Here is a further explanation as to why:
We all realize the beauty of being able to speak freely in a closed room without an audience. It gives us the chance to be able to speak out loud without great penalty and then formulate our message without creating more damage then doing good. It also gives us the ability to lay our cards on the table and still have the ability to take them back when necessary. It is also the fastest way to get things settled. These reasons are all understandable in the realm of negotations..at least if the playing field was leveled.
The problem the commission has with a workshop being opened to the public is that, along with the public, FPL will also have access. So the last thing that any of them want to do is strategize on behalf of the city and have FPL taking notes.
My problem with the closed workshop now is that this should have been done prior to their first public meeting. My concern is that even though it would be a closed workshop, FPL will still be in that room.
As it stands now, FPL is allowed to have personal, one-on-one, meetings with each commissioner. The information that they gain from one commissioner is used to formulate the next discussion…giving FPL full advantage over each commissioner. Now, the only thing each commissioner has to go on is what FPL is telling them. FPL definitely has the advantage. However, now, when the commissioners enter into that closed meeting they are already influenced by their discussions with FPL. Meanwhile, the public is left out in the dark.
For me, the commissioners have not spent enough time with the public in order for the public to have a position in that room. They are the civil servants whose obligation is to represent us. But how can they truly represent us when so little time has spent with us? 90 people were in the room at the first and possibly only town hall last month. Out of the 90 – were officials from FPL, people who were invited by FPL, officials from the Municipal Utility industry, solar business owners, reporters, and so on. Only approximately half of the audience was made up of the public. And then only a portion of that number spoke to the commission. It did not help that the town hall was held in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week.
Is the public really served in these proceedings? The purpose of the town halls was to educate the public so they can not only make an informed decision, but also be confident enough to be able to communicate their wishes. The purpose of the second town hall was to further explore the additional alternatives to the FPL franchise agreement. With commissioners questioning the merit of a second town hall leaves me to believe that they have already formed their answers and now they just want to expedite the process.
FPL should have been prevented to have any private discussions with the commissioners. They definitely have the upper hand. I would go further to say that the activities of FPL and their talks with each comissioner should also be of public record. That way not only would be public continue to be educated on the negotiations, but so would the other comissioners.
If any issue should be taken with the proceeedings, it should be that it is not held in the proper format. While nicely done, the public was not allowed to ask questions. All the public is ever allowed to do is make statements during a three minute alottment of time at the end of the meeting. Getting no feed back from the comission or the other participants on the panel only leaves one feeling very placated. But how much do we really learn? I know a lot about energy…way more than a girl with a background in threatre could have ever imagined. But I have been spending the past several years educating myself on the topic. From sitting with lawmakers, attending conferences, interviewing business owners, etc – I have more hours than I care to count on learning about energy. But how many other people can invest that kind of time? I feel that it is the responsibility of the commission to open the doors and make it easy for the public to become involved. It is the duty of a civil servant to serve the public and provide the opportunity for the public to brought up to the same level of knowledge that they have when making those decisions on behalf of the public.
The one thing that really got my goat was not that the commission requested to have private meetings, but that Commisioner Turner questioned the need for another town hall. We are not operating under a deadline when it comes to signing the franchise agreement. We no longer have a franchise agreement. Time is truly on our side. If nothing else can be to our benefit, is this opportunity that we have been granted to learn more about the power that we have in our hands.
I, for one, will not accept this to be swept under the rug so we can move onto the next issue at hand. The public will be allowed the opportunity to be educated on this matter,with or without the City’s help. They can choose to either be the exception or the rule. But the lesson will be learned.
To express your interest to the City Commission, you can find their information here.
