Broward County Commission Regular Meeting

MOTION TO DIRECT Office of the County Attorney to draft an Ordinance or Administrative Code provision, as applicable, to establish or revise existing deadlines for submitting supplemental items and distributing additional material to be considered by the Board of County Commissioners (“Board”) at publicly noticed meetings, and, further, to revise current rules regarding public participation at Board meetings to address instances where many individuals wish to express the same comments on an item. (Commissioner Fisher)

(Transferred to the Consent Agenda.)

ACTION:  (T-10:33 AM)  Approved. 

VOTE:  9-0.

Board direction is necessary for the Office of the County Attorney to complete this drafting.

Directs the Office of the County Attorney to draft the necessary Ordinance or Administrative Code provisions.

In November 2018, Broward County electors voted to amend the Broward County Charter to provide that notices and agendas of meetings of a Broward County public body be published on the governmental entity’s website no later than 48 hours prior to the meeting. This requirement is designed to provide elected officials and members of the public minimally sufficient time to analyze the items being considered and allow individuals to determine whether they would like to be heard on those items.

For a variety of reasons, items are sometimes not distributed to Commissioners and the public until the night before or the morning of a Board meeting. Rules should be adopted to prohibit this from occurring absent exigent circumstances. The rules should reflect that supplemental items and all agenda materials be distributed as promptly as possible and, absent exigent circumstances, no later than the established deadline(s).

The implementation of rules regarding public comment and participation would allow for Board meetings to run more efficiently while still ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Sunshine Law.