Florida cities sue as officials seek to avoid revealing detailed financial information

More than two dozen cities and 76 elected officials from across Florida are asking a judge to block a law requiring them to disclose detailed financial information to keep their elected jobs.

A pair of lawsuits filed Thursday evening in Leon County Circuit Court and in federal court in Miami take aim at a new state requirement for mayors and city council members to file “Form 6,” which requires annual disclosure of any assets and liabilities worth at least $1,000, as well as their net worth, sources of income, and any client that contributes more than 10% of their business income.

The previously required Form 1 disclosure set the threshold at $10,000.

The new requirements have been blamed for more than 100 resignations by local officials across the state. Of the 24 cities that have joined the legal action so far, most of them are in South Florida.

“Even the president of the United States, his disclosure is not as specific as Form 6,” said Jamie Cole, an attorney with Weiss, Serota, Helfman, Cole and Bierman, the firm that drafted the complaint. “Every other state has financial disclosures, but none of them are as strict as the Form 6.”

Among the South Florida cities that have joined the lawsuit are Aventura, Delray Beach, the town of Palm Beach, Lighthouse Point, Coral Springs, Wilton Manors, Deerfield Beach, Lauderhill and Margate. Among the local elected officials are Cooper City Commissioner Jeremy Katzman, Plantation Councilmember Jennifer Andreu, and all five members of the Weston City Commission.

The legal actions allege the requirement violates the officials’ right to privacy granted by the Florida constitution. Imposing on that right requires the least restrictive means to do so, the suit reads, but the Florida Legislature took the most restrictive path when it approved Senate Bill 774 last year. The federal complaint alleges the form violates the officials’ First Amendment rights of free speech, specifically their right not to speak at all.

Supporters of the legislation argue voters deserve to know how elected officials make money, and that even low-paid city councils make decisions involving millions of public tax dollars.

“Taxpayers deserve transparency,” Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary, who sponsored the legislation, previously told the Sentinel. “If a simple disclosure that hundreds of other elected officials already do makes someone quit, then voters should be glad.”

Prior to the legal change, politicians ranging from constitutional officers, county elected officials, state cabinet officials and some big-city mayors already filed the more detailed form.

Scores of city commissioners across the state have resigned as opposed to filing the form, which is due for the first time on July 1. One departing city commissioner quipped in January that he’d have to list his wife’s wedding ring.

In the tiny Marion County town of Reddick, with a population of about 500 people, its entire town council, including the mayor and council president, have all resigned over the form. The town clerk is now the only official listed on the website, and a note says, “Meetings are on-hold until a resolution to the situation has been determined.”

Beyond officials who have resigned, Cole said the new requirement may keep people from running for office.

“We’re not looking at this as a short-term thing, this is a long-term thing that is going to face city officials into the future,” he said. “We need to make sure we’re not going to deter good people from running.”

South Florida Sun Sentinel staff writer Lisa J. Huriash contributed to this news article.

rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com