It was a cloudy day in Tallahassee Tuesday, as Gov. Ron DeSantis was sworn in for his second term at the helm of one of the biggest governments in the world.
At one time, it was also one of the most transparent — so much so that many of DeSantis’ predecessors highlighted our reputation as the “government in the sunshine” state after taking their own oaths of office. Under DeSantis, however, things have gotten increasingly opaque and overcast.
Floridians need their sunshine back. News outlets and advocacy groups have reported that routine public records requests to a wide array of state agencies go unanswered until legal action is threatened. Meanwhile, DeSantis continues to use official state resources to spread misleading and downright false information about how he’s using — and abusing — the power this state’s voters have given him.
For those who didn’t know the truth, Tuesday’s speech sounded like DeSantis had a lot to brag about. But thanks to public records, video on demand and dogged advocates for the truth, many Floridians understood the reality behind his claims.
Flights of fancy
Nothing illustrates this administration’s dogged truth-dodging more than the farrago of cloak-and-dagger nonsense that surrounded DeSantis’ cruel, deceptive and possibly lawbreaking stunt in September, when state funds were used to fly planeloads of bewildered asylum seekers from Texas to the resort town of Martha’s Vineyard.
During Tuesday’s speech, DeSantis boasted about his commitment to law and order. But he still hasn’t explained why he used state funds, specifically dedicated to exporting “illegal aliens” from Florida, to fly asylum-seekers who were in this country legally from Texas to Massachusetts. Nor has he released the $1.5 million contract with Vertrol, the company that stage-managed the migrant flights.
But a perusal of the record so far reveals why DeSantis and his allies took so many pains to keep the reality hidden. Slowly, through multiple lawsuits and investigations, the silly, embarrassing truth is being extracted, including how high-paid DeSantis “safety czar” Larry Keefe used encrypted messaging apps and the alias “Clarice Starling” to trade often-snide emails with Vertrol as they orchestrated the flights. (Starling is the protagonist of the Thomas Harris novel “Silence of the Lambs.” We’re left wondering if Keefe actually read that series to the end.)
The use of these back channels looks like a clear-cut effort to dodge public records laws. In fact, the state is claiming that it failed to comply with court orders to disclose the Martha’s Vineyard emails because Keefe used an alternative email account to send correspondence. In other words, they are blaming their secrecy on ... their secrecy. That doesn’t sound much like sunshine to us.
There are other examples ―like DeSantis’ attempts to spin his vicious anti-LGBTQ crusading as defending innocence, or his insistence that he was defending elections integrity against “wayward officials.” That sounds like a slap at county elections supervisors, who actually did a stellar job of keeping the midterm transparent, accountable and trustworthy,
We need to make one important point. The crucial nature of Florida’s open-records laws lies in the power they grant average citizens. Media organizations have attorneys on retainer, but many Floridians can’t afford attorneys and often don’t understand how broad their rights are. Given our experience, we have to wonder how many valid records requests are stymied on a daily basis.
There’s one thing from Tuesday’s speech with which we wholeheartedly agree: The governor’s boast that “We will not allow reality, facts, and truth to become optional.”
Neither will the defenders of Sunshine, Gov. DeSantis. Take that to the bank.
The champions Florida needs
Here’s one thing to celebrate: Longtime combatants such as Florida’s First Amendment Foundation and Common Cause have been joined on the front lines by a new group with rock-solid credentials and a team of experienced warriors.
The Florida Center For Governmental Accountability is headed by Barbara Petersen, who retired a few years ago as director of the First Amendment Foundation but couldn’t stay away from the arena. And it’s already earning a formidable reputation: It spearheaded the litigation to extract Keefe’s emails and is still working to expose the truth behind the Martha’s Vineyard flights.
It’s unfortunate that Floridians need groups like the FLCGA to fight for records that belong to the people, by right and by law. But we are blessed to have them on the front lines.
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The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com
