Builder tied to housing scandal is jailed: The fallout builds from the Miami Herald’s House of Lies housing investigation scandal. Police and arrest records are among the documents Debbie Cenziper and Larry Lebowitz tap to report that the developer at the center of the scandal “was arrested late Saturday on charges he spent at least $736,000 in public money meant for the poor to buy himself a South Miami house, plus appliances, pool, a termite inspection – even a $3,000 insurance policy.” Developer Oscar Rivero was supposed to use the money to build houses in Little Havana for low-income elderly. But an arrest warrant said that days after Rivero received $806,000 from the Miami-Dade Housing Authority that he used the money to buy a 3,600-square-foot home in cash. Rivero, a lawyer and civic leader, faces two first-degree felonies that could bring a minimum 21 months in prison if convicted, the story says. The arrest came just more than a month after the Herald’s series that exposed more than $12 million in housing authority funds for affordable homes that were never built. The public records handbook covers arrest reports on Page 23 and arrest warrants on Page 27.

Records on a roll:
Letters, maps, ordinances, planning records and property appraiser records: Matt Reed of Florida Today on a Satellite Beach property tax dispute between a developer and city officials who just learned they won’t be getting the millions in property taxes they expected from the developer’s housing project …
Traffic citation records, Florida statutes: Grant Boxlietner of the Fort Myers News-Press on how tickets are rarely written in Lee County for driving with hazard lights on. Only vehicles that are disabled or lawfully stopped are allowed to have hazard lights in use …
County permitting records: Eric Staats of the Naples Daily News about how some types of wildlife could be slipping through a loophole in Collier County’s land clearing permit system …

Florida Sunshine Review:
*Miami Herald, by Monica Hatcher: Public records are easy targets for identity thieves (*free registration required) …
Palm Beach Post, by Robert P. King: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers refuses to release detailed historical information about leaks in the Herbert Hoover Dike, claiming the data could prove useful to terrorists or saboteurs …
St. Petersburg Times, by Lori Helfand: Municipalities sue Pinellas County to keep charter changes off November ballot, in part claiming violation of the Sunshine Law …
Lakeland Ledger, column by Richard White: Homeowners have a right to see homeowner association records …

August 18, 2006

Florida Sunshine Review:
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Todd Ruger: Sarasota County’s top judge issues order designed to stop civil cases from disappearing from public view …
*Orlando Sentinel, column by Lauren Ritchie: Tavares needs a good dose of government in the sunshine (*free registration required) …
*Orlando Sentinel, commentary by Tavares City Council member Robert Abernathy: Sunshine laws are a bother and “for the pits” (*free registration required) …
*Orlando Sentinel editorial: Tavares City Council member’s support for closed meetings is wrongheaded (*free registration required) …
Ocala Star Banner, by Mabel Perez: Judge to rule on release of records in Marion County deaths case …

August 14, 2006

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Public is not allowed to see suit involving House candidate: Super sealing court files leads to public accountability problems on several fronts. In this instance, Todd Ruger of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that anyone searching court records for details about Vern Buchanan, the man seeking to represent five counties in Congress, wouldn't be able to find a contentious civil case involving him. The developer of the Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel accused Buchanan of fraud as part of a civil lawsuit, alleging he misrepresented his net worth and business dealings. “But the suit was settled and then in 2001, a few years before Buchanan's current run for Congress, it vanished from public view when a judge agreed to take the nearly unheard-of step of making it secret,” the story says. Buchanan, a car dealer, says he has nothing to hide, but he and his attorney refused to immediately authorize the unsealing of the case. “Even when a case is properly sealed, the names of the parties involved and the existence of the case is supposed to remain open for public inspection.” References to Buchanan's case were removed from the clerk of court's computer dockets the public use to find cases. The story said Circuit Judge Nancy Donnellan has refused to provide a copy of her order explaining why she allowed the case to be sealed and, as of this story, had not responded to the newspaper’s requests for comment. The public records handbook covers civil case files on Page 82.

Florida Sunshine Review:
Ocala Star Banner, by Mabel Perez: Defense attorney for the man accused of shooting two Santa Fe Community College students to death wants to seal transcript of alleged confession …
*Orlando Sentinel, by Stephen Hudak: Judge candidate’s divorce file circulated by supporters of his opponent (*free registration required) …
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Michael A. Scarcella: Newspaper fight over police records reveals details of racketeering investigation …
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, by Susannah Bryan: Deerfield Beach considers policy forbidding employees from talking to reporters without first going through the city's public information officer …
Tallahassee Democrat, by Paul Flemming: New law to allow parents to check their children’s driving records online …