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Joe's Hit Records
June 30, 2003  Burglary of autos is rising in Delray: Public records help reveal important trends in our neighborhoods. Nancy L. Othón of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel used police incident reports to show how car burglaries have jumped 21 percent in Delray Beach compared to the same six months of last year. Thefts of stereos and tire rims represent between 50 and 60 percent of those burglaries. The public records handbook profiles police offense/incident reports and what they have to offer on Page 312.
June 29, 2003 Housing boom leaves little time for scrutiny: Dick Hogan of the Fort Myers News-Press relied on building permit and inspection records to report on how buyers are increasingly at risk from a Lee County building inspections process stretched thin. Notes the story: “The increase in work for all of Lee’s inspectors is stunning: for example, a 39 percent increase in inspections from 94,420 in 1997 to 131,500 in 2002 in the unincorporated county alone. Countywide, the number of houses permitted almost doubled in the same period: from 3,536 to 7,051.” Building permits and inspection reports are profiled on Page 58 of the public records handbook.
June 27, 2003 Catanese returns $42,000 'going away gift': Public records often
help the public get closer to the truth. Larry Keller
of The Palm Beach Post writes that the former
president of Florida Atlantic University had denied
receiving $42,000 as a going away gift from the
school's foundation. But a letter from the
ex-president to his successor indicated the FAU
Foundation "gave it to me as a going away gift," a
story from Saturday said. Letters between pubic
officials are public records unless exempted by law.
The non-profit foundation's money is not supposed to benefit private
individuals. Police are investigating the purchase of a Corvette
with the money, and the state attorney's office is
considering whether to file charges in the case. The index to the public records handbook lists 30 references to letters.
State attorney case files are profiled in the handbook on Page 328.
June 26, 2003 Charges dismissed in lawyer’s contempt case: Court records helped James L. Rosica of the Tallahassee Democrat report about charges being dropped against a local attorney who didn’t show up for court. The story says the judge’s order in the case, which becomes part of a court file, notes that the attorney is under investigation by The Florida Bar, which licenses and polices the state’s attorneys. The court file included a letter from the attorney explaining how he missed two court dates for a client charged with sexual battery. Starting on Page 103, the public records handbook explains how to research criminal court records at the local circuit court clerk’s office and what you can expect to find in them. How to research a lawyer's disciplinary actions and standing is addressed on Page 259.
June 25, 2003 Code board votes to foreclose on 4 properties: Bill Rufty of The Ledger in Lakeland cites fines that can be found in code enforcement records in this story about the Lakeland Code Enforcement Board’s decision to foreclose on four derelict buildings. The story notes that the owner, a realtor who served on the city's Historic Preservation Board from 1995 to 2001, has tallied about $300,000 in city fines on the properties in the last seven years. Code enforcement records can help neighbors keep tabs on what their local government is - and isn’t doing - about eyesore properties nearby. Code enforcement records are profiled on Page 87 of the public records handbook, while local board membership lists are addressed on Page 273.
June 24, 2003 Gov. Bush signs $53.5 billion state budget: Budgets are key public records for monitoring how state and local governments plan to spend taxpayer dollars. Bill Cotterell of the Tallahassee Democrat reports on the Florida governor’s sign-off
on the state’s $53.5 billion budget for the year beginning July 1. The state of Florida Web site
offers more on the numbers and includes a downloadable Microsoft Word document on the governor’s veto message and a related budget Powerpoint presentation as well. Most local governments in Florida are gearing up for their upcoming budget year, which begins on Oct. 1 in most cases. The budgets entry in the public records handbook (starting on Page 53) explains what types of information budgets provide along with tips and traps about the records and references to related records of interest for budget watchers.
June 23, 2003 A double life: This story appeared June 4 before this journal began but is too fascinating not to mention. Christopher Goffard and John Martin of the St. Petersburg Times used public records of all kinds to tell the tale of a prominent businessman who for decades secretly lived a double life with separate families - in the same county! For years the wives served on the same school board of trustees. The school received lucrative donations from the man with two names, one of which few people ever attached to a face because of a secretive “State Department” job requiring constant travel. The extensive paper trail for this story included government contracts, marriage licenses, driver’s licenses, court files and property databases. The public records handbook covers how to research payments from government agencies on Page 72, marriage licenses on Page 279, driver’s licenses on Page 134, lawsuits on Page 82, property appraiser records on Page 322, deeds on Page 113 and mortgages on Page 287.
June 22, 2003 Paradise sold: Developers’ legacy costs millions to fix: Development, for better or worse, is the story of Florida. Joe Newman of the Orlando Sentinel used development records to help tell how the poorly planned developments of yesteryear are costing millions to fix today. The story references a company’s drainage plan blueprint from 1976 as evidence that the developer knew of potential flooding problems that would later materialize. Besides any records angles, a beauty of this story is how it puts Florida’s development story into focus and context. This piece is part of an occasional series that should be interesting to follow. The public records handbook explains how to find and research a variety of important records involving development, including building permits (Page 58), comprehensive land use plans and amendments (Page 90), developments of regional impact files (Page 117), land sales registrations (Page 257), planning commission records on development (Page 306), water management district permit and regulation files (Page 375), and zoning and rezoning applications (Page 382).
June 21, 2003 NNFD: Records raise questions about expenses paid for by impact fees: Purchasing records of state and local government agencies and their departments are public record. Mireidy Fernandez reviewed them to document hundreds of questionable purchases by the North Naples fire district using money from an impact fee account during the 5-year tenure of the fire chief. The records raise questions about whether money was spent on personal or public business and from proper accounts with the authorization required by law. How to research government purchases is explained in the public records handbook in entries on bids and contracts (Page 33) and checks and warrants issued by government agencies (Page 72).
June 20, 2003 Evidence in 31 rapes untested for months: Public records can spotlight areas of government that are not working as they should be. David Kidwell of the Miami Herald used internal police records to show that Miami police left 31 rape kits untested for months, including some from a serial rapist’s home turf. Police are conducting an internal investigation into the matter. Police internal affairs investigation reports are profiled on Page 310 of the public records handbook.
June 19, 2003 Hollywood doctor disciplined in death resulting from drug overdose: Fred Schulte of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that a South Florida doctor has become the fourth disciplined by state officials in recent months for prescribing too many pills to patients who died. The state Department of Health issued an emergency order (which is a public record) against the doctor on Wednesday. Professional licensing and disciplinary records are some of the most valuable records available to consumers and researchers of all kinds. The Florida Department of Health provides background information about Florida doctors through its online practioner profiles. In general, the DOH regulates health care professionals while the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration oversees health-related facilities. Licensing and regulatory records of both agencies are profiled extensively in the public records handbook on Pages 156 (ACHA) and 194 (DOH). The administrative hearing process that often accompanies disciplinary professionals against doctors is explained starting on Page 143.
June 18, 2003 Flagler School Board gives chief raise, bonus: Patrick Wright of The News-Journal in Daytona reports that the Flagler County school board gave the superintendent a raise and bonus but could have violated the state’s open meetings laws in the process. The State Attorney’s Office continues to investigate a private discussion between two board members about the raise a few weeks earlier, which is forbidden under state Sunshine laws. Although the public records handbook is primarily about public records, the state’s open meetings laws are addressed on Pages 387 to 391. The handbook’s sister publication, the Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual, covers open meetings laws and related statutes in more detail and is available in book form from the First Amendment Foundation. The manual is also online at the Florida Attorney General’s Office Web site.
June 17, 2003 Smaller class sizes a test in Dade: Matthew I. Pinzur of the Miami Herald used a new report from the state Department of Education to note the Miami-Dade County school district will have to shrink class sizes up to 40 percent over the next seven years to meet the state’s new constitutional mandate to ease overcrowding. Government reports and statistics are public information that often generate news important to local communities. The story includes a separate link to a PDF file on Florida class size averages for all Florida school districts from the state Department of Education. The Florida DOE Web site, profiled on page 177 of the public records handbook, contains vast amounts of often insightful statistics on local schools and school districts. Pinzur’s story also links to www.greatschools.net, a site maintained by an independent non-profit group that allows users to search for district school information in Florida and nationwide based on state education data.
June 16, 2003 Million-dollar homes abound: B.C. Manion of The Tampa Tribune used property appraiser records to reveal million-dollar homes in Hillsborough County are up to 686 from 96 just four years earlier. This records-driven story is one that could be explored in any Florida county through the local property appraiser's office. Property appraisal records are most often associated with individual land tracts, but this story shows how overall statistics from single documents can peg interesting trends as well. The public records handbook profiles property appraiser records in detail on Page 322.
June 15, 2003 Strict caps on lawsuits might not aid doctors: Caps on medical malpractice jury awards are Florida’s hottest issue right now with a special session to tackle the matter starting Monday. Greg Groeller of the Orlando Sentinel reports that nursing home operators say lawsuit caps imposed for their industry’s benefit haven’t’ worked. But Groeller’s review of court records determined that position isn’t entirely accurate. The number of lawsuits against local nursing homes, he wrote, is “down significantly since the industry's jury-award cap took effect in October 2001. Still, despite that decline, none of the major insurers that fled the state in the late 1990s to avoid the increasingly litigious climate has returned.” This story is a good example of how public records can help weed out the truth on contentious issues. For more on researching lawsuits and how to obtain specific malpractice settlement information about doctors, lawyers, hospitals and more, see related entries in The Florida Public Records Handbook on Pages 82 and 317 respectively.
June 14, 2003 Jeff Gordon receives divorce settlement: The Associated Press reviewed divorce filings to report that NASCAR all-star Jeff Gordon paid an undisclosed chunk of his fortune to end his seven-year marriage. His new ex, who had filed for divorce in March 2002, waived alimony and was guaranteed $15.3 million from the sale of two properties, the records show. Divorce records are filed in the local circuit court clerk’s office as lawsuits. For more on divorce files and their role in backgrounding individuals, see the related handbook entry and illustration starting on Page 130 of The Florida Public Records Handbook.
June 13, 2003 Governor signs house-arrest measure: News reporting from public records can often help inspire positive changes in the way government programs work. State lawmakers made changes to the state’s faulty house arrest system after the Orlando Sentinel reviewed related records to show criminals in the program had killed 234 people and sexually assaulted another 538. During the same two-decade period, 5,000 of the criminals just disappeared. Reporter Rene Stutzman wrote the original story that appeared on Dec. 29. Gov. Jeb Bush signed the measure into law this week. Congrats to Rene and the Sentinel. For overview on arrests and related records in Florida, see handbook entries on pages 23, 27 and 101.
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Save money, With the second edition of The Florida Public Records Handbook, the ultimate guide to finding public information in the Sunshine State. Research it yourself at the courthouse, city hall, state agencies and online! Discover the records to help you find people, research property, check out doctors and nursing homes, monitor government, do your own background checks, scope the competition and much more! |
E-mail Joe Adams at joe@idiganswers.com