Res No 009-14-14103RESOLUTION NO. 09-14-14103
A Resolution of the City of South Miami ("City") instructing the City Manager
to amend the City's Administrative Order No.1 to provide for the recording
and broadcasting of events.
WHEREAS, the City has held candidate forums/debates at City Hall in the past; and,
WHEREAS, in the past, these events have been recorded and broadcast; and
WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County Ethics Commission has ruled that the use of City Hall
and City resources must be based on a City policy that provides for equal treatment to all entities
that are similarly situated.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:
Section 1. The City Manager is hereby instructed to create a policy for the recording and
broadcasting of all private events that take place at City Hall provided: (a) that the cost of the
recording and broadcasting is paid for by the person or entity that is requesting the recording and
broadcasting of the event in question; (b) any debate or forum is not conducted until after the
qualifying period has ended; and (c) that all candidates have reasonable notice of the event and an
opportunity to attend the event. This policy shall apply to all individuals or entities that are similarly
situated. In particular, the policies shall include the broadcasting of political debates and political
forums which shall be broadcast from start to finish without any editing. After the policy is drafted
it shall come back to the City Commission for review.
Section 2. Severability. If any section clause, sentence, or phrase of this resolution is for
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not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this resolution.
Section 3. Effective Date. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon
adoption by vote of the City Commission.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 21 st day of January, 2014.
ATTEST: APPROVED:
MAY R
COMMISSION VOTE: 4-1
Mayor Stoddard: Yea
Vice Mayor Liebman: Yea
Commissioner Newman: Nay
Commissioner Harris: Yea
Commissioner Welsh: Yea
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER # 1-14
Use of City Property by Private Groups
Free Speech
This policy of the City of South Miami is intended to permit and guide the hosting
or sponsorship of candidate forums or other such open public events which do
not involve the promotion of any private or political agenda, but involve the
exercise of free speech in a forum open to all participating candidates without
limiting the views that may be expressed therein. This policy for use of City Hall or
of the City's property by private groups is all-inclusive and not restricted to any
one type of entity or person.
Occasionally the City wishes to allow it's property to be used for private events,
the City Commission has requested that a written policy be established for the
use of City property including the use of City Hall for fair and equitable political
forums.
City Hall may not be used free of charge or at a reduced cost. City Hall may be
used by persons or groups for a reasonable fee that covers all costs to the City.
The City of South Miami hereby supports, endorses and will abide by:
(a) the prohibition against Exploitation of Official Position, Section 2-11.1 (g) of
the Miami-Dade Code of Ethics, which addresses the improper use of
one's public office to promote a political candidate or agenda, which
might include the use of public facilities in such an effort.
(b) Section 104.31, Florida Statutes which prohibits the use of one's official
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(c) Section 1 06.113(2), Florida Statutes, which provides that, "A local
government or a person acting on behalf of local government may not
expend or authorize the expenditure of, and a person or group may not
accept, public funds for a political advertisement or electioneering
communication concerning an issue, referendum, or amendment,
including any state question, that is subject to a vote of the electors."
(d) Section 1 06.15(4), Florida Statutes, provides that "No person shall make
and no person shall solicit or knowingly accept any political contribution
in a building owned by a governmental entity."
No event held within a City building, under any circumstances, may promote or
oppose any political candidate or issue. All events that are held in a City
building shall be non-partisan and the sponsoring entity(ies) and the event shall
not have a political agenda, disparage or support, directly or indirectly, any
candidate or political issue, participate in the promotion of or endorsement of
any political cause or candidate and may not support or oppose, directly or
indirectly, any candidate or issue. At a minimum, any group that is utilizing any
of the City's property to sponsor a non-partisan political related event is required
to provide the name, address, phone number and email address of each of its
participants, (candidates, moderators and panelists) as well as that of the
sponsoring entity and a statement, signed by each of them, including the person
having authority to bind the applicable entity, under penalty of perjury, to
uphold the letter and spirit of this Administrative Order and to exercise strict
vigilance to insure that the purpose of the event is to disseminate candidate
views to the general public rather than to favor or endorse, or oppose or
disparage any view or candidate, and that no candidate should be permitted
to solicit or accept, and no person shall offer or give, any campaign
contributions during the event or at any time within or on the City's public
building or property.
In general, permission may be provided to a private group to utilize a public
building for its own purposes. This policy established through Administrative
Order of the City Manager, permits the rental of a public building to any private
group based on a consistent cost of service schedule that is charged to all such
groups.
This policy shall be applied uniformly to all groups who may wish to utilize the
space for such a purpose, provided that no other law is broken in the process. It
is intended, that these types of events are generally sponsored by legitimate
non-profit groups such as Chambers of Commerce, Neighborhood
Organizations, or civic groups like the League of Women Voters, that do not
promote any overt political agenda and, in fact, are prohibited from doing so.
All campaigning within City buildings is prohibited, including the bringing of
campaign material into such buildings. Campaign material includes any
document that favors or endorses, or opposes or disparages any election related
issue or any candidate running for election. Campaign material includes but is
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content they may contain.
Permitting a group with a political agenda to use City Property for the purposes
of favoring or endorsing, or opposing or disparaging any view or any candidate
would likely raise concerns regarding whether there are public funds or public
resources being spent to advocate a political viewpoint or candidate that
would run afoul of the state election code and shall not be allowed since there
are some resources for which the City may not be inclined to charge a fee, such
as electricity, janitorial services, etc.
When a non-partisan politically related event concerns an election for office, no
such event shall be permitted until after the close of qualifying to ensure that all
candidates in an applicable race are provided the opportunity to participate.
No event shall occur unless all candidates, in the applicable race, are given
notice of the event and contemporaneously given a copy of this Administrative
Order. The notice must give all the candidates, who have qualified, a fair
opportunity to participate as evidenced by reasonable written notice sent to all
candidates at the same time, along with a copy of this Administrative Order, by
certified mail with a return receipt request, by regular mail if there is a written
receipt of the notice signed by the candidate, or by email or facsimile
transmission if there is a confirmation sent by the candidate to the sponsoring
individual or entity that acknowledges receipt of the notice and the
Administrative Order. If at least two (2) weeks of notice is not given, the event
shall not take place unless all the candidates acknowledge in writing that they
do not have any conflicting events previously scheduled or those who do have a
conflicting event agree in writing that they are willing to attend.
Statement of Participant
I, (candidates, moderators and panelists),
under penalty of perjury, state that I have read and understand this
Administrative Order and hereby agree to abide by letter and spirit of all of its
terms and condition. In addition, I specifically represent that the purpose of my
participation in the non-partisan politically related event is to ensure the
dissemination of all the participating views to the general public rather than to
have the event favor or endorse, or oppose or disparage, any view or
candidate, and that I will not engage in, or permit, the solicitation or
acceptance of any campaign contributions during the event or at any time
while on or within any City public building or property. I agree to exercise, to the
best of my ability, strict vigilance to insure that the purpose of the event is to
disseminate candidate views to the general public rather than to favor or
endorse, or oppose or disparage, any view or candidate, and to report to the
City Manager any evidence that a candidate solicited or accepted, or that any
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time within or while in the City's public building or property: . .
Signature Date