Res No 015-14-14109RESOLUTION NO. 15-14-14109
A Resolution of the City of South Miami creating a policy for the use of City
Hall and the recording, archiving and broadcasting of private events at City
Hall.
WHEREAS, the City has held candidate forums/debates at City Hall, which in the past,
have been recorded and broadcast on television and on the City website; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission of South Miami during its meeting on January 21,
2014 passed Resolution No. 09-14-14103 expressing interest in creating a policy to allow for the
recording and broadcast of certain events; 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; and
WHEREAS, occasionally the City wishes to allow it's property to be used for private
events and 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; and
WHEREAS, previous to the January 21,2014 meeting the City Manager was requested
to create a policy for political forums on City property. The City Manager subsequently issued
Administrative Order 1-14 relating to public free speech. The City Manager was subsequently
instructed by Resolution No. 09-14-14103 of the City Commission to create a policy for the
recording and broadcasting of all private events that take place at City Hall provided that certain
guidelines are applied to such policy.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:
Section 1. The following shall be the policy of the City for the recording and/or
Broadcasting of private events that take place at City Hall and this policy shall include the
previous policy originally created and promulgated as Administrative Order 1-14, which is
incorporated below, and as amended.
A. This policy shall determine the parameters for recording and broadcasting all
private events, including political debates or forums and certain questions or
referenda that may be placed on the ballot at the time of City elections. The
guidelines set forth herein include subjects relating to cost, City elections,
referenda or policy questions. The conditions for the recording and broadcasting
are as follows:
(1) the cost of the recording and broadcasting shall be paid for by the person
or entity that is requesting the recording and broadcasting of the event in question.
Such cost shall be determined by the actual cost of the City and any reasonable cost
for infrastructure maintenance and replacement. Standard rates shall be established
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and shall apply equally to each person or entity requesting the recording and/or
broadcasting; and
(2) any political debate or forum shall not be conducted until after the
qualifying period has ended, or in the case of certain questions or referendum to be
decided by public vote, the question has been approved for placement on the ballot by
all applicable entities; and
(3) that all candidates and known interested organized parties have reasonable
and verifiable notice of the event and a reasonable opportunity to attend and
participate in the event; and
(4) the event may be recorded onto the City of South Miami's website, which
is currently described as its streaming media archive, as well as broadcast on the
City's public access cable/tv channel from start to finish without any editing
including any subsequent rebroadcast or web cast. The recording shall remain the
property of the City of South Miami and a public record, where applicable.
B. This policy shall apply to all individuals or entities that are similarly situated. In
particular, this policy shall include the broadcasting of political debates and
political forums that comply with the City's policy and these rules. At the
conclusion of the 2014 elections, this policy may be limited in its application by
the City Manager to organizations that meet the following criteria:
_-'--_~~ ____ ~ ______________ . [Editorial
Note: this line was not addressed by the City Commission and it is intentionally
left blank]
Section 2. Use of City Property by Private Groups, Free Speech
A. This policy of the City of South Miami is intended to permit and guide the hosting or
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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 is for use of City Hall or of the City'S
property by private groups is all-inclusive and not restricted to anyone type of entity
or person.
B. 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.
C. The City of South Miami hereby supports, endorses and shall abide by the following
related laws and ordinances:
(1) Miami-Dade Code of Ethics, Section 2-11.1(g) which proscribes the Exploitation of
Official Position, and 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.
(2) Florida Statute, Section 104.31, which prohibits the use of one's official authority to
influence an election.
(3) Florida Statute, Section 106.113(2), 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
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Res. No. 15-14-14109
advertisement or electioneering communication concerning an issue, referendum, or
amendment, including any state question, that is subject to a vote of the electors."
(4) Florida Statute, Section 106.15(4), which 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."
(5) City of South Miami Ordinance Sec. 8A-3. -Fair and equal treatment.
(a) Impartiality. No official or employee shall request, use or permit the use of, any
consideration, treatment, advantage or favor beyond that which it is the general
practice to grant or make available to the public at large.
(b) Use of public property. No official or employee shall request, use or permit the use
of, any publicly-owned or publicly-supported property, vehicle, equipment, material,
labor or service for the personal convenience or the private advantage of himself or of
any other person. This rule shall not be deemed to prohibit an official or employee
from requesting, using or permitting the use of such publicly-owned or publicly-
supplied property, vehicle, equipment, material, labor or service which it is the
general practice to make available to the public at large or which are provided as a
matter of stated public policy for the use of officials and employees in the conduct of
official business. (Ord. No. 634, § 1 (lA-3), 1-21-69)
D. The following policy does not apply to City parks and rights of way such as City
streets and sidewalks which have been defined as being protected public forums by
court decisions of the United States Supreme Court. No event held within a City
building or on City property, under any circumstances, may promote or oppose any
political candidate or issue. All events that are held in a City building or on City
property 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
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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 policy 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 the City'S public buildings.
E. In general, permission may be provided to a private group to utilize a public building
for its own purposes. This policy 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.
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F. 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.
G. 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 not be limited to
newspapers, flyers, or other documents no matter what other content they may
contain.
H. 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.
1. 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 Resolution. The notice must give all the
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reasonable written notice sent to all candidates at the same time, along with a copy of
this Resolution, 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 Resolution. If at
least two (2) weeks of notice is not given, the event shall not take place unless, as to
each public office, all the candidates who have qualified for that office 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.
Section 3. Severability. If any section clause, sentence, or phrase of this resolution is
for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the
holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this resolution.
Section 4. Effective Date. This resolution shall become effective immediately after the
2014 election; however, the political debate/forums that have or will take place before the 2014
election, if technically possible, shall be made available on Granicus as soon as possible but any
forum that takes place on or after February 4, 2014 shall be broadcast after it is done and shall
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Res. No. 15-14-14109
not be broadcast live. The portion of this resolution concerning the broadcasting shall become
effective immediately upon adoption by vote of the City Commission.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 4th day of February, 2014.
ATTEST: APPROVED:
MAYOR
COMMISSION VOTE: 5-0
Mayor Stoddard: Yea
Vice Mayor Liebman: Yea
Commissioner Newman: Yea
Commissioner Harris: Yea
Commissioner Welsh: Yea
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