Commission waives late‑filing fines in several appeals, debates notice standard and e‑filing rollout

The Florida Commission on Ethics granted waivers of automatic fines in multiple appeals related to late filing of annual financial disclosure forms and held a lengthy discussion about notice standards and the commission's new electronic filing system.

Staff recommended waiving fines for three appellants who argued they lacked timely notice: Shanna Gattardi (FD21063), executive director for Miami‑Dade County Public Schools; Barry Miller (FD21068), a former member of the Village of Bal Harbour architecture review board; and Juan (Ron) Ruiz (FD23002), former assistant city manager for Lake Worth Beach. Staff told the commission it had sent three notices to each filer before the grace period expired: an initial notice from the supervisor of elections, a certified notice from the supervisor of elections, and a courtesy postcard from the commission. In each case staff said it had no objective evidence to contradict the appellants’ assertions that they did not receive timely notice.

After debate, the commission approved the staff recommendations and entered final orders waiving the fines. Commissioners had divergent views on the standard of notice: one commissioner said the commission had done everything required when mail went to the address provided and favored denying waivers absent proof the filer did not receive the notice; others disagreed, citing due‑process concerns and the historical practice of waiving fines when receipt could not be proven. A motion to deny one waiver failed and the motion to approve the final order as written passed by voice vote.

The discussion expanded to the commission's transition to mandatory electronic filing. Staff and commissioners reviewed early compliance and system performance: staff reported 42.16% compliance for Form 1 (15,573 filers) and 21.37% for Form 6 (303 filers) as of the prior day, and that the call center had fielded hundreds of calls after notices were sent. Staff described a temporary outage the day notices were sent, which OLITS (Office of Legislative Information Technology Services) addressed by scaling infrastructure; the system was in maintenance mode for roughly 1.5 hours.

Commissioners debated tightening the notice standard and requiring filers to keep an updated email address. Staff noted that recent legislation places an affirmative obligation on filers to maintain a current email address and that the commission will continue to send postcard reminders. Staff and commissioners agreed to monitor appeals under the new electronic system and to consider writing clearer orders or changing practice if the commission wishes to alter its approach to constructive notice.