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Counsel warns incumbents to separate candidate events to avoid Sunshine Law risk
Summary
District Counsel advised incumbents interested in a "Coffee with Candidates" event to ensure election-code compliance and recommended separate events per seat to avoid potential Sunshine Law violations; the board noted differing legal opinions and discussed referral to the Florida Election Commission.
Kathleen Lonergan, Chair of the Heritage Pines Community Development District, read District Counsel’s written advice about a proposed "Coffee with Candidates" event, saying incumbents must ensure compliance with the election code and should avoid joint candidate appearances that could raise Sunshine Law concerns. "If any incumbent Supervisor is interested in participating they will need to ensure compliance with the election code and I think it would be a fair request for them to ask them to arrange separate events per seat to avoid any potential Sunshine Law violations," Lonergan read from counsel's email.
District Manager Chuck Adams led the discussion about next steps after counsel's response, while Vice Chair Arthur Rhodes said "our guy" would not attend under the current interpretation of campaign and Sunshine rules. Board members noted the HPCA attorney expressed a different view from District Counsel and flagged portions of the referenced Florida statute for further consideration. The board discussed the role of the Florida Election Commission, which enforces complaints but does not offer advisory opinions, as a possible avenue for resolving questions about permissible candidate engagement.
