Longboat Key to overhaul town communication policy

The town of Longboat Key is hoping to avoid unnecessary litigation by changing its email and communication policy for the first time since 2008.

At a commission workshop Sept. 22, a draft ordinance was introduced which would regulate how town leaders interact and change how public records are shared and collected. The 10-page ordinance also increases cybersecurity measures, requires annual training, enacts enforcement measures for violations and increases public records compliance.

The new policy would require commissioners, volunteer board and committee members, the town manager and town attorney to use town-issued cellphones and use town email addresses to discuss town business.

Town attorney Maggie Mooney said the new policy will also mean the end of the “batch email” system.

The batch email system distributes a collection of emails each weekday morning, sharing incoming emails to the town commission and any outgoing responses. The email threads are compiled and sent out in “batches” to subscribers. It’s an example of abundant transparency, but town leaders are worried it could lead to unintentional violations of the Sunshine Law. Mooney said the town is the only municipality in the state of Florida to use the batch email system, and ending the process with the passage of the new email policy is part of ensuring the town complies with state law.

“We really need to ensure that there is no indirect, or even a claim of indirect communication happening between elected or appointed officials, and that is the reason behind the sunsetting of the batch system,” Mooney said at the workshop meeting.

Town Manager Howard Tipton said if a commissioner were to express their opinion on something that would come before the commission for a vote, that could be a violation of the Sunshine Law. 

Tipton said commissioners cannot discuss how they intend to vote on a matter that will come before the commission with another board member unless they are in commission chambers during a public meeting.

The batch email system could unintentionally break that rule by sharing commissioner-constituent communications with the rest of the board. Tipton said that aspect of the Sunshine Law was passed to ensure that debate about a topic was transparent and in front of the public.

“It comes from back in the day where these elected bodies would come into their public meeting and conduct all their business in like ten minutes,” he said. “You would sit there and wonder what happened and wonder why it was so quick. It turns out it was because they had dinner at 5 where the real conversation happened.”

Emails to and from elected officials are still public record, but how the town disseminates that information is set to change. 

Commissioners discussed possible alternative ways to share emails if the batch system were to end, including a similar system as the city of Sarasota, which has an online portal that will bring up emails by date, commission member, subject and keyword in the body of the email. 

What system the town of Longboat Key will use is still being discussed.

“We are trying to find the right ways to push information out so we can keep the community informed,” Tipton said. “It would be another vehicle other than this batch system. Being on the right side of the sunshine law but also keeping the community informed.”

The town would need to pass multiple ordinances to enact the changed to the town’s email and communications policy, Mooney explained. After discussion about the policy, Mayor Ken Schneier asked Mooney to draft the ordinances to bring in front of the commission at a future meeting. 

Ordinances must be read and passed at two meetings to become law. The next commission meeting is Monday, Oct. 6.