It monitors adherence to clean water and air standards. It determines if a builder can drain a wetland to build a subdivision or shopping center. It monitors greenhouse gases – the stuff that’s causing sea level rise and flooding in coastal communities. And, for the past 20 years, it’s been monitoring the health of the Everglades, Florida’s signature ecosystem.
After a briefing at the Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center Monday, Gov. Rick Scott warned Floridians to remain vigilant as Hurricane Matthew bears down on Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba.
“If Matthew impacts Florida, the destruction will be catastrophic, and you will need to be prepared,” Scott said.
Matthew’s projected path initially had the storm staying well west of Florida’s coast, but recent updates now take the storm closer, heightening concerns about effects from a storm packing 140 mile per hour winds.
“These storms can change at the last minute,” Scott said. “They can change directions. They can get stronger.”
Scott met with a range of county officials, including county commissioners, County Administrator Verdenia Baker, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and Superintendent Robert Avossa. The governor, who has declared a state of emergency for every county and put the Florida National Guard on alert, praised Palm Beach County’s elected officials and emergency personnel, saying they work well together.
Much of Scott’s focus, however, was on urging Floridians to get prepared for the possibility that the storm could change direction and bring its drenching rains and devastating winds to the Sunshine State.
He said residents should be prepared to take care of their own needs for three days, as storm damage could make it impossible for emergency personnel to reach some areas.
Scott also underscored the importance of heeding warnings from emergency officials. With the storm still hundreds of miles west of Florida, no school closings have been announced, nor have any evacuation orders been issued. But that could change if the storm’s path changes.
Residents should evacuate if ordered to do so, Scott said.
“You must leave before it’s too late,” Scott said. “We can rebuild a home. We can rebuild a business, but we can not rebuild your life. Do not ignore the direction of local officials. This is serious, and your safety depends on you being prepared.”
In addition to warning Floridians about Hurricane Matthew, the governor reminded residents about an ongoing threat – standing water, which serves as breeding pools for mosquitoes that could carry the Zika virus.
With Matthew expected to bring heavy rains to the state, Scott asked residents to act now to get rid of standing water.
“Get rid of standing water,” Scott said. “Wear bug repellent. Wear protective clothing. We’ve got to continue to fight Zika.”
Lisa Interlandi, a senior attorney for the Everglades Law Center, says the South Florida Water Management District retaliated against her for submitting a public records request.
Interlandi submitted a request for the district’s email list earlier this month after the district told those on the list that, “Audubon Florida wants to raise your taxes to pay for the federal government’s failure to control invasive plants that are destroying the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.”
Lisa Interlandi, senior attorney for Everglades Law Center, at a Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting in 2015. (Damon Higgins / The Palm Beach Post)
The district sent that blast email after Audubon Florida Executive Director Eric Draper urged district board members not to roll back tax rates so the district would have more money for program work.
“I wanted to know who was receiving those communications,” Interlandi said, adding that the district’s emails were, in her view, “increasingly negative and were calling out people by name.”
Interlandi offered examples of the district’s communications. In one from May, the district told email recipients that “former Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah inaccurately alleged flawed scientific modeling was used in Everglades restoration planning.”
In another, also from May, the Caloosahatchee River Watch came in for criticism.
“Today, the Caloosahatchee River Watch group is holding what was advertised as a public forum to discuss the C-43 Reservoir project,” the email state. “However, this ‘forum’ will consist solely of one-sided detractors in pursuit of an agenda without facts to support it.”
Many government agencies do keep email lists to provide media members and others information about upcoming events and summaries of agency actions.
After the district said Audubon Florida wants to raise taxes, Interlandi asked for the district’s mailing list. The district complied. But it also sent out another email, this one letting recipients know their email addresses had been sought.
Under the heading “Your Privacy,” the district wrote:
“The South Florida Water Management District has received a public records request from a party associated with the email address – lisa@evergladeslaw.org – seeking more than 5,000 email addresses contained in SFWMD’s electronic mailing list. This agency is legally obligated under Chapter 119 of Florida State Statutes to fulfill this demand and provide these email addresses.
“As you may know, such email lists and addresses are commercial commodities that are often bought and sold. The law prohibits SFWMD from asking about the intended use for the information. Any concern you may have about a potential invasion of privacy is understandable.
“SFWMD maintains email lists with the intention of keeping the public informed about the agency’s work. These email lists represents a wide range of interested parties, including individuals who requested SFWMD information, elected officials, environmental groups, businesses, scientific communities and the media.
“You may receive unwanted solicitations or correspondence as a result of this public records request.”
Interlandi said she would never sell the email list, which is a public record. She said she views the SFWMD email as retaliation for asking for the district’s email list.”They retaliated by publishing my email address,” Interlandi said. “What other purpose is served by publishing my email address? I believe it was retaliation for requesting the list.”
District Spokesman Randy Smith said those on the email list were warned of Interlandi’s request “in an abundance of caution.”
“When faced with a mass public record demand for private and other email addresses, SFWMD, in an abundance of caution, chose to notify the persons affected of this fact,” Smith wrote in an email to The Palm Beach Post. Smith said the district “has never received a mass public records demand for an email address list. The requester did not ask for communication or specific emails but rather an entire email address list, which was completely out of the ordinary.”
The district, Smith said, does not know how the list will be used and believes those on the list “have every right to know that their information has been obtained by a third party without their consent.”
As for telling email recipients who had requested the list, Smith said the district “never mentioned the requester by name. SFWMD never assumes an identity of an individual solely based off an email address.”
Palm Beach County staff members are drafting an ordinance establishing a program to help residents finance energy-efficient improvements to their property.
County commissioners directed staff to write an ordinance establishing the Property Assessed Clean Energy program, which would allow qualified residential or commercial property owners to voluntarily finance improvements and repay through a non-property tax assessment that is repaid through their annual tax bill.
Contractors doing the work would have to be certified with the county’s Contractors Certification Division.
