Okaloosa County BOCC — March 4, 2014 — 2-14 Sunshine Week Proclamation — reading text

P ROCLAMATION WHEREAS, James Madison, the father of our federal Constitution, wrote that “consent of the governed” re- quires that the people be able to “arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives,” and WHEREAS, every citizen in our participatory democracy has an inherent right to access to government meet- ings and public records, and WHEREAS, an open and accessible government is vital to establishing and maintaining the people’s trust and confidence in their government and in the government’s ability to effectively serve its citizens, and WHEREAS, the protection of every person’s right to access public records and government meetings is a high priority with the Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners, and WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners has enhanced its transparency to the public by posting budget docu- ments of the Board and all County constitutional offices, and all Board meeting agendas to the County website, and implemented processes in May 2010 whereby the public may view Board meetings via live streaming on its website (co.okaloosa.fl.us) and all such meetings are video recorded for later viewing, and WHEREAS, in November 2012 the Board of Commissioners expanded the openness of its meetings by posting full agenda packets of meeting information on the County website, and WHEREAS, in 2013 the Okaloosa County website was rated A-plus by Sunshine Review, and WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners has adopted policies whereby all Board meetings and workshops are publicly noticed, open to the public to attend, and interested parties may speak to issues before the Board at such meetings, and WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners has implemented policies whereby any request for public records are met in a timely manner, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners hereby proclaims the Week of March 16 - 22, 2014, to be Sunshine Week in Okaloosa County and commits to work diligently to enhance the public’s access to government records, information, and meetings. DULY PASSED AND ADOPTED this 4th day of March 2014. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OKALOOSA COUNTY, FLORIDA ATTEST: _________________________________ CHARLES K. WINDES, JR. CHAIRMAN ___________________________ DON W. HOWARD CLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT