The daily newspaper did a good job of researching the Florida Sunshine Law and found three court cases on public input at meetings. As part of its agreement with the City of Pensacola, the CMPA agreed to follow the Sunshine Laws.
So while the Pensacola City Council did overstep its authority, the CMPA board was required to allow public input, under its agreement with the City to follow the Florida Sunshine Law. I was wrong to write that Sunshine Law did not include public input. My bad.
Here are the cases cited by the PNJ:
Broward County v. Doran (Fla. 1969).The courts have recognized the importance of public participation in open meetings. The Florida Supreme Court has stated that specified boards and commissions should not be allowed to deprive the public of this inalienable right to be present and to be heard at all deliberations wherein decisions affecting the public are being made.”
Town of Palm Beach v. Gradison (Fla. 1974), the Court spoke of a meeting as being “a marketplace of ideas, so that the governmental agency may have sufficient input from the citizens who are going to be affected by the subsequent action of the [public agency].”
Spillis Candela & Partners Inc. v. Centrust Savings Bank, obeying the Sunshine Law meant that “the public was not given the opportunity to express views or to participate in the decision-making process.