LTC 054-2024 VILLAGE OF BAL HARBOUR RESOLUTION NO. 2024-1623MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
No. 054-2024 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor Steven Meiner and Members of the City Commission
Rafael E. Grana do, City Clerk 7d
February 16, 2024
VILLAGE OF BAL HARBOUR RESOLUTION NO. 2024-1623
Attached for your information is Resolution No. 2024-1623, adopted by the Mayor and the Village
Council of the Village of Bal Harbour on Jan uary 16, 2024.
A RESOLUTION OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF BAL HARBOUR
VILLAGE, FLORIDA; AUTHORIZING PARTICIPATION IN A LAW SUIT
SEEKING A DECLARA TION THAT THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION
112.144(1 )(d), FLORIDA STATUTES, THAT REQUIRE MUNICIPAL
ELECTED OFFICIALS TO FILE FORM 6 FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
FORMS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND INVALID; PROVIDING FOR
IMPLEMENTATION; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
The Village of Bal Harbour Clerk has requested that a copy of this resolution be provided to the
Miami Beach Mayor and Commissioners.
If you have any questions, please contact the Office of the City Clerk at 305.673. 7 411.
REG/le
Attachment
F:\CLER\$ALL\LILIA\L TC's - Transmittal's\Bal Harbour\Resolution 2024-1623 Village of Bal Harbour.docx
RESOLUTION NO. 2024-1623
A RESOLUTION OF THE VILLA GE COUNCIL OF BAL HARBOUR
VILLA GE, FLORIDA; AUTHORIZING PARTICIPATION IN A LA WSUIT
SEEKING A DECLA RA TION THAT THE PROVISIONS OF SECT ION
112.144(1)(d), FLORIDA STATUTES, THAT REQUIRE MUNICIPAL
ELECT ED OFFICIALS TO FILE FORM 6 FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
FORMS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND INVALID; PROVIDING FOR
IMPLEMENTATION; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECT IVE DATE.
WHEREAS, since 1976, Article II, Section 8 of the Florida Constitution has required
that all elected State constitutional officers file a full and public disclosure of their financial
interests, which is done through a state-adopted form ("Form 6") that requires, among
other things, the disclosure of the specific amounts of an official's net worth, income and
asset values; and
WHEREAS, historically, municipal elected officials have been required to make a
more limited financial disclosure that is done through a different state-adopted form
("Form 1") that requires, among other things, the disclosure of information related to
sources of income, real property, intangible personal property liabilities and interests in
specified businesses, but does not include the specific amounts of an official's net worth,
income, and asset values; and
WHEREA S, the Mayor and all current elected members ofthe Village of Bal Harbour
(the "Village Elected Officials") were elected by the voters of the Village subject to and in
reliance upon Florida law that required the Mayor and Council Members to annually file
Form 1 (not Form 6) financial disclosures forms; and
WHEREAS, although the State Legislature has the power in the Florida Constitution
to require that additional public officers file a full and public disclosure of their financial
interests, it must do so consistent with other constitutional limitations; and
WHEREAS, in 1980, the voters of Florida amended the Florida Constitution by
adopting Article 1, Section 23, the "Right to Privacy," which states that "[e]very natural
person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person's
private life except as otherwise provided herein"; and
Bal Harbour Village Resolution 2024-1623 1
W H E R E A S , because the right of privacy is a fundamental right within Florida's
Constitution, the Florida Supreme Court has consistently required that any law intruding
on the right is presumptively unconstitutional and must be justified by a "compelling state
interest" which the law serves or protects through the "least restrictive means;" and
WHEREAS, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Article 1,
Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, protects the freedom of speech, which includes the
right to choose what to say and what not to say, any impairment of which must be justified
by a "compelling state interest" which the law serves or protects through the "least
restrictive means;" and
WHEREAS, during the 2023 legislative session, Senate Bill 774 was passed and
codified at Law of Florida 2023-09, amending Fla. Stat.§ 112.3144, to change the financial
disclosure requirements and now require that all elected municipal mayors and elected
members of the governing board file a Form 6 financial disclosure, which is substantially
more burdensome and personally intrusive than the Form 1; and
WHEREAS, the imposition of the Form 6 disclosure requirements at the municipal
level (a) represents an unwarranted intrusion into the privacy rights of municipal elected
officials, most of which receive little or no compensation for their service, (b) unnecessarily
risks the safety of such officials (making them targets of, among other things, burglary,
identity theft and extortion), and (c) will deter many otherwise qualified and interested
citizens from running for office; and
WHEREAS, in fact, many municipal officials resigned from office prior to December
31, 2023, as a result of the new disclosure requirements, disrupting the ability of some
local governments to operate for lack of a quorum; and
WHEREAS, the imposition of the intrusive Form 6 disclosure requirements at the
municipal level is not the least restrictive means of serving the governmental interests of
preventing abuse of the public trust, as demonstrated by, among other things, the lack of
such requirements at the municipal level in other states and at the federal level (even the
President of the United States and members ofthe U.S. Congress are not required to make
such extensive disclosures); and
Bal Harbour Village Resolution 2024-1623 2
W H E R E A S , requiring that unpaid (or low paid) municipal elected officials disclose
their precise net worth, income and assets does not serve (let alone constitute the least
restrictive means of serving) any compelling interest - Form 1 disclosures constitutes
sufficient transparency to inform the public of potential conflicts; and
WHEREAS, the imposition of new financial disclosure requirements upon municipal
elected officials who were elected without such requirements violates due process, is
fundamentally unfair and violates fundamental constitutional rights; and
WHEREAS, the Village desires to participate in a lawsuit seeking a declaration that
the provisions of Section 112.3144( 1)(d), Florida Statutes, that require municipal elected
officials to file Form 6 financial disclosure forms are unconstitutional and invalid and should
be enjoined (the "Lawsuit"); and
WHEREAS, the Village Council believes it is in the best interest of the citizens and
residents of the Village to participate in the Lawsuit and urges other municipalities and
their elected officials to also participate as plaintiffs.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF BAL
HARBOUR VILLAGE, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS:
Sect io n 1.
and confirmed.
Sect io n 2. A utho rizatio n. That the Village Council hereby authorizes the
Reci tals A d o pted . That the above stated recitals are hereby adopted
participation of the Village, and any of the individual Members of the Council who choose
to participate as plaintiffs, in a lawsuit seeking declaratory, injunctive and other appropriate
relief challenging the provisions of Section 112.3144( 1)d), Florida Statutes, that require
municipal elected officials to file Form 6 financial disclosure forms, based upon any
appropriate legal theories, including those set forth above, subject to the participation of
at least ten municipalities.
Section 3. Representation. That Weiss Serota Helfman Cole+ Bierman, PL (the
"Firm") is hereby retained to represent the Village in this litigation. The Firm will charge
the Village a flat fee, inclusive of attorneys' fees and costs, of $10,000 to represent the
Village and the individual elected officials who choose to participate as plaintiffs, for the
litigation in the trial court. The Village and elected officials recognize that such flat fee may
Bal Harbour Village Resolution 2024-1623 3
be less than the actual attorneys' fees and costs incurred, and that if the Village and elected
officials prevail in the Lawsuit, the Firm may apply with the Court for its actual reasonable
attorn eys' and costs from the defendants. The filing of any appeals will be authorized by
separate resolution under the term s thereof. The V illage and its elected off ici als also
acknow ledge that the Firm w ill be representing other local govern m ents and officials in
this law suit and waives any conflicts related to such representatio n.
Se ct io n 4 . U rg in g P a rt ici p a tio n . That the Village C ouncil invites and urges other
local govern m ents and elected offici als to join the Village as plaintiffs in the Law suit and to
coordinate their eff ort s w ith the V illage.
Se ct io n 5 . T ra n sm itt a l. T he Village C lerk is directed to distrib ute this Resolutio n
to all local govern m ents in M iam i-D ad e C ounty.
Se ct io n 6 . Im p le m e n tatio n . That the Village M anager is hereby directed to take
any actio n necessary to im p lem ent the purposes of this Resolution.
S e ct io n 7 . Eff e ct iv e D ate . T hat this Resolution shall take eff ect im m ediately
upon the adoption hereof.
A TT E ST ·
(
yips
D w ig ht S. Danie, Village Clerk
A P P RO V ED A S TO FO RM A N D LEG A L SU FF ICI E N C Y :
0
Villag e A tt orn ey
W eiss Serota Heitm an C ole & Bierm an P.L.
B al H arbo u r V illa g e R esol uti on 20 24 -1623 4