City of Gainesville v. State ex rel. Intern. Ass'n of Fire Fighters, Local No. 2157, U--73

• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: PER CURIAM; RAWLS
• Citation: City of Gainesville v. State ex rel. Intern. Ass'n of Fire Fighters, Local No. 2157, 298 So.2d 478 (Fla. App. 1974)
• Decision Date: 08 August 1974
• Docket Number: No. U--73,U--73
• Parties: 89 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3056 The CITY OF GAINESVILLE, a municipal corporation, et al., Appellants, v. The STATE of Florida on the Relation of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS, LOCAL NO. 2157, a labor organization, et al., Appellees.

Page 478

298 So.2d 478

89 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3056

The CITY OF GAINESVILLE, a municipal corporation, et al., Appellants, v. The STATE of Florida on the Relation of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS, LOCAL NO. 2157, a labor organization, et al., Appellees.

No. U--73.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

Aug. 8, 1974.

Osee R. Fagan, of Fagan, Crouch, Anderson & Folds, Gainesville, for appellants.

Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., and Barry Scott Richard, Special Assistant Atty. Gen., for appellees.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant, City of Gainesville, brings this appeal from a preemptory writ of mandamus issued by the trial court mandating the city to make available to appellee, International Association of Fire Fighters, Local No. 2157, and all other members of the general public for their inspection and copying a proposal concerning the budget for the fire department of the City of Gainesville. The sole legal question posed by this appeal is whether pursuant to Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes (Florida Public Records Act), the City of Gainesville is required to make available to the public for its inspection proposals relating to the budget for the City's fire department. Based on the limited record we have before us, we agree with the trial court that the material sought is a 'public record' which must be made available to all citizens of this state for their inspection.

The City in its brief tells us that the material sought was a proposal concerning the budget of the fire department which was prepared in the normal and required course of municipal business. The citizens of the State of Florida through their legislature have declared that 'all state, county, and municipal records shall at all times be opened for a personal inspection of any citizen of Florida . . .' ¹ and have defined a 'public record' as '. . . all documents, papers, letters . . . or other material regardless of physical form or characteristics made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any agency.' ² In light of this legislative pronouncement it is clear that proposals concerning the fire department's budget which are made by a city employee in the normal course of conducting the city's business are materials which are open to the citizens of this state for inspection. ³

Before concluding, we note that after oral argument in this case the City brought to our attention that the Florida Legislature in its most recent meeting had enacted Florida Statute 447.023(3) which provides:

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