CEO 75-64 -- March 31, 1975

PUBLIC OFFICERS

MUNICIPAL BOARD MEMBERS

To: Bernice R. Perry, City Clerk, Gulfport

Prepared by: Patricia Butler

SUMMARY:

Members of the Gulfport Planning and Zoning Board are public officers within the meaning of the disclosure law by virtue of their express inclusion in s. 112.312(7)(i), F. S. (1974 Supp.); see also CEO 74-18. The same section of the law applies to members of the Gulfport Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals since members of any board exercising planning or zoning jurisdiction are considered to be public officers for purposes of disclosure. Members of the Marie E. Bryan Memorial Library Advisory Board and the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee on Aging are not public officers, however. These boards' duties are solely advisory in nature, thus exempting them from public officer status pursuant to s. 112.312(7)(b), supra.

QUESTIONS:

1. Are the members of the Gulfport Planning and Zoning Board public officers within the definition of part III, Ch. 112, F. S., as amended by Ch. 74- 177, Laws of Florida, and therefore subject to the disclosure provisions applicable to public officers?

2. Are the members of the Gulfport Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals public officers within the meaning of part III, Ch. 112, supra, and therefore subject to the disclosure provisions applicable to public officers?

3. Are the members of the Marie E. Bryan Memorial Library Advisory Board and the members of the Senior Citizens' Advisory Committee on Aging public officers within the meaning of part III, Ch. 112, supra, and therefore subject to the disclosure provisions applicable to public officers?

Question 1 is answered in the affirmative.

Enclosed please find a copy of a previous opinion of this commission, CEO 74-18, the rationale of which is equally applicable to your inquiry.

Question 2 is also answered in the affirmative.

Enclosed please find a copy of a previous opinion of this commission, CEO 74-20, the rationale of which applies equally to your question.

Question 3 is answered in the negative.

The definition of the term "public officer" includes:

Members of boards, commissions, authorities, special taxing districts, and the head of each state agency, however selected but excluding advisory board members. [Section 112.312(7)(b), supra; emphasis supplied.]

We have interpreted the exclusion of advisory boards to apply only to those boards which are solely advisory. See CEO 74-22. An advisory board is one which renders advice or recommendations to an officer or agency, which officer or agency then has complete discretion to accept or reject the recommendations presented by the advisory board. See CEO 74-4.

In this instance, the Library Advisory Board and the Senior Citizens' Advisory Committee have no powers delegated to them other than those of an advisory nature. The Library Advisory Board was established by the City of Gulfport Resolutions R70-17 and R70-19, which state in part: ". . . the Advisory Board shall have no official powers in regard to the administration of said library but shall be merely advisory in nature." Resolution R70-17, s. 2. Likewise, the Senior Citizens' Advisory Committee, established by City of Gulfport Resolutions R73-27 and R74-7, exercises functions and duties of a purely advisory nature.

Since these bodies act only in an advisory capacity to the city council, it is our opinion that their members are not public officers within the meaning of part III, Ch. 112, supra, and therefore are not required to comply with the disclosure provisions required of public officers.