CEO 78-69 -- October 20, 1978

ADVISORY COMMITTEES TO METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATIONS

APPLICABILITY OF STATUTORY FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE LAW TO MEMBERS

To: Ray G. L'Amoreaux, Director, Division of Transportation Planning, Tallahassee

Prepared by: Phil Claypool

SUMMARY:

The Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees provides that each "local officer" shall file financial disclosure annually and defines that term to include any appointed member of a board of any political subdivision of the state, excluding members of "advisory bodies." Section 112.3145(2)(b) and (1)(a)2., F. S. 1977. However, it is specified that a governmental body with land-planning responsibilities is not to be exempted as an advisory body. Section 112.3145(1)(a)2., F. S. Technical coordinating committees of the 15 metropolitan planning organizations (MPO's) in Florida are deemed to have land-planning responsibilities because of their active, direct, and substantial involvement in the preparation of the MPO transportation plans. The statute uses the term "land-planning," which indicates that the Legislature intended the term to be broader and more comprehensive than the term "land-use planning." Transportation facilities are built on land and therefore require the taking of land for construction and rights-of-way, and, although the MPO and its technical committee are not designated a formal role in the comprehensive planning process, the MPO's transportation plan has a significant impact on land- planning because it controls the availability of federal funds for specific transportation projects. Accordingly, members of the technical coordinating committees of the MPO's in this state are "local officers" subject to the requirement of filing a statement of financial interests annually.

In CEO 78-4 it was found that citizen advisory committees to MPO's also have land-planning responsibilities so as to make their members subject to disclosure. Upon further examination of the responsibilities of these boards, however, it is found that they constitute "advisory bodies" as it is apparent that they, unlike the technical committees, do not directly participate in establishing plan proposals and specific projects designed to implement those plans. Rather, a citizen advisory committee functions primarily as a sounding board for public opinion in that it takes the plan proposals and specific projects recommended by the MPO and technical committee to the local community and reports community response to the MPO. Therefore, a citizen advisory committee has no greater influence or impact on specific transportation-planning decisions than does the public. Accordingly, members of the citizen advisory committees to the MPO's of this state are not "local officers" and therefore are not subject to the requirement of filing financial disclosure annually.

QUESTIONS:

1. Are the members of the technical coordinating committees of the 15 metropolitan planning organizations which have been created in Florida "local officers" subject to the requirement of filing financial disclosure annually?

2. Are the members of the citizen advisory committees of the 15 metropolitan planning organizations which have been created in Florida "local officers" subject to the requirement of filing financial disclosure annually?

Question 1 is answered in the affirmative.

In a previous advisory opinion, CEO 78-4, we found that the members of the technical coordinating committee of the Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization were subject to the requirement of filing financial disclosure annually because, although they function solely in an advisory capacity to the metropolitan planning organization, they have land-planning responsibilities. See s. 112.3145(1)(a)2., F. S. 1977. After further examination of the responsibilities of these groups, we remain of this opinion.

In your letter of inquiry you advise that federal regulations require the establishment of metropolitan planning organizations (MPO's) to provide transportation planning in each urbanized area having a population in excess of 50,000. Thus, in Florida the Governor has designated 15 MPO's which are composed of local, elected officials.

You also advise that the transportation planning process currently consists of two main activities. First, a forecast of land-use, population, and other socio-economic variables for at least a 20-year period is developed for use in transportation trip-making equations. This forecast is provided to the MPO by the local area planning board, regional planning council, or other appropriate local agency responsible for making these types of projections. The second step in the transportation planning process involves the development by the MPO, in cooperation with the Department of Transportation, of a transportation plan which will accommodate the forecasted future development. The adoption of the plan follows public hearings where final input from the public at large is received. In order for a community to receive federal highway or urban mass transportation funds for a specific project, that project must be consistent with the MPO's transportation plan. During the development process of the transportation plan, the MPO receives advice and input from its technical and citizen advisory committees, which have been created pursuant to federal regulations.

The technical committee is composed of professional employees of local governmental agencies who hold such positions as city engineer, county engineer, city traffic engineer, transportation planner, and comprehensive planner. The Department of Transportation also is represented on this committee. The purpose of the technical committee is to provide the necessary coordination of the planning processes carried on by the individually represented agencies and to provide technical and professional advice to the MPO. While serving as a technical committee member, an agency employee merely is fulfilling an additional responsibility because of his job title. Thus, while a technical committee member may have some responsibility for the land-use planning of his agency, as a member of the technical committee his advisory responsibility relates solely to transportation planning.

In a telephone conversation with our staff, Mr. Mel Conner of your office advised that generally the technical committees meet every week or every other week to consider, revise, and make recommendations to the staff of the MPO concerning transportation planning work in progress, subject to the redirection of the MPO. He also advised that the technical committee makes specific recommendations to the MPO on changes and additions to transportation plans. Thus, it was his opinion that, in general, the technical committee makes decisions regarding transportation planning which usually are adopted by the MPO if it feels that they are not controversial. This view is supported in the policy manual of the Broward County MPO, which provides that its technical committee is responsible for coordinating transportation planning and programming; for reviewing all studies, reports, plans, and programs; for making recommendations about the plan and priority recommendations for its implementation; and for providing technical resources as requested. Section 2.4, Bylaws of the MPO Technical Coordinating Committee.

The Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees provides that each "local officer" shall file financial disclosure annually and defines that term to include any appointed member of a board of any political subdivision of the state, excluding members of "advisory bodies." Section 112.3145(2)(b) and (1)(a)2., F. S. However, it is specified that a governmental body with land-planning responsibilities is not to be exempted as an advisory body. Section 112.3145(1)(a)2., F. S. In our view the MPO has land-planning responsibilities, as does the technical committee because of its active, direct, and substantial involvement in the preparation of the MPO transportation plans. The statute uses the term "land-planning," which indicates that the Legislature intended the term to be broader and more comprehensive than the term "land-use planning." See part II, Ch. 163, F. S. Ultimately, it must be admitted that transportation facilities are built on land and therefore require the taking of land for construction and rights-of-way. Finally, although the MPO and its technical committee are not designated a formal role in the comprehensive planning process under Ch. 163, F. S., as a practical matter the MPO's transportation plan has a significant impact on land planning because it controls the availability of federal funds for specific transportation projects.

Accordingly, we find that the members of the technical coordinating committees of the MPO's in this state are "local officers" subject to the requirement of filing a statement of financial interests annually.

As to question 2, after further examination of the responsibilities of the citizens advisory committees, we find that they constitute "advisory bodies" as defined in the Code of Ethics and that their members therefore are not required to file financial disclosure.

In your letter of inquiry you advise that the citizens advisory committee, composed of volunteer citizens solicited at large or from representative civic organizations within the community, fulfills the federal requirement that the transportation planning process in an urbanized area shall include a citizen involvement program. This committee is charged with the responsibility of bringing the work product of the MPO's technical staff to the general public for its review and for developing recommendations to the MPO which reflect the consensus of public opinion. Thus, the bylaws of the Broward County MPO Citizens Advisory Committee specify that its purpose is to seek reaction to planning proposals and to provide comment with respect to the concerns of various segments of the population as to their transportation needs. These functions are delineated further in ss. 3.0 and 3.4 of the bylaws.

The question presented here, as in your first question, is whether this body has any land-planning responsibilities. Unlike the technical committee, it is apparent that the citizens committee does not directly participate in establishing plan proposals and specific projects designed to implement those plans. The citizens committee functions primarily as a sounding board for public opinion by taking the plan proposals and specific projects recommended by the MPO and the technical committee to the local community and reporting community response to the MPO. Therefore, the citizens committee has no greater influence or impact on specific transportation-planning decisions than does the public. We are of the opinion that these responsibilities are not so directly involved in the decisions made in the transportation-planning process as to constitute land-planning responsibilities.

Accordingly, we find that the members of the citizens advisory committees to the MPO's of this state are not "local officers" and are not subject to the requirement of filing a statement of financial interests annually. To the extent that CEO 78-4 is inconsistent with this opinion, we hereby rescind that opinion.