University presidents agree to open meetings to public

TALLAHASSEE -- The presidents of the state's universities agreed on Tuesday to open their meetings to the public after a barrage of complaints of secrecy.

But later that day, the same group of presidents met behind closed doors with Lt. Gov Frank Brogan at the Capitol while reporters waited outside.

Gov. Jeb Bush's office said Brogan and the presidents did not discuss anything substantive during the closed session. Rather, it gave them an opportunity to eat lunch and chat, said Liz Hirst, a spokeswoman who attended the meeting.

Anthony Catanese, head of the State University Presidents Association, said the decision to close the meeting was Brogan's and that it doesn't diminish the presidents' agreement.

Catanese, president of Florida Atlantic University, said he suggested to his colleagues on Tuesday morning that the presidents notify the public of all meetings and then open them.

"What I basically said is, "Let's not get into a fight over open meetings,' " he said. "We don't want to make an issue."

The presidents have only occasionally opened meetings in the past, and usually without notice. The group began meeting about two years ago, though not regularly.

Catanese said the other presidents support the change even though lawyers have told them they do not have to open their meetings under law. About 10 presidents attended Tuesday, including University of South Florida's Judy Genshaft, University of Florida's Charles Young and Florida State University's Sandy D'Alemberte.

"The law shouldn't be the end of the analysis, it should be whether this is a smart thing to do," D'Alemberte said. He said he is such a proponent of open meetings that he refused to attend a prior gathering because reporters were not notified.

But the presidents' decision will not affect what the chairmen of the university boards of trustees do.

Trustee boards oversee and set policy for state universities. Their chairmen have met privately since being appointed last year by Gov. Jeb Bush in a reorganization of Florida's education governance system.

They have insisted their meetings are not subject to the Sunshine Law, which requires that public officials meet in public, even when Florida Board of Education chairman Phil Handy attended.

During Handy's recent confirmation hearings, legislators questioned why he failed to obey the Sunshine Law when he closed meetings. But Handy said he does not believe meetings with university presidents and individual trustees must be open.

Some newspapers had threatened to take the trustees to court, saying the meetings conflict with state law, the state Constitution and court rulings on open government.

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