Florida Center for Government Accountability

Hoping to position Florida as the next big destination for large and hyperscale data centers that power artificial intelligence, state lawmakers are weighing how much corporate secrecy is enough but not too much and how to manage the centers’ intensive demands for energy and water where they operate. Sen. Bryan Avila, Miami-Dade Republican, is leading the charge, saying Florida can outcompete motivated states such as Georgia, Virginia and Texas to land the multibillion-dollar projects here, creating thousands of high-tech jobs, tax revenue and related economic development.

Editor's note: This article is a part of Power Play, a series of special reports examining the push to reduce or eliminate property taxes in Florida.

This year there are roughly 40 proposals before the Florida Legislature seeking to create exemptions to public records. Historically, the state has been considered a national leader in making its system of government accessible to its citizens — but no more. Open government advocates are dismayed by the many new attempts at whittling down the state’s transparency.

When the U.S. Attorney’s Office closed a criminal investigation into Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno in November, Marceno issued a statement calling allegations that he engaged in a kickback scheme “completely false.” But in an undercover FBI recording obtained by the Florida Trident, Marceno, while not admitting personal involvement, is heard telling his alleged co-conspirator that he has his “back” regarding payments that may have been made and assuring him they were his “personal business” and the public had no way to discover they were made.

Websites of the Florida Center for Government Accountability and the Florida Trident were hit by what was described as a “massive and sophisticated” cyber attack Sunday.Barbara A. Petersen, CEO and publisher of the center and the Trident, said the denial-of-service attack on the flcga.org and floridatrident.org websites were discovered early on and caused only minor disruptions.

Ben Quartermaine has been selected as the county’s director of the newly structured Stormwater Department. Sarasota County leaders voted Tuesday to create a separate stormwater department — breaking it off from Public Works — just days after a joint investigation by Florida Trident and Suncoast Searchlight revealed systemic mismanagement ahead of catastrophic flooding from Tropical Storm Debby.The decision, which includes hiring a new department head, came during a tense budget workshop marked by blistering public criticism. Residents packed the small meeting chambers, demanding accountability from Public Works Director Spencer Anderson and County Administrator Jonathan Lewis for what they described as years of neglect and failed leadership.

Florida’s public records laws, at one time nationally hailed as a model for government transparency and openness, are once again the target of multiple legislative efforts to restrict public access to key information.Prominent among the bills are those which would curtail the public’s right to know personal information such as home addresses of certain officials elected to represent Floridians, the folks who regulate the state’s judges, and even medical examiners.

The Sarasota County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday morning to stop work on a proposed agreement with Hi Hat Ranch, directing staff to cease further drafts of any agreement. The project will not move forward until a public workshop is scheduled within six months.The decision follows a Florida Trident investigative report published just a day earlier, which raised concerns about the deal’s financial impact — requiring taxpayers to cover half of a $28 million road-widening project for a segment of Bee Ridge Road between Bent Tree Boulevard to Lorraine Road.

A senior Sarasota County staffer called the developer’s proposal ‘insulting’ and urged the county to abandon negotiations.