Biro: Off The Hook?

SPRING HILL - Ric Ridgway, chief assistant state attorney, said he should know by the end of the week if there is enough evidence to begin an inquiry into whether a Spring Hill Fire Rescue District commissioner violated the Florida Government-in-the-Sunshine Law.

That law has strict rules as to how elected officials can communicate with their colleagues. It essentially limits communications to a public forum.

But an e-mail from the Florida Office of the Attorney General seems to let Fire Commissioner George Biro off the hook.

Sandi Copes, press secretary for the state attorney general's office, said the use of a written report by one commissioner to inform other board members of a subject to be discussed at a public meeting "is not a violation of the Sunshine Law if, prior to the meeting, there is no interaction related to the report among the commissioners."

Simply put, as long as Biro's colleagues do not respond in kind to the letter before the meeting and have no further interaction until then, there is no violation.

Biro, in a Jan. 31 letter sent to his fire board colleagues, said he wanted the board to know that his position on Spring Hill Fire Chief J.J. Morrison's contract has not changed and would like to see his position filled at its Feb. 27 voting meeting.

"I would like to suggest Chief (Mike) Rampino fill that position as interim fire chief and Chief (Jeff) Carroll be moved to interim operations chief until after the referendum vote in November 2008," Biro wrote.

"I hope you will give this some serious thought as I think it best for this department," Brio concluded.

Spring Hill Fire Rescue District Chairman Charles Raborn said he doesn't believe Biro violated Florida's Sunshine Law.

If he did, he doesn't believe it was intentional.

In any event, Raborn is looking into the matter.

"I've instructed (Morrison) to call our attorney to see if there is any validity to it and we'll go from there," he said.

Raborn said the first time he saw a letter from Biro was when he picked up the packet this past weekend in preparation for the Wednesday, Feb. 13 meeting.

"I didn't think anything of it," Raborn said. "I didn't even think about the Sunshine Law."

Raborn said Biro had indicated he would not be present at this week's meeting so he assumed he only wanted to make his intentions known to the board.

The fire district's law firm did not return a phone call to Hernando Today.

If the state attorney's office determines there is enough evidence to look into the matter, officials from that office would conduct interviews with all involved and research the matter, Ridgway said.

Violations of the Sunshine Law are misdemeanors punishable by a small fine up to 60 days in jail. Serious infractions can result in removal from office.