this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
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708
New Florida law requires city officials to disclose net worth; some are resigning instead (www.usatoday.com)
submitted 10 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
20 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Two Daytona Beach Shores city commissioners have resigned as the latest in a wave of local elected officials leaving before Jan. 1, when they face more stringent financial disclosure requirements.

Mel Lindauer, a Shores commissioner since 2016, told The News-Journal on Wednesday the new requirement − submitting what's known as Form 6 − is "totally invasive" and serves no purpose.

Commissioner Richard Bryan, who has also served since 2016, said in his Dec. 21 resignation letter that he had another priority but added the Form 6 issue "affected the timing" of his decision.

...

Many state officials already file a Form 6, including the governor and Cabinet, legislators, county council members and sheriffs. The forms require disclosure of the filer's net worth and holdings valued at more than $1,000, including bank accounts, stocks, retirement accounts, salary and dividends.

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[–] derf82@lemmy.world 146 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"What difference does it make if one elected official is worth $100,000 and the other is worth $10 million?" he asked. "That's totally irrelevant."

Because I trust someone worth $100k or less to have my interests at heart far more than someone worth $10M. Do these people really not get that?

People are sick and tired of being ruled by the wealthy. The truth is, city government pay is often so bad, it’s only the wealthy with large passive income that will go for it.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 92 points 10 months ago (2 children)

It also shows who's accepting other money. If you're worth $10m but entered office with a lot less, the office doesn't pay enough for you to have earned all of that. You must have accepted ~~bribes~~ "donations" to get there.

[–] cogman@lemmy.world 44 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Exactly this. Finance transparency should be a requirement for public officials. I honestly don't care if my politician has a NW of 10 million. I do care if that's tied to industries they are supposed to be regulating. I also care if they started out with nothing and became millionaires after joining politics.

That said, billionaires should be barred from ever interacting with politics. Congratulations, you won capitalism, now leave the rest of us alone.

[–] jimbolauski@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago

City officials typically don't take bribes, they'll buy land after learning about a project, or select a company for a job that uses supplies from your company. One of the famous politicians in my area bought a bunch of land when a highway project was announced and made millions.

[–] UndercoverUlrikHD@programming.dev 86 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Meanwhile in Norway every citizen can look up any other person's tax returns. Income and fortune all neatly presented on a government website.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 33 points 10 months ago (5 children)

This sounded like a bad idea to me, but I can't actually come up with a reason why, so maybe it's not.

[–] GladiusB@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

I can see why people would not like it from a privacy standpoint. It would never fly in America for everyone. For government officials? I like this one.

[–] Keineanung@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago

Had the exact same thought process.

[–] Valar_Morghulis@jlai.lu 9 points 10 months ago

Because you see it from your personal point of view. Seeing it from a government perspective it’s public money and should be easily identified. Also if I remember correctly, in Norway you have to identify yourself to get access to the data.

[–] havokdj@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Because it could potentially subject you to a planned robbery? That's about it, although I think it definitely depends on the place too. Norway likely doesn't have to worry about that issue.

[–] AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works -1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think it's because tax forms also contain information that definitely should not be available to anyone who wants it. Employer information especially - anyone trying to escape from an abuser really doesn't want that info widely available.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

You don't have to reveal everything on the form.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

I'm in favor of transparency, but this sounds like it was designed to put democrats in prison.

It only applies to city officials, not county or state, (more likely to be democrats) and has stiff penalties for any errors discovered during an audit.

[–] Boozilla@lemmy.world 70 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Every level of government should require this, IMO.

If folks want to resign over it, I get it, and that's fine. You are meant to be replaced regularly anyway. Career politicians are more of a bug than a feature.

If you don't want people to know your finances, you shouldn't be a public servant. Power should include transparency.

[–] Ooops@kbin.social -1 points 10 months ago

There's only one problem: Until it's a requirement on every level it shouldn't be one for single levels.

This law is not a tool for transparency, but a weapon for state politicians against local politicians disagreeing with them.

What we have here is a law in a majorily red state that does not apply for state officials (republicans) but does apply for local politicians (democrats in several big cities) that can punish minor infractions (please try to make a list of everything you own with the correct values that can withstand an audit by the state...) with jail time. Go figure...

[–] Chessmasterrex@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

The one's resigning are the people that shouldn't be in office. It's likely a great benefit to Florida that they're gone.

[–] fne8w2ah@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago

Corrupt Florida men and women fecking off from positions of power they shouldn't deserve.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 10 months ago

I might resign too. But in my case it would be because I didn't want to quantify how little my life has amounted to.

[–] moody@lemmings.world 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

People are afraid of others knowing how much money they make. Either out of pride or shame, or out of fear that something out of place may be discovered.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 2 points 10 months ago

Some quick looking doesn't reveal the political affiliations of either Lindauer or Bryan.