Humans are a curious lot. We like to know things about others. What is more regarding political candidates, it seems people prefer to know more than less. It can help us to understand how you operate, what motivates you and where your interests lie. One of the many ways we learn more about you is to look at the financial disclosure that the law requires a candidate or official to file, which is available for anyone to inspect.

More importantly, it helps us to identify potential conflicts that may come up with the issues you support, the votes you cast and the actions you take. This ability to identify potential conflicts is essential for the conduct of public policy. From time to time, citizens make requests for officials to recuse themselves from action on specific issues. However, the law is quite specific regarding recusal. You can find it in Chapter 112 of our state statutes. It states: A state public officer may not vote on any matter that the officer knows would insure his or her special private gain or loss., but how the public know if a candidate or official has a financial interest that may require recusal?

When I first ran for city commission, I of course had to complete the required “STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS,” commonly known as the “form 1.” If you are elected, you must continue to file a form 1 every year. The form 1 is the simplest financial disclosure for candidates and public officials in Florida. Along with city commissioners and city commission candidates, some advisory board members as well as some state, county and local bureaucrats are required to complete this form. The form 1 is no big deal, it takes a few minutes to complete but because of its simplicity, it does not tell you much. Hence, it is not highly effective for identifying potential voting conflicts.

A few years later, I ran for the county commission. Naturally, a state disclosure form was required, however it was one I had never seen nor heard of before and that form is an entirely different specimen. Along with county commissioners and candidates for county commission, it is the form that members of the legislature, cabinet members and constitutional officers file. The document is known as the “form 6” and bears the title, “FULL AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS.” The title is a completely accurate one. Oh yes, it is full and it is public. It also can be, for some, a giant pain in the you-know-what. Depending on your level of organization, access of information and your assets, it can take hours and even days. Like many others I know, every June, when I was presented with one, I probably muttered some form of expletive under my breath, or perhaps not under breath.

I have heard many times from certain individuals the form is one of the things that prevents them from engaging in the political process. Well, that may indeed be true but so be it. I say it is worth it since the disclosure can provide the information needed to ask relevant questions. So, it led me to ask the question, if county commissioners and candidates must file this document then why would city commissioners and candidates not have to? After all, it is essentially the same job with the same authority and responsibilities, just with different jurisdictions.

When you run for office and certainly while you are serving, you should know that you relinquish a large part of your privacy. That is just the way it is. That is why our President, or any other elected official, will get no sympathy from me regarding disclosure of their financial interests. We live in the Sunshine State and place a huge premium on transparency. I hope the state legislature will take up this issue and expand the requirement for disclosure. It seems like something that is easy to correct. 

Paul Caraigiulo is a former Sarasota city and county commissioner.