Legislation waiting in the wings in Tallahassee would require those running for or seated on city or town councils to reveal more about their income, investments and debt than currently required.
Indian River Shores Councilman Bob Auwaerter said he might resign if the bill becomes law.
“Currently, I have the option to fill out Form 1 or Form 6. The first form requires me to list sources of income and investments on a percentage basis of total income and assets, respectively,” Auwaerter said.
“By looking at this form, you can clearly see whether I might have any potential conflicts of interest. To provide that information makes perfect sense,” but Sen. Greg Steube’s Bill 1180 “would require me to fill out Form 6.
“Form 6 lists the same things on a dollar basis,” Auwaerter said, “so you would see what I fill out on IRS Form 1040 as far as income is concerned. The asset listing would be the same as if you looked on my Quicken software.
“Bluntly, Form 6 is a huge invasion of privacy. And it provides a nice roadmap for identity theft.”
Auwaerter, who oversaw an investment portfolio worth $18 billion before he retired a few years ago, collects no salary for serving on the Shores Town Council. He also serves without pay on the City of Vero Beach Utilities Commission and Indian River County School Board’s Audit Committee.
“In fact, my unpaid jobs cost me money,” Auwaerter said. “I have unreimbursed travel expenses to attend meetings up at the FMPA (Florida Municipal Power Agency) in Orlando.
“If this bill becomes law, I have to seriously consider whether I should resign from Town Council,” Auwaerter said. “Although people may not agree with all my views, I think governments need people like me who are not career politicians and who are willing to use a lifetime of experience in areas like municipal finance to try to make government work better.”
Auwaerter says if passed into law, the regulations proposed by Sen. Steube, R-Sarasota, will “have a chilling effect on getting people to serve.”
Under current laws, elected state and county officials, including school board members and judges, have to fill out Form 6, but elected municipal officials may fill out the less revealing Form 1.
Florida League of Cities Senior Legislative Advocate Rebecca O’Hara said the push to “even the playing field” among county and city elected officials’ financial disclosures “is nothing new. Some cities have more revenue than counties and it’s only fair.”
The League has worked several years on “transitioning” city elected officials from lesser to greater financial disclosure, O’Hara said, but the organization prefers House Bill 7003 over the Senate bill; 7003 is proposed by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Groveland, who chairs the House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee.
It makes two distinctions that would limit the number of elected city officials required to reveal more about their finances. First, it eliminates “tiny town councils, where it’s hard to get people to run for office,” O’Hara said. Only council members of cities with revenues over $10 million for three years running would have to reveal more.
Second, it would be the “governing body,” as opposed to “elected officials,” who would have to fill out Form 6, O’Hara said. “Believe it or not some city clerks are elected,” she said.
If Metz’s bill passes, Auwaerter would not have to reveal more about his finances since Indian River Shores takes in about $6 million in revenue a year. But if Steube’s Senate Bill 1180, or the related House Bill 815, become law, then the town may have to find another resident to fill his seat.
