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Hutton-Suzanne
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Bel Desantis
Consent to Subcontract Dental Services
To:
Subject:
I have reviewed the Consent document for two issues.
1. The word "survey" in paragraph one, from the context of the document and the supporting exhibit appears to
have no meaning whatsoever, It probably is a typo and was intneded to be another word, although I cannot
fathom what. Its removal from the document would make the document mean something while its inclusion
renders the document meaningless, Accordingly, it is my opinion that the word "survey" should be disregarded,
2. Commissioner Spehar signed the document as a member of the board of directors of RHN. The Rural health
network is required by State Statute, FS 381,0406(11), to have the local covernment represented on its boiard of
directors. Commissioner Spehar's appointment to the board therefore is similar to the appointment of county and
municipal officers to the TDC, at which they are entitled to full participation in voting, unless they have a conflict of
interest. A question arises as to whether a commissioner may vote on matters before the BOCC related to the
not-for-profit organization for which they are a board director. While the black letter of the law would indicate that it
is only permissible for a public officer's governemntal unit to procure goods or services from a not-for-profit
corporation if that officer abstains from voting on any of the related issues, there are two contraindicators here.
First CEO 76-12 took a similar situation and concluded that notwithstanding the apparent digression from the plain
language of of the statute, the fact that the directorship did not interfere with the full and faithful discharge of the
officer's public duties rendered the activity permissible. In this case, there is a statutory requirement for local
government to be represented on the RHN's board, so the commissioner's public duties seem to require the
apparent conflict. Further, this is not so much a contract for the procurement of goods and services as it is a grant
to an entity, which at this time appears to be a sole source provider of certain services to the public. Therefore,
the trnsaction would probably be exempt under S. 112,313(12)(e).
Therefore, it is my opinion that the document may be executed and that the term"survey" should be treated as a
superfluous typo.
Please call if you have any other questions.
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