The Ocean Club Community Association barred a reporter from reporting on a Village Council candidate forum it hosted for candidates running for public office.
Council Member Fernando Vazquez and candidates Luis de la Cruz and Silvia Tarafa attended the forum that drew a small crowd, Vazquez said.
The Village of Key Biscayne, when informed of the forum, did post the gathering on its website section used to display “Sunshine meetings.” The Sunshine Law generally requires gatherings of elected officials discussing government matters be open to the public, even if those meetings take place on private property.
Later Thursday, Village Clerk Jocelyn Koch said the Village learned that only one sitting council member would be in attendance. Two other candidates — Council Member Oscar Sardiñas and newcomer Claire London did not attend the forum, Vazquez and de la Cruz said.
It is not known if a recording was made of the event.
Nataly Garcia, the condo association’s director of administration, told the Independent over email “we are not allowing reporters to join tonight’s form, this is strictly a private event meant for us residents and not for the public.”
The candidate forum comes after Village Manager, Steve Williamson resigned late last week, marking an important transition in Village leadership that a new council will fill in the coming months. Moreover, new redevelopment plans for the Rickenbacker Causeway continue to advance, including a bitterly contested ballot measure about the Rickenbacker marina and a controversial Seaquarium renovation.
“This may be the last chance before the election to hear the Council candidates on these and other issues,” the Independent’s Editor-in-Chief Tony Winton wrote the Ocean Club, asking that the decision to bar the press be reconsidered.
The request for transparency was declined, even though De la Cruz and Vazquez supported media attendance. Other condominiums have allowed media to be present and even live-streamed debates in past election years.
This story was originally published in the Key Biscayne Independent, a WLRN News partner.
