Some elected officials in two Central Florida counties share the same border and the same dilemma: vote their conscience — or risk losing their positions.
Board members in Manatee and Hillsborough counties worry Gov. Ron DeSantis might suspend them if they take action his administration opposes.
"As terrible as it is that there's a dystopian scenario where people could just remove people from office for disagreements over vague, burdensome language, it's still the fact,” said George Kruse, chair of the Manatee County Commission, at a recent meeting. "It's the fact that we're dealing with right now.”
And in Hillsborough County: “If I vote to remove these books, it’s not because I believe it’s right but because I am under duress and facing explicit threats of legal actions, including possible arrest or removal from office,” said Jessica Vaughn, chair of the school board.
ALSO READ: Hillsborough superintendent defends review of library books amid doubt from state board
The state Constitution allows the governor to suspend local government officials in specific situations. Those are for “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform the member’s official duties, or commission of a felony.”
State Senate approval makes the removal permanent, unless they're later reelected.
Historically, governors have only used this power to respond to criminal activity.
But DeSantis already has a couple of controversial suspensions under his belt. He’s booted two progressive state attorneys from their seats. He accused both Democrats of neglect of duty and incompetence, but critics blasted the moves as politically motivated.
“If you're a local official in Florida, you need to be careful, because if you openly defy the governor or even if you think it's an open legal question … it's possible you may find yourself being removed.”Aubrey Jewett, University of Central Florida political science professor,
The governor’s office didn’t respond to questions on whether it would have actually taken action in the Manatee and Hillsborough county cases — or whether it believes it legally can do so. The state Department of Education pushed back on Vaughn’s comments.
There’s a debate over whether DeSantis could. Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor, says local officials' concerns are not unreasonable.
“If you're a local official in Florida, you need to be careful, because if you openly defy the governor or even if you think it's an open legal question … it's possible you may find yourself being removed,” Jewett said.
While the governor’s hold over the Legislature has weakened, the Senate has yet to go against one of his suspensions. And Jewett pointed out that DeSantis appointed a number of state judges.
He believes it's "very unlikely” the governor would be overridden.
"What's happening here in these two counties is happening all over the state," he said. "And it's what we've seen coming out of the DeSantis administration and the Republican Legislature over the last four or five years, which is centralizing authority in Tallahassee, taking away home rule and discretion from local governments and threatening local officials with removal."
What’s going on in these counties?
In Manatee County, officials want to increase wetlands-adjacent buffer zones for developments.
But newly effective legislation — Senate Bill 180 — prevents local governments from placing “more restrictive or burdensome” development rules on areas impacted by recent hurricanes.
The state told commissioners their plan would violate the law, prompting the chair to worry about losing his job and about a court challenge. The county has since joined a lawsuit challenging the law.
Yet, faced with a similar dilemma – with the city attorney warning about removal – Edgewater officials voted to keep ordinances restricting development despite the new law.
Meanwhile, in Hillsborough County, school board officials voted to remove two books from district libraries: “Blankets” by Craig Thompson and “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins.
This comes after its superintendent was called to testify before state education officials in June about the books on his schools' shelves. They warned him about potential repercussions if some weren't removed. The pressure has not lifted.
“What the law does require is that districts have an established, transparent process for reviewing and addressing objections to materials. Suggesting otherwise misrepresents the law and misleads the public."Nathalia Medina, Florida Department of Education press secretary
Stephana Ferrell, a book access advocate, said she understands the concerns.
“Our elected school board members have a valid concern regarding the threats that have been made,” said Ferrell, co-founder and director of research and insight for the Florida Freedom to Read Project. “There is a history of them removing duly elected officials.”
Beyond the state attorneys, DeSantis also removed Broward County School Board members from office following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, accusing them of mismanaging school safety funds.
ALSO READ: Manatee County joins legal battle against developer-friendly law
In these cases, he replaced progressive-leaning officials with his conservative appointees.
But Ferrell is not sure if removing officials over what books are kept on shelves would meet constitutional requirements.
And, in a Tuesday statement emailed to WUSF, the state Department of Education said Florida law doesn’t authorize the “removal of a school board member because they decline to take a book out of circulation.”
“What the law does require is that districts have an established, transparent process for reviewing and addressing objections to materials,” wrote Nathalia Medina, the press secretary. “Suggesting otherwise misrepresents the law and misleads the public."
Medina continued: "Parents expect schools to provide students with age-appropriate, factual information, not ideological distortions or sexually explicit content. The Department will continue to hold school districts to those expectations under the law."
State school officials have castigated districts that have kept books they object to on their shelves, regardless of their processes.
“I expect and hope that these books will be removed in the next two weeks,” Board Chairperson Ben Gibson told the Hillsborough County superintendent in June, as quoted by the Tampa Bay Times. “If they’re not removed, then I’m going to ask the department and I’ll ask the attorney general to use every tool within their disposal to make sure that pornographic materials are not in our schools.”
Elected officials are concerned about losing their positions in other parts of the state, too.
For example, those who were hesitant to sign an agreement about the transportation of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees were threatened with losing their jobs.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
