Opinion ID: 176906
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Florida Law Permitted the Board to Delegate to Adams the Authority to Bind the Board to Arbitration Under the Consulting Contract.

Text: Citigroup contends that ordinary principles of administrative law permit the Board to delegate to Adams, its agent, the authority to bind the Board to arbitrate disputes under the consulting contract. The Board disagrees, and advances a related argument that the Florida Sunshine Law, Fla. Stat. § 286.011(1), prevented the Board from delegating authority because, under that law, all decisions affecting the Board must be made at a public meeting. We agree with the argument of Citigroup that Florida law permitted the Board to delegate to Adams the authority to agree to arbitrate disputes under the consulting contract. Citigroup argues persuasively that general principles of administrative law govern the Board, which is a municipal agency; those general principles of administrative law permit delegation; and because no Florida law prohibits the sort of delegation at issue, the Board could delegate its authority. The Board has offered no reason to doubt this argument about Florida law. Cf. W.M. Schlosser Co. v. Sch. Bd. of Fairfax Cnty., Va., 980 F.2d 253, 258 (4th Cir.1992) (holding that agent could not bind board to arbitrate because state law affirmatively prohibited arbitration); Morgan v. S. Bend Cmty. Sch. Corp., 797 F.2d 471, 479 (7th Cir. 1986) (holding that state law affirmatively required full board to approve employment contracts so superintendent modification was invalid). Delray Beach municipal law does not prohibit delegation. It instead permits the Board to hire and appoint those persons, agents or entities... as in its discretion may be required or advisable to enable it to perform custodial and investment duties. Delray Beach, Fla., Code of Ordinances ch. 33, § 33.66(C). Florida municipal law also permits the Board to carry out several enumerated investment powers through duly authorized agents, provided that the Board at all times maintains continuous supervision over the acts of any agent. Id. § 33.66(F). Killearn Properties, Inc. v. City of Tallahassee forecloses the related argument of the Board that its alleged violation of the Florida Sunshine Law could excuse it from complying with the terms of any contracts that it might have given Adams the authority to execute, including the account agreements. 366 So.2d 172, 181 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1979). That decision makes clear as follows that a government agency cannot benefit from its own violation of the Sunshine Law: It is one thing for an aggrieved citizen to seek to have set aside an agreement between a government and another party because of Sunshine Law violations; but quite another for the government entity itself to seek to escape its obligation based upon its own alleged wrongdoing. Id. The Board does not explain why this decision is mistaken or identify any other Florida precedent that is inconsistent with it. Consequently, the question before us is not whether the Board could have delegated to Adams the authority to bind it to arbitrate disputes under the consulting contract, but whether it did.