Local Independent Journalist Denied Access To Police Union Negotiations

An Orange City police union negotiations session is at the center of a complaint alleging that Mark Dickinson was repeatedly denied access to proceedings he contends should have been open to the public.

In an emergency verified complaint filed October 12, 2026, Dickinson challenged the city's handling of an October 7 bargaining session. The filing alleges violations of Florida’s Government in the Sunshine Law and the public-meeting requirements governing collective bargaining negotiations.

A request to attend

According to the complaint, Dickinson initially visited the City Clerk’s Office to request public records. He later entered a nearby municipal annex, where he observed police personnel near an office area secured by a keypad-controlled door.

The complaint alleges that officers closed the secured door and that Dickinson’s subsequent requests for information and access did not get him into the meeting. A city employee identified in the filing as the Deputy Director of Development Services allegedly denied knowledge of the meeting and told him it was not public.

Dickinson then returned to the City Clerk’s Office. The complaint states that the clerk supplied a printed electronic communication identifying the event as union negotiations.

Access came later

The complaint alleges that Dickinson remained excluded even after a senior city official acknowledged the meeting’s bargaining purpose. It says he was eventually admitted to the meeting area following intervention involving the city clerk and city attorney, more than an hour after the scheduled start.

His complaint argues that delayed admission did not remedy the loss of an opportunity to observe the proceedings as they occurred.