Senior Vice president of www.TweetMyJobs.com Brendan Cotter, kicked off the presentation enthused to introduce a social media tool that “takes advantage of frequently used technology and connects job seekers with future employers.”

Cotter described the website as a “dating site between employers and job seekers.”

This website launched in January 2012, and according to Cotter has 75,000 individuals and and 5,000 businesses using the services. Cotter has worked with cities such as Atlanta, Houston and Newark, NJ.

The talks of this site seemed to take interest as questions and excitement filled the room of 25 people. The site, if approved, would create a custom brand app for Tallahassee allowing mobile-device users to be alerted with possible job openings in an area.

The Director of Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs Dee Crumpler added to the pace of the conversation by announcing that Lake Ella won the “coolest hang out spot in town” award voted by Florida State University students.

Crumpler’s presentation addressed Lake Ella’s management request to beautify the park between the sidewalk and lake’s edge.

The main problems around the lake, according to Crumpler, are flooding, lack of beauty and the Muscovy ducks stripping the vegetation.

“We’ve tried all types of vegetation,” said Crumpler. “But those ducks seem to eat anything – we’re looking to try new vegetation like Jasmine.”

One audience member asked if they tried to remove the ducks.  And Crumpler assured they have exerted pretty much all the measures to tame the ducks.

Commissioner Gillum added, “Don’t be a duck hater,” which erupted the room into laughter.

The next initiative Crumpler is tackling is updating the fountain – the current one doesn’t work and has been sent to Tampa to be repaired.  Also, Crumpler said staff is “looking to survey people who use the park to determine placement of a playground.”

The last thing discussed and meant to add appeal to Tallahassee is the Capitol City Pedicabs – owner Ron Goldstein said it is “green, cost efficient and promotes tourism.”

Goldstein is aiming “to create a tour that informs people about Tallahassee and special events that are less publicized.

At closing, Commissioner Gil Ziffer said there will be a “Premier triathlon event on Nov. 26 involving running, biking and swimming.”  This event may correlate with a walking festival.

More information will be presented at the June 18 meeting.

Mr. Lavin told the Commissioners that as of now, the general fund budget for 2014 will result in a $5 million deficit. The is based on the projections of $136 million in revenues and $141 million in expenditures. The $141 million in expenditures is approximately $8.3 million above the general fund actual expenditures in 2011.

Tallahassee Reports put together the table below that compares the level of spending of the City’s general fund from 2008 to 2014 to consumer spending in Leon county during the same period. Consumer spending was calculated using Florida Department of Revenue sales tax reports for Leon County.

Comparison of Spending Rates

The table shows that from 2008 to 2014 the City’s general fund expenditures increased from $132 million to $141, which is a 6.8% increase. During the that same period, consumer spending increased from $6.85 billion to $6.96 billion(projected) which is a 1.6% increase.

If consumer spending had increased at the same rate as the City’s general fund spending, consumer spending would have reached $7.3 billion. This level of spending is above pre-recession levels.

A comparison of Leon County spending will be completed when Tallahassee Reports receives the County’s proposed spending level for 2014.

Operation “Reveal the Deal” uncovered a sophisticated racketeering and money laundering scheme stemming from 49 illegal gambling centers operating under the guise of “internet cafes.” The organization falsely claimed to be a charitable veterans’ organization, but instead deceived the public and government while lining the pockets of its operators.

Allied Veterans of the World was led by four co-conspirators: Johnny Duncan, 62, of Boiling Springs, S.C., Jerry Bass, 62, of Jacksonville, Fla., Chase Burns, 37, of Fort Cobb, Okla., and Kelly Mathis, 49, also of Jacksonville, Fla. Mathis is the organization’s attorney.

On May 9th, the Associated Press reported that Kelly Mathis’ witness list includes former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, former state Agricultural Commissioner Charles Bronson, former Florida Democratic Party chair Scott Maddox and several prosecutors and sheriffs.

When asked by Andy Alcock of WCTV why he thought he was on the wintness list, Scott Maddox stated, ‘I’m not sure why I am on the list.”

Documents reviewed by Tallahassee Reports after the WCTV interview indicate that City Commissioner Scott Maddox listed “Murphy and Mathis, PA, AVOTW” as a major source of income on a 2011 financial disclosure form.

Mathis & Murphy, PA is registered with the state of Florida and Kelly Mathis is listed as the registered agent and an officer of the law firm.

Mathis’ defense attorney says the politicians and law enforcement officials are listed because they had analyzed the law which he says shows that his client did nothing wrong.

Listed below is the most recent financial disclosure for City Commissioner Scott Maddox. Major clients are listed on page three.

Using a matrix with projected tax collections provided by staff, the Committee was unanimous in voting for a 20 year term that will raise approximately $756 million. As of now, 65% of the tax goes to Committee approved projects, 20% to the city and county, and 15% to economic development projects.

The Committee also voted to add the Northeast Park and the Desoto Winter Encampment to the list of high priority projects.

The vote means that $491 million (65% of $756 million)  will be available for Committee selected projects. However, as of today, the Committee has voted for a total of $623 million in high priority projects. Now the real work begins as the Committee begins to cut projects.

If the first shot at cutting a project is any indication of the future, these meetings will be interesting!

Committee member Henree Martin moved that the Orange Avenue widening project, at cost of $37 million, be removed from the high priority list. She argued that there were too many projects on the Southside.

Committee member Curtis Richardson took strong exception to the motion.

He stated that “he was perturbed that the subject even came up, it was not on any agenda. Why this project”

Visibly upset by the motion, Richardson said “it is time for equity on the Southside.”

The motion was withdrawn and the confrontation was diffused by a request for staff to bring information to the next meeting showing the geographical distribution of the dollars associated with the high priority projects.

In addition, member Christic Henry asked staff to also look at the geographical distribution of dollars from the previous Blueprint program.

The next meeting is June 13, 2013.

Based on today’s meeting, there will be major amendments to current policy.

The meeting began with the acknowledgement that an audio recording of one of the meetings had been completely deleted by accident. City staff purchased recovery software and were able to restore a majority of the recording.

However, comments made by City Auditor Sam McCall, about his view of an independent ethics process, were part of the recording that was deleted and never made into minutes of the meeting. Members of the panel agreed to ask Mr. McCall to complete the record with written comments.

The focus of the remainder of the meeting was on presentations by panel member Jay Landers on voting conflicts and Chairperson Martha Barnett on post employment issues.

Mr. Landers’ presentation indicated that Florida Statutes Chapter 112, the current law regulating voting conflicts, has a history of being interpreted rather strictly. For example, a violation was only upheld if an elected official had knowledge of a conflict on the precise day of the vote.

Mr. Landers’ argued, and the panel concurred, that more burden should be put on the elected officials by requiring standards consistent with “should of known” or “upon a reasonable inquiry” should know that a conflict exists. Also, the Panel agreed this standard should not just apply on the day of the vote, but for the 12 months before the vote. In other words if a city commissioner had a conflict that ended 11 months before a vote on an issue, that elected official would have a conflict on the day of the vote.

The Panel also agreed that a conflict should be identified as early as possible and the elected officials should not only not vote, but should not participate in any workshops or issue meetings that address the issue at conflict.

Chairman Martha Barnett discussed the fact that city had no post employment restrictions on elected officials. Post employment restrictions limit the ability of elected or appointed officials to take advantage of votes or relationships developed while serving in a public capacity.

Chairman Barnett recommended, and the Panel concurred, that some type of policy should be adopted that restrict employment opportunities for elected and appointed officials after their public service is complete. She noted that for state officials certain employment opportunities were limited for two years in areas relevant to an officials area of service.

Ms. Barnett also recommended that elected and appointed officials be required to disclose any ongoing negotiations to accept a new job while serving in their present capacity.

The Panel directed staff to come back with language that would implement these proposals to current policy and to also investigate enforcement mechanisms.

The next Ethics Advisory Panel meeting is May 21, 2013.