City of Tallahassee To Consider Stepping Into Marriage Equality Debate

City of Tallahassee To Consider Stepping Into Marriage Equality Debate

On November 5, 2014, the Quality of Life Target Issue Committee, which is chaired by Commissioner Nancy Miller and Commissioner Gil Ziffer,  directed the consideration of the issue of whether the City of Tallahassee should file an amicus curiae, “friend of the court” brief, in the case of Mariama Monique Changamire Shaw v. Keiba Lynn […]

City Staff Once Again Recommends Against Appointed Ethics Officer

City Staff Once Again Recommends Against Appointed Ethics Officer

On March 12, 2014, the City Commission will address the Ethics Advisory Panel recommendations that were not adopted at the Target Issue Workshop held on November 20, 2013. The City Commission appointed a citizen Ethics Advisory Panel (EAP) that first convened on November 8, 2012.  The EAP was charged with examining the various City policies, […]

CRA Votes to Give $1.6 million Tax Break to Out-of-Town Developer

CRA Votes to Give $1.6 million Tax Break to Out-of-Town Developer

On Thursday, February 27, 2014, the Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) voted 6-1 to approve a property tax rebate in the amount of approximately $1.6 million to an out of town developer. The rebate will go to CA Student Living, a developer from Chicago, Illinois that is proposing to develop 444 College Avenue, a mixed-use […]

City of Tallahassee Budget Debate Begins

City Manager Anita Favors Thompson presented her proposed budget for fiscal year 2014 to the City Commission on Wednesday. The preliminary $854 million budget included a General Fund deficit, but the final proposal addressed the deficit through a $2.3 million property tax increase, a $2 million increase in the electric utility transfer, and a $3 […]

CRA Workshop Turns into Frenchtown Redevelopment Discussion

The CRA Workshop, that was initiated by some Board member concerns about about the appropriate focus of the CRA, turned into a discussion about redevelopment projects for Frenchtown. And some Board members were clearly caught off guard. County Commissioner Kristin Dozier said that “I thought it would be a different process. We did not agree to […]

City Faces Controversy Over Sales Tax on Electric Bills

During the last City Commission meeting, Dr. Erwin Jackson alerted city commissioners that the City’s utility department was charging state sales tax on electricity provided to certain customers that were exempt from the tax. To make his point, Mr. Jackson showed documentation that included a refund from the city to Mr. Jackson of approximately $5600 […]

Corruption in Tallahassee? FBI to Decide.

Corruption in Tallahassee? FBI to Decide.

On September 15, 2010, Commissioners Ziffer, Lightsey, and Gillum joined forces with Mayor John Marks to approve the city’s participation in a $1.6 million federal grant with partners that included the Alliance for Digital Equality (ADE) and The Go Beyond Foundation.

After talking to sources, it has been determined that several documents have been turned over to the FBI because of concern about the relationship between Mayor John Marks and the vendors included in the grant application.