Tallahassee Reports has learned that a former employee of the Edison restaurant has landed a $47,000 a year job with the City of Tallahassee’s Communications Department.
Also, documents show that the employee, Edward Kring, was the “sales rep” for the Edison catered event that resulted in a $4,700 “owners discount” for the family of Tallahassee City Manager Rick Fernandez.
TR recently published an investigative story about the discount.
In addition, TR has learned that the job was not publicly advertised. Rather, it was advertised only within the the City’s Communications Department over the Christmas holidays in 2016 for one week. The Communications Department is listed as having a total of eight employees.
TR has obtained documents that show 3 months after the discounted catering event, which took place in March 2016, Mr. Kring submitted an application to the City of Tallahassee’s Communications Department and was subsequently hired in a temporary position in October.
This temporary position allowed Mr. Kring to have access to the full-time position that was advertised to only employees in the Communications Department.
On December 23rd, 2016 the head of the Communications Department, Alison Faris, signed an employment requisition form for a “Customer Involvement Coordinator.” Based on city organization charts available online, Ms. Faris reports directly to City Manager Rick Fernandez.
You can review the employment requisition here.
The requisition form indicates the position was new and instructed the city’s human relations department to “Please advertise for one week internal to Communications.”
The form also shows that Ms. Faris requested advertising dates to be from 12/24-12/30. These seven advertising days include the 24th and 25th, which was a weekend, and the 26th, which was a holiday for most of the employees that work with the City of Tallahassee.
On December 29, 2016 Mr. Kring submitted his employment application for the position. Also, Mr. Kring listed his job title as a “Community Affairs Director” with the Tallahassee Hospitality Group and also listed his affiliation with the Edison.
Adam Corey, the owner of the Edison and the Tallahassee Hospitality Group, was listed as a reference on the employment application.
Tallahassee Reports was told that Mr. Kring’s application was the only application received by the City of Tallahassee for the position.
To secure funds for the new position, emails obtained by TR show that Ms. Faris requested a vacant position be transferred from Star Metro to the communications department on January 13, 2017.
Further investigation revealed that the position in Star Metro had been vacant since January 31, 2015. When it was occupied, the salary was $30,118. Mr. Kring was hired into the position at $47,840.
When contacted by Tallahassee Reports, Ms. Faris said that Mr. Kring was well qualified for the position. She cited his work in a community affair’s position with the Big Bend Homeless Coalition from September 2011 to January 2014. Mr. Kring listed his annual salary in that position as $29,000.
Ms. Faris said the position was transferred from Star Metro as part of the city’s reorganization in 2016.
Ms. Faris also told TR that since Mr. Fernandez is her boss, he was aware of the hire.
Unadvertised, $47,000 City Job Given to Edison Catering Employee added by Staff on
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Alan – Kring was the Catering Coordinator at the Tallahassee Hospitality Group (101) & the Edison. He was NOT Community Affairs at The Edison. Everyone knows this. The career advancement was given to him at the expense of other qualified people. Just look where the job was posted / only the community affairs office (8 people and he was “part” time in this office) and when it was posted; Christmas time to before New Years (very clever). Plus he was the Catering Coordinator for the Fernandez wedding. Connect the dots.
Selling the Edison, and putting it on the tax rolls makes more sense than developing the Myers Park area.
Vernon: I never had any hope. Fernandez is just the next cog in the corrupt wheel known as the City of Tallahassee.
This all seems pretty legit to me. Mr. Kring was doing community affairs for the homeless coalition, left. Went to do community affairs for the Edison, and left to do community affairs for the city. It seems like a steady career advancement path.
We live in a small town. Everything isn’t smoke and mirrors and backroom deals.
I had been holding out hope that after Anita Favors Thompson retired as city manager this kind of disregard for the Tallahassee taxpayer would have to improve…but now I’m giving up on Rick Fernandez. It certainly appears he is digging in and has picked up the baton to keep Tallahassee management corrupt for another generation.
Anita Favors and Rick Fernandez are one and the same. If you ever had any dealings with Fernandez, you would know. There is so much going on in the COT and everyone has something on everyone else. It is a rats nest. Even those inside the COT that know all this is wrong will not speak up – they are too afraid of losing their jobs. I think a real audit of the COT should be called for by the citizens.
The “Edison” ship is sinking and the rats are scampering off ! Follow the money and a taxpayer class action suit is in the making !!!!
Actually, RB, unfortunately, it is the good people that are leaving – in droves. The rats are running the place and they are still there. And then there are the innocent people that just need a job that remain.
I just wish the voters of Tallahassee cared enough about the quality of their leaders rather than about the “diversity” of their leaders to vote in ethical individuals. When you’ve got someone like Steve Stewart who takes the time and effort to put together a spreadsheet detailing the city’s spending – AFTER the city says it can’t be done – and he can’t get elected, this area has some seriously delusional and / or apathetic voters.
Just another example of the system-wide, embedded corruption that defines the culture of Tallahasee city government. It will continue until one or more city officials go to jail. What it will probably take is getting some very solid charges on one city official or employee who decides to take a plea deal by ratting on all the other ones.
Until that day, we are the laughing stock of Florida – when I tell Floridians or even tourists down south that I live in Tallahassee, their first remark is “Isn’t that the FL city with the really bad crime?”
Sadly, the answer is yes, and much of the crime is occurring at city hall.
if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, it’s a duck…this doesnt “look” right
Tallahassee Reports, thanks for your great work!
At some level, something should be done. What is the next step to get a real investigation of the City Manager? Mr. Kring should resign or be removed. Mr. Corey can hire him. I mean he’s got all the money right? This is similar to the hiring of another of Mr. Corey’s boys in Chicago. That ended badly and this will too. Keep peeling away the film. There is much much more I am sure.
Interesting how the amount of Rick Fernandez’s discount ($4,700) is exactly 10% of the new employee’s salary ($47,000)! I’m not a big believer in coincidences around the Tallahasssee swamp.
Didn’t restaurant “101” closed because of money embezzlement too? Lol hhhmmmm I wonder if Adam ware has anything to do with this too?
Check “Tribe Taco’s” as well
Maybe the ethics officer should start giving ethics training to every city employee.
They already do. Corruption starts at the top. This is why city commission exempted themselves from following city ethics ordinance!
Exempted themselves…? Are you sure? How did they do that exactly?
Go to the ‘search’ feature on this Tallahassee Reports page and type in ‘lila’ and you will get lot’s of information.
How many more things are you going to uncover that make our city seem like a very corrupt place. It seems as though they waste tax payers money constantly.
Not seems. City is corrupt and they waste taxpayer dollars like paying $47,000 for an Edison employee they don’t need!
You can dig all the way to China, the fact remains the town is full of sympathizers, enablers, and retards that cannot get past their self loathing and white guilt to stand up and demand leadership with accountability. Keep up the good work…….funny we can’t get a legislative investigation into this corrupt sh*thole……
The real reporting is Great! The bottom line is when is this going to change? When is the COT going to get the message this isn’t ok?
It will change when enough people stand up and complain. In my experience 99% of people do nothing about a situation until it directly affects them, and by then it is often too late to do anything.
Document misconduct. If you are a city resident, start attending & speaking at city commission meetings. Schedule appointments with commissioners. That is how representative government works. Even though I don’t live there, I was able to stop the city red light camera program in 2015 using these principles, and I recently filed a criminal complaint involving financial misconduct by the mayor.
If citizens do not hold those in power accountable, then they have free reign to do things such as reported here.
I heard that two more of their top management that had been there a while resigned this week, the beverage director and the catering director. I wonder what all those private investors are being told.
Just keep on digging. There will be more. Much more.
Excellent reporting, but again what is new? This is or has been the City’s modus operandi for decades. It is just now someone will report it. Interesting that Mr. Kring has a criminal record. He will nicely fit in with the rest of the criminals at the City. It is only a matter of time he will be on the Ethics Commission.
Did he “check the box”?
Whats new, the city answers to no one, never have. City residents dont care. Good ole boy system at its best.
Is anyone surprised?
This is what I like about TR. They print facts and let us decide.
Chicagohassee: Crony capitalism at its best.
http://campusmugshots.com/tallahassee-mugshots-leon-county-mugshots/tallahassee/kring-edward-m-tallahassee/
They need to also do a investigation on Terry Lowe