UPDATE
Another member of the Tallahassee Independent Ethics Board will apply for the vacant seat on the city commission.
Bruce Grant, whose term expires on 12/31/2018, has submitted an application to fill the vacancy created when Scott Maddox was removed.
ORIGINAL STORY
Bill Hollimon, the Tallahassee City Commission appointee to the Independent Ethics Board, announced today at the Board’s monthly meeting that he will resign his seat because he plans to apply for the vacant seat on the City Commission.
The seat became vacant when City Commissioner Scott Maddox was indicted and subsequently removed from office by Governor Rick Scott.
The Independent Ethic’s Board is charged with enforcing the city’ ethics ordinance.
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Mr. Hollimon is the husband of Florida State Representative Lorrane Ausley and is the owner of Hollimon, P.A.
Lorrane Ausley’s father, Dubose Ausley, is listed as the Director of the Ausley & McMullen law firm. The Ausley & McMullen law firm is a City of Tallahassee vendor.
Hollimon was appointed approximately one year ago to fill a vacancy when the City Commission’s appointee to the Independent Ethics Board, Ms. Carol “Sunny” Phillips, announced she would effective December 30, 2017.
Hollimon’s was scheduled to serve a three-year term beginning January 1, 2018, and would have been eligible to serve a second term.
Tallahassee Ethics Board Member to Apply for City Commission Vacancy added by Staff on
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Thanks. Surprised nobody from this city supported organization is applying.
https://coca.tallahasseearts.org/staff
I believe The Villa that John Dailey stayed in belongs to Kearney. Dailey won The Villa in a Red Cross raffle.
At the same time the news hit about Gillum’s, Sean Pittman’s, and Corey’s trip to Costa Rica Dailey was enroute to Kearney’s Villa in Costa Rica.
I believe last year Kearney asked for $1000000 at the same time the Usual Suspects were on their way to his Villa in Costa Rica. Kearney quickly withdrew his request.
I assume Mr. Schack would simply recuse himself which conservatives know how to do.
I believe Mr Shack is doing an exceptional job at the Kearney Center.
Evan Power did a terrible job of supporting Republican candidates in the last election. I hope he resigns his position as chair of the local Republican Party Executive Committee. If not I hope they toss him out. I believe Mr. Power was supporting candidates not in the Republican Party by sitting at the bar at the Governors Club with them. Evan Power owes Mr. Shack an apology.
It was Kearney’s villa in Costa Rica?
I like Bill Schack BUT, my worries are since he is employed by the Kearney Center and the Kearney Center receives several Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars from the City (and County) and the Kearney Center has asked for a lot more Money this Year, I worry about how Schack will handle it when business with or about the Kearney Center come before the Commission. I think it will be a Conflict of Interest.
For the ethical watchdogs to now apply for the office that they were watch dogging is far beyond inappropriate.
There are three standouts who would bring integrity, morality, common sense, experience, and balance …
Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, Bill Schack, and Steve Stewart are the three standouts and hopefully have submitted their applications to be considered.
They have resumes built on actual accomplishments, education, and experience… and not self-promoting public relations nonsense or special interests.
I believe this choice will define this commission henceforth.
Agreed, however I would prefer MRV since there are no white women (or conservatives) on the dais.
Not to forget her long history of teaching ethics.
Even though I like Bill Schack, I think he would be a Conflict. He is employed at the Kearney Center (Homeless Shelter) and the City gives them $Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars each Year. Earlier, they asked for even MORE Money, from the County as well. If Schack is appointed Commissioner, how would he handle anything to do with the Kearney Center?
Can we get some real workers to apply for Maddox’s replacement on the commission? Let’s see some plumbers, electricians, landscape workers, carpenters, roofers, etc. on the commission. We need some fresh faces and fresh ideas! No more attorneys. No more lobbyists. No more people with “connections.” Come on, Tallahassee, we can do better!
I must have missed something. Why are we not electing Maddox’s replacement? Clearly a show of hands by the other corrupt city commissars is no substitute for the will of free people.
At least Maddox maintained some semblence of …. well you couldn’t call it integrity, but at least it was a kind of perverted popularity. So let’s replace him with an authoritarian commissar of ethics?
You have to relish the irony and the absurdity but this is kafkaesque.
If we accept this we are just peasants on the collective.
City Charter says
“Any vacancy in the commission, including the office of mayor, shall be filled by appointment until the following regular municipal election. Any vacancy occurring after the close of qualifying for a regular municipal election in which no candidate has qualified, shall be filled by appointment until the next regularly scheduled biennial election. The term of commissioners elected to fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired term of the position vacated. Any vacancy resulting from a recall election shall be filled in the manner provided for in such cases by the Florida Statutes. “
The City Charter specifies an appointment until the next regular election
Can we get rid of the ethics board now? I know we naively for this thinking it would help, but all it has done is waste hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on 2 positions plus an outside council that do NOTHING, and now the ethics board is used as a stepping stone to get into the City Commission. Our “ethics” office has performed what 2 investigations in the 4-5 years they have been in existence? Why do we fund 2 positions plus an outside attorney if that is all they are going to do.
They did refer one complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics, but if that is what they are going to do, let’s abolish the ethics office and just utilize the Commission on Ethics, it will get there sooner and save time. I cannot believe how stupid I was to believe this would work. I get their belief that they have no power, but if they truly believe that, then why do we even have an ethics officer. Just set the ethics office phone to ring to the Florida Commission on Ethics and save a lot of money each year. Out of the 2 investigations they did the ethics office only did anything with one of them, right? That was the one about Fernandes they referred. Whats her face that runs the ethics office is so chummy chummy with the commissioners and city leadership do we really expect her to do anything? Remember she did not bat an eye when the City said Fernades football tickets were under $100. What does that lady do all day?
Dr. Jackson has accomplished more since the ethics office was created than the ethics office, and he doesn’t take hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to do it…although he ought to receive they key to the city or something like that for what he has done to better our city.
Steve, how about writing a story on how much the ethics office has cost the tax payers since they have been in existence and look at exactly how many investigations they have done. I bet it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 investigation for every 2 years they have been in existence.
We need a charter amendment on the next ballot that will abolish the ethics office, revert the mayor’s office back to a commission seat and make the mayor rotate like it used to do and set lifetime term limits (hey Scott Maddox) on how long a person can serve city commission seats – 2 terms or no more than 10 years. This will do more to help reform the ethics of our City than the ethics ever will. What a joke this turned out to be. I guess it is like they say, the joke is on us.
I filed the ethics complaint about Fernandez and free tickets and Scott Maddox and his selling his votes as a commissioner!
Did we refer to that group of useless Dolittles as the “Ethics Schmethics” Board?
Why yes I believe we did.
They are straining at the bit to get some real power so they can do what?
These people run in the same political circles as John Marks, Scott Maddox and Andrew Gillum. We need more of this group, WHY??? Are people in Tallahassee so blind that they can’t see all of the connections?? Really ticked off!!!
Exactly.
The Ausley firm has been the Democrap’s lawyers for many decades.
“ The Ausley & McMullen law firm is a City of Tallahassee vendor.” As much as I hope that the COT has turned a moral corner, that sentence alone is hard to read and not think that the Same Old Insiders are simply circling their wagons under new names. Tally COT made it’s own reputation – it’s their choice to change it, or keep it.
Conflicts! Really? Same scripted narrative different characters!
Vetted Bruce Grant. Question for you Mr. Grant “Did you too turn a blind eye to the invisible corruption within the City of Tallahassee while you were on Independent Ethic Board? The grass is never greener on the other side, it just appears to be until the novelty wears off. Insiders “political operatives, lawyers or political aspirants” should not waste time to apply because scripted narrative will be the same no matter the ACTOR delivering the script. Thinking the Citizens of Tallahassee must have had enough of being screwed eyes wide opened by elected officials they put in office! If not, time will tell! Mr. Grant you bring a fresh perspective to the stage. Good luck!
And some retreads.
Bob Rackleff applied.
And I see former mayor Kent Spriggs, who once defended Fidel Castro, also applied.
According to the story in the local rag, former Democrat party head Allison Tant emailed Dailey, and they agreed the commissars should pick a woman.
OK then.
Emily Fritz:
https://www.talgov.com/Uploads/Public/Documents/treasurer/applicants/fritz_e.pdf
Well, That’s that!
Now that Dustin Daniels has applied, my thoughts exactly.
Seat 1 should be re-named The Indictment Seat.