During recent public appearances, Mayor John Dailey has stated that he told the firm – Vancore Jones – that ran his 2018 mayoral campaign that if he was elected “there will be no work before the City of Tallahassee.”
However, a review of public records indicate that contracts for services between Vancore-Jones and the City of Tallahassee and the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency were signed after Dailey was elected mayor.
The issue of campaign consultants becoming local government vendors and lobbyists after working with successful candidates is currently being discussed by those looking to tighten up ethics rules.
When contacted by Tallahassee Reports, Mayor Dailey provided the following statement:
“I ran for Mayor to clean up City Hall and restore public trust. That is why I was transparent about who ran my campaign and why I made it clear to them that after I was elected they had to wrap up any business they had with the City and not seek any new business – and that is precisely what the record reflects.”
The Comments
On the Morning Show with Preston Scott in October 2021, Mayor Dailey discussed the issue related to campaign managers getting contracts with local governments.
Dailey stated, “So, when I ran for Mayor, I made it very clear with my campaign manager, that there will be no work before the City of Tallahassee. You cannot represent people before the City of Tallahassee, you cannot have any City of Tallahassee contracts, since I’ve been elected….”
Dailey made similar comments as a guest on the radio show Above the Fold, hosted by Steve Stewart.
On the issue, Dailey said, “First of all, I want you to know, those that were involved professionally with my campaign when I ran for Mayor, the deal was, I get elected, no more business with the City of Tallahassee. And as a result, they do not have any contracts with the City of Tallahassee.”
The City of Tallahassee Contract
On November 6, 2018, Dailey defeated Dustin Daniels in the Tallahassee mayoral election and was sworn in on November 19, 2018.
On December 3, 2018, a City of Tallahassee contract to provide public relation services was signed by Andrew Jones of Vancore-Jones. The signature page of the contract is shown below. The contract was for $15,000.
_______________________
______________________
The Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency Contract
The contract between Vancore-Jones and the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency was recommended by Blueprint staff to County Administrator Vince Long and City Manager Reese Goad on November 2, 2018.
The contract was signed by the Tallahassee City Manager on November 27, 2018 and by County Administrator Vince Long on November 15, 2018. The signature page is provided below. The contract was for a total of $60,000.
Current Status
According to the City of Tallahassee online checkbook, Vancore-Jones has not received payments from the City of Tallahassee or the Blueprint IA since January, 2020.
In addition, records with the City of Tallahassee Clerk’s office does not show Vancore-Jones registered as lobbyists.
However, current rules are not clear about the registration of consultants working with businesses that have work before the City.
The City of Tallahassee has voted to hold an ethics workshop that will deal with a number of outstanding issues which include the definition of a lobbyist.
Dailey’s Comments on Vancore-Jones Not Consistent with Public Records added by Staff on
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A couple of thoughts. First, the Mayor does not have the power or authority to not approve a contact duly adopted by Blueprint. He can vote against it, but he can’t stop it. So, while he may have said, that the City was not going to do business with anyone on his campaign he is powerless to stop it. PS, the contract was not with the City but with Blueprint, a separate legal entity. He is one of 12 members on the Board and does not have veto power.
So, I see that everyone is upset about the Mayor’s misstatements as they should be. It is interesting that in his four years, this is the only misstatement I’m aware of. My guess is that those of you that most concerned are supporters of Donald Trump where they documented over 30,000 lies during his term in office. Each of these has his quote and then the facts showing they were false. So, are we chocking on a gnat while swallowing an elephant. Just saying for those that don’t want to be hypocrites.
Mayor Flintstone is just doing the Gillum/Marx Payback Shuffle.
Yabba Dabba DOO!
@ Hope = Republicans may outnumber Democrats now on Paper but, how many are RINO’s? That’s what worries me. Look what 13 RINO’s just did in DC.
The real corruption is between St. Joe Paper Company, TMH, and the FSU College of Medicine. Why is taxpayer money being used for the benefit of St. Joe with a TMH/FSU sponsored medical facility moving to Panama City?
Further, St. Joe has the reputation of the worst history of racism in the work place in the State of Florida.
Don’t forget that TMH is a “nonprofit” city owned hospital that operates via a $1 dollar a year lease with the city of Tallahassee.
This stinks from top to bottom!
Edward Holifield, MD
It’s official Florida Republicans outnumber Democrats!
The mayor’s campaign ad on WCOT disguised as a promotion touting Tallahassee is in no way going to put Tallahassee in a favorable light. It is so amateurish, liberal, and unprofessional and I am sure the tourism people should step in and ask for it to be removed. For this to make it through and actually be shown shows that something is terribly wrong at City Hall. If I saw that ad I would certainly not want to visit Tallahassee after seeing that. What was the mayor thinking? This is what we have a city manager for and this is why they don’t want to get rid of a city manager so they can run their campaigns and scams non-stop at taxpayers expense without anyone saying otherwise.
Please make it stop.
This is as bad as Jack Porter’s ID card scam.
Don’t expect too much from the mayor when they start discussing the definition of a lobbyist. Look for the hidden purpose of his comments. Remember, this is the same guy who created the IG position. He did so because he would rather have an IG he can control than an ethics board he can’t. Now all he has to do is be sure the IG gets the investigations he doesn’t want the Ethics Board to have.
For any of you who may have followed Dailey during his County Commission days, you would have noticed he’s not an individual whose attributes include honesty, integrity or ethical behavior. The Laurel & Hardy duo of Dailey and Desloge engaging in devious, unethical county deals over the years was worth watching. Too bad the FBI folded-up their show and left town too early.
It may be time to call on Erwin Jackson to once again return to monitoring the City Commission. There appears to be a lot more to dig into at the city government.
@ Ed Lyle,
I just watched an ad by the mayor on WCOT promoting Tallahassee and it was sickening. This is a blatant misuse of City resources disguised as a campaign ad.
A complaint should be filed with the Ethics Commission and the Elections Commission.
The city and taxpayers need to send a bill to the mayor for this campaign ad that is promoting his woke agenda. He is attempting to manufacturer humanity by misusing his position and tax dollars. He fails to get it.
An aside, but related.
So we have Food Insecurity. Thanks to Former Mayor Andrew Gillum’s stellar leadership that brought us to the coveted title of the most economically segregated city in the nation.
Yet, Mayor John Dailey’s new “Tallahassee Awards” inaugural recipients were, wait for it……Monique Van Pelt, CEO of Second Harvest. Yes, Van Pelt. Her husband Jamie was aide to Mayor John Marks and Mayor Andrew Gillum. Jaimie Van Pelt now works for ESP Media, owned by, wait for it……. Sean Pittman!
For God’s sake, vote these grifters out.
Funny how that works.
You make a good point Hope. If you get a chance to watch the local City Channel, you’ll notice that it’s All Dailey; All the Time.
Who says taxpayers aren’t funding campaigns?
And another thing…is “not consistent with public records” the same as liar liar pants on fire when everyone knows the man is a liar but not everyone wants to call the liar a liar?
Yes, Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey was so concerned with rooting out special interests that he accidentally turned the campaign-manager-city-contract spigot the wrong direction for two years after being elected, then when he became unpopular, he realized he turned it the wrong direction, and now he’s on the straight and narrow, just like Scott Maddox’s— I mean, John Dailey’s city manager, Reese Goad, with straight 5’s! We’re building an All American City, ladies and gentlemen, and I couldn’t be prouder.
The mayor simply cannot lead, he runs his next re-election campaign full-time at the expense of taxpayers. This includes his leftist woke agendas to please the “Brandon Administration” party. He was a do nothing on the county commission for many years..
Someone needs to step up who has experience and integrity to run for mayor.
If there ever was a time it is now because there is a sweep Across the Nation voting OUT all of this nonsense.
Like I always say; No matter how you arrange the letters D E M O C R A T… it will always spell HYPOCRITE
How disappointing that the man we elected for his pledge of honesty, integrity and ethical behavior, has apparently lied to us. Is he really a man of high personal ethics and integrity, or is he just another political slug doing city business the same old way? I truly hope he will respond to these allegations. If he made a mistake, okay, then fess up. We will be watching as the upcoming discussions on ethics issues unfold, especially regarding the definition of a lobbyist.
Well, I can honestly tell you that 100% of the Donations to MY Campaign Account came from ME. I put in a total of $10,000 and I feel that should be all I need to run my Campaign for County Commissioner for 2022. I will accept Donations but from Individuals only BUT, I would prefer to have your Vote. You need your Money more than my Campaign does.
The whole organization is rotten from the top down.
Looks like the Mayor is the lying through his rotten teeth, spotted dawg that we all suspected.
Wow. If he gave me the time of day… I’m checking my watch.
Terribly disappointing! The use of city money to pay off campaign managers/lobbyists continues!
P.S.
Now we know why the mayor is not on board for a nationwide search for a new city manager.
“Leadership you can trust” to not tell you the truth.
Well the mayor gets a gazillion Pinocchio’s on this one.
It is a long-standing tradition that elected officials pay their campaign managers / PR reps with taxpayer dollars and the city and county administrator and manager respectively facilitates. Liar liar pants on fire.
Excellent investigative reporting!