Lost in the media’s coverage of the letter of admonishment by Tallahassee’s Independent Ethics Board to City Manager Rick Fernandez were the ethics recommendations proposed by Mayor Andrew Gillum. The breadth and content of Gillum’s recommendations, which were discussed by the Ethics Board last week, was surprising given his previous position on various ethics initiatives. […]
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, mid-year data for 2017 shows that crime decreased by 9.4% in Leon County when compared to the same time period during 2016. The overall decrease was driven by a 11.9% decrease in property crimes like burglary and larceny. The number of motor vehicle thefts fell from 598 […]
Tallahassee Reports has learned that the City of Tallahassee’s Technology and Innovation Department, headed by Jonathan Kilpatrick, employs the step-son of City Commissioner Nancy Miller and the daughter of City Manager Rick Fernandez. In addition, TR has verified that Kilpatrick’s wife works with the City of Tallahassee and his daughter, Cowan Kilpatrick Duggar, was recently hired […]
The City of Tallahassee Auditor’s investigation into contracts awarded to family members of City Commissioner Nancy Miller did not identify any evidence that John Buss, Miller’s husband, inappropriately used his position to secure a personal benefit for his brother through the award of work to DPB &Associates. However, the audit found the approval of those awards […]
Documents provided to the FBI show that Paige Carter-Smith was copied on several city emails dealing with the City’s “Request for Proposals/Recyclable Materials Processing Services” which was ultimately awarded to Marpan Recycling in February 2013. Ms. Carter-Smith was the only non-bidder copied on the email. The email address used by Carter-Smith was “paige@govinc.net” which is […]
E-mails requested by the FBI show that a business executive inquiring about a meeting with Mayor Gillum was referred to lobbyist Adam Corey by Gillum’s Chief of Staff, Dustin Daniels. On January 27th, 2015, Bing Xu, who was affiliated with the Sunshine State EB-5 Regional Center (SSRC), asked Dustin Daniels about a possible meeting with […]
Citing the FBI investigation and the violent crime rate, the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors voted unanimously to underwrite an independent study into potential government consolidation. In an “Important Business Alert” email, the Chamber stated: The Tallahassee community is suffering through a climate of crisis created by a lingering FBI investigation into […]
One day after the City of Tallahassee elected officials said they would wait until the ethics investigation into City Manager Rick Fernandez accepting football tickets from a city lobbyist was complete, Fernandez has decided to take paid administrative leave. Tallahassee Reports first broke the story about the City Manager taking football tickets from Adam Corey in August, […]
Following more revelations about questionable behavior by City of Tallahassee officials, Mayor Andrew Gillum and Tallahassee’s four city commissioners took the unusual step of posting a letter on the city’s Talgov.com homepage. The letter acknowledges the community concerns over the FBI investigation and the recent questions surrounding the actions of City Manager Rick Fernandez. However, […]
Documents obtained by Tallahassee Reports show that a City of Tallahassee employee in the Underground Utilities department received a $26,000 raise in six installments over a period of 12 months. The employee, Tim Potter is the “Manager of Operations for Underground Utility and Public Infrastructure.” In July 2017, a number of city employees were fired in the Underground […]