Experts Say Mobility Fee Will Increase Transparency, Raise More Money, Could Hurt Small Businesses

Experts Say Mobility Fee Will Increase Transparency, Raise More Money, Could Hurt Small Businesses

The monthly Network of Entrepreneurs and Business Advocates held their monthly luncheon meeting Tuesday and heard two experts discuss the pros and cons of a move towards a mobility fee. A mobility fee, which is under consideration in Leon County, replaces impact and concurrency fees as a source for funding transportation projects. The fee would […]

Payments from City’s Solar Customers Headed to Foreign Company

Payments from City’s Solar Customers Headed to Foreign Company

Tallahassee Reports has learned that the City of Tallahassee’s solar project is being financed and constructed by a private Belgium company that is registered in Cyprus, an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean. This means that payments made by city residents, who have chosen to buy electricity from the solar project, will be leaving Tallahassee to […]

Mayor Gillum Proposes Strong Ethics Rules

Mayor Gillum Proposes Strong Ethics Rules

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. […]

Mid-Year Data Shows a Crime Decrease in Leon County with Property Crime Down, Violent Crime Up

Mid-Year Data Shows a Crime Decrease in Leon County with Property Crime Down, Violent Crime Up

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 […]

Leon County Citizen Charter Review Committee Addresses CRA’s & Ethics

Leon County Citizen Charter Review Committee Addresses CRA’s & Ethics

The Leon County Citizen Charter Review Committee (CCRC) met on Thursday, November 16th, for the second time and began advancing ideas about possible amendments to the county charter. Under the CCRC process, ideas proposed by any of the 14 committee members that receive four votes of support are submitted to county staff for more analysis […]

Family Members of High Level City Officials Land City Jobs

Family Members of High Level City Officials Land City Jobs

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 […]

Commissioner Miller Family Contracts Results in Change to City Policy

Commissioner Miller Family Contracts Results in Change to City Policy

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 […]

E-Mails: Paige Carter-Smith, Governance Tied to City’s Recycling Bid Process

E-Mails: Paige Carter-Smith, Governance Tied to City’s Recycling Bid Process

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: Gillum’s Tampa Meeting With Crist and Sink Originally Included Gwen Graham

E-Mails: Gillum’s Tampa Meeting With Crist and Sink Originally Included Gwen Graham

Emails requested by the FBI show that Mayor Gillum’s trip to Tampa in 2016 to meet with Charlie Crist and Alex Sink was originally set to include current gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham. Gillum said the February 12th, 2016 trip, which TR first reported, addressed city business. However, new emails show that beginning in May 2015 […]