Below is the statement released by the Coalition for Ethics Reform in response to the threatening letter sent by City Manager Rick Fernandez’s attorney to the City’s Independent Ethics Board __________________ The Coalition for Ethics Reform is outraged that, through his attorney, City Manager Fernandez has demanded an apology from Tallahassee’s independent ethics board over […]
City Manager Rick Fernandez, in a letter through his attorney, threatened individual members of the City’s Independent Ethics Board with possible legal action weeks after the Board voted to send a complaint to the Florida Commission on Ethics. The letter was first reported on by the Tallahassee Democrat. The complaint addressed a transaction between a […]
Tallahassee Reports has learned that the City of Tallahassee is projecting rate increases for city water customers and solid waste services in 2018. For city water customers, a preliminary analysis indicates that the rate impact for residential water and sewer customers beginning in 2018 will be approximately $3.00 per month or $36.00 per year. Small […]
Speaking at the August monthly meeting of the Capital Conservatives, U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn from Florida’s 2nd District enthusiastically defended the record of the Republican led House of Representatives and highlighted the guiding principles of the Trump administration. In front of a crowd of approximately 150, Dr. Dunn said he was proud of his vote […]
I have often written about the shortcomings of the local media with respect to their coverage of local government. And as the local corruption investigation unfolds, I am sure there will be more critiques of the local media. However, now is an appropriate time to highlight the power of local media cooperation and how this […]
Jamie Van Pelt, a spokesman for Mayor Gillum, said on Gillum’s recent trip to Tampa: “The mayor was invited by Peter Leach to a meeting at his office to learn about some of the work he was doing to advance wrap-around social services in schools and housing developments.” However, in an email recovered by Tallahassee […]
A month after Tallahassee Reports published a series of stories about the City of Tallahassee connections with family members of City Commissioner Nancy Miller, the City Auditor has initiated a special audit to look into some of those connections. Specifically, Auditor Bert Fletcher is looking into approximately $450,000 paid to DPB & Associates between October […]
The latest transit performance measures for the City of Tallahassee bus system shows that StarMetro passenger trips were slightly down in 2016. Passenger trips fell from 3.732 million in 2015 to 3.701 million in 2016. StarMetro ridership has been falling since 2011 when passenger trips came in at 4.910 million. Since 2011, passenger trips have […]
Tallahassee Reports has obtained a copy of a receipt that shows Sean Pittman, an Edison owner, paid approximately $20,000 for an event titled the “Mayors Brunch” that was headlined by Andrew Gillum on April 7, 2017. Despite the name, the event is not sanctioned or approved by the City of Tallahassee. Mr. Pittman has held […]
City Commissioner Gil Ziffer, who was recently elected as the 2017-2018 president of the Florida League of Cities, spoke to the News Service of Florida on a number of issues which included the possible impact of the current FBI investigation of city development deals. Reporter Lloyd Dunkelberger asked Ziffer “if he believed the ongoing FBI […]