While Anita Favors-Thompson receives high approval ratings for the delivery of core services, our findings indicate that on issues dealing with electric utilities, growth-management, and the airport, the centralization of power in the hands of one person is beginning to raise concerns in the community.

______________

Anita Favors-Thompson has been Tallahassee’s City Manager for almost 14 years. As City Manager she is charged with spending close to $800 million to deliver the vital services of our community while keeping three out of the five city commissioners satisfied.

The fact that these commissioners are part-time, face re-election every four years, and make decisions based on information that is provided by the City Manager, clearly gives Anita Favors-Thompson the freedom and influence to get things done.

And based on customer surveys, this freedom and influence has served the city well. The most recent survey showed that 85% of those polled rated the quality of services provided by the city as excellent or good. These high ratings give the City Manager a lot of room to operate.

For example, when a city commissioner was told they voted to create a $130,000 a year position for the “green department” they were surprised. “Frankly, I was not aware of that. This is a part-time job and I do not have time to dig into the details of every vote”… said the commissioner. “At some point you have to trust staff.”

And that is what enhances the power and authority of Anita Favors Thompson –trust. With city approval ratings for core services well over 80 percent and the fact that incumbent city commissioners rarely lose elections, there is little public criticism from her superiors. It is clear that her performance insulates her and her executive staff from probing questions and any public criticism.

Another factor that adds to her success is her ability to keep the Wednesday city commission meetings as predictable as possible. Unlike the Leon County Commission, seldom are their any contentious debates among the elected commissioners. Sources say that commissioners are aware of the “rules” and rarely stray from the script.

This ability to get the job done and keep the elected officials happy, allows the city manager to extend her influence beyond her formal structure of authority.

For example, a recent initiative by a local business organization to measure and evaluate city government was “killed by Anita” said an organization member. “It is tough to stand up against taxes and utilities when you depend on the city for a permit. These people have long memories” said one local builder.

Another example of the city managers extended reach is the recent re-establishment of the Citizens Advisory Committee for Utilities. The City has over 30 citizen’s advisory boards that are under the Treasure Clerk, a Charter Officer that reports to the City Commission, not the City Manger. But when asked why the City Manager is in charge of the Citizens Advisory Committee for Utilities, instead of the Treasure Clerk, a city official would only say “that’s the way they wanted to do it.”

Comparison of City Manager Authority

After reviewing organizational charts from major cities across the state of Florida, Tallahassee Reports determined that there were two major areas where there was significant variation in the authority of the City Manager position. These functions include the operations of airports and public utilities.

Tallahassee Reports compiled comparisons with Tallahassee, Gainesville, Orlando, Jacksonville and Lakeland with regards to the authority the City manager has over these governmental functions.

The chart above shows who has ultimate authority over various governmental functions.

In Jacksonville and Orlando, a separate authority – appointed by elected officials – has the responsibility for the operations of most utilities functions. In Gainesville, the Director of the Utility is appointed by, and reports directly to the City Commission. In addition, the utility advisory board is appointed by, and reports to, the City Commission. In Lakeland, the City Manger is responsible for utility operations; however the utility advisory board is appointed by and reports to, the City Commission.

In Tallahassee, there is not one aspect of utility operations, which accounts for approximately $360 million, that Ms. Favors does not have complete control. The General Manager of the electric utility reports to the City Manager. The electric utility budget is approved by the City Manager’s budget director. And finally, the members of the Citizens Advisory Committee – unlike other advisory committees – are appointed by, and report to the City Manager.

With regards to the airport responsibilities, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Gainesville all have airport authorities staffed by members appointed by elected officials. In addition, Panama City – to the west – and the city of Valdosta-to the north, both have airport authorities staffed by appointments by various elected officials.

The COT has an Airport Advisory aboard that is appointed by the Mayor, but all operations are the responsibility of the city manager.

Reviewing the chart above, it is difficult not to conclude the City Manager of Tallahassee has more authority than any other City Manager in the state Florida.

Implications

The City Manager’s detractors, and after 13 years in such a position there are bound to be some, say that her focus on making decisions without much public debate is beginning to wear thin in a city that is changing and struggling at the same time.

In addition, some are concerned about her growing influence on issues that deal more with policy than city operations. Such issues include the joint dispatch center, the consolidation of growth management and her unquestioned authority over utility functions.

Ironically, her approach may be just what Tallahassee needs with regards to garbage service, public works and parks and recreation, however, on regional issues that require community consensus on policy, some say it is time the city opened up the process.

State representative, Michelle Rehwinkel-Vasilinda, during this year’s legislative session, floated the idea of having the Florida state legislature create an airport authority for Tallahassee. And while she did not follow through on the issue, she urged the community to start a conversation about the airport and its impact on the future of Tallahassee.

Rehwinkel-Vasilinda said, “our conversation should include questions about why the Tallahassee Regional Airport has the highest aviation fuel prices in the state. It should also include who we will be hiring as our new airport director. We need the best airport director we can attract with a track record of maximizing airline service.”

Also, mild mannered and will respected community leader Jim Croteau, a member of the Citizens Advisory Board for Utilities, argued publicly that the Citizens Advisory Board should not report to the City Manager, but should report directly to the City Commission, like most other advisory boards.

In addition, several community leaders have told Tallahassee Reports that the advisory board process should be overhauled and reconfigured to promote more independence from the City Manager.

Based on interviews, leaders say the current situation has deterred many people from getting involved in the process. “Just like the last city charter review recommendations that took eight months to get ignored by the City Commission, the advisory board process does not seek real input on the major issues,” said a prominent community leader.

Would more independent advisory boards make a difference? One need only look to the city of Lakeland where the citizen’s electric utility committee public debated and voted against smart meters. The discussion was covered in the local media and raised serious questions about the cost and benefits of the technology.

The Future

The City of Tallahassee will continue to grow, and with that growth will come more citizens who are interested in being heard. It appears that other cities in Florida have addressed this issue by getting more citizens involved on independent boards.

Could it be that Tallahassee has outgrown the governing structure that places so much power in the hands of one person? This question can only be answered by our elected leaders and/or the failure or success of citizen petitions to the charter of the city of Tallahassee that call for a more decentralized form of local government.

Also, Ms. Jaber is listed as the the vice-chair of the Big Bend Minority Chamber of Commerce whose founder and president is Sean Pittman, the City of Tallahassee’s state government lobbyist.

According to public records, Jaber provided an application to the City of Tallahassee on December 29th, 2014 and was recommended to the full Commission by Mayor Andrew Gillum on January 14, 2015.

The City’s vendor records show that a representative for Jaber’s law firm signed a contract approximately six months before her appointment, on June 13, 2014, to provide legal services to the City’s electric utility for a term of two years.

The contract can be viewed here.

City records show that Gunster was paid $9,745 by the City of Tallahassee from August 2014 through January, 2015.

The contract appears to still be in effect.

A review of the minutes of the City Commission meeting which addressed Jaber’s appointment to the Ethics Board, reveal that there was no discussion among the City Commissioners about the business relationship with Gunster. The City Commission eventually approved Jaber’s appointment in a 5-0 vote.

Discussions with sources in a position to know, said that Commissioners were unaware of the business relationship.

The Mayor’s office has not returned our phone calls.

Ironically, the new ethics code requires elected officials to disclose business relationships with city vendors and also provides disclosure before any votes where an elected official has had a business relationship within the last 12 months.

However, there appears to be no such requirement for Ethics Board members.

The fact that the Gunster contract was with the City’s electric utility raises further questions.

Ms. Jaber was appointed to the City’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee for Utilities by City Manager Anita Favors-Thompson a period of time before Gunster was awarded the contract.

TR will continue to investigate.

This part of the general government budget funds salaries and activities related to the Mayor and the four elected City Commissioners.

Commissioner Scott Maddox asked about an increase in the Mayor and City Commissioner’s budget at a budget workshop weeks ago.

But no one, including Mayor Gillum and City Manager Anita Favors-Thompson, had an answer they were willing to share in public about the $84,000 increase.

Previously, TR reported that part of the $84,000 Commissioner Maddox asked about was attributed to a $44,000 increase in salaries and health care expenses in the Mayor’s office.

But what about the other $40,000?

TR has learned that the proposed tax increase is budgeted to fund a $40,000 raise for city lobbyists.

The current contract, which pays city lobbyist $180,000 a year for state and federal level work, is up for renewal in November of this year. The latest budget increases the contract amount to $220,000, a 22% increase.

The state lobbying team includes Sean Pittman, who is a mentor and the former campaign manager for current Mayor Andrew Gillum.

Historically, the lobbying contracts are handled by the Mayor’s office. However, this year the contracts were moved out of the Mayor’s office to a line item labeled “City Administration.”

Why were the contracts moved the Mayor’s office?

A review of City Commission meeting minutes reveals no Commission discussion on the move of the contracts. Sources tell TR this was done without consulting City Commissioners.

Who proposed the increase?

Again, a review of City Commission meeting minutes reveals no Commission discussion or votes on the additional $40,000 allocated for city lobbyists.

Sources tell TR that the maneuver and the increase was orchestrated by City Manager Anita Favors-Thompson to “protect Andrew Gillum and his connection with Sean Pittman.”

This explanation is consistent with other sources that have told TR that the Mayor and the City Manager are making decisions on a number of issues without any input from other elected leaders.

The press release detailed the increase in positions for public safety and also mentioned the $500,000 allocated for street resurfacing.

However, one item she did not draw attention to was the $2.6 million allocated to a 3% pay raise for non-public safety related employees.

Research of past year budgets indicate that the City of Tallahassee has quietly approved pay raises for the last four years while other government entities have chosen to give pay raises less frequently over the same period.

As the debate over the proposed 2016 property tax begins to heat up, scrutiny of expenses has highlighted pay raises. But numbers are not easy to come by.

In fact, TR asked the City’s budget office for the total amount included in the 2016 budget for non-public safety pay raises and they said that they did not have that information.

Instead, they directed TR to the budget and described how to get the amount by locating and adding up 11 different numbers from different departments.

So TR added up the numbers for “salary enhancements” proposed for 2016 and came up with $2.683 million.

Then TR added up City expenditures for pay raises for 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

The annual pay raise expenditures from 2012-2016  for City of Tallahassee general employees is shown in the chart below. Before 2012, in 2010 and 2011, no pay raises were given to City employees.

The chart shows that the amount of expenditures for pay raises has been increasing since 2012. The amount proposed in 2016 is over twice as much as the raises provided in 2012.

Non-public safety City employees received a 1% raise effective October 1, 2011 and an additional 1% effective March 1, 2012.

The pay raises increased to 2.5% in FY 2013, 2.5%  in FY 2014, 2.5% in FY 2015 and now 3% has been proposed for FY 2016.

What is the impact of the City pay raises on the current budget debate and the proposed property tax increase?

It would appear that the $2.6 million salary enhancements proposed for 2016 has a direct impact on what revenue is needed to balance the budget, and therefore, impacts the level of property taxes.

Also, any pay raise has financial impacts beyond the year it was awarded.

For example, if the 2016 proposed $2.6 million in pay raises is approved, approximately $9.9 million in revenue will be required to pay for the cumulative effect of the general employee pay raises given since 2012.

What did other government entities do during this period?

Research indicates that Leon School Board employees did not get raises in 2012, but did get a 2% raise in 2013, no raise in 2014, and now are scheduled to get raises in 2015 and 2016.

At the time of the 2013 raise, Superintendent Pons told the Tallahassee Democrat, “We didn’t want to eliminate jobs in order to give pay increases. So, we made some tough decisions, but we all worked on it together, and we’ve gotten through this. We just appreciate what our employees have done for our school system.”

State government workers received pay raises in 2013 and before that, the last pay raise was a 3% increase in 2006.

TR is still waiting on information from Leon County government on their approved pay raises.

Several questions remain unanswered.

Why is the City not acknowledging the level and the impact of the pay raise policy implemented over the last four years on the current budget proposal?

Will any City Commissioners question the pay raises and their impact on the proposed budget before voting on the property tax increase?

In a city press release entitled “City Manager Releases Proposed Public Safety Budget”, Ms. Favors recommends hiring 18 police officers and 16 fireman.Ms. Favors also proposes a $10.8 million property tax increase. The property tax rate would increase by 27% from 3.7 mills to 4.7 mills.

“At this point, no other issue is more critical to address than the public safety needs of the community,” City Manager Anita Favors Thompson said. “Tallahassee has an extraordinary quality of life. This was not by accident but by careful design, thoughtful decision making and extremely hard work. Though we managed our way through difficult economic times by reducing staff and other expenditures, we must make some different decisions now to maintain the standards that our community expects.”

The additional property tax paid by a homeowner with a $225,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption would be $175 per year. The homeowner’s total city property tax bill would increase from $647.50 to $822.50 per year.

If the recommended budget is implemented, General Fund spending will have increased from $136 million in 2014 to $150 million in 2016. Click here to review General Fund budget.

During a recent City budget workshop, City Manager Anita Favors Thompson took time to tell City Commissioners that the City’s Police Department building, located on Seventh Avenue, is in bad condition.

The City Manager, commenting on infrastructure challenges facing the city, said “our facility at the police department is not a happy event to even start that discussion, we have a whole bottom floor that is totally unusable because of water intrusion.”

Hear the Manager’s comments by clicking on the video below.

This information coupled with the recent number one crime rate ranking of Leon County in the state of Florida raises serious questions about the City’s commitment to public safety in recent years.

The current building is a converted elementary school and sources tell TR that the conditions are “embarrassing”. “It hurts morale and our retention and recruiting efforts,” said one officer.

Law enforcement sources say that the spending on Cascades Park, Gaines Street, and smart meters over the last 6-8 years clearly shows the City’s priorities were not focused on public safety and now the community is paying the price.

The discussion about the infrastructure challenges facing the City and the budget deficit projected for the up coming year led to a discussion about a potential property tax increase.

Tallahassee Reports has reviewed a memo written by CDA Director Tim Lee, and sent to the CDA Board, that alerts the board to internal problems with premise hazard information and the management structure at the CDA during the Caracus Court incident.

The memo is dated November 26, 2014, approximately 23 days before the three dispatchers were fired.

At the time the memo was written, the CDA Board consisted of Sheriff Larry Campbell, City Manager Anita Favors, and County Administrator Vince Long.

The memo highlighted at least three factors that more than likely contributed to the dispatching problems associated with the Caracus Court incident.

First, Mr Lee wrote that he “determined that the (premise hazard) database is overloaded (with) excessive and outdated data.”

This is consistent with what sources have told Tallahassee Reports. One dispatcher said that officer safety data was entered into the same data field as non-safety related information like gate codes and the location of extra keys.

This also explains why the City Audit of the CDA found only 2% of the premise hazards were reviewed by dispatchers. Due to the “excessive and outdated data”, most premise hazard alerts were ignored.

Second, Mr, Lee wrote “We are identif(ing) the information that could be relocated to other resources so that the premise hazard notifications be more focused on officer safety.”

This clearly implies that at the time of the Caracus Court incident the premise hazards were not focused on officer safety. Furthermore, this statement indicates that the software was not configured in a way to alert dispatchers about officer safety hazards.

And third, Mr. Lee wrote “As the Director of the CDA, my focus is to be a manager, an innovator, an educator and a leader. In the current CDA environment it is prohibitive for me as a director to be as effective as I need to be because of the current organizational structure.”

This statement clearly indicates that problems at the CDA emanated from the lack of management.

Given these facts were known to Director Lee and the CDA Board, why were the three veteran dispatchers terminated?

Ms. Jaber was an original member of the City’s Ethics Advisory Panel and one of two votes against an appointed ethics officer. Instead, Ms. Jaber advocated for putting the ethics officer under the authority of the City Attorney.

During the ethics panel debate Ms. Jaber said,  “I am not for a board because I do not want to promote confusion. Give the City Attorney a chance.”

Ms. Jaber is currently listed as a member the Citizens Advisory Committee on Utilities. Appointments to that board are made by the City Manager, Anita Favors-Thompson.

Also, public records show Ms. Jaber has donated $500 to each of Mayor Gillum’s last two campaigns for office.

The referendum language gives the authority for the appointment to the full City Commission. It appears that Mayor Gillum feels stong enough about the position to make a recommendation.

If the City Commission concurs with the Mayor’s recommendation, Ms. Jaber will join Board members appointed by Chief Judge for the Second Judicial Circuit, State Attorney for the Second Judicial Circuit, President of Florida State University, and President of Florida A&M University.

The Charter amendment specifies that the initial five members shall appoint two additional members to bring the Ethics Board membership to a total of seven members.

To date, Mr. Cecil Davis has been appointed by the  State Attorney and Mr. Funmi Ojetayo has been appointed by the President of Florida A&M.

Records show no recent political donations to campaigns for City offices by these two appointments.

Earlier this week Chief Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit has declined to make an appointment. FSU President Thrasher has not yet presented an appointment to the Ethics Board.

An investigation was initiated and completed on August 27,2014.  Tallahassee Reports has uploaded the  Executive Summary here.  Names of individuals involved in misconduct have been redacted.

The  investigation substantiated that three employees engaged in incidents of sexual misconduct, used profane and abusive language toward each other and toward other employees. The actions by these employees took place during regular work hours in the main lobby area of City Hall. The conduct began in the Fall of 2102 and continued into 2014.

Also, a significant participant in the conduct was a security guard who is employed by the Barkely Security Agency (BSA). BSA has the contract with the City of Tallahassee to provide security services in a number of City owned buildings.  It appears he was transferred from City Hall to another City building when the conduct was discovered. Tallahassee Reports is still trying find out what action, if any, was taken against BSA or the security guard.

The investigation also found that two employees divided “tip money” donated by City employees during the Building Services’ United Way fundraising efforts, rather than donate those funds to the United Way.

Tallahassee Reports can confirm that on Septemeber 2, 2014, four employees directly involved with the activities described in the report were disciplined. Two City employees were terminated and two were suspended.

Tallahassee Reports has decided not to write about the details of the sexual misconduct or to identify the individuals involved.

Rather than focus on the behavior of the individuals, Tallahassee Reports will focus on how the management structure in place allowed for these events to take place.

The investigation found that no supervisor level City employees was engaged in the inappropriate conduct. However, the investigation did find that Chuck Cleveland, the Building Maintenance Supervisor, “was aware of the inappropriate conduct among his staff, he deliberately chose not to become involved or to take effective action to stop the conduct.”

In addition, the investigation concluded that Mr Cleveland’s direct supervisor, Facilities Manager Arlecia Harris, “knew or should have known of activities taking place over an approximate 18-month period within her department and among her staff.”

Ms. Harris reports to Cynthia Barber who reports directly to City Manager Anita Favors-Thompson.

The investigation found “there were conflicts in the statements and accounting of events between Facilities Manager Arlecia Harris and Ms. Barber, Ms. Harris and Ms. Barkely of Barkely Security Agency, Inc.”

For example, Ms. Harris said she made Ms. Barber, her superior, aware of the conduct in November 2013. Ms. Barber denies knowing anything about the conduct until May 2014.

The investigation concludes that there are “concerns regarding Ms. Harris’s reliability in this matter.”

Tallahassee Reports will continue to investigate and will seek to provide the answers to the following questions:

Was there any action taken against the security guard involved or Barkely Security Agency?

Is there any action pending against any manager level employee?

What actions have been taken to ensure a structure is in place to discourage this type of behavior in City Hall?

The proposed General Fund budget will increase from $137.4 million in FY 2014 to $141.6 million in FY 2015.

To balance the budget, staff increased the transfer of revenue from the electric fund by almost $5 million.

This means that the City is expecting an additional “profit” from electric services in FY2015 and instead of returning the excess revenues to customers, the increase in revenue will be used to balance the General Fund budget.

The hot topic discussed  between Commissioners was the need to address the crime problem in Tallahassee.

City Manager Anita Favors relayed to the Commissioners that the Police Chief said that “Tallahassee is ranked second in the state of Florida, only behind Miami, in per-capita violent crime.”

The City Manager recommended that six police officer positions be added. Last year, the police department requested six officers, but the request was denied by the City Commission.

The budget proposes a 2.5 percent merit salary increase for non-union employees. The City’s portion of the cost of employee health insurance is estimated to increase by approximately 4.76 percent, with employees sharing in the increase.

Also, salary and benefit adjustments for Fire are included as provided in the current collective bargaining agreement. Fire salary adjustments average 3 percent. The City is currently in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement with Police.

City Commissioners will hold a final budget workshop on July 8, and two public hearings on the proposed FY2015 budget will be held on September 10 and 22. The new fiscal year begins October 1.

A request for proposal (RFP) was sent to a number of interested parties. Only two responses were received by the City of Tallahassee. The Big Production, Inc. submitted a bid for $27,000 and MVP, Inc. submitted a bid for $6,000. Both bids were submitted in January, 2012.

View documents here.

On March 19, 2012, Karen Rubin, the TAPP Program Coordinator, sent an email requesting a purchase order. The attachment on the email was entitled “Yordon Proposal.pdf” and the email stated “this vendor has been approved by the City Manager.”

The attachment was a reference to Gary Yordon, who submitted the proposal by The Big Production, Inc. Mr. Yordon has significant ties to the City of Tallahassee. He is currently a registered lobbyist, has been a paid campaign consultant for Mayor John Marks, Commissioner Scott Maddox, and Commissioner Nancy Miller and has previously done work with TAPP.

Each of the proposals listed three references. In fact, North Florida Legal Services was listed as a reference on both proposals. However, The Big Production proposal also listed City Commissioner Nancy Miller as a reference.

Commissioner Miller was elected in November 4, 2010 and the proposal was submitted January 26, 2012, while she was a sitting City Commissioner. Ms. Miller also worked as the TAPP Project Coordinator before she was elected in 2010.

Tallahassee Reports, through her aide, has asked if Commissioner Miller gave permission to The Big Production to use her name in the proposal. We have yet to receive an answer.

The City policy on procurement states that the intent is “to institute a uniform procurement system with purchasing policies that provide for on-time acquisition of competitive, quality products and services.”

Sources told Tallahassee Reports that when a Request For Proposal is released, the goal is to get a competitive price that meets the objectives of the city requirements. 

Tallahassee Reports reached out to MVP, Inc., but representatives there did not want to go on the record. However, they did say they did not recall be contacted by the City of Tallahassee after the bid was submitted.

Tallahassee Reports has submitted an email to the City of Tallahassee requesting all documentation that would justify choosing the highest bidder for this project.

About TAPP

The TAPP program is probably best known for the “Think About Poop” TV advertisement which was designed to encourage people to pick up their pets waste.

The campaign is an ongoing water quality enhancement project originally funded through a USEPA grant. The goal of the program is to generate awareness of area water resources, of each individual’s personal responsibilities in reducing non-point source pollution, and to encourage behavioral changes that reduce pollution entering area waterways.

Program elements include public presentations, television advertising as paid spots and public service announcements (PSA) commercials, billboards, an interactive web site, social media networking, demonstration rain gardens, grants to construct rain gardens, and outreach materials that help residents implement measures that reduce excess fertilizer, pesticides, pet waste and other sources of pollution that contaminate urban runoff.  

The budget for the TAPP program has varied over the years and is a combination of grants and City matching funds. In 2008, the City approved approximately $880,000 for the program. In 2013, the City received a grant from the FDEP for $115,600.

About the Two Bidders

MVP is registered in the state of Florida and in Leon County as Mike Vasilinda Productions Inc, with a business address of 311 North Monroe Street in Tallahassee. The registered officers of the corporation are Mike Vasilinda and Andrew Bundshuh.

MVP has a website at mvptv.tv and lists information about the company and a portfolio of their work.

The Big Production, Inc. is a registered corporation with the state of Florida and in Leon County with a business address of 502 North Adams in Tallahassee. The registered officer of the corporation is Paige Carter-Smith.

Ms. Carter-Smith is also listed as the Manager of the Governance Services, LLC and the sole registered officer of Governance, Inc. Both businesses also list 502 North Adams as their principal address.

Tallahassee Reports could find no website for ” The Big Production” or any other information about the company.

However, our search revealed that TAPP video projects are listed on youtube.com under Governance Productions with the following information: 

Governance provides tools for local governments, candidates and corporate clients to achieve their goals efficiently and effectively. Gary Yordon is an EMMY Award winning writer, producer and editor with over 30 years of experience…spend a few minutes looking over our work.

Further review of “The Big Production” proposal reveals a couple of interesting facts.

First, on the “Local Business Certification” form submitted with proposal, the information reveals that The Big Production, Inc, has no website, no email address, and no employees.

And second, the email communications between the City of Tallahassee and Mr. Yordon with regards to the TAPP program are all going to a Governance, Inc. email address.

Tallahassee Reports will continue to investigate and will provide more information when it becomes available.

Just one week later, October 22, 2013, Mr.Yordon, received a personal notification via email at the direction of the City Manager Anita Favors Thompson.The email, listed below, notified Mr. Yordon about an agenda item affecting his client, MHG, which was added late to the agenda for the City Commission meeting on October 23, 2013. The email was sent, 5:01 pm, the day before the City Commission meeting.

The issue involved the development of a piece of property at the corner of Tennessee Street and Monroe Street and a request by MHG to further delay the time table due to pending litigation.

TM Street, LLC, the development company challenging the MHG project, was not notified by the City Manager about the meeting that took place less than 24 hours after being added to the agenda.

David Theriaque, the lawyer representing TM Street, LLC, told Tallahassee Reports “we were not notified about the meeting” and indicated he was not aware of the meeting until after it took place.

Did the City Manager violate any rules or laws?

Chapter 112.313 section (6) of the Florida Statutes that regulates standards of conduct for public officers, and employees of agencies reads:

“No public officer, employee of an agency, or local government attorney shall corruptly use or attempt to use his or her official position or any property or resource which may be within his or her trust, or perform his or her official duties, to secure a special privilege, benefit, or exemption for himself, herself, or others.”

Was the email Mr. Yordon received at the direction of the City Manager a benefit? Why weren’t other interested parties notified?

Tallahassee Reports has submitted additional data requests on this subject. Check back for more information.