State representative Richard Corcoran, who was recently designated as Florida House speaker, made news with an aggressive slate of ethics reforms. He told Politico late last year, “We need to restore the distance between those who seek to influence the laws and those of us who make the laws.” However, Speaker Corcoran’s approach to creating […]
When the City’s appointment to the Ethics Board, Lila Jaber, announced her resignation, the City of Tallahassee set a deadline of November 20th, 2015 to receive applications to fill the vacancy. When November 20th arrived, the City had received eight applications. However, instead of choosing from the eight applicants, the City decided to extend the […]
Roughly two weeks before Mayor Andrew Gillum recommended Lila Jaber as the City Commission’s appointment to the newly formed independent ethics board, Ms. Jaber submitted an application for consideration. The application is required for most citizens interested in serving on one of the many citizen boards. On all applications, including Jaber’s, which can be viewed […]
Current Chairman of the City’s newly formed independent Ethics Board, Lila Jaber, failed to disclose a business relationship between her law firm, Gunster, and the City of Tallahassee when she applied to be the City’s appointment to the Board. Also, Ms. Jaber is listed as the the vice-chair of the Big Bend Minority Chamber of […]
The Chair of the City of Tallahassee Ethics Board, Lila Jaber, asked the recently hired counsel to the Board, Mr. Gerald Currington, “whether the Ethics Board has the discretion to hire an Ethics Officer without advertising.” Noting that the current Ethics Officer was hired under City policies, Mr. Currington wrote “it is my opinion that […]
Tallahassee Reports spoke with the City’s appointed Ethics Officer, Julie Meadows-Keefe, about the hiring of a law firm to serve as counsel to the Ethics Board that also does significant business with the City of Tallahassee. Tallahassee Reports wrote about the relationship here. Ms. Meadows-Keefe told Tallahassee Reports that she was aware of the relationship […]
At the July meeting of the City’s Ethics Board, the General Counsel position was filled by a lawyer who is employed by a law firm that has been awarded contracts by the City Commission totaling approximately $800,000. The action, initiated by Chair Lila Jaber, is raising questions about the independence of the Board, which was established […]
According to agenda item documents to be presented to the full City Commission on Wednesday, Mayor Andrew Gillum is recommending that Ms. Lila A. Jaber be appointed to the newly-created 7-member Ethics Board, which is being organized pursuant to a recent City Charter amendment adopted by voters during the November, 2014 general election. Ms. Jaber […]
During the 17th meeting of the City’s Ethics Advisory Panel, on Monday June 10, the issue of oversight authority was front and center. The question of who an Ethics Officer would report to has been lingering over the meetings for the last few weeks. While the discussions had been cordial, it was obvious that a […]
While the City’s Ethics Advisory Panel is set to recommend significant changes to ethics rules for elected officials with respect to financial disclosure, business conflicts, and training, the question of who will be responsible for implementing these new rules has yet to be resolved. During the Panel’s meeting on May 30th, scheduled to be its […]