Mayor Gillum Questions Sincerity of Fellow Commissioners, Maddox Responds

Mayor Gillum Questions Sincerity of Fellow Commissioners, Maddox Responds

The debate over the “Ban the Box” proposal, put forth by Mayor Gillum, received an endorsement by the City Commission, but not before Mayor Andrew Gillum questioned the “sincerity” and “legitimacy” of the arguments put forth by fellow Commissioners against the proposal. The vote was 3-2 with Gillum, Commissioners Miller and Richardson voting to endorse […]

Mayor Gillum Paid by Group Promoting “Ban the Box”

Mayor Gillum Paid by Group Promoting “Ban the Box”

Tallahassee Reports has obtained documents that show Mayor Andrew Gillum is being paid by a group that is advocating for cities accross the United States to adopt “Ban the Box” policies. A debate began two weeks ago about Mayor Gillum’s controversial proposal to remove the criminal background questionnare from the City of Tallahassee’s employment application. […]

City Commission Wrestles With Sidewalk Priorities

The city of Tallahassee has been wrestling for a way to prioritize sidewalk construction for the last couple of years. A mix of neighborhood politics, costs, and planning requirements come together to give elected officials, their constituents and city planning staff a headache over which neighborhoods get the next sidewalk project. Over the past 10 […]

City of Tallahassee To Consider Stepping Into Marriage Equality Debate

City of Tallahassee To Consider Stepping Into Marriage Equality Debate

On November 5, 2014, the Quality of Life Target Issue Committee, which is chaired by Commissioner Nancy Miller and Commissioner Gil Ziffer,  directed the consideration of the issue of whether the City of Tallahassee should file an amicus curiae, “friend of the court” brief, in the case of Mariama Monique Changamire Shaw v. Keiba Lynn […]

Gillum Fails To Lead On Ethics

Gillum Fails To Lead On Ethics

The City Commission vote against the Ethics Advisory Panel (EAP) recommendation for an appointed Ethics Officer was bad enough. But to think the probable future Mayor of the City of Tallahassee could not see the wisdom put forth by the EAP is even more troubling. When the Tallahassee Democrat, Martha Barnett, the former President of […]

CRA Votes to Give $1.6 million Tax Break to Out-of-Town Developer

CRA Votes to Give $1.6 million Tax Break to Out-of-Town Developer

On Thursday, February 27, 2014, the Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) voted 6-1 to approve a property tax rebate in the amount of approximately $1.6 million to an out of town developer. The rebate will go to CA Student Living, a developer from Chicago, Illinois that is proposing to develop 444 College Avenue, a mixed-use […]

Vendor with Highest Bid Selected by City for TAPP Program Project

Vendor with Highest Bid Selected by City for TAPP Program Project

Tallahassee Reports has learned that City Manager Anita Favors selected the highest bid to produce a Public Service Announcement (PSA) commercial for the Think About Personal Pollution (TAPP) program in 2012. A request for proposal (RFP) was sent to a number of interested parties. Only two responses were received by the City of Tallahassee. The […]

Is City Staff Gaming the City Commission?

Tallahassee Reports has obtained information that indicates that the document prepared and distributed to City Commissioners during the last budget workshop appears to be misleading in representing that City spending has been on a downward trend since 2008. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case. At the City of Tallahassee’s budget workshop on […]

City of Tallahassee Budget Debate Begins

City Manager Anita Favors Thompson presented her proposed budget for fiscal year 2014 to the City Commission on Wednesday. The preliminary $854 million budget included a General Fund deficit, but the final proposal addressed the deficit through a $2.3 million property tax increase, a $2 million increase in the electric utility transfer, and a $3 […]