You must pay for the other guys lawyer and costs if the ethics complaint is dismissed or unfounded at the State level. And we all know how often that happens on the County level. It is pretty hard to get an ethics violation finding at any level of government. Ethics is such a Jello-Like concept. I have filed plenty of complaints at the county level. If I did it at the State Level, I could owe $100,000. Yes that is right.
There is some Tallahassee lawyer raking in the bucks on this. Consumers, citizens, good people don't be a patsy. Ethics complaints never go anywhere anyway. Your costs could be tens of thousands at the State level for one complaint. You don't know what they will tack on (see some of the big bills at this link).
A former elections supervisor Kimberle Weeks, and 2 others, just were ordered to pay $312,000 in fees and awards to their targets. She is to alleged to have taped illegally but she contends they were at a public meeting which would allow for a taped conversation. A Democratic member of the Ethics Commission said:
Michael Cox, a member of the ethics commission–he is a certified financial planner and, like Weeks, a Democrat–alone raised issues on behalf of Weeks, terming himself “disturbed” by the issues Weeks raised and the amount of the fees she was being required to pay. “I don’t know her situation but it could potentially ruin her financially,” Cox said. “Some of the things she’s hitting on are hitting a lot of buttons with me.”Although, in another case, the State Ethics Commission did find probable cause against State Rep. 112 Nick Duran (but they still dismissed it) for not putting his source of income on his financial disclosure form. Here is a stretch for you: because he put it on another form he filed with the Children's Trust, they sort of thought that made it okay. Nick Duran is the guy I am running against.
6 comments:
I filed a complaint against my state rep for not fully disclosing his income. Ninety-nine percent of sane people would choose not to file an ethics complaint once they have read this bold type on the state's complaint form:
"Costs and Attorney's Fees: If the complaint is dismissed, the respondent does not have an automatic right to recover the costs of litigation and/or attorney's fees. However, he or she can file a petition asking the Commission to have the complainant pay those costs and attorney's fees... In any case in which the commission determines that a person has filed a complaint against a public officer or employee with a malicious intent to injure the reputation of such officer or employee by filing the complaint with knowledge that the complaint contains one or more false allegations or with reckless disregard for whether the complaint contains false allegations of fact material to a violation of this part, the complainant shall be liable for costs plus reasonable attorney fees incurred in the defense of the person complained against, including the costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred in proving entitlement to and the amount of costs and fees."
The system has a chilling effect on whistleblowers.
After my complaint was heard, I was relieved that at least I was not forced to pay the state rep's attorney fees. It was ruled that there was probable cause to believe that he failed to properly disclose income, but that the Ethics Commission would not take action unless the alleged guilty party asked them to (as if that would ever happen).
My personally takeaway is that it is simply not smart to file an ethics complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics.
In our own backyard city's like Miami Beach already moved to prohibit anonymous noise complaints in an area with heavy lobbyist activity. I'd advise people to watch out when contacting local or state officials. It can turn on you real fast. I'm sure in the near future the police will be picking up community activists for harassment charges.
When scum rise to the top, I doubt we can expect much more.... I can't believe she had the gall to further disgrace herself when she tried to refute and move for dismissal of her appeals after gay marriage was legalized. She should have had to pay the opposing bills fully, and she should have been sanctioned for irresponsible use of the State's funds and court system to defend hate...
http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/pam-bondi-balks-at-paying-full-cost-of-floridas-fight-against-gay-marriage/2241468
Lest not forget, http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-gay-marriage-florida-supreme-court-appeal-20141215-story.html ... She also filed an appeal with SCOTUS....
Then instead of trying to better her soul or evolve, she tried to block money owed to the opposing council....
She didn't even have to render restitutions to the gays who had real damages due to such hate....
The dual spectrum outfits to root out corruption in the county are both disgusting violations which served to protect the interest of the elected officials and not best interests of the tax payer. I shutter to know that schools outside of Florida will point to our presence of both a COE and OIG, as ideal mechanisms to curb crime, fraud, public deception, and corruption.
Bologna.
They both work very closely with those already elected in office and depend on such funding and other methods of support to exist. So while the OIG is does a great job at apprehending non-elected people abusing public monies, you will never see her go against the hands who feed her (neither would you).
Joe does a great job at explaining away all of the ethics complaints against the elected officials. He is also able to coach them how to get by when they come to him concerned they have already violated a code of ethics. The problem with ethics is that there is always a way to explain anything.
to
The saddest thing to me is that when there are actions taken, they are of little significance. When my state rep committee perjury and waited to step down until charges were being dropped, did she receive a penalty which would deter others from thinking about following suit? Not at all. At first, I think I heard a fine of $600, then it was $1000 with her plea.
We need penalties which will make an impactful change. Electeds with open campaign accounts who are accused of unsavory ethics, should have all of their account frozen. If they are found in violation of an ethics violation or legal statute, they should then have to return their monies. There should also be sanctions placed again political committee activities since there is already so much money and corruption hidden in those accounts....
What does your Pam Bondi article have to do with Weeks and Weeks and gays? She was an elections supervisor.
Starts with local govs. Take Bagel Boy ifor example. He does whatever he wants to whomever he wants and the Miami-Dade Ethics sham takes a year to write up a report and do nothing. Regular people can’t take action because they face costly SLAPP lawsuits by the offender or a proper screwing by the state as you detail above. Results—no accountability, no ethics in gov.
Post a Comment