TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A hearing is now set for former Tallahassee City Manager Rick Fernandez, after the Florida Commission on Ethics finds probable cause, saying he violated ethics laws.
Back on June 8, the state Ethics Commission said Fernandez misused his position and received unauthorized compensation, and violated the state's "gift law."
The case in question stemmed from allegations that the former City Manager accepted FSU football tickets from a lobbyist and got a catering discount from 'The Edison' restaurant.
Fernandez will go before an administrative law judge on August 21st.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Wednesday, the Florida Commission on Ethics released new details into an investigation of a former Tallahassee city manager.
Last week, the commission found probable cause with several allegations.
Rick Fernandez has a decision to make, fight the charges or settle.
The Florida Commission on Ethics has now released records that shed light on this case with the former city manager.
A unanimous decision, the Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause for 20 of 24 allegations against former city manager Rick Fernandez.
The advocate, or commission prosecutor, said the case was "very simple."
"Fernandez said that he didn't realize that there was a discount. Really? We're talking about an accountant by education. We're talking about someone who was the city auditor for 11 years," said Elizabeth Mitchell, Advocate for Florida Commission on Ethics.
The discount in question comes from a deal he made with The Edison restaurant for his daughter's wedding reception. The advocate reported Fernandez saved more than $6,800.
"The discount was in bold two times close to the total for the bill," said Mitchell. "It is absolutely not believable that he didn't realize there was a wedding discount on the bill."
The commission agreed Fernandez misused his position, received unauthorized compensation, and violated the state's "gift law."
The case also covered accepting skybox tickets to four FSU football games. The attorney for Fernandez said the tickets didn't pass the state limit of $100 to report them as gifts.
"The skybox tickets given to the respondent were each clearly marked as skybox tickets. They each had a section number, a box number, a seat number, each one of them had a face value of under $100," said Bucky Mitchell, attorney for Rick Fernandez.
The advocate's report determined the actual average value of each ticket was $128 and the commission released these photos showing texts from Fernandez about the tickets.
The commission said there was probable cause that Fernandez violated state statutes for accepting gifts over $100 and failing to report them.
WTXL reached out to Mitchell and are waiting to hear back.
Meanwhile, Erwin Jackson, the man who filed the complaint, told us after Friday's hearing that a "little bit of justice" was served.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The Florida Commission on Ethics has found probable cause to believe former Tallahassee city manager Rick Fernandez misused his position to get solicit catering discounts and football tickets from a city lobbyist.
The commission released a public summary regarding a probable cause hearing about former Tallahassee city manager Rick Fernandez on Wednesday.
Fernandez was accused of accepting of FSU football tickets, receiving a 4-digit discount for booking The Edison as his daughter’s wedding reception venue, and helping an Edison employee land a city job.
According to the summary, the commission found probable cause on two of the three accusations.
They found probable cause to believe Fernandez indeed misused his position to get the catering discount and football tickets and, as a result, violated Florida's gift law.
"He solicited these things of value with the understanding his official action would be influenced or that he knew or should have know the gifts were given to influence his actions as city manager," the summary stated.
The commission did not find probable cause about the city hiring a former Edison employee.
Fernandez can opt to take the case to an administrative law judge or settle.
Erwin Jackson said residents got a “little bit of justice” after an hour-long hearing Friday.
He said the Florida Commission on Ethics has confirmed what he’s been saying for years, that Rick Fernandez used his position for personal and financial gain.
"I'm extremely pleased, even though it's taken the last two or three years, I've been talking about Mr. Fernandez, but I started this process with the FBI eight years ago," said Jackson.
The former city manager wasn't at the hearing, but his attorney was. We tried to speak with him after the hearing but he declined.
Jackson said the Commission unanimously voted to accept recommendations by an "advocate" assistant attorney general to file charges.
The complaint claimed Fernandez handed out football tickets to city employees and received a $5,000 discount at The Edison for his daughter's wedding reception.
Fernandez can take the case to an administrative law judge to appeal the charges.
Jackson said Fernandez has something bigger to worry about.
"He has a lot of chips that he can share with the FBI, so I think the FBI is going to have more input on what Fernandez does," said Jackson.
Jackson said he will bring up the Commission’s decision when he speaks at the next meeting of the city’s Independent Ethics Board.
He said it’s clear the city was covering up the cost of those tickets and he’s asked the ethics board to do its own investigation.
Jackson said the Florida Commission on Ethics will issue a more detailed report about the case on Wednesday.
Commission staff can't comment on the case until it becomes public.
