TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Mayor Andrew Gillum and Tallahassee City Commissioners wrote an open letter to residents addressing ongoing investigations and gun violence.
The open letter says that while officials are fully cooperating with all investigations and awaiting the results that all services to residents - including public safety, road and sidewalk maintenance, garbage/recycling removal and electricity - must continue.
The letter was emailed Sunday from a City of Tallahassee account and posted to the city's Facebook page. It was signed by Gillum, Mayor Pro Tem Gil Ziffer, and City Commissioners Scott Maddox, Nancy Miller and Curtis Richardson.
It comes as the city undergoes an FBI investigation and after the revelation that City Manager Rick Fernandez in September 2016 requested box tickets to a Florida State University football game from a lobbyist. The Florida Commission on Ethics has received a copy of Fernandez' text exchange.
"Tallahassee is facing serious challenges, namely gun violence," the letter says. "While overall crime is down, too many lives are being lost. Through boots-on-the-ground community efforts, like the Neighborhood Public Safety Initiative, and cooperative law enforcement efforts, like the Violent Crimes Task Force, we are collectively acting to take our community back from the grips of this violence."
The letter noted the City Commissioners' recent vote to strengthen ethics policies and practices.
"At our workshop on Oct. 25, we unanimously voted to adopt every recommendation brought forth by the Independent Ethics Board, with a change to one word so that the language remains consistent with the State," the letter said. "These changes help further ensure citizen confidence that should there ever be any findings, they will be handled appropriately."
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