TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Tallahassee's city manager took a temporary leave of absence as growing pressure mounts at city hall for change.
The city commission wrote an open letter to residents asking them to trust their local government in light of the ongoing FBI investigations and recent allegations involving the city manager.
A look at the city government's website shows this message, in part, saying "Regardless of what the political headline of the hour is, the operational side of this government, the services you rely on daily from public safety to electricity, must continue."
Before the city manager decided to take his leave, city commissioner Gil Ziffer had asked him to let the commission discuss it at its next meeting.
"In order for us to solve one of the problems that we have, this is too much of a distraction," said Ziffer. "So, for us to effectively serve the citizens of Tallahassee, we need to temporarily remove the distraction and operate without Mr. Fernandez."
In August, the city's independent ethics board received a complaint about Fernandez receiving a $5,000 discount from the Edison Restaurant for a private event.
This is what Fernandez told WTXL when he became city manager in November 2015.
"We will work as hard as we need to to provide predictability in the highest level of service for the community," said Fernandez.
He's also under fire for allegedly receiving football tickets from a lobbyist. The Tallahassee Democrat obtained copies of texts he sent, though the city has claimed there's no public record for them.
The First Amendment Foundation sent this letter to the city attorney, calling on him to investigate.
"I think it's best that the city provide more access rather than shutting things down," said Barbara Petersen, the president of the First Amendment Foundation. "And now, we have serious concerns about the ability of the city manager to do his job properly."
WTXL asked former mayor John Marks about the challenges of running a city while under heavy scrutiny by officials and the public.
"Just do your job without being biased, without being unethical. Be as transparent and open and direct as you possibly can be," said Marks. "That's what you have to do in all of your actions, and certainly, our elected officials are capable of doing that."
Residents from both major parties are calling for change at City Hall.
"The culture of corruption that we've talked about at City Hall is more persuasive than we ever thought," said Evan Power, the chair of the Leon County Republican Party. It's time for the city manager to leave and hold the city commissioners accountable."
"He wasn't honest about it, and that goes to his character. Everyone makes a mistake, but you acknowledge that mistake," said Jon Ausman, a Florida member of the Democratic National Committee. "He failed to do that, so he's twice damned."
He said he doesn't have any inside knowledge of what's happening here but he admits the public is losing confidence in its elected officials.
