Non-profits, ethics expert concerned by free ticket directive from city of Tallahassee

The city of Tallahassee directed nonprofits that receive city dollars to give free tickets for their fundraising events to city officials and commissioners, causing concern among the organizations' leaders and raising red flags with ethics experts.

Veronique Floyd, an administration specialist in the city's administrative and professional services department, sent the email on Jan. 23 to more than 30 nonprofits.

“At the direction of the City Commission, any agency that receives funding from the city is being asked to provide complimentary tickets to the city for the fundraising events,” she wrote. "This will enable city commissioners, city management and partner departments to stay connected and ensure continued direct funding."

Florida ethics laws prohibit public officials from soliciting or accepting anything of value based on the understanding it would influence their official action.

"My gut reaction is that that is entirely inappropriate," said Mark Levine, a Tallahassee attorney and former chairman of the Florida Commission on Ethics. "Clearly under (state ethics statutes), it could be construed as a solicitation of a gift for the benefit of others."

Levine said he would be amazed if upper management were aware of the tenor of the email or if it came at the direction of city commissioners.

"The most concerning factor is that it appears from the language in the email that future funding might be contingent upon compliance with the request," he said.

The email was obtained through a public records request from the Tallahassee Democrat. Copied on the email was Matt Matherne, the city's utility accounts manager.

City spokeswoman Alison Faris said in an email that city commissioners approved changes in April “to streamline the funding process and reduce additional requests for funding outside the budget process." Each year the city provides $3.96 million in funding for organizations but also pays as much as $100,000 in sponsorships or fundraising events.

After the Democrat published this story on tallahassee.com, Faris said the email from Floyd "was not properly vetted and appears to have created some confusion that tickets and other sponsor benefits were expected. This is not the case and we are working with our budget office to correct the language used about the funding process to avoid any potential misinterpretation."

The email comes after more than a year of controversy over allegations city officials accepted gifts from lobbyists and vendors.

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Just last month, the state Ethics Commission found probable cause that former Mayor Andrew Gillum accepted illegal gifts, including a ticket to "Hamilton," during trips to New York City and Costa Rica. Gillum has denied wrongdoing.

Last year, Rick Fernandez was ousted as city manager in a scandal involving his acceptance of free FSU football skybox tickets and a $7,000 discount from the city-backed Edison restaurant. Fernandez has agreed to a $6,000 fine and public censure to settle the case.

The email points out that over the years, organizations including Honor Flight, Oasis, Whole Child Leon and DISC Village relied on city funding for at least part of their budgets. Money for the programs came through the Community Human Service Partnership and the Council on Culture and Arts grants, the email said, and those organizations also asked the city for fundraiser event sponsorships.

Floyd said that during budget workshops city staff reviewed the funding levels of organizations that received money through donations or contracts.

Directors of two non-profits replied to the email saying they were concerned about the perception of city officials taking gifts or making funding contingent on tickets to their fundraising events.

“Essentially, the message is, ‘We give you money over here so we’re going to take some from you over there,” wrote Michelle Gomez, executive director of the Oasis Center for Women and Girls. “It’s also likely that many agencies would extend event invitations and complimentary tickets anyway, but — if correctly interpreted — the stated expectation seems, at best, inappropriate and potentially harmful in some cases.”

Amber Tynan, executive director of the United Partners for Human Services, also questioned the propriety of the email.

“Because there are direct costs associated with comped tickets, will each agency be reimbursed for the ticket we allot for city use?” she asked. “If not, and especially given the public scrutiny of former Mayor Andrew Gillum and others accepting ‘gifts/tickets/etc.’ will this too be seen as a gift acceptance since the cost of the tickets aren’t reimbursed?”

Specifically, Tynan asked whether requests for tickets will become part of city contracts going forward. She also wondered exactly how many tickets would be required and who would receive them.

Tynan’s concerns were forwarded to Robert Wigen, the city's Administration Service manager, who replied with explanations to her questions.

“Each reporting person was making the decision to report whether the tickets were provided by the entity or through the city and will continue to do so,” Wigan said.

He said the city would consider amending contracts to include tickets and that he thought each non-profit should “decide what is in their capacity and interest."

“But," Wigan added, "I would recommend that it be similar to what was requested of the city as a fundraising event.”

Democrat reporter Jeff Burlew contributed to this report.

Contact Karl Etters at kettesr@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.