Tallahassee city commissioners approve scope of Scott Maddox audit

Tallahassee city commissioners approved the scope of an audit into matters involving former Commissioner Scott Maddox, who pleaded guilty in August to federal public corruption charges.

Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to proceed with the audit after Maddox and his accomplice, former Downtown Improvement Authority chief Paige Carter-Smith are sentenced Feb. 13, 2020. Their sentencing is set for a few weeks after the trial begins for their co-defendant, local businessman John "J.T." Burnette.

City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, who asked for a review of Maddox-related deals, suggested pushing the audit back from the fall, when Maddox and Carter-Smith were initially set to be sentenced, “so we have the full information from those cases.”

City Auditor Dennis Sutton told commissioners the audit will focus on allegations included in Maddox and Carter-Smith’s signed admissions, which laid out a pay-to-play scheme involving shakedowns of city vendors for cash.

In their statements, they acknowledged taking more than $500,000 over a period of years from Waste Pro USA, M of Tallahassee, Arbor Properties, Uber Technologies and Southern Pines Development, an FBI front company. Prosecutors say they exchanged influence for bribes

More:The ABCs of a corruption case: Your guide to the businesses and people linked to Scott Maddox

Sutton said the audit will focus on the actions of city staff. A city agenda item said it will not include actions and decisions by commissioners.

“The proposed scope includes addressing the actions of city employees and whether those actions were in accordance with city policy, state laws and rules, whether they used sound judgment and whether it was within their given authority,” he told commissioners.

Sutton also said the audit will look at the city’s compliance with laws and rules involving public corruption “to help prevent any issues with public corruption in the future.”

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.