The Tallahassee ethics board will send a letter to the city commission warning about the appearance of impropriety. The decision comes after ethics board staffers conducted a limited investigation into accusations made against City Manager Rick Fernandez. Board member Bruce Grant made the motion.
“A lot of times as you know, the perception of impropriety is as bad the actual impropriety itself. Do I think this is something where he really did something very wrong? Probably not. Is there a perception of impropriety? Absolutely so,” Grant said.
Meanwhile staff reminds board members their investigation did not include a finding of whether Fernandez violated any ethics laws. A member of the community has filed a complaint on the issue with the state ethics board.
