Mayor James 2nd. Attempt To Change FCOE Outcome!
November 1, 2022
July 29, 2020 State of Florida Commission on Ethics. James decision. See below page 3
“The Commission rejected the recommendation of its Advocate and found probable cause to believe West Palm Beach Mayor KEITH JAMES misused his position to urge the award of a no-bid security contract to a company operated by one of his friends.”
July 31, 2020 PB Post: Below is an excerpt from the PB Post. Entire story below.
“State ethics panel finds West Palm Mayor James possibly at fault in no-bid deal
The Florida Commission on Ethics, rejecting its investigator’s recommendation, found probable cause that Mayor Keith James “misused his position to urge the award of a no-bid security contract to a company operated by one of his friends.”
The decision is not a finding of guilt but it means the commission found the case merited further review, trial before an administrative judge or settlement talks with the board.
No additional action along those lines has been scheduled yet, said C. Christopher Anderson III, executive director and general counsel of the commission. If James is found to have violated state ethics law, he could face fines of as much as $10,000 per violation or removal from office.
The West Palm Beach case arose after the award of a $7.9 million citywide security guard contract last September to Professional Security Consultants without competitive bidding. The Palm Beach Post reported that James and other city officials socialized with Willie Perez, the firm’s regional director.”
April 22, 2022 STATE OF FLORIDA COMMISSION ON ETHICS
PUBLIC SESSION AGENDA James Page 2
CONSIDERATION OF COMPLAINT DISMISSAL
A. Complaint No. 19-180GPS/RGM
In re KEITH JAMES (WEST PALM BEACH)
Elizabeth A. Miller (Advocate) Ms. Miller is an attorney who works for the State of Florida Commission on Ethics and investigated the complaint, and found no probable cause to investigate.
Atty. Ron Meyer (R) Ron Meyer represents Mayor Keith James
Adam Giddens (C) Mr. Giddens is the complainant (Giddens Security)
April 22 2022 Florida Commission on Ethics Video runs 2:09:41
James case begins @ 9:43 and finishes @ 57:29. James attorney, Ron Meyer speaks to the Commission from 48:42 to 53:24. Commissioners end the James case @ 57:24. If you view the video you will hear the term DOAH which is a acronym for Division of Administrative Hearings. According to Google
(“DOAH is a state agency that employs full-time Administrative Law Judges to conduct hearings in most cases in which the substantial interests of a person are determined by an agency and which involve a disputed issue of material fact.”)
Motion to Dismiss: Commission found Probable Cause to investigate.
Mayor Keith James case goes quickly when enough Commissioners finds Probable Cause to continue the investigation. Other Commissioners disagreed and a conversation begins with Commissioners attempting to change the minds of Commissioners who voted they found probable cause. The meeting ended with Mr. Meyer addressing the Commissioners, and no minds were changed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzHNL9uY6ok
My concern is how Mr. Meyer is paid for his service defending Mayor Keith James. I can think of 3 possibilities. Mayor James is paying his own way, the taxpayer is footing the bill or it’s paid out of James re-election campaign.
The good news is the lawsuit against James is tentatively scheduled for the end of November 2022. I’ll keep readers posted.
The end