GOVERNMENT

Naples City Council declines to investigate alleged ethics violation

Naples

The Naples City Council voted Wednesday not to pursue an ethics violation allegation against the executive director of a PAC that is at odds with the city over a proposal to improve the city's ethics code.

Ray Christman, the executive director of Ethics Naples, was appointed to the Community Redevelopment Agency advisory board in December 2017 and spoke to the council on behalf of the PAC in May, which council members have since alleged is against the city's ethics code.

The code states “no public officer … shall personally represent another person, group, or business entity before the governmental body.”

Councilwoman Linda Penniman moved to remove the discussion from the agenda at the start of Wednesday's City Council meeting. She said the city was selectively enforcing a rule to single out Christman based on politics.

Councilman Terry Hutchison seconded Penniman’s motion, which failed 2-5.

During the subsequent discussion, Mayor Bill Barnett said the allegation against Christman has nothing to do with the ongoing legal battle between the city and Ethics Naples.

“It doesn’t really matter that it was Mr. Christman involved; it could be anybody,” Barnett said. “It just so happened that this was the case."

He supported Councilwoman Eileen Siegel’s recommendation to drop the issue and simply consider it a lesson learned.

Vice Mayor Gary Price agreed, adding that he thought the city could have handled the situation better.

“I think this is a classic example of a level of dysfunction in government that I fight to try to avoid,” he said. “It can’t be the responsibilities of the citizens to understand the nuances of our law.”

Councilwoman Michelle McLeod strongly disagreed and referred to a December email in which Christman acknowledged the part of the city's ethics code that he was alleged to have violated and also recognized the potential for a conflict of interest.

“Clearly, even Mr. Christman realized that there could be a potential conflict, and there was,” she said. “Mr. Christman, in my eyes, is clearly in violation of our ethics ordinance.”

Councilman Reg Buxton agreed, saying it was “very clear” that there was a violation. He supported McLeod's suggestion that the city move forward with an investigation.

Instead, the council voted 6-1 not to pursue the matter further, with McLeod dissenting.

Christman said he was happy the council decided to drop the matter and that he could continue to serve on the CRA advisory board.

“I was pleased and gratified today that after substantive discussion, council concluded by a strong majority that indeed there had been no violation and no reason to pursue this matter further,” he said. “Now we can, on all sides, move forward with more important issues that we’re all facing.”

The allegations against Christman are the latest in a series of back-and-forth battles between the city and Ethics Naples, all spurred by the PAC’s efforts to pass an ethics referendum.

Ethics Naples has collected enough petition signatures to move the referendum forward. However, City Attorney Bob Pritt has argued that parts of the referendum might be illegal, and council members voted in May to let a judge decide.

Ethics Naples challenged the city's move, but Collier Circuit Court Judge Hugh Hayes decided last month that the city has the right to challenge the legality of the referendum.

Hayes is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks about the referendum’s legality.

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