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scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
The complaint against Brannon alleges that he used his clout as a commissioner to protect the investment of a business partner.

According to Graves’ complaint, C. Wayne Jones, then a partner with Brannon in a business called Freeport Group LLC, paid nearly $7 million in 2006 for 77 lots in a subdivision called Driftwood Estates at Sandestin. At the time, “the neighborhood was and had been mired down in legal muck and building moratoriums,” Graves’ complaint claims.

It states that former County Commissioner Cindy Meadows, in whose district Driftwood Estates was located, sought legal action to “hold the developer responsible” for the mess.
Brannon cast a tie-breaking vote to prevent the legal action from going forward, Graves said in the complaint.

“All the participation by Brannon was very beneficial to Jones, as had a moratorium or lawsuit or state enforcement been enacted, Jones’ almost seven million dollar investment would have been dead in the water for an unknown period of time or possibly permanently,” the complaint states.

The complaint also states that in 2009 Brannon thwarted an attempt by Greater Driftwood Estates Homeowners Association President Alan Osborne to discuss the alleged voting conflict at a public meeting.

In a private meeting later, according to the complaint, Brannon assured homeowners that Freeport Group LLC “was the only company I am involved in that is associated with Mr. Jones.”

Although Graves and Osborne declined to comment on the specifics of the case, the motivation to file the ethics complaint came in September, when the complaint states, “a package was dropped off with the Driftwood Homeowners Association president.”

The package, the complaint said, contained “closing documents and checks that clearly make Brannon’s statements about his relationship with Jones false.”

According to the complaint, the documents indicate Brannon and Jones both made $1.3 million in 2004 as partners in the purchase and sale of a piece of property.

“How do you forget you owned a large parcel of land with someone that doubled in value in less than six weeks?” Graves asks in the complaint.
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/brannon-45275-commissioner-walton.html
 

Bob Wells

Beach Fanatic
Jul 25, 2008
3,380
2,857
Well another complaint against Commissioner Brannon. I suppose we will see what will happen and the length of time it will take to investigate. Election is just around the corner.
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
If memory serves (it is difficult to remember all of his ethically questionable moments) he was asked to recuse himself on this matter due to conflict of interest and he claimed there was none.
 

Andy A

Beach Fanatic
Feb 28, 2007
4,389
1,738
Blue Mountain Beach
My take is that one of you who thinks he is such a bad commissioner, and I don't necessarily disagree, run against him. He ran unopposed the last time.
 
My take is that one of you who thinks he is such a bad commissioner, and I don't necessarily disagree, run against him. He ran unopposed the last time.


Andy, I am sure several civic minded individuals would be glad to run if someone will kick in the $50,000 or so it takes to make a run with a realistic chance of succeeding. Unfortunately the people who have that kind of money to invest in a local race do not tend to back civic minded individuals. They back people who will protect thir investments and buy land from them that they do not own etc. etc. etc.
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
I am working on a good candidate for the next election.

Part of the problem is that running against one of these people means a nasty negative campaign against you and your family in addition to all of the various election frauds typically committed.
 

Diamond Dave

Banned
Mar 6, 2011
50
0
Seagrove
Why am I not at all surprised? Another Ethics Complaint against a Walton County Elected Official... I agree with the comment of how difficult it is to run against someone in this county. It costs big $$$ 'cause if you ain't in the group, the group will find someone to support and throw big $$$ to them.

Remember, $$$ buys lot of them signs they all put up all over Gods Creation and then fail to remove. Unfortunately, elections in Walton County are nothing more than Sign Wars. He who has the most signs wins. That's how pathetic this county is.

Fortunately, I am starting to see a few more individuals with their eyes wide open, taking in all that is going on and finally getting a grasp on how things really work round these here parts...

I have posted an article from CBS 4 out of south Florida. Will some one please tell me what the difference is as it relates to this commissioner and what they are accussed of and our elected officials and their alleged activities? I'd like to know.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) – A Broward County jury wasted no time Wednesday in convicting suspended Deerfield Beach Commission Sylvia Poitier of public corruption charges.

Attorneys presented their closing arguments Wednesday morning and the case went to the jury around 11 a.m. By noon, the jury had convicted Poitier on all charges.

Poitier, 75, was charged with five misdemeanor corruption charges for allegedly failing to disclose a conflict of interest she had with a non-profit association that handles low-income housing funds for the city.

On Tuesday, however, Broward County Judge Melinda Brown dismissed one of the charges pertaining to the October 2010 commission meeting , according to the Sun-Sentinel.

The charges stem from information submitted on conflict of interest forms filed with the city in 2009 concerning her vote for a $30,000 grant to the Westside Deerfield Businessman Association.

According to investigators, the association owed Poitier’s brother, Lionel Ferguson, $46,000 plus interest on a loan he had made to the group at Poitier’s request.

The grant was not awarded, but Poitier’s vote was a potential conflict of interest.

According to prosecutors, Poitier failed to properly disclose that a financial relationship existed between the WDBA and her brother. This disclosure should have taken place, and the proper paperwork filed, each time the WDBA was a topic to be voted on by the city of Deerfield Beach Commission.

Poitier took the stand Tuesday for about an hour in her own defense.

“I don’t have a conflict [of interest] because my brother was not going to gain anything from the city and he wasn’t doing business with the city,” she told the jury according to the paper.

Poitier could be fined up to $1,000 and sentenced to a year in jail for each of the four counts she was convicted of on Wednesday.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Sun-Sentinel contributed to this report.)
 

ricky bobby

Banned
Aug 24, 2011
111
8
Tallahassee, Fl
A complaint to the ethics commsssion is useless. Florida's ethics laws are so convoluted and selective, they're designed to make almost anything ethical, depending on which direction the wind blows. When elected officials in Walton county are funded by people who were indicted for stealing public education funds, one can't expect anything positive. And besides, as long as these people are Republican darlings they'll continue to do as they wish.
 
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