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Florida Ethics Commission deadlocks on whether nepotism law bars internal council leader elections; opinion tabled
Summary
The Florida Commission on Ethics split 3–3 over a staff draft saying the anti‑nepotism law can bar peer elections for city council leadership when relatives serve together. After two hours of argument from Jacksonville counsel and commissioners, the draft was not adopted and the matter was tabled to the March meeting for further staff review.
The Florida Commission on Ethics on Tuesday failed to adopt a staff draft opinion that would have found the state’s anti‑nepotism statute could bar internal, peer elections of council leadership when relatives serve together.
Staff presented advisory opinion file 2830 concluding that section 112.3135’s ban on appointing, promoting or advancing relatives by a collegial body applies when a collegial body (for example, a city council) selects a president or vice president and a relative of a member is chosen. Amelia Naomi, the staff presenter, explained the commission’s reading of the statute…
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