County attorney: rentals of senior center were unauthorized; community urges reinstatement of director

An interim county attorney presented a completed investigation on Dec. 2 that found the county id not lawfully authorize third parties to rent the county-owned senior center and that rental fees collected since May 2024 were deposited into a private account at Centennial Bank controlled by the Gadsden County Senior Citizens Foundation rather than the county clerk—or deposit.

The findings, read into the record by Interim County Attorney Louis J. Baptiste, outlined multiple alleged compliance failures: unauthorized rentals of the county facility at 79 LaSalle/LaFalle Drive in Quincy; $6,095 in third-party rental fees documented in 2024 and 2025 that were routed to a private foundation account; no evidence that sales tax on rentals was remitted; and apparent commingling of county staff time and foundation activity, including the use of a foundation credit card. Baptiste said staff told investigators they were sometimes directed by a former employee, Charles Hayes, to deposit funds into the foundation account but that verbal directions do not override Florida law.

"At no point did this county commission authorize any third party to rent out that facility," Baptiste said, adding that county law and Florida statute require that revenues from county property be deposited with the clerk of court and comptroller to preserve public accountability. He recommended immediate suspension of rentals by employees to third parties until a board-approved uniform rental policy is enacted, that revenue be routed through BOCC accounts and deposited with the clerk, and that the county work with the clerk to come into tax compliance.

Finance staff provided historical budget material showing the board has increased funding for elderly affairs since creating the department in 2022; the finance presentation summarized budgets, Older Americans Act funding and general revenue contributions for the program.

Commissioners disagreed about whether the practice was an "inherited" administrative matter or a legal failure requiring remedial action. Several members said the board must fix policy gaps that allowed the rentals to continue without formal approval; others urged care in assigning blame to individual employees.

Public reaction was intense. More than two dozen seniors, clergy and community leaders said the senior director, Latoya Friesen, had expanded services and built trust across the county and urged the administrator and commission to reinstate her. "Return Latoya Friesen to her rightful role as director of elderly affairs," said a former county commissioner in the audience. Faith leaders delivered a letter asking that Friesen and another reassigned employee be returned to positions that match their expertise. Several residents said the absence of a formal policy did not excuse the public consequences of the interim personnel move and demanded the county act to restore services for seniors.

Interim County Administrator (name given in the record) said he had moved Friesen to limit possible collusion during the investigation and that he met with her before the reassignment. He also acknowledged the community concern and — after hearing the public statements — said he believed that, given the absence of clear county policy that guided rentals, "it would be in the best interest of the county for Ms. Friesen to return to her position." He did not, in the meeting transcript, announce a formal personnel vote; that decision remains an administrative action under county procedures.

The attorney's written report cites Florida statutory requirements (including the sunshine law sections and sales-tax statutes named in the presentation) and documents the evidence the investigator relied on: employee statements, a ledger of rentals, email chains (including a 04/17/2024 message raising the rental question), and departmental records. Baptiste said he did not find evidence that Friesen personally gained financially and emphasized that his report was based on stipulated information from staff and records provided to his office.

Next steps the report recommended: finance, elder affairs and the clerk of court should coordinate to file any late sales-tax returns and correct deposit practices; the board should adopt a uniform rental policy for county property; and the commission should consider structural options for how grant-funded senior services are administered going forward, including separating foundation activity from county operations to avoid conflicts of interest.

The meeting closed with residents pressing for prompt action to restore senior programming and for the county to clarify policy and oversight. The board and the administrator face decisions about personnel and policy changes in the coming days; no further formal votes were recorded in the meeting transcript.