A group of Tallahassee business and political leaders called on the city’s Independent Ethics Board officer and general counsel to exit their roles over matters including a relationship the officer had with an appointed city official.

Citizens for Responsible Spending announced a five-point plan to reform what it called a “troubled” Ethics Board during a news conference Wednesday at the Florida Press Center. The group announced it supports ethics rules proposed by Mayor John Dailey along with some recommendations of the Ethics Board, which finalized a revised ethics code earlier this year designed to put teeth in the law.

Dailey and the Ethics Board don't exactly see eye to eye on proposed changes to the law. The mayor expressed major doubts about the Ethics Board's proposal during a City Commission meeting last month.

Julie Meadows-Keefe, who has served as ethics officer for nearly five years, announced in July her intention to resign next February. The relationship came up during a March meeting of the Ethics Board, though the identity of the appointed official has not been publicly revealed.

The Ethics Board never took personnel action against Meadows-Keefe over the relationship or another controversy involving her failure to disclose that she hired John Reid as her personal lawyer before he was chosen as counsel for the Ethics Board.

Barney Bishop, former president and CEO of Associated Industries of Florida, said the ethics officer admitted behavior "not worthy of the high bar expected of a city ethics officer." He said the board should suspend her immediately, and she should leave now, not in 2020.

"The fact that no action has been taken since her actions have become publicly known in the spring is utterly unacceptable," said Bishop, who contributed to Dailey's mayoral run. "No action signals that the IEB can’t or wont even police itself much less other city officials and city employees.”

Meadows-Keefe did not return a phone call. Reid declined to comment.

The back story:

►Mayor Dailey tears into Independent Ethics Board, balks at proposed ethics code overhaul

Dailey himself recently criticized the ethics officer in a Your Turn column in the Tallahassee Democrat, saying the current ethics code didn’t prevent “unethical behavior” by previous city leaders and the ethics officer.

“If we hope to regain our integrity, we must do better,” Dailey wrote.

During a Sept. 25 City Commission meeting, Dailey hammered at proposals by the Ethics Board to expand its jurisdiction to more employees, lower the burden of proof in ethics complaints and give the board subpoena power. In his subsequent op-ed, he said he supports expanding jurisdiction of the law to senior management and the Ethics Board and officer and other measures, including stiffer fines for illegal lobbying.

The citizens group’s plan includes “strengthening” the Ethics Board by implementing suggestions by Dailey and some of the Ethics Board’s recommendations; immediately suspending Meadows-Keefe; appointing a new general counsel to replace Reid; creating an Office of Inspector General at City Hall to act as the investigative arm of the Ethics Board; and conducting an audit of the Ethics Board, something Dailey also proposed.

Other members of the group who back the proposal include former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, local businessman Erwin Jackson, former Safety Harbor Mayor Patrick Slevin and Randy Miller, former president of the Florida Retail Federation.

The fight over ethics comes at the same time a federal investigation continues into public corruption at City Hall. Former City Commissioner Scott Maddox and former Downtown Improvement Authority Executive Director Paige Carter-Smith pleaded guilty in August to charges of taking bribes from city vendors in exchange for official action. Businessman John “J.T.” Burnette, a one-time City Hall insider, is set to go on trial next month on racketeering and extortion charges.

Latest on the investigation:

The city’s Ethics Board and ethics code were created by voter referendum in 2014, after another group, Citizens for Ethics Reform, put the question on the ballot. However, members of the Ethics Board have long complained about being hamstrung by the ordinance, which covers fewer than two dozen city officials and employees.

The Ethics Board in April sent sweeping revisions to commissioners designed to beef up the code. Commissioners and Ethics Board members are scheduled to discuss the proposals during a workshop set for Oct. 28.

“The IEB and the City Commission now have the opportunity to bring strong ethical rules of conduct to our city, which we desperately need,” Bishop said. “The result, we believe, will enable us to begin a new chapter in the city’s history.”

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.