DUNEDIN — Some residents have been grumbling about commissioners involved in the forced resignation of former City Manager Rob DiSpirito since January. But now, a couple of former city officials have decided to take action.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri has begun an investigation of Commissioner Heather Gracy and Vice Mayor Bruce Livingston based on information he says "warrants and necessitates" further action to determine if they violated the Sunshine Law.

Both city officials refuse to confirm or deny the allegations that have flown around since the Jan. 7 meeting at which Gracy made a midnight motion to fire DiSpirito, which Livingston supported. But if found guilty they could be charged with a second degree misdemeanor, punishable by jail time and fines.

Former commissioner Dave Carson and Manny Koutsourais both said they went to the sheriff. Gualtieri said information he received "warrants a preliminary inquiry involving some interviews to determine if there is merit to the allegations."

Carson says Gracy never would have made the motion without knowing she had the support of at least one other commissioner.

"You don't do something like that without being in concert," he said. "You don't want to make that motion without knowing you have a second — you don't want to be out there on your own."

Carson said he went to the Sheriff's Office because he felt like he had to. Because "nobody else was doing it."

He said he sat down with detectives and outlined the information he had, which he declined to specify, and gave the names of people for them to talk to. The sheriff said interviews with those people will begin soon, but there is no telling now long they will take.

"I don't want this lingering over them or the community, so we will be actively looking into it," Gualtieri said. "The sooner we conclude, the better, but we can't rush."

Koutsourais also went to the Sheriff's Office and said he did so to promote good government.

"This is not a comfortable position for anyone to be in whether you are a citizen or an elected official, but unfortunately when a public official does something like this it has to be addressed," Koutsourais said. "The commissioners are the ones who created the problem."

He and Carson said they just want to know what commissioners knew about the DiSpirito situation, when they knew it and who told them.

"It's apparent — clearly apparent — that there was collusion there," Carson said. "It was obvious to those of us who have served in city government before."

Koutsourais said he wants people to know his motivations in going to the sheriff were not in his best interest, but in that of the city and its residents.

"I don't like to see this happening to a city, but I care about transparent government so I offered my information," he said. "If nothing else, a cloud may be lifted from over the city's head, and Dunedin will be better off for it — whether they are guilty or not."

Contact Megan Reeves at mreeves@tampabay.com or (727) 445-4153. Follow @mreeves_tbt.