Tallahassee Ethics Board admonishes City Manager Fernandez in letter

With only a few technical changes, the Tallahassee Independent Ethics Board approved a letter Tuesday night to City Manager Rick Fernandez admonishing him for receiving gifts from a local lobbying firm.

The letter follows several public hearings on an anonymous complaint to the board that Fernandez got a $5,000 discount on the catering bill for his daughter's wedding reception. The catering director was later hired by the city.

"The Board has concluded that your acceptance of the Edison catering discount has presented an appearance of impropriety to the Board members, and, more importantly to the community," the approved letter written by board chair Richard Herring said. "We believe this behavior was inappropriate and should not be modeled by others working for, or representing, the City."

The complaint from June accused Fernandez of using his position to get a 25 percent discount from Edison owner and lobbyist Adam Corey, and in return reward the Edison's catering manager, Eddie Kring, with a city job.

Corey has been named in subpoenas as a figure in a federal investigation into the city's community redevelopment agency.

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Fernandez didn't negotiate or execute the contract, but he paid the nearly $15,000 bill.

Fernandez is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a state ethics investigation into the wedding banquet discount and other issues. Earlier this month the Democrat published text messages of Fernandez soliciting pricey football tickets from a lobbyist.

Contact Schweers at jschweers@tallahassee.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffschweers.