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City Council Votes on Richard Anderson Contract

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After a week of turmoil, accusations, threats of lawsuits and an arrest warrant, the Apopka City Council took action to finalize its relationship with Richard Anderson. But does anyone think this will be the final word on the subject?

The Council voted unanimously to terminate the contract of Lobbyist/Consultant Richard Anderson. Mayor Joe Kilsheimer also authorized City Attorney Cliff Shepard to initiate a lawsuit against Anderson to collect damages under the terms of the contract.

“It is my opinion that he (Anderson) violated his contract,” said Shepard. “The City was not notified of this accident taking place on April 5th. I first found out about it when I read news reports online.”

The Council was mostly silent during Shepard’s presentation and discussion after, except for Commissioner Kyle Becker, who laid out a case for Anderson’s breach-of-contract that went far beyond the criminal charges being discussed.

“If we look at the history of this contract, and you (Shepard) just mentioned lobbying services, this is a major part. He (Anderson) gets paid $11,000 for that portion of the contract. And as small as it may seem, to get a lobbying license to deliver on this contract, it wasn’t done until this year. And then there is also a section that states Mr. Anderson shall submit a monthly written report of his actions. Over the last year, five have not been submitted. So almost half of the reports he is obligated to do have not been submitted to the City. That’s two red flags for me. This is a third.”

Shepard and Kilsheimer closed the discussion with a final thought on the main issue that brought the Council to this action.

“He didn’t tell us,” said Shepard. “He gave us no ability to react in an appropriate fashion. And as we sit here today, he has not denied publicly or in any other way the charges against him.”

“I think it’s fair to say we were blindsided,” said Kilsheimer.


 

city council, Richard Anderson

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