By Reggie Connell, Managing Editor
Earlier this week, I wrote a headline entitled "City Council in crisis". I deleted it and wrote a different headline to avoid sounding sensational, but after watching the last two meetings, I'm standing by that description.
I'm hesitant to lay the blame on a leader simply because that is an all-too-easy target when things are going poorly, but in this case, it applies.
A little over a year ago, Mayor Bryan Nelson told the City Council and Apopka residents that then-City Attorney Michael Rodriguez would end his employment with the City at 1:30 p.m. that same day. This despite him abruptly announcing his resignation at a meeting two weeks prior.
However, two weeks after Nelson told the Council and residents that Rodriguez had left, it was learned that he was still employed by the City and receiving his regular salary plus a severance package despite resigning.
Because he misled the Council and Apopka residents, the commissioners voted 3-1 to censure Nelson for his conduct.
In his defense, Nelson chose to read a statement attacking the commissioners rather than explain his actions. At the time, I urged him to take the high road, accept the censure, and look ahead.
After all, a censure did not carry a penalty or punishment. It could and would end there and likely be forgotten.
Unfortunately, that type of response isn't in this mayor's playbook.
Instead, a year later and with a Council that could potentially be more sympathetic to Nelson's presentation, he brought up the matter again as an agenda item entitled "Rescending the Censure of Mayor Nelson".
I am not a political consultant for Nelson, but if I were, I would have told him this is a fight he didn't need to start, had little to gain if successful, and could potentially reopen an ugly issue that ends with him misleading the Council and residents - on video!
The Rescending of Mayor Nelson's Censure agenda item ended without a vote or even a motion, Commissioner Alexander Smith recusing himself, and yes, a replay of Nelson misleading the Council on video. It was a bad night for Nelson, the Council, and all of Apopka.
The only thing that could make the night worse would be if Nelson added more fuel to the fire by making a radical claim about a former commissioner... and that's exactly what he did.
"The censorship vote was brought forward by a former City Commissioner for political reasons and had nothing to do with public policy," Nelson said while reading from the statement. "Prior to the Censorship vote, the prior City Commissioner asked a city employee to meet him at a restaurant near his place of business. During the meeting, the City Employee was told that if I would not run for another term as Mayor, the Commissioner would drop the censorship vote. The City Employee has agreed to swear under oath and/or take a lie detector test to prove that this meeting actually happened."
Although not named, the former commissioner in question is Kyle Becker, who gave the censure presentation in 2023 and wrote the language in the resolution.
Because of the nature of this accusation, I contacted Nelson and asked him these questions:
- Who is the City employee who met with Becker?
- Why didn't Becker's alleged actions come out immediately and before the censure vote instead of almost a year later?
- Why hasn't the City employee already taken the lie detector test or made his statement under oath?
- Why make this allegation from an anonymous City employee when you had weeks to create your response and could have brought the person to the meeting if they were willing to make an under-oath statement?
Nelson did not respond to those questions.
*****
A month after the accusation, Becker returned to the City Council and read the following statement:
“To avoid mincing my words, I’ve written a statement to ensure I say exactly what needs to be said to address comments made during the City Council meeting on June 19, 2024.
During Business Item Number 7, where the Commissioners were asked by the Mayor to consider rescinding the successful censure of Mayor Nelson passed by the Council majority on August 2, 2023 for lying about the employment status of our previous city attorney, there was an outrageous accusation made of me by the Mayor.
As documented and passed in the meeting minutes from the beginning of today’s meeting, I’ll read the exact quote from Mayor Nelson, even though his statement incorrectly used the word ‘censorship’ vs. the correct use of ‘censure’.
And I quote:
“The censorship (sic) was brought forward by a former city commissioner for political reasons and had nothing to do with good public policy. Prior to the censorship (sic) vote, the city commissioner asked a city employee to meet him at a restaurant near his place of business. During the meeting the city employee was told that if I would not run for another term as Mayor the commissioner would drop the censorship (sic) vote. The city employee has agreed to swear under oath or take a lie detector test to prove that this meeting actually happened.” – Mayor Nelson
End quote.
His accusation that I made a quid pro quo type of offer to a city employee is a complete fabrication, and not supported by any ounce of evidence. Said differently, it’s what normal individuals would call a lie.
I would like to call out and have you pay close attention to his words. He said the city employee has quote: “agreed to swear under oath or take a lie detector test to prove that this meeting actually happened” end quote. What the Mayor did not say was the employee would swear under oath or take a lie detector test to prove the quid pro quo request the Mayor has accused me of saying.
To that end, hold the cost of the lie detector test, as I freely admit I had lunch with a few city employees at restaurants around my office in Maitland during my service, all within the limitations of the city Charter. However, there was only one employee I had lunch with during the period leading up to the censure proceedings, and that was Mr. Glen Brooks on July 19, 2023. To claim, as the Mayor did, that I was the one to ask the employee to the restaurant flies in the face of his “facts are a funny thing” mantra. The real fact is that Mr. Brooks texted me, to which I actually have evidence, on July 12, 2023 at 2:13PM with the following message: quote “You available tomorrow or Friday for lunch? I can come towards your work if that would be better?” end quote.
The lunch itself was at Applebee’s on Southhall Lane in Maitland, and I would have a tough time believing Mr. Brooks could or would a) claim I made the quid pro quo request the Mayor accused me of saying, or b) say that the primary intention for the meeting was anything other than discussing Mr. Brooks’ funding priorities for water expenditures in the Public Services budget being discussed in the city budget workshops the week following our lunch.
All said, this is yet another pathetic example of this Mayor falsely disparaging my name in a public hearing, with zero evidence to support his outlandish claim. This from a person who at every turn has the audacity to say I am the one playing politics.
Apopka, you deserve better…so demand better…and more importantly…vote for better. Thank you.”
Although he is a former commissioner and vice mayor, Becker made his statement to the Council as a public comment. Afterward, no one from the Council responded or asked Nelson to account for his accusation.
*****
You made this statement during the censure recension discussion, Mayor Nelson:
"I'm asking for my censorship vote from August 2nd 2023, to be removed from the records. The basis of the censorship vote was over the departure of our former City Attorney Michael Rodriguez. I'm bringing this item up because on October 13, the Florida commission on ethics received complaint #23-253 and began an investigation on me including the same issue the censorship was based on. The Ethics Commission investigated all allegations in the complaint and on June 7, they adopted the recommended recommendation of "no probable cause to believe Mr. Nelson violated the constitutional amendment prohibiting abuse of office for a disproportionate benefit and misused his position regarding the termination of the city attorney" and they have dismissed the complaint filed against me."
You obviously have respect for the Florida Commission on Ethics to hang your hat for reversing your censure on their findings, even though they also stated this about your conduct:
"Even after providing his letter of resignation, Respondent continued to withhold the truth of the nature of Rodriguez's employment from the City Council during meetings and therefore withheld this information from the public. This action is puzzling."
If you are using the Ethics Commission as an objective arbiter of your actions, what do you think their findings would be on this matter? Do you think they would clear you of making an accusation and then not proving your claim?
Mayor Nelson, I call on you to take immediate and transparent action. I would urge you to make known the City employee who alleged this story to you and allow that person to stand before the Council with their allegations. If that is not possible, I would urge you to retract your statement, explain why you made the allegation, and apologize.
Unfortunately, as much as I want this issue to go away, the Council needs to get to the bottom of Nelson's accusation. I know it may seem like we are already at rock bottom in many ways, but a mayor simply cannot make statements like that from the dais without proving their words.
You must restore trust and integrity to the Apopka City Council.
