Jaleski files ethics complaint

Longbeach Village resident Gene Jaleski filed a complaint with the Florida Elections Commission last week, alleging the town prematurely removed information from the town’s website that manipulates a looming referendum vote Nov. 3.

Jaleski confirmed to the Longboat Observer Monday that he filed a complaint with the Florida Election Commission.

At the crux of Jaleski’s complaint is the town’s removal of information about how costs of a $20.5 million neighborhood underground utilities project would be allocated.

The Longboat Key Town Commission directed Town Manager Dave Bullock in a special meeting Sept. 28 to put the framework and funding for a neighborhood and side street project on hold. Commissioners will only revisit a funding formula for the neighborhood utilities project if the Gulf of Mexico Drive project referendum passes in November.

“I feel the town violated the law,” Jaleski said. “They illegally removed data from the town website that taxpayer dollars paid for.”

Jaleski claims the town acted in error when it voted to remove the parcel funding information from the website without properly advertising the hearing “because it was casting an unpopular light on the commission’s Gulf of Mexico Drive referendum.”

“This decision deprives taxpayers and voters of a complete picture of what the commission is attempting to foist off on the community,” Jaleski said.

Amy Toman, executive director of the Tallahassee-based Florida Elections Commission, confirmed Monday that the complaint was registered, but the Elections Commission can’t speak to the merit of the complaint.

“When complaints are filed, they are confidential until there is a determination of probable cause,” Toman said.

The Elections Commission doesn’t release complaints until reviewing and ruling on them. The next quarterly meeting to review complaints is in February.

Town Clerk Trish Granger and Town Attorney Maggie Mooney-Portale declined to comment on the complaint because they are unable to speak about it under state statute requirements.

Mooney-Portale said the town is in the process of engaging special legal counsel to address the issue. The cost to hire special legal counsel is unknown at this time.

Jaleski and three other residents in attendance at an educational forum about the GMD project held Sept. 28 before the special meeting repeatedly asked questions about the neighborhood project.

Jaleski said at the Sept. 28 meeting that he believes the town took down funding information from its website prematurely.

Mooney-Portale responded to Jaleski’s claim by saying there was no neighborhood referendum question on the table for the town to consider.

“There’s no (neighborhood) referendum,” Mooney-Portale said Sept. 28. “There’s nothing legally improper.”

The commission reached consensus to remove the information during the comments portion of its Sept. 9 regular meeting,  a move that Jaleski believes is improper because the decision wasn’t validated by the commission until a Sept. 28 vote.

Jaleski and a few other residents have said they don’t want to vote on the GMD project without knowing more about the second project and how it will be funded.

Jaleski warned the town of the pending complaint in a Sept. 29 email to Mayor Jack Duncan.

“I do not need to remind you that Florida elections are tightly controlled by state statutes,” Jaleski wrote. “The latest legal faux pas should not have occurred, possibly leading to valid legal complaints to the Florida Elections Commission.”

“They tried to influence the election,” Jaleski said. “I’m in favor of undergrounding but not the way it’s being done. I will fight this every inch of the way because I think it’s illegal.”