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Corrections worker's campaign in question
By DAN DeWITT BROOKSVILLE -- The candidacy of Gregory Williams, who is challenging state Rep. David Russell Jr., may be in jeopardy because he is a state employee. Williams works as a corrections supervisor for the Department of Corrections. Department officials are currently reviewing state law to see if he will be allowed to run for or serve as the District 44 representative. Williams, a 42-year-old Democrat who also campaigned for the office in 2000, said he can understand prohibitions on serving, because of possible conflicts of interest. He cannot, however, imagine how the law could keep him from running, he said. "My question is, legally and constitutionally, 'Can you deny someone from running?' " he said. "I think it's terrible that state citizens are being denied their right to run for office." If the Department of Corrections does forbid him from challenging Russell, he said, he has not decided whether he will quit his job or his candidacy. Williams, who has never held public office, defeated Democrat Diane TeStrake in 2000. Though he finished 10 percentage points behind Russell, R-Brooksville, he drew more votes than many observers expected against an incumbent. The future of Williams' campaign depends on two sections of state law, said Sterling Ivey, spokesman for the Department of Corrections. The Constitution stipulates that, "No person shall hold at the same time more than one office under the government of the state and the counties and municipalities therein." The relevant state law says "no employee in the career service shall: Hold, or be a candidate for, public office while in the employment of the state." "Mr. Williams is an extremely nice man and he's unfortunately become part of something that is beyond him," Ivey said. Ivey said Williams asked for and received permission to run in 2000. That request, however, was granted at a lower level than this one, Ivey said. "Apparently nobody noticed (the state laws) last time," he said. Both Williams and a representative from the state's Department of Management Services said the law forbidding the candidacy for career service employees probably does not apply to Williams. "Career service" is a category of state workers who do not supervise others; it does not include Williams, who is a supervisor, he said. The Department of Mangement Services said the constitutional provision does apply. But Phil Claypool, general counsel for the Florida Commission on Ethics, said it may not. In the past, his office has interpreted the word "office" to include only high-ranking officials -- city managers or county administrators for example. He said he could not remember any state employees that have also held state office, though several others have held jobs with public agencies that receive funding from the state. The most notable local example was of this was Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite, who was hired by the Southwest Florida Water Management District two years ago; Claypool wrote the decision stating there was no legal reason she should not take the job, from which she has since resigned.
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From today's Hernando Times |
