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State ethics panel finds no misuse of office by former mayor

Largo's Pam Corbino tried to get an official's S ocial Security number .

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published November 9, 2006

SAFETY HARBOR - The Florida Commission on Ethics has found no probable cause to believe that former mayor Pam Corbino misused her position to try to obtain a fellow city commissioner's Social Security number.

Corbino, who had become target for a petition drive to run her out of office, resigned in July after public information officer Julie Yaeger told then-City Manager Wayne Logan that Corbino had discreetly asked for Commissioner Kathleen Earle's information.

On Oct. 20, the commission followed the recommendation of its advocate Linzie Bogan to not pursue the complaint.

"While it certainly appears likely that (Corbino) attempted to secure (Earle's) Social Security number from Ms. Yaeger, there is no indication that (she) sought the information for the purpose of securing a special benefit for herself or others," Bogan wrote in an analysis.

Rather, Bogan added, Corbino told the state she wanted Earle's Social Security number "because she was under the impression that (Earle) had not been truthful when reporting where she had lived in Safety Harbor for a period of time."

That means Corbino was trying to explore Earle's "qualification for public office," Bogan wrote.

In other words, he added, she acted "in furtherance of a valid public purpose, to wit: ferreting out an elected official who may have lacked the necessary legal qualifications to hold public office."

Bogan also said that once Yaeger told Corbino she couldn't ethically give the mayor the information, there was no evidence Corbino used her power to press on.

Earle, who says she lived in the city for the required time before running for the commission, said, "I'm very pleased that she acknowledges that she was trying to find out my personal information. She could have saved us a lot of trouble by just asking."

According to a report by Commission on Ethics investigator Ronald Moalli, Corbino denied she asked Yaeger for Earle's Social Security number.

"Mayor Corbino maintains that during their conversation, she stated, 'If I had her Social Security number, I could gather more information to get a definitive answer' " whether Earle had lived in the city for one year prior to running for office, as required, he wrote.

"Although denying that she directly asked Ms. Yaeger for Commissioner Earle's Social Security number, Mayor Corbino acknowledged that Ms. Yaeger could have concluded that she was being asked to supply the information," Moalli added. "Mayor Corbino contends 'My sole intent was to try to gather more information and see if she really had lived here.' She said that if she was able to ascertain the Social Security number she was going to contact her attorney and ask him to hire an investigator to 'look into it.' "

Corbino told Moalli that she had been unaware that Social Security numbers are confidential.

[Last modified November 8, 2006, 23:37:22]