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Letter to the editor

Officials discount ethics complaint over King project

Frequent critic Curtis Holmes takes issue with fundraising efforts. Commissioners disagree.

By Lorri Helfand, Times Staff Writer
Published February 17, 2008

LARGO - City commissioners first welcomed the idea of creating a memorial to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. five years ago.

They planned to put it in a city park and recently earmarked $15,000 in public funds to help pay for the project.

But the way city critic Curtis Holmes sees it, the memorial is a purely private endeavor - and a recent one.

Holmes has filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics, claiming that Commissioner Rodney Woods misused his office because he tried to raise money for a private project while framing it as a city venture.

"The city has NOTHING to do with this and he knows that," Holmes, 58, wrote in a Jan. 28 complaint to the state.

The impetus for the filing, according to the complaint, was an e-mail Woods wrote to Gov. Charlie Crist, inviting Crist to an event to help Largo raise funds to build a memorial.

Mayor Pat Gerard called Holmes' complaint "ridiculous" and "baseless."

"It is a city project, partially funded through the city budget. The fact that he was out there trying to raise money for it is neither here nor there," Gerard said. "I would be surprised if the (ethics) commission doesn't just dismiss it out of hand."

Part of Holmes' case against Woods is the claim that Woods launched the effort to create a memorial after being elected to the commission in 2006.

But commissioners began discussing the idea years before Woods was elected.

Commissioner Harriet Crozier first proposed a memorial - a "Martin Luther King Circle of Peace and Humanity" in Largo Central Park - in June 2003. She made the suggestion after the city received bad press over friction with neighboring Ridgecrest, a community that is primarily black, she said.

Last week, while some commissioners said they disapproved of the e-mail sent by Woods because it was sent without feedback from the commission, several have no problem with Woods trying to raise funds for the memorial.

Both Woods and Vice Mayor Andy Guyette agreed at a city meeting last year to raise additional money for the project.

Woods' "guidance from us was to raise the money, and that was the task he undertook," Commissioner Gigi Arntzen said. "He was doing what he was told."

Friday, Crozier said her chief concern was that Woods invited the governor to an event that hadn't been organized yet.

If a public official is found to have violated the state code of ethics, possible penalties include impeachment, removal from office, public censure and reprimand, and a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation.

In the past, however, Holmes has had trouble making ethics complaints that stuck. Since 2002, he has filed two state ethics complaints against officials that were later dismissed.

Before hanging up on a Times reporter last week, Holmes said he made the complaint "because someone had to do it."

The complaint says Woods violated the provisions in the Florida Statutes that say no public officer "shall corruptly use" his position to secure a special privilege or benefit for himself or others.

Woods said Holmes' assertion that he somehow benefits from the project "shows great ignorance."

"I'm not putting the money in my pocket," Woods said.

Guyette said Woods attempted to raise funds for a memorial in a city park, not for himself.

"It's not for Rodney's gain," Guyette said. "I don't see how you can come up with a personal gain on that."

In recent months, Holmes has focused much of his criticism on Woods and the memorial.

In an e-mail to Woods last March, Holmes called Woods an a-- for supporting former City Manager Steve Stanton.

Last May, the Largo Police Department launched a criminal investigation into whether Holmes threatened or extorted Woods in a one-on-one meeting at City Hall.

Holmes denied the allegations. Police said they closed the case because no third party could corroborate either man's story.

In the months leading up to Holmes' unsuccessful run for the City Commission, Holmes opposed the memorial, saying the money would better be spent on sidewalks.

Woods previously said some project critics were motivated by racism, but last week he said he doesn't think Holmes is a racist.

"I don't think he's smart enough to be a racist," Woods said. "He has other problems. He just loves the attention."

[Last modified February 16, 2008, 21:06:37]