Ethics and the City Council

The Pensacola City Council will hear from Planning Board member Scott Sallis on Thursday. Unfortunately, the council will not hear from the planning department about their role on his vote that violated the state’s ethics laws.

Here is how the council discussion went at the Agenda Review yesterday:

Council, Sallis to tackle ethics questions
by Jeremy Morrison

Although it will not conduct a formal inquiry, the Pensacola City Council plans to hear from architect Scott Sallis concerning his recent actions as a member of the city’s planning board.
“I think there’s enough questions where we need to clear this up,” said Councilman Charles Bare, who originally pushed for an inquiry.

In July, Sallis spoke in favor of and voted for an item being brought before the planning board by his client and presented by his business partner. Both he and board Chairman Paul Ritz stated during the meeting that the participation was allowed — contrary to standard ethics laws pertaining to conflicts of interests — because Sallis was the board’s designated architect. Both men subsequently said such a position had been laid out by city staff, although it was shortly verified during a conference call between Sallis, the city and the Florida Commission on Ethics that such an interpretation didn’t jive legally.

“I think we need to get to the bottom of this and find out what the real answer is,” Bare told the council, referencing an assurance he says came from City Administrator Eric Olson that city staff had not cleared the planning board member to vote on items which presented such conflict of interest issues.

Councilwoman Sherri Myers questioned the need — and council’s ability to pull off the necessary logistics — for a formal inquiry. She suggested the council simply ask Sallis to explain his position.

“To me, it’s just a simple matter of ‘Has anyone asked him directly: who told you this?’” Myers said. “He’s here. Why don’t we ask him?”

Sallis sat in the back of the meeting room. Prior to the meeting’s start, he had mentioned his intention to offer a more concise version of a statement he made on the matter at last week’s planning board meeting.

Although Monday was an agenda review session — where council places items on its formal agenda, as opposed to discussing them at length — Council President Andy Terharr invited the architect to the public lectern to speak.

“I have learned a great deal since that planning board meeting in July,” Sallis began. “It is not true to say that the city directed me to —”

Terharr cut Sallis off. He explained that the council only needed to know if the planning board member would voluntarily come to Thursday’s meeting for a discussion.

“Absolutely,” Sallis said. “Of course I will be there.”

Also to be discussed at Thursday’s council meeting will be the item which sparked the ethics questions in July, a request by private property owners for the city to vacate a portion of right of way along Bay Boulevard — Sallis’s architecture firm works for the applicants. The council meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at Pensacola City Hall.