The Florida Commission on Ethics (FLCOE) during its September 13 meeting will consider an advisory opinion on whether or not Milton Mayor Heather Lindsay can ethically accept a preferential-rate loan and/or donations via the GoFundMe platform to assist with attorney fees, stemming from a lawsuit filed against her by the City.
The City of Milton in May 2024 filed a lawsuit agiainst Lindsay, alleging she refused to turn over public records. She denies the allegations and her related attorneys fees have exceeded $20,000 since she was fired May 22 from her day job as an assistant city attorney for the City of Pensacola.
Subsequently, Lindsay in July reached out to FLCOE staff, explaining that her college roommate loaned her money to cover attorney fees and asking how to report no interest loans. She also asked if a GoFundMe account could be started to further assist with legal bills.
“Your ethics inquiry raises a lot of difficult questions which might be best addressed with a formal, binding opinion from the Commission on Ethics,” replied Steven Zuilkowski, deputy executive director & general counsel for the FLCOE.
Lindsay consented. Accordingly, the matter will be heard during the next FLCOE meeting, which will take place at 8:30 a.m. EDT, September 13 on the third floor courtroom of the First District Court of Appeal, located at 2000 Drayton Drive, Tallahassee, Florida.
FLCOE will consider approval of the draft advisory opinion, written by staff, which states:
“The mayor of a municipality may accept a preferential rate on a loan from a friend who is not a vendor doing business with her agency, a political committee, a lobbyist who uses her agency, or the partner, firm, employer, or principal of a lobbyist of her agency (prohibited sources), but most disclose the prefential rate if the difference between (1) the total interest that will be paid through the life of the loan the reporting individual actually accepted and (2) the total interest that would be paid through the life of an unsecured personal loand of the same loan amount at a contemporary, commercially-available, fair-market interest rate exceeds $100.”
Furthermore, the draft opinion states quarterly disclosures must be submitted via Form 9 filings.
As for the GoFundMe account, the draft opinion states that none of the aforementioned prohibited sources may be solicited for a GoFundMe account, including “general or collective requests to a community or group.”
“Letting the general public know that you needor want their money and will accept their donations is by its bery nature a solicitation.” Therefore, if a GoFundMe account is created it should list those who are prohibited from donating and ensure any anonymous donations greater than $100 are not from prohibited sources.
