In response to a new Florida law, which requires that elected city and county officials disclose their holdings publicly in order to make conflicts of interest more visible, droves of said officials have been resigning.
It appears that they don't want people to know that they have been doing favors for clients, or for themselves, though they themselves cast it as an infringement on their liberty.
Yeah, fuck that:
You might be excused for wondering if a strange disease that only affects local government officials is suddenly sweeping across the state.
Why are so many small-town elected officials across Florida abruptly resigning?
- Most of the North Palm Beach Village Council have resigned, including the mayor, and Eagle Lake barely avoided losing a quorum.
- The Naples vice mayor announced his resignation on Dec. 31.
- Dunnellon’s mayor and a council member stepped down.
- Four out of the five St. Pete Beach city council members resigned.
- The mayors in Cedar Key and Williston announced their departures.
- At least eight elected officials in Pinellas County have left office or plan to, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
- Two Daytona Beach Shores city commissioners bailed, as have one in Fort Myers Beach. one in Jacksonville Beach and two in Bartow.
- Four of the five McIntosh Town Council members, two city council members in Orange City, and one n Sanibel are gone.
- The Town of Reddick lost the entire town council and the mayor.
Among the other new laws that took effect on Jan. 1, they had to reveal their finances in detail for the first time. A change to the Ethics Commission laws requires city and municipal elected officials to fill out something called Form 6, the same disclosure form that state and county elected officials have had to fill out for years. So would new candidates for office, which could frighten some people away from representing their communities.
Let me correct that last bit for you, it should read, "Which could frighten some corrupt rat-fucks from seeking elective office to enrich themselves."
………
Officials must reveal their entire net worth, including the dollar amounts of bank accounts, 401(k) plans and other assets. This includes household goods, personal effects, property, cash, stocks, bonds, CDs, business interests, beneficial interests in trusts, any money owed to the official, and investments in assorted accounts including the Florida College Investment Plan.
They must also list any source of income that provided more than $1,000 in the previous calendar year, and liabilities in excess of $1,000 with the name and address of each creditor.
So, if you owe a $½ million to a realtor looking for a zoning variance, you have to deduct it now.
You also have to declare clients, so if you are an assessor who gets 80% of your revenue from that same realtor looking for a zoning variance, you need to disclose that too.
To all those people leaving over this, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
You will not be missed.
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