By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Here’s a real kick in the wallet to all Floridians struggling to deal with their legal responsibilities and financial obligations.
The Florida Ethics Commission last week decided to give up on collecting about $160,000 in fines levied against public officials who did not turn in financial disclosure forms, or gave erroneous information on them.
The Miami Herald reported that the commission would at least continue to go after 15 scofflaws who owe $15,000 from 2002, the same year that the other fines were levied against 137 other state workers and officials.
“The Florida Ethics Commission drew a line on writing off old financial disclosure fines Friday,” the first sentence of the story explained.
Settling for 10 percent is the kind of line that many would like the Internal Revenue Service to draw.
The difference between the 15 who will continue to be pursued and the 137 who won’t is that the 137 are no longer employed by the state of Florida — that is, by you and me. With the statute of limitations expired on the 2002 fines, the state (and collection agencies) have no leverage with those who no longer work for the state.
Not that it’s using much leverage with the 15 who still work for Florida. The commission’s chairman, Robert Sniffen, offered to contact the delinquents’ state bosses, but commissioners didn’t act on his suggestion. So Sniffen told his staff to “just keep doing what you’re doing to try to get that rate of compliance up.” And, with respect “to those who simply avoid their obligations,” Sniffen asked his staff to recommend ways “that we can aggressively attempt to secure those moneys.”
So who are the folks picking up these fines, and how do they get in trouble?
One example is state Rep. John Tobia of Melbourne (check out the March 23 item in the Brevard Watchdog), a college professor who apparently didn’t read the instructions. And there’s Jose Herrera, the part-time city attorney for the Miami suburb of Virginia Gardens.
Herrera, one of the 15 still being pursued by the commission, told The Herald that he hadn’t thought he owed the $1,500. And then he said that when he eventually tried to settle it, the commission never responded.
In an attempt to finally pressure him to pay, the commission reported Herrera to a credit bureau.
And now, rather than just paying the fine, Herrera says he will sue if the commission tries to force him to pay.
“They are not going to be able to intimidate anybody,” he told The Herald.
Seems it might be easier just to pay. And it’s not as if lawyers and lawmakers can’t afford it. The Palm Beach Post recently reported that 50 state legislators are millionaires.
But then, why would you pay if non-payment has been rewarded in the past?
In its June meeting, the commission gave up on $200,000 worth of fines from 2001.
And more forgiveness is expected in coming months.