Brevard attorney group 'reschedules' award for Sheriff Ivey amid election interference allegations

A board member for the Brevard Bar Foundation said its decision to name Sheriff Wayne Ivey its 2022 Community Leader of the Year has been "rescheduled," but would not say if the attorney group was reconsidering Ivey for the award amid allegations the sheriff tried to interfere in local elections, including a county judge race.

Melbourne attorney Michael Kahn, the foundation's treasurer, said on Thursday that the board had voted to "reschedule the award" after allegations from Assistant State Attorney Kimberly Musselman, a candidate for County Court Group 4, surfaced earlier this month.

He declined to clarify whether that meant the nonprofit was scheduling a new vote for the award or simply postponing the announcement of Ivey's selection.

"When the allegations came out involving a judicial campaign, it was appropriate — because we are (an attorney-centered) organization — that we take a step back," Kahn said.

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Kahn was the only one of the organization's six sitting board members to respond to inquiries from FLORIDA TODAY. Foundation President G. Paul Lemieux, of Lemieux Elder Law in Melbourne, did not return multiple calls and emails.

Ivey did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Musselman told FLORIDA TODAY that Ivey had pressured her to drop out of the county court race and offered to get her elected or appointed State Attorney for the 18th Judicial Circuit if she agreed. Ivey has endorsed one of Musselman's opponents, attorney Renee Torpy, for the seat.

Musselman's claims followed similar allegations from two other candidates — Chris Hattaway for County Commission, and Shawn Overdorf for School Board — who said Ivey had used offers of political jobs worth up to $50,000 a year or more to lure them out of their races and support his favored candidates.

Election issues: Two candidates say Sheriff Ivey tried to get them to drop out, offered jobs in exchange

If the allegations are true, legal experts have said Ivey could be guilty of felony violations of the Florida elections code or, in the cases of Hattaway and Overdorf, felony bribery.

It was unclear Friday when the board decided to grant Ivey the award. Kahn said the vote occurred months before the allegations. However, according to attorney Riley Beam, the group's former secretary, it may have happened as late as the board's July 19 meeting, nearly a week after FLORIDA TODAY reported the original allegations from Hattaway and Overdorf.

The Brevard Bar Foundation, like most nonprofits, does not post its board minutes to its public website, and no other board members responded to corroborate the date of the vote.

Kahn declined to say which board member nominated the sheriff for the award.

Beam, who said he resigned from the board weeks ago for unrelated reasons and was not present at the meeting during which the vote was taken, was one of several Brevard attorneys who were unhappy with the choice of Ivey for Community Leader of the Year, given the allegations.

"I would have voted against it, myself," Beam said. "I would have been pretty vocal about it if I had been there."

Jay Thakkar, president of the Brevard County Bar Association, the county's other major attorney group, declined to comment on the selection.

The Community Leader of the Year award was created to honor Brevard County citizens who have made "substantial contributions to improve and enhance public awareness and understanding of the many and varied contributions of lawyers in the community," according to the Brevard Bar Foundation website.

Kahn said Ivey was chosen "based upon the many community events that Sheriff Ivey was a part of or initiated ... and programs that he was responsible for."

Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or esrogers@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter: @EricRogersFT.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Attorneys 'reschedule' award for Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey