Ethics commission finds probable cause against Randy Fine in dispute with West Melbourne

A state commission found probable cause that Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) violated ethics rules last year when he allegedly threatened to veto funding to the city of West Melbourne over a dispute with school board member Jennifer Jenkins.

The new report from the ethics committee overturns the findings of an advocate with the Florida Attorney General's office, which previously said there was not enough evidence to support the complaint, brought by Jenkins.

According to the Florida Commission on Ethics findings released Wednesday, members "found probable cause to believe that [Fine] abused his position to obtain a disproportionate benefit and that he misused his position by threatening to take away State funding over a personal feud with a Brevard County School Board member, and that he interfered in a council member's response to a public records request for communications related to thedispute."Fine responded to the commission's findings, issuing a statement via text message to FLORIDA TODAY Wednesday night. He called the commission a "kangaroo court" and said its findings were politically motivated. "It is clear to me, based on Jim Waldman's motion that the kangaroo court that is the Florida Commission on Ethics has a personal axe to grind with myself and my politics," Fine said of the body and one of its Democratic appointees.

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What is the issue involving Fine about?

Fine last April told West Melbourne City Councilman John Dittmore that state funding for the Special Olympics and a city flood risk reduction project was "at risk" because city police officials had invited Jenkins to participate in a Special Olympics fundraiser held by the West Melbourne Police Department, but failed to invite Fine, according to the series of texts obtained by FLORIDA TODAY.

All five school board members had been invited but only Jenkins agreed to attend.

"Jenkins just put your project and special Olympics funding on the veto list," Fine wrote.

Jenkins and FLORIDA TODAY filed public records requests after Dittmore posted to social media decrying Jenkins's participation in the event, going so far as to post an apology to Fine for her attendance. In his post, Dittmore said that Jenkins's opposition to Fine and other Republican politicians would unnecessarily politicize an event meant to be for charity.

Dittmore said that Fine, in a follow-up phone call, objected to the release of the text messages as part of the records request, and wanted a city attorney overseeing the request fired.

At the time of the alleged threat, Fine and Jenkins had been engaged in rancorous exchanges over a mask mandate at Brevard Public Schools, which Jenkins supported even though it ran afoul of a Gov. Ron DeSantis executive order.

Fine at the time denied making threats and denied telling Dittmore he wanted city attorney Morris Richardson, who is now the Brevard County attorney, fired. But that is contradicted by Fine's own statements to the ethics commission. According to their findings, Fine acknowledged that he advised Dittmore that the city of West Melbourne should fire Richardson “because he did not understand the requirements for disclosing public records information.”

Fine also has long noted that the $460,000 city project and about $1 million in various appropriations for the Special Olympics were included as part of the state budget, passed last year by the Florida Legislature.

What happens now?

Lynn Blais, spokesperson with the Florida Commission on Ethics, said the outcome of the case and possible consequences for Fine will still need to be determined.

"Now it's in the hands of the commission advocate, which is an employee of the attorney general. There could either be a full evidentiary hearing before a judge or they could reach a stipulated agreement outside of that... about the violation and a penalty," Blais said. "Either way it would come back before the commission at some later date where they'd make a decision on a final action."

Penalties for state legislators are outlined in Florida statute, which says complaints are referred to "the appropriate committee for investigation and action which shall be governed by the rules of its respective house."

Findings by the ethics commission will be handed to the Florida House along with a recommended penalty. Members of the legislature would then be penalized by their respective house, in Fine's case the House of Representatives.

John Dittmore said he feels vindicated by the commission's findings. "I worked closely with the previous city attorney who's now the county attorney. My previous statements hold true," he said.

"When this came about, we followed the law and the city attorney was pretty specific about what was public record and what wasn't," Dittmore added. "We wanted to make sure that we did the right thing to avoid any appearances of impropriety on our part as far as public records and be completely transparent."

"I did feel at the time that Fine's threat was credible and based on that I immediately shared it with the city attorney," he said.

The commission considered a related complaint filed Dittmore but no probable cause was found.

Tyler Vazquez is the Brevard County and North Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Ethics commission: probable cause against Randy Fine in West Melbourne dispute