In ethics complaint, Polk commissioner accuses former chair of illegally pressuring others

Polk County Commissioner Neil Combee has filed a state ethics complaint against fellow commissioner George Lindsey, accusing the former board chair of privately pressuring two other members over a proposed tax for roads.

Combee shared a letter he sent to the Florida Commission on Ethics alleging that Lindsey used the promise of committee chair positions to persuade fellow Commissioners Martha Santiago and Rick Wilson not to publicly oppose placing the tax referendum on the ballot next year.

Florida’s “Sunshine laws” forbid commissioners from discussing any official business outside of public meetings. Combee said he had shared the information in his letter of complaint with Brian Haas, the state attorney for the 10^th Judicial Circuit.

The County Commission voted 4-1 in November to reject Lindsey’s motion for a ballot measure, despite pleas from more than a dozen municipal leaders to put the referendum to voters. Santiago and Wilson joined Combee and Commissioner Bill Braswell in voting against the proposal.

Combee and Braswell had repeatedly stated their opposition to the idea in the months leading up to the vote.

“I’m in my 20^th year (as a commissioner) over a period of several decades of doing this, and I've served with at least 19 people that I can recall,” Combee told The Ledger, “I've never heard of a commissioner doing this with a fellow commissioner. I mean, there's no other way to look at it. It’s just misconduct. It’s an abuse of power, trying to use the power of the chair to coerce desired behavior in private.”

Lindsey, who is in his third term and barred from seeking re-election next year, led an effort to place a referendum on the ballot for next fall allowing voters to enact a half-cent sales tax increase. Such a tax would have generated a projected $2.1 billion for road projects over 20 years, Lindsey said at the time. The county would have shared the revenue with cities and towns.

In his letter, Combee said that Lindsey knew Wilson wanted to be appointed chair of a committee formed to review properties for the county’s land conservation program, while Santiago wished to remain as chair of the Tourist Development Council. That body oversees the distribution of funds from tourism taxes.

Lindsey, elected as chair of the County Commission in November 2022, had the authority to appoint the committee chairs. He served as chair until Braswell was elected to the role in November this year.

At some point before the Nov. 21 vote on the tax, Combee alleges, Lindsey met privately with Wilson and said he was considering appointing himself as chair of the Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee, or CLASAC.

“Chairman Lindsey offered Wilson a deal, publicly support his tax Proposal or at the very least, not say a negative word about his proposal and he would appoint Wilson as Chairman,” Combee wrote in the letter.

Lindsey appointed Wilson as chair of the committee in April.

Combee alleged that Lindsey also met privately with Santiago, telling her that he was considering replacing her as TDC chair but would be willing to reappoint her if she expressed support for the tax proposal or at least did not publicly oppose it.

“Commissioner Santiago told Lindsey to leave her office and never threaten her again or she would file an ethics complaint against him,” Combee wrote.

Lindsey reappointed Santiago as chair of the TDC. Santiago did not respond to a message left Thursday by voicemail.

“It is clear Lindsey was abusing his power as Board Chairman in an attempt to coerce the appearance of support or to buy the silence of two county commissioners in his quest to have the referendum placed on the 2024 ballot,” Combee wrote.

He added: “This violation of Florida’s ‘Sunshine Law’ was not small talk or chit chat. This violation was a gross abuse of power by a seasoned elected official willing to cross the line to get his way. Consequently, he put two of his fellow commissioners an unacceptable situation.”

Kerrie Stillman, executive director of the Florida Commission on Ethics, said official complaints are exempt from public-records laws until the commission rules on an investigation. She would neither confirm nor deny receiving a complaint against Lindsey.

But Lindsey said Friday morning that he learned of Combee’s letter and contacted the Commission on Ethics, receiving confirmation that a complaint had been filed against him. Lindsey said he “took issue” with Combee’s allegations.

“It was pretty inflammatory,” Lindsey said of the letter. “I'll respond in the appropriate forum and not to the media. I don't know what the timetable is for all that, but whatever it is, it will be made public when it's concluded and, as far as I'm concerned, the sooner the better.”

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Lindsey suggested that Combee might have other motivations for filing a complaint against him, saying they had “crossed swords” many times over the years. Lindsey mentioned his opposition to a proposed increase in the homestead exemption when Combee was in the Florida Legislature, a referendum that if passed would have reduced property tax revenue to counties.

Lindsey also cited his vote in 2018 to remove Combee’s name from signs outside the county administration building in Bartow and his opposition to Combee’s push to have Polk County recognize a court ruling from Orange County requiring partisan elections for county constitutional officers. Lindsey said the change would benefit Combee, who is running next year for Polk County Property Appraiser as a Republican.

Lindsey also mentioned his support for Gow Fields, another Republican also seeking that position.

Combee dismissed the implication that he had ulterior motives for making the accusations against Lindsey. He said he never cared about having his name on the signs outside the administration building.

“My motivation is simple, that no board member now or in the future should be subject to conduct like this,” Combee said. “That’s the reason we have open-government laws. If you can’t talk about it in public, you don't need to be talking about it at all.”

Combee said he had learned about Lindsey’s alleged actions from another commissioner.

Wilson, reached by phone Thursday, expressed surprise when told of Combee’s letter.

“That's news to me,” Wilson said. “That's the first I've heard of anything, of Neil doing something like that.”

Asked if Lindsey had talked to him about the road tax outside of public meetings, Wilson said, “No, no, that wouldn't be a good thing if we did that. We’ve got to do it in public.”

Braswell did not respond to a voicemail left Friday morning.

Jacob Orr, a spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office, said Thursday that he did not have any information about a complaint from Combee.

Combee was first elected to the County Commission in 1988 and served four terms. He was elected to the Florida Legislature in 2012 and left five years later for an appointment as state director of the USDA Farm Service Agency. After an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2018, he gained election to the County Commission in 2020.

Lindsey acknowledged that the complaint will likely affect the workings of the County Commission.

“Oh, it certainly bruises it, that's for sure,” he said. “I’m disappointed that this episode has occurred, but will wait and see how it unfolds. But we’re still a professional board, and we’ll review the issues that come before us and make the appropriate motions and continue with the business of the county in the meantime. That's what we're elected to do, and that's what we'll all do.”

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Complaint accuses former Polk commission chair of backroom pressure