Florida Commission on Ethics recommends Doug Underhill be removed from office

The Florida Commission on Ethics is asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to remove Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill from office and impose a fine of $35,000.

The ethics commission met in Tallahassee on Friday and voted 6-1 to recommend that Underhill be removed from office for disclosing a county "shade meeting" transcript before the litigation was officially concluded and be fined the maximum of $10,000.

The commission also recommended that Underhill be fined $6,250 for each of four additional ethics violations of gift disclosure laws and solicitation donations from a county vendor or lobbyist, bringing the total recommended fine to $35,000.

Recommended order: Commissioner Doug Underhill faces censure, reprimand and $5K fine, but not removal

Previous recommendation: Florida ethics commission attorneys recommend that Doug Underhill be removed from office

The recommendation will be sent to DeSantis, who will decide whether to enforce the order.

Underhill's term in office is set to end Nov. 22.

Three complaints filed against Underhill in 2020

Underhill has been defending the ethics complaints against him for more than a year. Three complaints were filed in against him in 2020 by three Escambia County residents, including Pensacola businessman David Bear.

Underhill has often criticized Bear and his family's contributions to local political candidates.

An administrative law judge ruled in August that Underhill should be fined $5,000 and face a public reprimand. Additional legal filings with the ethics commission since the ruling have increased the recommended fine to $12,500.

During the hearing Friday, members of the ethics commission opted to increase the penalties to impose a maximum penalty.

Former Florida Senate President and Ethics Commission member Don Gaetz made the motion to recommend Underhill's removal from office.

Gaetz expressed frustration with delays in bringing the case to a conclusion.

"This individual needs to be removed from office," Gaetz said. "Now the fact is there have been delays which, in my view, were designed to drag this matter out so that he be very near the end of his term. Notwithstanding that fact, I believe this commission should not take cognizance of how much time he has left in his term and should agree with the advocate that he be removed from office."

Underhill calls decision by ethics commission 'political'

Underhill told the News Journal Friday that the decision by the ethics commission was "political" and pointed to Gaetz's comments.

"By trying to ensure that I will never run for office again, they eliminate the one person who's had the courage to speak up against the Bear family and the Gaetz family and the power that they wield inappropriately," Underhill said.

Underhill said he plans to appeal the commission's ruling but also said he believes DeSantis will be receptive to his arguments.

"I think the governor is far more sophisticated than the Gaetz-Bear money and influence," Underhill said. "I think he will be very receptive to the rest of the story. Our governor is a very sophisticated politician who recognizes a political hit piece when he sees it."

Bear told the News Journal on Friday he believes the ethics commission made the right decision.

"Commissioner Underhill continues to blame his actions on everything and everybody else, which shows his lack of contrition," Bear said. "This is why the commission has recommended his removal. To say all of these actions are politically motivated is to say these judges — including those with life tenure — the Florida Attorney General's Office and distinguished commission members are corrupt. How can everyone reviewing his actions be wrong except him?"

Release of transcripts from 'shade meeting' at heart of case

In August, the administrative law judge said the release of the transcript was the "most serious" violation by Underhill.

Underhill released a transcript of the County Commission executive session meeting, known as a "shade meeting," that concerned a legal battle involving the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority and the Innerarity Island sewer system.

Underhill released the transcripts when a settlement had been reached in the case, but it had not been approved or implemented.

"Mr. Underhill knew not to do it, and yet he did it anyway," Elizabeth Miller, an attorney acting as a prosecutor in the case, said at the hearing Friday.

The other violations involved Underhill's failure to disclose gifts related to his legal defense fund and an unpaid 2017 legal bill with the Clark Partington law firm that represented a conflict of interest until it was paid in 2020.

The only ethics commission member to oppose the action Friday was former Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek.

Waldman said he thought the original judge's ruling was "very reasoned" and thought the commission was making its own findings of fact beyond the ruling.

"I think we've gone off on a tangent here where we're making this much larger than what it is," Waldman said.

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Doug Underhill: Ethics commission asks DeSantis to remove commissioner