Harvey Ward ethics complaint has legal sufficiency, according to Florida Ethics Commission

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Ward is running for the Gainesville City Commission District 2 seat.

An ethics complaint against City Commissioner Harvey Ward for soliciting campaign donations with a video filmed in his City office has been declared legally sufficient by the Florida Ethics Commission (FEC).

A press release from the FEC stated that at their March 6 meeting, 14 of the 15 complaints they considered were found to lack legal sufficiency. The 14 that were dismissed were listed in the press release. Mark Glaeser called the FEC and was told that the 15th (the only one found to be legally sufficient) was the complaint against Ward.

Once a complaint is found to be legally sufficient, it is assigned to a staff investigator, who undertakes a preliminary investigation. The Commission then determines whether there is probable cause to believe that ethics laws have been violated. From there, they decide whether the law was actually violated and, if so, determine a penalty.

The Florida Commission on Ethics is an independent nine-member commission formed in 1974 to review complaints filed under the statutory Code of Ethics and to answer questions from public officials about potential conflicts of interest through its issuance of advisory opinions.

If the Ethics Commission believes a violation of the law may have occurred, it may decide to hold a public hearing. If it concludes a violation has been committed, it may recommend civil penalties including removal from office or employment and fines up to $10,000 per violation.