Scales tipping against city commissioner
Ed Scales was wrong.
And he knows it.
The Key West city
commissioner had no business going to Tallahassee and lobbying for
something that would be of benefit to the company that pays his salary.
Instead, he needs to
remember not who pays the major portion of his salary but whom he
represents as a public servant.
We have the Sunshine Law
that has rules and regulations prohibiting our elected officials from
meeting "outside the sunshine" and making rules without citizen input.
We have common sense
rules that say you don't pretend to be someone you aren't. To do
otherwise is clearly unethical.
Ed Scales is general
counsel for Historic Tours of America, the company of which Ed Swift is
the major owner.
On this island, Scales'
job at HTA is a very prestigious one. Ed Swift, as far as we can tell,
doesn't hire dummies.
And Ed Scales is no
dummy. He knew what he was doing. He said in an e-mail to The Citizen
this week that "I, naively, never, ever anticipated" the perception of
conflict of interest.
He's also not naïve.
When he was testifying
essentially against Duck Tours Seafari Inc. and for the city in
Tallahassee, he was introduced as "Key West City Commissioner Ed
Scales." That's how the committee received him. He did nothing to
declare his affiliation with HTA, which faces a lawsuit from Duck Tours.
That was wrong, wrong,
wrong.
This case goes back 10
years when Duck Tours, owned by John Murphy, obtained an occupational
license, but was kicked off the island because the city said the Ducks
violated the city's non-compete franchise agreement with HTA.
When Murphy originally
sued the city, Circuit Court Judge Reagan Ptomey ruled in favor of the
city, but early last month, Florida's Third District Court of Appeal
found that the city law allowed a monopoly.
Last September, there was
a little item snuck into the city commission's "bulk" items that are
approved together without discussion. That resolution asked state
legislators to approve bills that would protect Key West and other
cities from antitrust cases involving transportation. It couldn't have
been more clear if Scales had stood up and led a cheer for HTA.
In December, following
the city's lead, state Rep. Ken Sorensen R-Key Largo, and Sen. Larcenia
Bullard, D-Miami, introduced bills that would protect Key West and other
cities from anti-trust lawsuits. A month ago, Scales went to Tallahassee
and lobbied before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on
Transportation and Economic Development, supporting the bill that would
support cities' rights to control commerce on their streets. He was
there representing the city; he did not reveal his association with HTA.
Friday, we learned that
the bill didn't get out of committee in the House or the Senate.
Other city commissioners
have said they didn't know that Scales was going to Tallahassee.
Scales now says he will
recuse himself from any item on the city agenda that involves city
street tour operators.
Of course, he will. But,
where was he when the resolution was being drawn up and submitted to the
city commission as a "bulk" item? City Attorney Bob Tischenkel said the
idea originated with Scales.
And, why now? When he was
a candidate for election a couple years ago, it was known that he served
as counsel for HTA, but the electorate in his district apparently didn't
care.
Now, he has flawed his
term of office.
Saying he didn't know he
was doing anything wrong doesn't cut it.
He has betrayed the trust
of the people in his district and in the city. |
