A paid lobbyist footed a $594 meal by Tamarac city leaders during an excursion to Washington, D.C. — a reminder of how elected officials must stay vigilant about the limits on accepting gifts, according to the Broward Office of the Inspector General.
Officials need “to be mindful of the potential pitfalls surrounding dining out with a lobbyist, vendor, or contractor,” the inspector general says.
The inspector general’s findings were outlined in a 37-page report released Thursday that show the city’s lobbyist, Valerie Gelnovatch-Massolo of The Ferguson Group, arranged a nine-person dinner at Clyde’s of Gallery Place on March 29, 2023.
Tamarac City Commissioners Kicia Daniel, Elvin Villalobos, Morey Wright and Marlon Bolton, City Manager Levent Sucuoglu, and the chief of staff attended, along with the lobbyist.
City officials make an annual trek to the nation’s Capitol “to meet with the city’s federal lobbyist, federal legislators, and granting agencies to discuss the city’s needs and any grant opportunities available to the city,” according to investigators.
The dinner’s receipt showed two credit card payments, which totaled $594.46, for the three-hour dinner at Table 301, including entrees such as salmon, a cowboy ribeye and lamb, salads, desserts of sundaes and creme brulee, and drinks including Moscato.
Who ate what isn’t clear. Wright told investigators he ate dinner, and Villalobos said he had one alcoholic beverage but left early because of an argument at the table.
“Some attendees told the OIG that they were distracted by a disagreement at the dinner between two commission members that almost became physical and could not recall who ate that night or what they ordered,” investigators wrote.
Daniel sat at a separate table because it was her birthday, and she was celebrating with her family, investigators said her husband paid the bill.
Bolton, who is a pastor, had expensed with the city breakfasts, lunches and dinners between March 28-30 worth $170, the inspector general said. When interviewed about the city’s March 29, 2023, dinner with the lobbyist, he told investigators that “because he fasts during Lent, he believed he did not consume any food during the dinner but, if he did not fast, the city would have paid for the meal,” according to the inspector general.
Looking forward
The ethics watchdog didn’t find misconduct and declined to recommend charges. It said everyone had testified that the city manager used his city credit card to pay for group meals when dining with them, and he had also been at the dinner, “and given that our investigation did not uncover any facts showing that the commission members knew that the City Manager did not pay, we did not conclusively determine that they knew that the City’s Federal Lobbyist paid for dinner on March 29, 2023.”
In fact, the meal came a day after the lobbyist had arranged a dinner at the Founding Farmers and Distillers Restaurant, and the city manager picked up the alcohol bill with his personal credit card and the $326.95 food bill with his city credit card.
Still, “while we did not find that any of the commission members committed misconduct here, we write to remind all Broward’s elected officials to be cognizant of gifts they may be receiving, as to not run afoul of the gift prohibitions in the Ethics Code,” investigators wrote in their report.
The city manager told investigators that the lobbyist told him “that she would take care of the food and drinks and bill the city for it later.”
But investigators found that the lobbyist paid for this dinner with her credit card, and she told investigators “she could not recall why she paid for this dinner,” and as of Wednesday, “no one had reimbursed either the lobbyist or her Firm for any of the $594.46 that she paid for the meal.”
The inspector general noted how Broward’s elected officials should be mindful of the ethics code, which prohibits accepting any gift with a value that exceeds $5 from a lobbyist, vendor, or contractor. The report also came with a recommendation that “the City and the elected officials who attended the dinner determine the portion of the meals and beverages they are responsible for, pay that portion, and report those payments to the public without further delay.”
“The OIG reminds all of Broward’s elected officials that the Ethics Code states it is their responsibility to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, that there are gift prohibitions within the Ethics Code, and that officials should be vigilant in ensuring they hold themselves to the highest ethical standards,” investigators wrote.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com . Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash
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