April's Food Truck Friday Will Be 'Suspended,' Organizer Says
Blames Mysterious 'Ethics Complaint' Against Council Incumbent Ed Gaw
Incumbent Green Cove Councilor Ed Gaw announced Tuesday that he is the subject of an ethics complaint regarding Food Truck Friday and had “engaged counsel” on the matter.
On the same day, out-of-office politician and Gaw’s Food Truck Friday business partner, Van Royal, told city officials that the April event was being suspended “pending the outcome of the ethics complaint.”
Food Truck Friday had been scheduled for April 3, the first Friday of the month. The municipal election happens 11 days later.
Complaints such as the one referenced by Gaw are customarily filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics. Kerrie Stillman is the director.
“I did not find a public record of a complaint being filed against Mr. Gaw, so I cannot confirm or deny the existence of any complaint filed against him,” Stillman told Clay News & Views yesterday. Stillman said the “confirm or deny” language is standard when a complaint search comes up negative.
Van Royal’s email to city officials also alleged that Gaw’s challenger for the council seat, Tom Centracchio, was the person that filed the complaint against Gaw. Van Royal offered no supporting evidence for that claim. Centracchio denied filing any such complaint and said he called Van Royal to tell him so.
In fact, according to the Ethics Commission, the specifics of a complaint and its author are confidential until after the commission has conducted its investigation. So, if there were a complaint, the commission would eventually reveal whether Van Royal or Centracchio was the liar. Such knowlege, however, might not come until after the election—again, assuming a complaint exists.
Gaw was asked how he knew that there was a complaint against him, given the state could not yet confirm its existence. Van Royal was asked how he was certain that Centracchio was the author of a complaint, given that he would be anonymous, if there were a complaint, and he was the author.
Neither Gaw nor Van Royal would respond to emails. Reached by phone, Gaw said he couldn’t talk.
City Councilor Darren Stutts is a Centracchio supporter. Stutts said he was certain that Centracchio didn’t make the complaint. “Tom swears he didn’t make that complaint and his people didn’t either,” Stutts said. City Councilor Glee Glisson said the same.
Then just as this article was about to be published. A second Van Royal email came to light in which Royal said on Wednesday that maybe Centracchio was not to blame. And it mentions City Attorney Jim Arnold as having a role in the controversy.
An ethics complaint against Gaw was not inconceivable, however, given that he has voted on Food Truck Friday issues arising after the city began its own financial support for the event. State law and ethics best practices regarding “conflicts of interest” require that legislators recuse themselves from any vote that touches on their outside money matters.
During council meetings Gaw sits a few feet away from City Attorney Arnold. One of Arnold’s jobs is to advise councilors about ethics requirements. CN&V asked Arnold whether he had ever advised Gaw to recuse himself from voting on Food Truck Friday matters before the council. Had anyone ever been raised the issue of a conflict? Arnold did not reply to the email.
Van Royal’s second email appears to have answered that last question.
Here, it should be noted that even Gaw’s critics do not think he has tried to profit in any way from Food Truck Friday. Gaw and Royal kickstarted the event in 2017 using funding from sponsors and from their own pockets. On Tuesday, Gaw said he had spent $140,000 of his own money on the event.
Gaw said the city began pitching in in 2023, setting aside $4,000 for each of nine Food Truck Fridays, March through November.
Earlier in the campaign, Gaw was criticized for politicizing Food Truck Friday on his campaign signs, an example of which can be seen atop this story. Critics took the sign as a threat and said Gaw’s defeat should not automatically spell doom for the popular event, as the city could take it over entirely.
Centracchio is on the record as being a Food Truck Friday supporter himself.