Even as Taxes and Fees Rise, Green Cove's Big Election Issue Is Food Truck Friday
Campaign Seeks To Label Council Challenger as a Party-Pooper
So, it appears that nobody filed an ethics violation against City Councilor Ed Gaw after all. At a council meeting earlier this month Gaw spoke solemly, announcing that he had consulted with a lawyer because of an ethics complaint over his role as a Food Truck Friday organizer.
Then, former city councilor, Gaw business partner and fellow FTF organizer Van Royal declared that the April 3 Food Truck Friday event had been canceled because of the ethics complaint, which, according to Royal, had been filed by Gaw’s opponent Tom Centracchio.
Except Centracchio filed no such complaint. Apparently, no one did.
Over the weekend, Ed Gaw used the Food Truck Friday Facebook page to make a statement reaffirming that the April event had been “temporarily paused,” which means it won’t happen, so canceled.
However, this time there was no reference to an “ethics complaint,” which is something that would have to be investigated by a state agency in Tallahasee. Instead, according to Gaw, the issue was “questions regarding the organizational structure” of Food Truck Friday.
“Out of an abundance of caution, and in consultation with counsel, we have temporarily paused the April 3rd event while we review and make any necessary adjustments to ensure full compliance moving forward,” Gaw wrote on Facebook.
According to those familiar with events, the people who questioned Gaw’s behavior included at least one fellow member of the City Council, who had spoken to City Attorney Jim Arnold because Gaw had been voting on matters pertaining to Food Truck Friday, instead of recusing himself.
Centracchio said he was not among those who had raised the issue with Arnold. He agreed, however, that Gaw probably should have refrained from voting on matters that affected Food Truck Friday and also recent upgrades to Walnut Street, where Gaw and Royal own a business together.
It’s not clear how canceling next weekend’s Food Truck Friday could compensate for any past procedural sins, but there is an election to consider on April 14—11 days after the canceled event.
Centracchio has campaigned on keeping taxes low, opposing fee increases and spending less. Gaw, whose incumbency has seen increases in taxes, fees and municipal debt, has campaigned on saving Food Truck Friday.
Gaw may have walked back the “ethics” rhetoric, but his surrogates on Facebook continue to cite the non-existent ethics complaint and blame Centracchio for his non-existent attack on Food Truck Friday (he says he is a FTF supporter himself).
Gaw’s critics say his reelection campaign message is like a hostage situation in which FTF had been threatened with extinction unless enough people vote for Gaw.1
Sign Complaint
In fact, Centracchio did file a complaint against the Gaw campaign, but it was because of an election law violation, nothing to do with ethics.
Even though it is a lesson from Electioneering 101, Gaw’s signs had failed to include the verbiage required under Florida law: "Political advertisement paid for and approved by (name of candidate).”
Once the Gaw campaign realized it was in violation, it had tiny stickers printed with the required disclaimer and went around putting them on the signs that had already been posted.
Podcasts
Hear what each candidate had to say in the podcasts below with Josh Allen.
