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State inquiry will target raises

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: October 24, 2009

Updated: 10/24/2009 12:33 am

TAMPA - The state Commission on Ethics will officially investigate the actions of Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean and County Attorney Renee Lee regarding 1 percent raises they got in 2007.

George Niemann, a board member of the activist group United Citizens Action Network, filed ethics complaints against Bean and Lee in September. He alleged Bean violated ethics statutes when she approved the pay raise for herself and Lee without notifying the Hillsborough County Commission. Lee issued an opinion that the raises were legal.

On Friday, Niemann provided The Tampa Tribune with letters from a state ethics investigator saying the agency found the complaints against Bean and Lee were "sufficient for investigation."

"I'm hoping the ethics commission will do a thorough job and look under every rock because the facts seem to indicate wrongdoing," Niemann said.

The ethics commission does not comment on whether it is investigating a case until a probable cause hearing determines the targets of an investigation likely broke the law.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also reviewing the pay raises, according to county Commissioner Kevin Beckner, although the review has not risen to the level of a full-fledged investigation.

Bean, who could not be reached for comment Friday, has said she approved the raises for herself and other department directors, including Lee, as a reward for saving the county $17 million in efficiencies over two years. The raises were allowed under a senior management award program approved by the county commission in 2000. Bean said she doesn't know who nominated her for the raise.

Lee sent a response to the ethics commission two weeks ago saying she didn't violate any laws. In an interview last week, Lee said she didn't give herself the raise and was acting within the law by issuing an opinion that her pay raise was legal.

She said the law "says no local government attorney will be prevented from considering any matter affecting his or her salary expense or other compensation as a local government attorney."

On Wednesday, county commissioners discussed the raises but took no action on Commissioner Mark Sharpe's request to have the issue reviewed by an outside attorney.

Niemann has also filed an ethics complaint against county Commissioner Kevin White, citing a federal jury's verdict in August that White used the power of his office to sexually harass former aide Alyssa Ogden.

White has declined to comment on the matter.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.

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