Commissioner White didn't disclose Bucs' skybox gift

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White and his wife watched a Tampa Bay Buccaneers football game last September from the Bucs' skybox -- a gift White should have disclosed on state ethics forms but didn't.

Elected officials are required to disclose any gift that is not from a family member if the gift's value exceeds $100. No gifts from lobbyists are allowed.

Responding to questions from a reporter Monday, White said he didn't think the value of the tickets exceeded $100 so he hadn't reported them.

White changed his mind a day later after talking to the county attorney's office and the Buccaneers, who said the tickets were valued at $395 each. White said he filed a disclosure form Tuesday, more than seven months late.

"It all depends on your interpretation of late," White said when asked why he waited so long to disclose the gift.

Ethics Commission spokeswoman Kerrie Stillman said a gift is to be reported no later than the end of the quarter following the quarter in which the gift was given. White and his wife, Jennie, attended the Bucs-New York Giants Game on Sept. 27. That means the gift should have been disclosed by Dec. 31, Stillman said.

The Ethics Commission will not act on such information unless someone makes a formal complaint.

"A complaint is required for the commission to initiate an investigation," Stillman said. "We don't have the authority to initiate one on our own."

She said a violation is punishable by a civil penalty of up to $10,000.

In 2007, White had to pay a $9,500 fine to the Florida Elections Commission for offenses that included spending campaign contributions on tailor-made suits and ties.

White is running for a second term this year and faces two other Democrats, Les Miller and Valerie Goddard, in the Aug. 24 primary.

Miller, a former state legislator, said he was aware while serving in Tallahassee that gifts of more than $100 had to be reported and White should have known that too.

"There are certain laws where you have to report as an elected official because the Florida statutes say what you can and cannot accept," Miller said. "Here's another instance where (White) has not adhered to the law."

White has two ethics complaints pending.

Community activist George Niemann filed a complaint in October citing a civil federal jury verdict two months earlier that White had used the power of his office to sexually harass his former aide, Alyssa Ogden. Niemann said the Ethics Commission informed him that "legally sufficient" evidence had been found to launch a formal investigation of his complaint. He's received no word on the case since.

In January, Republican consultant Chris Ingram filed a complaint charging White violated ethics law by voting on a matter affecting his own financial situation.

Ingram was referring to White's "no" vote when commissioners decided to sue him to recover legal fees the county incurred as a co-defendant in the sexual harassment lawsuit. The commission later agreed to revote and White abstained.

Ingram said the ethics commission has not decided whether there is probable cause to launch a formal investigation.

It's not unusual for elected officials to attend games as guests of the Bucs or other companies or organizations with skyboxes.

But the officials are supposed to report the tickets to the Ethics Commission. County Commissioner Mark Sharpe filed a disclosure on Sept. 21 for two tickets he received from the Bucs general manager for a Sept. 13 game valued at $395 each.

Members of the Tampa Sports Authority, which manages Raymond James Stadium, are entitled to two tickets per home game and four tickets for two of those games. They can give their tickets to friends, including public officials.

Unused tickets are given to the authority's three-person executive committee, which can dole them out to officials who request them. Sports authority board Chairman Frank DeBose said the executive committee got no requests for tickets last season.

Officials who get tickets from the sports authority are told they must disclose the tickets as gifts worth $500 apiece.

White's tickets came directly from the Bucs, which put a different value on the tickets.

"They should understand there's a value they have to declare," DeBose said. "I'm sure they know there is a value."

When county commissioners take office for the first time, they are given a booklet that, among other things, covers state ethics laws, including gift disclosure.