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Hawkins Reimburses Century For Airline Tickets, But Still Won’t Say Who Traveled
April 2, 2019
Century’s mayor has reimbursed the town for airline tickets and hotel rooms, but he still won’t say who traveled to town last October.
Hawkins provided town council members with a copy of a PenAir cashier’s check for $1,751.70, along with a written statement.
“The Town of Century will never move forward as long as we’re stuck on what’s not being doing [sic] with other’s approval. I am repaying the Town for airline tickets and hotel fees for two gentlemen that I brought to the Town to discuss economic development,” Hawkins wrote. “This is not an admission of guilt but a gesture of good faith in moving Century forward. It seems that there are those that do not want our Town to prosper. We grown [sic] when businesses come into the Town and our citizens are given a chance for better paying jobs. When we don’t strive for economic development then we all lose.”
In December, the town council approved payment of $1,751.70 to Expedia and three airlines on a bill list. As part of a public records request on January 8, NorthEscambia.com asked for the “airline invoices or receipts that have been discussed and appeared on the bill list at recent meetings, along with reservation information for such.”
That request was ignored by the town until it was mentioned at a March 4 council meeting when Hawkins told us and council president Ann Brooks that he would provide the receipts, but he would “black them out.” He refused to answer questions about the legal justification for the proposed redactions.
The following day, a town staffer emailed documents to NorthEscambia.com and Brooks. On each page from Expedia, the name of the traveler was redacted, marked out by hand. No justification for the redactions was provided as required by Florida statute.
No explanation was given as to why it took nearly two months to produce the redacted documents. Florida’s Sunshine Law dictates that records must be produced in a reasonable time, and the only delay permitted “is the limited reasonable time allowed the custodian to retrieve the record and delete those portions of the record the custodian asserts are exempt.”
When pressed Monday night as to why the complete public records request as not fulfilled, Hawkins said, “I’ve paid it back, so I’m not obligated.”
The documents included two itineraries and one sheet labeled as a receipt. The “receipt” from Expedia did not indicate the purchaser, but it did show the last four digits of a Visa card used for payment.
In March, the town provided:
- An Expedia itinerary showing a cost of $560.92 for an American Airlines flight departing October 28 from Los Angeles to Pensacola, and a room with double beds for one adult for two nights at the LaQuinta Inn on Davis Highway in Pensacola. The traveler’s name is redacted.
- An Expedia itinerary showing a cost of $689.38 for a Delta flight departing October 29 from Los Angeles to Pensacola, a return flight on Frontier Airlines on October 31, and a room with double beds for one adult for one night at the LaQuinta Inn on Davis Highway in Pensacola. The traveler’s name is redacted.
- An Expedia receipt for $501.40 for a one-way flight from Pensacola to Eugene, Oregon, on October 31. The receipt does not specify the airline, and the traveler’s name is redacted.
The items provided in early March by the town total $1,751.70.
The December town bill list showed payments were made for charges incurred in October as follows:
- American Airlines $501.40
- Delta $366.90
- Expedia $668.50
- Frontier Airlines $214.90
The items total $1,751.70, equal to the itineraries and receipt provided but the payee entries listed differ.
Under the town’s charter, Hawkins is required to seek advance council approval for purchases in excess of $200. The council did not approve the airline ticket purchases.
Hawkins repeatedly contended that Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry promised to reimburse the costs with county economic development, but Barry has denied even communicating with Hawkins about travel expenses. During a public council meeting, Hawkins called Barry “a lie.” ”
Comments
25 Responses to “Hawkins Reimburses Century For Airline Tickets, But Still Won’t Say Who Traveled”
The Birmingham Motel was on Palafox Street just North of Brent Lane.
@ Bob C. I think the “no tell motel” was on Palafox just above Brent Ln. on the west side of the road. I was never there but it was the general information that there were a lot of mirrors in the rooms. The woman who owned and ran it had a nice interview in the PNJ when she sold the property. She said she had been a female wrestler and had worked as an animal trainer at one time. This was back in the good old day here in P’cola when we had people like Lynn Tony on local TV in his leopard skin suit. Also LeRoy Morris on radio and TV.
yeah, I can’t WEIGHT either.
Well the town got the money back. That’s on the upside for Mayor Hawkins.
Can’t recall him by FL statute because he is not a voting member of the governing body. The SAO is only making recommendations. The council could vote to remove him by charter. Why don’t they? So what precedent does this set? Who is colluding and why?
BOY THIS SOAP OPERA (AS CENTURY TOWN TURNS) IS GETTING BETTER THEN ANY SOAP OPERA ON TV. I CAN’T WEIGHT FOR THE NEXT EPISODE. YES I SAY THIS SOAP OPERA WITH CENTURY IT IS A BIG, BIG JOKE .HOW LONG BEFORE SOMEONE IS GOING TO JAIL !!!!!!!!!
What was that I got last time…… Oh Yeah if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all, something about a route out of town if you’re not happy.
JUST SAYIN
Glad mr. mayor paid the money back.
Birmingham Motel used to be on N. Davis Hwy.
“No Tell Motel, rent by the hour, day, week or month.”
Perhaps the Grand Jury could get to the bottom of this mess in Century.
Davis Hwy hotel for a Century business deal?
Bringing folks in for ‘business development’, but he’s going to put them up at the LaQuinta Inn on Davis Hwy??? The only business development I’ve seen there is the oldest profession in the world.
I this was truly written by the Mayor, his grammar is horrible. I would expect better written communication from someone in public office.
Sounds like Mayor Hawkins is trying to cover his behind since the report from the Grand Jury came out.
Best solution is to have the city charter rescinded and go back to being part of Escambia County. The service the citizens get would likely improve and I am pretty confident property taxes would decrease.
The fact that the king, umm,mayor of Century has sentence structure as that of a 12 year old speaks volumes about the current condition of the city. I make plenty of spelling errors, most of them on this website, but then again, I’m not the mayor either.
And the band played on.
My question is whether or not Mayor Hawkins is allowed to reimburse the city for these tickets from his personal account? Since the charges were paid with city funds is he allowed to do this? Just wondering..
I was caught ill pay it back no harm no foul. Thats how it works in Century im in charge,
i’m guessing this is supposed to make everything o k. it really doesn’t. it should never have happened without approval by the towns representatives. this was done under the table with city funds. people can go to jail for this stuff in the real world.
You are a joke “sir”.
Poor Mayor, He can’t write or spell which is pitiful to be in the position he is in. He must be held accountable for his actions / inactions. Century will never move forward until he is fired or voted out. Get rid of him soon as you possibly can
Thief caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Hopefully just a matter of time before Hawkins is wearing cuffs. This and past stories indicate corruption, embezzlement, and fraud.
The mayor is a “lie”. Thank you William for not letting up. I feel the names of the mystery travelers are within your reach.
Gesture is correct, but not in good faith. I believe he is hiding something and with such secrecy no one trust him, and that’s on him.
I guess the thought of going to prison got the mayors mind right and he did the right thing and paid the money back.
Gillum Rally?
Did he bring council members to Tallahassee this past week?
He needs to follow the rules, we aren’t running a grass roots organization here on taxpayer dime.