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Century Council Divided After Mayor Spent $161,790 In Violation Of Charter
October 3, 2024
Century Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. violated the town charter this week by exceeding his spending limit by $161,590. And he says it saved the town a nearly $200,000.
The town was facing a $134.883 increase in premiums to $351,963 to keep the same longstanding Preferred Governmental Trust policy written by Underwood Anderson Insurance in Pensacola. That included an increase for workers compensation from $27,546 to $31,070, and an increase for a package with business auto, general liability, commercial property crime, inland marine and management liability from $189,566 to $320,893.
“We looked into some price shopping,” Gomez said, “and compared apples to apples for the same policy and coverage.”
“I took the liberty to go with the Florida League of Cities,” the mayor said. “If I did something wrong, well, I’ll bite that. We need to start visiting these contracts rather than just let them linger.”
Gomez received one other quote from the Florida League of Cities for coverage from Florida Municipal Insurance Trust for a total of $161,790 in premiums.
Gomez told the town council that he accepted the Florida League proposal for $161,790 to ensure the town as of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, allowing the Underwood Anderson coverage to lapse at the same time. Tuesday was the first day of the town’s new fiscal year.
That move, the mayor said, saved the town $190,173.
“That’s a substantial savings, and that’s taxpayers’ dollars that I’m trying to conserve,” he said.
And it led to a lot of questions from his town council because under the town charter, the mayor has a spending limit of just $200 without prior council approval.
At this week’s meeting, town council members questioned why Gomez was not better prepared knowing in advance that the town’s current insurance policy would expire as of October 1, and they questioned when he received the Florida League of Cities proposal. They also stressed that he could have called a special meeting for a council decision prior to the October 1 deadline.
“We just got the quotes in just enough time to compare them,” he said. NorthEscambia.com made a public records request for dated proposals, and, in the absence of dates, any other document or email showing the dates of the proposals. We received undated proposals and nothing else, even upon a second request for dated information.
“It sounds to me like we waited until the last minute, and it was a rush decision,” Council member Shelisa McCall said. “It may not be the best decision because the price difference is too much to be comfortable; it feels like something is lacking in the new policy.”
“OK, we’ve got a whole year to discuss that,” Gomez replied. “Right now, we were binded last night with the Florida League of Cities.”
The first motion by councilmember Alicia Johnson to ratify the insurance contract approved by the mayor failed due to the lack of a second from any of the council members. The council then took about 20 minutes to review and compare the proposals, which they had not yet seen.
McCall said she quickly spotted one difference in coverages — one million in fire coverage in the previous policy versus a half million in the new policy.
Johnson said she was confident that the administration had made a proper comparison, and she again made a motion to insure with the Florida League of Cities carrier. The motion passed 3-1, with McCall against. Sandra McMurray-Jackson, who has participated in earlier parts of the meeting by phone, was not longer on the line for the vote.
The council did not formally ratify the mayor’s expenditure in violation of the charter.
Pictured top: Century council members Henry Cunningham, Shelisa McCall, and Alicia Johnson review insurance proposals. Pictured top inset: Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. explains insurance proposals to the council. Pictured bottom inset: Council president Dynette Lewis. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
24 Responses to “Century Council Divided After Mayor Spent $161,790 In Violation Of Charter”
Ms President of the council. Put aside your personal ties with the Mayor and stand up to his disregard to the rules of this town. When he was the President of the council he sure stood up to Mayor Boutwell for stuff such as this. Do your job as you are elected to do for the people.
Please, please please vote NO on all 3 Town of Century Charter questions on your mail in ballot or at the polls in November! This town is dying from this mayor’s uncouth ways and sly dealings. We need him and most of the council out!! I did not vote for any one of these council members or this mayor. Most of these council members are a “Yes, Sir, Mr. Mayor” type and we will never have a better town for it!
He’s a know nothing joke that wants to pad his pockets and nothing else. How does he keep getting elected, is there a vote and if so who in there right mind would vote for this clown. This guy has no business in office and he has proven that over and over. Just can’t rap my head around this.
Section 4.05 bullet point d of the Town Charter reads. “The Mayor must see that all laws, provisions of this charter and acts of the council, subject to enforcement by him or by officers subject to his direction and supervision, are faithfully executed”
. No wonder he is posting videos supporting the charter changes that will be on the ballot. He can’t seem to follow it so he wants it changed. We don’t need some high paid attorney from South Florida telling us what our Charter needs to say. Right now the Mayor isn’t supposed to do things like this and should be held accountable by the Council. Ms Mcall is the only one attempting to stand up to his non sense.
If you’re a citizen of Century make sure you VOTE NO on the Charter Amendment questions, they rushed to get it on the ballot, they didn’t even follow the correct procedures to get it on the ballot. No way I would trust them to make the changes that they are wanting since they are very vague.
VOTE NO on the Century Charter Questions 1,2 and 3.
Payday Someday!!! Rest assured,we will all stand before a Higher Power !!!!
So The Great Ruler Gomez took to social media today saying the media said he was going to jail over this. I can read. The media didn’t say that. And then he begged people to vote for a change in Century to remove the limit he violated here and the council let him spend money at will. And vote for abortion. He’s about of control.
So if townhall burns down (knock on wood) will 500k be enough to build back?
@Smarter than Gomer,
Does it have to be the council or can a citizen of Century sue Gomez?
Crying shame of how these people are being allowed to do these things with no consequences.
Of course Gomez claims to “save” money. He’s got to help pay for the exhorbitant other budget items that have been pushed through–like hiring outside consultants to appear to do his job for him among other costs. It’s like someone’s spouse coming home and saying “I saved $10,000 today…when I bought a $60K boat on sale for $50K.” No, he could have “saved” by not buying the boat at all. The right way to save Century money is to get him and his crew out of there
I know insurance had to be purchased, but that is a regularly scheduled occurrence and certainly not an unplanned expenditure that just appeared out of thin air. Anyone saying they weren’t aware of it is claiming ignorance and ignorance is not something a publicly elected official should wave around proudly nor use as an excuse. Accountability is completely non-existent.
Kudos to the ouncil member for voting against it. You tried.
The town council should sue Gomez for $161,790 for unauthorized expenditures and violation of the town charter. He should also never be allowed to hold any elected or appointed position in any government in the state of Florida.
“If the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into a ditch.” Spoken many many years ago. Pretty sure the words are printed in red.
Mayor Boutwell couldn’t change the brand of toilet paper without approval but Gomez gets a free pass every time. You’re informed of your insurance policy renewal months before it’s renewed. As usual Gomez and Brown wait until the last minute before the council is made aware. Gomez says “if I did something wrong”. He knew, and Brown knew exactly what they did was legally wrong. Why should he care, nobody will do anything to either of them!
I thought he had hired a consultant to help him keep on top of all these sorts of things and to ensure he performed his job legally. Apparently that is not working. The rules are put in place for a reason. Has anyone figured out how much is being skimmed off the top yet?
It sounds like they are a bunch of crooks to me . Or maybe just stupid.
So, the mayor apparently doesn’t know the provisions in the Charter that apply to him? That sounds disqualifying to me.
Maybe Goway thinks he is immune to the council
A thoroughly incompetent clown show. Where is the State Attorney’s office when you need them?
Regardless of the financial outcome, there are proper legal and defined ways to go about things, which is why the council exists. Gomez wants to rule by fiat, and we see how that goes pretty regularly.
At what point are you all going to realize that this clown is just another in a long line of folks feasting on the corpse of this dying town. You’ve propped up a nice little tyrant up there who just does what he wants, when he wants, with no consequences.
Ugh…I agree @Denbroc..Gomez gonna go mez everything up worse. Geez!
Way to go,Shelisa! I enjoyed working with you at Tom Thumb, and I am glad you are standing up for things in Century! You seem to be the only voice of reason on this board! People just passing anything Gomez shoves down their throat.
Keep it up!
Power unchecked while the electorate sleeps and those that could take Gomez to task are perhaps scared of him playing the race card should this house of cards be brought down by state level law enforcement.
So not even a hand slap? Can they not remove him from office for something like this? What is the Mayor’s highest level of education? Was any of his education in finance or government? Silly question I know.
Gomez gonna Gomez.