Orlando Mayor indicted and suspended in election case
Special election will be held to replace him
sun-sentinel.com
By Mark Schlueb
Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 11 2005, 4:40 PM EST
In a day of swift and stunning developments triggered by four grand jury indictments, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was charged with violating state absentee ballot law during last year's mayor's race and quickly removed from office.
Dyer; his campaign manager Patti Sharp, accused ballot broker Ezzie Thomas and Circuit Judge Alan Apte braved a phalanx of news reporters at the jail this morning as they entered a booking area to be fingerprinted and processed.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suspended the mayor this afternoon, issuing an executive order prohibiting Dyer "from performing any official act, duty, or function of public office."
Orlando's city attorney concluded that a special election should be held in the next two months to replace Dyer with a temporary mayor while Dyer fights the charges. Mayor Pro Tem Ernest Page, who coincidentally was suspended from the Orlando City Council in the 1980s and eventually served time in jail, will take over until the election.
Dyer, Sharp and Apte are each accused of "providing pecuniary gain for absentee ballot possession or collection," according to their arrest affidavits. Thomas -- who was hired by Dyer's and Apte's campaigns -- was charged with "accepting" payment. A 1998 state law prohibits paying someone or being paid for collecting absentee ballots.
"The charges are without merit and are totally politically motivated," Dyer said this afternoon, relying on a "vague Florida statue that has never been applied." Dyer, a Democrat, was first elected mayor in 2003. Brad King, the special prosecutor who conducted the investigation, is a Republican.
Gov. Bush, also a Republican, was visiting the University of Central Florida campus this morning, and said it is his policy to suspend public officials under indictment.
"I'm disappointed," Bush said. "I admire Mayor Dyer. I'm sad for him and his family. It's always difficult when public officials....allegedly, and that's what we're talking about at this point, allegations...are accused of wrongdoing because it violates the public trust."
Dyer showed up at the jail at 8:35 a.m., accompanied by his deputy chief of staff, Joe Robinson, a captain with the Orlando Police Department. Agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which investigated the case, arrived at the same time in separate vehicles.
Defeated 2004 mayoral rival Ken Mulvaney later told reporters that the grand jury confirmed his suspicions and should open the door for a run-off from the 2004 contest.
Dyer won that race with roughly 51 percent of the vote to Mulvaney's 30.5 percent. By gaining 50 percent plus one vote, Dyer won it outright. But Mulvaney's pending civil lawsuit requests that a judge throw out certain absentees ballots from that race, thus pushing Dyer's victory margin under 50 percent.
"Hopefully justice has been served," Mulvaney said. "We knew the evidence was there."
Patti Sharp's attorney, Bill Sheaffer, denounced the charges, saying none of those indicted did anything wrong.
"This indictment, in my opinion, is the result of a number of circumstances that created an imperfect storm, the circumstances being powerful political operatives behind the scene, witnesses who have not told the truth and a rogue grand jury that does not have the ability to discern the truth," Sheaffer said.
Sheaffer said his client will plead not guilty, and he will file motions to dismiss the charges.
Thomas' attorney, Dean Mosley, described the indictment as politically motivated and said his client probably would not have been charged if the case did not involve the Mayor of Orlando.
Mosley said his client never hid the fact that he was paid by local campaigns and did not know it was illegal. "He never thought he did anything wrong and nobody ever informed him," Mosley said.
Thomas said he expects to be vindicated and to return to his volunteer work, boosting minority voting in Orlando's black community. "I do plan to return to helping people in my community because we share the same values and there is power in the vote," said Thomas, the head of the non-partisan Orange County Voters League.
Apte had no comment.
David Damron and Anthony Colarossi of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. |
