TARPON SPRINGS — City commissioners have adopted revised rules of procedure that for the first time allow the board to hold hearings and censure its own members.
The changes also tightened policies on commissioners’ use of social media and reinforced restrictions on contact with outside vendors.
City Attorney Andrew Saltzman said the board reviews its rules of procedure each year, but this year’s revisions were significant, particularly the addition of a censure provision.
Penalties under the new policy are not spelled out, Saltzman said, because they will depend on the conduct at issue.
“It’s up to the board to police yourselves,” he told commissioners.
The policy describes censure as “a formal, public statement, adopted by the City Commission expressing disapproval of the actions or behavior of a city official.” Its purpose, the policy states, is to establish a clear and transparent process for the board to formally express disapproval when an elected or appointed official violates adopted standards, policies or ethical expectations.
Any commissioner can initiate a censure action, but a majority vote is required to begin the process. The commission may then request a fact-finding review by the city attorney, direct the city manager or an independent investigator to gather information, and hold a special meeting to review the findings.
A censure hearing would include a public presentation of findings and public comment. Adopting a censure resolution requires a majority vote of the remaining commissioners.
After a hearing, the commission may impose administrative action. If the conduct also violates the Florida Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees, the state Commission on Ethics may impose additional penalties.
Vendor contact
Another section of the revised rules reinforced the city’s policy barring commissioners from contacting outside vendors, conducting their own investigations or bringing vendors to board meetings. Commissioners contacted by a vendor or potential vendor must forward the information to the procurement department or refer the vendor to the city manager.
Commissioner Michael Eisner questioned how commissioners could avoid all contact.
“How do you stop people from making a call, at least speaking to you?” he asked. “I understand it’s proper protocol to convey it to the city manager or our procurement, but on the onset you’re still going to have some sort of communication.”
Saltzman said the goal is “minimum contact.”
“You guys are policy makers, and you receive all the information at the same time,” he said. “We don’t want to have a vendor that is disqualified because of communication they’ve had with commissioners.”
Eisner then referenced a past incident involving a shuttle service vendor.
“I spoke to somebody. I told them to call procurement and city manager. He did,” Eisner said. “When we got the proposal in front of us it did not have any of his paperwork in it. So all I did at the time was take a copy off his Facebook page. There was a comment made that I was involved with him, and I was not involved.”
Mayor John Koulianos cut in.
“Is this a question or are you defending some act of yours?” Koulianos asked. “I don’t understand where you’re going with this.”
Eisner said he was making a point about how the rules can be misconstrued.
“You even said you went to the guy’s house,” Koulianos said. “We’re trying to create rules going forward so we do not disqualify vendors. You’re not supposed to go and have your own investigation of procurement. That’s supposed to be done by the city.”
Eisner dropped the issue.
Social media
The revised rules also include a new social media policy spelling out acceptable and unacceptable use of personal accounts.
Commissioners may share publicly available city information, express personal opinions that do not imply official city endorsement, redirect constituents to official channels and respond to residents respectfully with factual information.
They may not discuss city business with other board members on social media or conduct official city business on personal accounts without proper archiving. Commissioners cannot block users based on viewpoint when an account functions as a public forum, a restriction that applies to official accounts and to personal accounts that list a commissioner’s title.
The policy also bars commissioners from deleting comments unless they violate a published moderation policy, such as threats, spam or obscenity; engaging in hostile exchanges; or providing legal advice, confidential information or defamatory statements.
During political campaigns, commissioners may support candidates as private citizens, make personal donations and express political opinions on personal accounts, as long as they do not reference their city position or title, appear in city attire or imply city endorsement. They may not wear city-branded clothing, display the city seal or otherwise identify the city while engaged in political activity, and they should refrain from disparaging other candidates.
Commissioners unanimously adopted the rules.