Crescent City commissioner ousted

CRESCENT CITY – Proceedings were upended Monday after Gov. Ron DeSantis removed a city commissioner from office hours before Crescent City’s governing body was to meet.

Commissioner C.J. “Doc” Bailey has been removed from office after the executive order determined Bailey is not qualified to be an elected official because of a felony conviction in 1995. Since his 1995 convection, the order states, his civil rights have not been restored. 

City Manager Charles Rudd said he notified Bailey via email Monday afternoon and notified the other commissioner later that day. The City Commission was set to have a budget workshop at 5 p.m. Monday followed by a commission meeting at 6 p.m. 

The budget workshop was canceled and commissioners voted 3-1 on Monday evening to continue the commission meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The vote also canceled a workshop that would have taken place Tuesday.

Although Bailey did not attend the meetings, he said Monday night that he was “blindsided” by the governor’s order. Bailey said his rights had been restored, adding that DeSantis’ office does not have all the facts. Bailey said he wouldn’t have run for office if he didn’t believe he was eligible to hold office. 

“They would be absolutely right if I was a Florida felon and didn’t seek clemency, but I’m not,” Bailey said on a phone call after the meeting. “And that’s why I say it’s incomplete information.”

Legal records from a federal case that took place in Missouri show a grand jury charged Bailey in 1995 with two counts of violating a title that makes it illegal to knowingly cover up or hide information. 

“Count one alleges that Bailey falsely represented to the Customs Service that he received $5,000 from the Florida airplane and drug deal in December 1988,” the court records state. “Count two alleges that Bailey concealed and covered up the material fact that he received at least $36,000 of the $50,000 cash proceeds from the sale of the stolen airplane.”

The records show Bailey tried to appeal the charges but the appeal was denied. However, Bailey claims he was granted clemency 20 years ago and has since had his rights restored, unlike what the letter from DeSantis’ office states. 

The executive order, which was signed Monday, addresses that Bailey was convicted of a federal felony in 1995 but does not list the state where it took place. The order also states Bailey’s commission seat became vacant in December when he failed to qualify for the office within 30 days of him beginning his term

Bailey won the general election in November, claiming 244 votes against William “B.J.” Laurie’s 233 votes, according to Putnam County Supervisor of Elections Office information. 

The executive order does not explain how exactly Bailey failed to qualify for office after winning the election. 

Attorney George Young – of Holmes & Young, the city’s legal counsel – said his office received the executive order just after lunch Monday, causing city officials to scramble ahead of two proceedings that were expected to take place.

“It’s not something we anticipated,” he said. “It’s not something we expected today, especially right before a commission meeting.”

Young suggested commissioners cancel Monday’s and Tuesday’s proceedings, which they later voted to do. Bailey has already “put information forward” about a mistake being made in the governor’s order, Young said. 

Rescheduling city meetings, Young said, gives the city time to get clarification on whether or not the state’s executive order is sound. It’s fair to Bailey and the other four commissioners if the commission meeting and upcoming workshops are postponed, Young added. 

Mayor Michele Myers declined to comment about Bailey being ousted, but she agreed with Young, saying postponing proceedings would give officials more time to examine all sides of the issue. 

“If he was planning to be here and was not here because there's still some questions, then (it should be canceled) out of fairness to him,” she said Monday. 

The news came as a shock to Commissioner Cynthia Burton, who has been involved in an ongoing battle with Crescent City residents who believe she should be recalled from office. One of the people who signed a petition to bump her from her seat included Bailey, according to Elections Office records. 

“I was kind of surprised myself,” Burton said. “This was kind of like a wowser.”

Between recall attempts and the executive order, three commissioner seats could be up for grabs in special elections.

Burton and Myers are facing recall attempts, with the newest effort against Burton coming just weeks after an appeals court ruled in her favor regarding a previous recall attempt.

If Bailey doesn’t appeal his expulsion, or if the appeal is unsuccessful, there would need to be a special election for his office because of how much time is left of his term, Supervisor of Elections Charles Overturf III said.

“(The) Crescent City charter says that if there is more than six months left in the term that there is a special election and whoever wins would serve out his term,” he said.

The agenda for Monday’s commission stretched 239 pages, but none of the topics laid out in the agenda were discussed – not even the ones that didn’t require votes. Commissioner Lisa DeVitto said the meeting agenda included many important issues that have now been put on hold. 

“It’s just very frustrating,” she said. 

Bailey, who said he would follow DeSantis’ order, contacted a lawyer Monday evening. He said he was cleared by Federal Department of Law Enforcement Inspector Adam Graff who determined Bailey was eligible to run for the commission seat. 

“I know they didn’t (have all the information),” he said about the governor’s office. “Otherwise, they would have said, ‘OK, your clemency from Missouri doesn’t make a difference or anything.’ They never addressed the whole thing in the letter.”

Palatka Daily News Editor Brandon D. Oliver contributed to this report.