Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Charges against mayor for dinner tickets settled
Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie has agreed to settle ethics charges that she violated gift rules by accepting two tickets valued at $600 from Waste Management Inc. to attend a Republican fundraiser dinner.
The Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics issued a “letter of instruction” Thursday, concluding the violation was “unintentional” and “inadvertent.”
Haynie, a candidate for county commissioner, said she “self-reported” on a gift reporting form, but she didn’t realize accepting the tickets violated the county’s code of ethics.
“As soon as the Commission on Ethics contacted me, I paid them back immediately,” Haynie said.
Waste Management provided two tickets to the 2016 Lincoln Day Dinner, a Republican fundraiser held at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Waste Management handles trash pickup for a few neighborhoods that were annexed by the city, Haynie said.
The company has been a vendor with the city since 2013 and has lobbyists registered with the county, according to the Commission on Ethics.
City officials have discussed possibly outsourcing the city’s trash pickup services to a private company. Haynie said the tickets didn’t influence her views.
Dawn McCormick, a
spokeswoman for Waste Management, said the company is reviewing the ethics findings.
The Ethics Commission dismissed another complaint against Haynie involving tickets she received to a ball benefiting Boca Raton Regional Hospital. The panel concluded those tickets did not come from a prohibited source.
Haynie is also facing ethics charges that she cast votes that benefited major property owners linked to her husband’s business without disclosing her ties. She has insisted she did nothing wrong, referencing an advisory opinion from the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics that there was “no appearance of conflict of interest” for one of the votes in question.
She is running for the county commission seat held by Steven Abrams, who is leaving because of term limits. Boca Raton Councilman Robert Weinroth, a Democrat, has also announced he will run for the seat.
The primary election is Aug. 28. The general election will be Nov. 6.