LCPD Chief finally registered to vote where she lives. State Attorney passed buck - got it back
Posted September 7, 2012 07:50 am | Part II
Lake City Police Chief Gilmore: file photo
LAKE CITY, FL – During the week since the August 29th Observer article: Lake City Police Chief Lives Outside City Limits: Registers and votes in City, there was much going on out of the public view.
Former Lake City Police Captain, Rudolph Davis, had been in touch with different organizations and had filed complaints with State Attorney Skip Jarvis, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and reportedly others. Because Mr. Davis had no standing, i.e., he wasn't personally impacted by Chief Gilmore's voting where she didn't live, his complaints acted as advisory letters to the recipients putting them on notice that he thought Chief Gilmore committed multiple felonies.
Links:
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Part I – Lake City Police Chief Lives Outside City
Limits: Registers and votes in city
• Part II – LCPD Chief finally registered to vote where she lives.
State Attorney passed buck - got it back
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Part III – LCPD's Chief Gilmore gets an EZ Pass from State Attorney
"Skip" Jarvis in alleged voter fraud issue
While State Attorney Jarvis and others didn't need to respond to Mr. Davis and were not required to take a complaint from him because of his lack of standing, State Attorney (SA)Jarvis had the power to initiate an investigation on his own accord had he determined that the complaint was valid and was important enough to investigate.
It is not clear if Mr. Jarvis thought his highly publicized recent career ending plea deal with a Governor appointed special prosecutor impacted his credibility. Mr. Jarvis did not return calls at the end of last week or late yesterday.
It has been reported to the Observer that the information regarding the Chief Gilmore voting incident has been turned over to the FBI.
State Attorney Jarvis passed the buck
After receiving a complaint from Rudolph Davis on August 29th, SA Jarvis passed the buck.
The next day, August 30th, SA Jarvis sent a letter to Mr. Davis stating that he was forwarding his complaint to Columbia County's Supervisor of Elections, Liz Horne.
In that letter, SA Jarvis said he thought "it would be proper to first submit it to the Supervisor of Elections" for review.
SA Jarvis continued that if the Supervisor of Elections confirmed the allegation they [she] "would then forward it to law enforcement for further investigation," suggesting the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
SA Jarvis continued, "Both Sheriff Hunter and I work closely with Chief Gilmore and this would avoid any conflict of interest or appearance of impropriety."
SA Jarvis concluded the letter by giving the Supervisor of Elections the telephone number of FDLE. Read the letter here.
Supervisor of Elections passes the buck, back
On September 4th, Sup. Horne received the letter from SA Jarvis.
In a brief conversation with Supervisor Horne late yesterday afternoon (Sept. 6th), Supervisor Horne told the Observer that the first thing she did after receiving the letter was to call her attorney, the attorney for the Division of Elections, Gary Holland.
Supervisor Horne said that Attorney Holland recommend that she return the papers to State Attorney Jarvis "because his is the only one that can bring the charges."
Supervisor Horne told the Observer, "I am doing my job. I am not the police. I followed my attorney's advice and that is all I can do."
Along with the papers that Supervisor Horne returned to SA Jarvis on September 5th, she enclosed a short letter, which stated the following three points relating to the Chief Gilmore voting incident:
1. She moved her voter registration record from Leon County to Columbia County in July 2011 through the Division of Motor Vehicles and provided the residence address of 225 NW Main Blvd., Lake City.
2. On August 11, 2012 Chief Gilmore Early Voted in the August 14, 2012 Primary Election in Precinct 112 which included the City of Lake City District 12 race.
3. On August 29, 2012 Chief Gilmore updated her voter registration record to a different Columbia County residence address (changing her precinct to 301). She also completed the form to address protect her residence address on her voter registration record.
Precinct 301 is in Columbia County outside of the City limits.
Columbia County's top law enforcement official weighs in
Last night, at the conclusion of the County Commission meeting, an abbreviated conversation with Columbia County's top law enforcement official, Sheriff Mark Hunter revealed very little. He said he didn't see the Jarvis letter, but he "knew about the voting thing."
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