Commissioners vote to sue Brock to force him to pay vendors now owed almost $1 million
By Gina Edwards
Naples City Desk
You’re not above our law.
That’s the message a majority of Collier Commissioners sent Clerk of Courts Dwight Brock on Tuesday. Collier Commissioners voted 3 to 2 to file an emergency legal action that asks a judge to force Brock to pay more than 800 county vendors who are now owed almost $1 million and comply with the county’s purchasing ordinance and the state’s prompt payment act.
Beginning late last week, Brock stopped paying bills to vendors who have contracts or credit card charges under $50,000. Brock — alone in his interpretation of the law that all of Florida’s 67 counties view the same as the county manager — sued the county manager and the county’s purchasing director in April. Brock says Collier Commissioners have to vote to approve every single expenditure in advance.
That means purchases as small as 16 cents, based on Brock’s actions to withhold payments last week and his lawsuit.
By halting payments beginning last week, Brock made a unilateral decision to break the law he believes is illegal rather than waiting for an opinion from the courts. Brock’s refusal to wait on the courts drew strong criticism from Commission Chairman Tim Nance on Tuesday.
Nance said the county has no choice but to sue Brock to force him to pay vendors. “He wants to use these people as personal pawns and abuse them,” Nance said.
“Why do we want to hold our vendors and our citizens hostage while the Clerk goes through this game of cat and mouse waiting for a determination,” Nance added later.
The high-stakes feud in Collier launched by Brock is causing broad concern among business owners that provide goods and services to the county. County spending locally pumps $100 million to locally based businesses.
Business owners contacted by Naples City Desk said they didn’t want to speak publicly for fear that speaking out could draw reprisal.
“If they stop paying me, I can’t pay my bills,” one business owner said. He said if the government doesn’t pay on time and it harms his business, he’ll be contacting a lawyer about filing a lawsuit against the county.
Commissioner Tom Henning, who voted against the emergency legal action, said Brock is “forcing an issue.”
“I suppose sir we should just shut down the entire Collier County government while the courts are thinking about it,” Nance retorted.
Brock has not appeared in public before Collier Commissioners this year. On Tuesday, Brock’s Finance Director, Crystal Kinzel, responded to commissioners and said the Clerk’s Office paid out $16 million to vendors in the past two weeks and the majority of vendors are being paid.
The Clerk’s Office rejects payment requests all the time for a variety of reasons, Kinzel said. But County Manager Leo Ochs suggested that response was disingenuous saying the county staff hadn’t seen these type of rejections entered into the financial system by Brock’s staff until this past weekend.
Kinzel said her staff was unable to determine if the questioned transactions have been approved as a legal payment. To which Nance retorted: “Are you saying these 800 [transactions] are not covered by the purchasing policy?”
Nance said the county has a purchasing policy that’s been substantially the same for 15 years, but only in recent time has the Clerk suggested that the policy is illegal. Kinzel said Brock has been raising the issue for two years.
Collier’s purchasing policy allows the purchasing director to sign off on payments for goods and services under $50,000. Goods and services of between $3,000 and $50,000 require county staff to get three quotes. But above $50,000 triggers a formal bidding process and contracts are awarded by commissioners.
Many of the payments Brock has refused to pay are on contracts Commissioners have approved according to a tally compiled by county staff.
Commissioner Donna Fiala said all of Florida’s other counties do not view the state law like Brock does.
In Lee County, Commissioners don’t approve or even see specific transactions under $100,000, for example.
Fiala said taxpayers will lose if vendors feel forced to raise prices to Collier County because they don’t know if they’ll get paid.
“Can you imagine how high the charges will go if our vendors don’t know if they’re going to get paid or not?” Commissioner Fiala said.
Fiala also said commissioners fund Brock’s budget but he doesn’t have to come to commissioners to get approval for every expense for his office.
“He never has to come to us and say can I pay all this money to these attorneys to sue you,” Fiala said.
Commissioner Penny Taylor voted with Henning against filing a legal action against Brock. Taylor supported a request by Kinzel for Commissioners to vote to approve a list of payments to the vendors at Tuesday’s meeting.
But Ochs said he would ask commissioners not to make a move that could play into Brock’s legal strategy without his attorney advising him. Brock has sued Ochs and Purchasing Director Joanne Markiewicz personally but not named Collier County government.
“This is about power. About a silly little sandbox argument,” Taylor said. “This is personal. It needs to stop.”
In response, Nance shot back at Taylor saying Brock sued first. “The Clerk is refusing to do his job… He is suing our employees for doing the job that we have asked them to do. Mr. Ochs is at no fault,” Nance said.
Henning said Florida law states that the county manager can negotiate contracts, but the contracts are subject to the approval of the Board of County Commissioners.
Commissioner Georgia Hiller said Brock can’t refuse to pay and usurp the authority of elected commissioners. “That purchasing policy is deemed valid until it’s overturned by a court of law,” Hiller said. “He must conform until a court says otherwise.”
Date: June 24, 2015
Story Reporting by Gina Edwards and Video by Paige Oswald for Naples City Desk
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