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TALLAHASSEE — The state Commission on Ethics on Friday ordered a $5,000 fine and public censure and reprimand for Frank Peterman for travel abuses when he was Florida's secretary of juvenile justice under former Gov. Charlie Crist.
The 4-3 vote followed a lengthy discussion during which a motion to throw out the entire case against Peterman failed on a 4-3 vote.
Peterman's attorney, Mark Herron, said he would appeal the ruling to an appeals court. "We're on our way," Herron said after the vote.
Peterman's problems began with a Times/Herald report in November 2009 that detailed his extensive taxpayer-funded travel between Tallahassee and his hometown of St. Petersburg, where his wife and children live and where he continued to preach at a church while holding his state position.
The news reports triggered an ethics complaint by David Plyer of Clearwater.
Peterman, a former Democratic state representative from St. Petersburg, was found by a state hearing officer to have repeatedly abused his travel privileges during the time he worked at the state agency in 2008 and 2009. Citing the judge's findings, Assistant Attorney General Diane Guillemette said Peterman charged taxpayers to commute back and forth between the two cities.
"He was there every weekend or just about," Guillemette told the ethics commission. "He was not down there for work, and there was no work on his calendar when he was down there."
Peterman paid restitution of about $24,000 to the state after a highly critical report by Crist's inspector general concluded that much of his travel was not justified. Three members of the ethics panel expressed the view Peterman has been punished enough.
But commission member Jean Larsen of Port St. Lucie bluntly challenged that view. "We are sending the message that if you do something wrong and get caught and pay it back, you're off the hook, and that bothers me big time," Larsen said.
By law, Gov. Rick Scott must impose the fine and reprimand.
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