In the teeny tiny town of Davenport, Florida, little scandals seem way big. Take the most recent one involving a former mayor named Barbara Pierson, who it seems may have spent public money on “personal” stuff, at least it is alleged that she admitted to it.
Here is the timeline of events: March 2020, the City of Davenport gives $10,000 to the newly formed Economic Development Council (EDC) with Pierson as its president; then 14 months later on May 17, 2021, the City receives an email from Pierson that they have closed operations. In all that time, the she gave one report in August 2020 to local commissioners saying she didn’t have a report and was to give said report the following month. That never came.
Three quarters went by while the commissioners seemed to have forgotten the EDC altogether. No report ever materialized. No one asked what was going on. Then about five months ago, a voter asked the city manager about it and here we are.
According to the Four Corners News-Sun, “Pierson resigned as mayor in 2018 after it was revealed that she had an active warrant out of Michigan for allegedly stealing public money.” Because of her relationship with each of the board members, the city’s commissioners decided to give Pierson a second chance, apparently a bad decision.
For details on this unfolding news story, check out this spot. (And, yes, if you noticed the difference between the photo of Pierson here and the one at the News-Sun, it’s because their version was photoshopped.)
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