Naples Ethics Commission tosses out complaint against Naples mayor

Reporter: Rachel Cox-Rosen
Published:
Naples Ethics Commission (CREDIT: WINK News)

A former mayor’s complaint against the current mayor of Naples was tossed out by the Naples Ethics Commission.

The complaint stems from allegations made by claiming that former Mayor Bill Barnett ran a child prostitution ring out of the Naples Airport.

Barnett said just because the Naples Ethics Commission won’t investigate doesn’t mean he will let this go.

Barnett said he still wants to know who made the allegations against him.

“Somebody’s going to get subpoenaed and somebody who knows the truth will say it,” Barnett said.

The issue stems from a 7-page long complaint filed with the State Ethics Commission by Naples IT Director Brian Dye.

A lot of allegations were made in the complaint about current Naples Mayor Teresa Heitmann. The ones that stood out were that “Heitmann accused Barnett of hacking into Heitmann’s computer” and of “running a child prostitution ring out of the Naples Airport with Collier Sheriff Kevin Rambosk.

Heitmann denied to WINK News that she had ever said that, last month addressing the issue and stating: “You don’t let false accusations harm you.”

But Barnett says now those allegations against him are out there and his reputation is on the line.

He wants to know who made them.

“What’s driving me is no different than it would drive anybody else. If somebody just made allegations about you and the sheriff doing something that was so absurd that it’s unbelievable,” Barnett said.

So he filed his complaint with the City of Naples Ethics Commission.

But on Wednesday, the commission dropped the complaint “for lack of legal sufficiency.”

All complaints must be based on personal experience, said Michael Murawski, executive director of the City of Naples Commission on Ethics and Governmental Integrity.

“If you read his complaint it clearly was not,” Murawski said. “He just referenced another complaint that somebody else had filed somewhere else and said you know there was a bad thing said about me that aren’t true and therefore I’m saying it’s an ethics violation.”

Sheriff Rambosk also denied any involvement.

Barnett said if it’s revealed that Heitmann did not make the allegations against him then “apologies will be in order.”

The State Ethics Commission meets July 23rd.

It’s not clear yet if Dye’s complaint will be heard during that meeting.

 

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