Bradley and Cooper's post-election hangover

A resignation over ethics allegations turned to finger pointing about corruption at the Winter Park City Commission meeting Monday as the dais echoed the rapid departure of the city’s auditor.

Bernadette Britz-Parker’s name wasn’t well known before a scandal erupted about her allegedly endorsing Commissioner Carolyn Cooper publicly. She quickly tendered her resignation to the city, which Mayor Ken Bradley said he accepted.

“I personally welcome that and I welcome the new partner,” Bradley said about the resignation and the city’s next auditor.

But Commissioner Carolyn Cooper said that the resignation was coerced, not voluntary, and that past city auditors had been guilty of worse transgressions and had gotten a free pass from the Commission.

“I went back and reviewed all of the campaign contributions that have been made for numerous years in the past and what I found was that our prior auditor actually made contributions to candidates – financial contributions — while they were auditors,” she said. “Additionally, since they lost the contract they have made campaign contributions to the three people on the commission that have come up for election since then.”

Cooper and Bradley traded veiled accusations about contributions from past city auditors, but never named each other during the exchange. But Cooper said that the Commission had been notably inconsistent in its enforcement of campaign ethics.

“I don’t feel good about using this forum to question people’s ethical behavior when in reality their behavior was far less than the behavior of our prior auditor and the behavior of the person who wants to become our next auditor,” Cooper said, calling out the mayor for what she said were talks of termination in a prior meeting.

Bradley said that the auditor endorsing a candidate is worse than a candidate receiving campaign funds from another auditor.

“I think that she did the right thing,” Bradley said about Britz-Parker’s decision.

Cooper disagreed with Bradley’s rationale.

“So from your perspective for a person to financially support you to the maximum extent allowable under the law is somehow totally different than someone saying that someone was prepared for a meeting and that [it] was a positive thing?” Cooper asked, echoing a statement made by Britz-Parker regarding her.

When Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel chimed in to rebut a statement from Cooper that the Commission had never had issues with candidates being cast in a negative light during elections, the hubbub on the dais quickly died down, but not before parting shots from Cooper and Bradley.

“You have publicly punished someone for doing something that is far less egregious than the maximum campaign contributions from the city auditor,” Cooper said. “I will let it rest, but I believe it is wrong and it is shameful.”

“Well fortunately this is America and we’re all entitled to our opinions,” Bradley replied.