BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
A report issued by the State Attorney’s Office concluded that Union County Coordinator Jimmy Williams violated Florida building codes and Union County Land Development Regulations while building a home under his building contractor’s license and that his actions should be investigated by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The prosecutor also reported that William’s actions might be a conflict of interest and should be reported to the Florida Commission of Ethics. State Attorney Brian Kramer also said there might be a violation of Florida Statute in that Williams did not pay for his power pole permit when he received it and that he may have violated or caused others to violate in the area of official misconduct.
Union County Commissioners responded to the report by calling a special meeting on Feb. 5. In that meeting, commissioners agreed to wait 30 days for Williams to respond to the report and other claims made by community members.
Questions surrounding Williams’s conduct began when Lindsey Reddish, a private citizen, sent a group email to all of the commissioners, Union County Property Appraiser Bruce Dukes, and Union County Attorney Russ Wade.
Kramer’s investigators interviewed Reddish, who stated that she had been advised that Williams had allegedly waived a zoning application fee for Tom Jenkins.
Reddish said she opposed the proposed re-zoning because she felt it would affect her family. In the process, she said she received a video and some pictures of the house Williams was building, and the photos showed a permit in the job box of a permit from an old project Williams was building in 2022. Reddish said she began her investigation based on these materials and discovered that records showed that Williams had not secured a permit for his current project and had not registered a notice of commencement. She said she felt that there was a conflict of interest since Williams was over the building department.
Williams’s attorney contradicted this claim during a county commission meeting by saying Williams has no authority over the building department and only handles planning, zoning, and land development regulations.
Kramer’s investigators also talked to then-County Commissioner Ryan Perez, Building Department Secretary Denise Clemons, Board Secretary Diane Hannon, and Building Administrator Wilson Whidden.
Whidden said Williams may have used poor judgment but had not done anything wrong.
The matter is not over, as Williams’ attorney requested time to gather a defense to the accusations and present it to the board. This will happen in a special meeting scheduled for March 11 at 5 p.m. Currently, Williams is suspended with pay until the matter is resolved.
