New Smyrna Beach CRA commissioner's construction deal with mayor backfires

Chad SchilskyAdam BarringerNew Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer, shown at right, has been silent on a $20,000 grant approved by the Community Redevelopment Agency for CRA board member Chad Schilsky with the mayor's Barringer Construction for Schilsky's restaurant, That's Amore. Schilsky's grant has been rescinded, but leaves open a host of ethical questions, including why a sitting mayor would put himself in such a precarious situation to begin with. 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A $20,000 grant approved by the New Smyrna Beach City Commission for CRA board member Chad Schilsky, that included money going to Mayor Adam Barringer's family construction business, has been voluntarily rescinded. At least that's the official line being given by city officials.

The mayor has remained publicly silent on the issue and has refused NSBNews.net's numerous calls and e-mails for comment with his city-issued cell phone and designated e-mail. He has also refused comment when asked in person.

NSBNews.net initially learned of the "official" rescision by Schilsky after a Nov. 8 city commission meeting. Schilsky initially told NSB News that he was summoned to a meeting with CRA Director Tony Otte, City Manager Pam Brangaccio and City Attorney Frank Gummey. 

Schilsky told NSB News that a letter was handed to him earlier that day at that private meeting and he was asked to sign it, which he said he did.

The Nov. 8 letter read: "Dear Mr. Otte, I have decided to withdraw my grant application to the Community Redevelopment Agency for improvements to 103. S. Pine Street. I have not received, nor will I accept any money from the Community Redevelopment Agency for this property. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Chad Schilsky."

The only problem with this as it relates to Schilsky is he didn't write the letter. "What was I supposed to do?" Schilsky asked NSB News.

"They told me the county attorney advised them it was illegal for me to have the grant," Schilsky said, referring to the trio of city officials. When confronted by NSB News, Otte sidestepped the issue, saying only: "We're reviewing our policies and procedures." Neither city manager Brangaccio nor city Attorney Gummey have responded to NSB News' calls and e-mails for comment.

Schilsky had initially told NSBNews.net that he didn't want a story done until Otte had a chance to explain what prompted the grant being rescinded. When NSB News relayed to Schilsky Otte's response he said he had nothing to hide and had no problem with the public knowing what happened.

And Schilsky isn't the only CRA member to be rewarded with such a grant. James Kosmas, the current chairman of the CRA, was the recipient of a $1,925 grant two years ago. Even before Schilsky acknowledged the issue with the grant, NSB News had asked the mayor more than a month ago about the ethics of a sitting mayor receiving taxpayer money beyond his $20,000 annual salary.

As late as last night, NSB News e-mailed the city manager, city attorney, CRA director and the mayor, as well as commissioners Judy Reiker, Jim Hathaway, Jack Grasty and Lynne Plaskett to comment on the Schilsky letter and received no response except from Brangaccio who wrote: " Henry..City Clerk has copy of recent Mark Hall memo, that Mr. Hall completed for Tony Otte that addresses 99% of your below questions." She added in a second e-mail: "Johnny has a Mark Hall memo from late last week..that he can email you tomorrow morning."

Hall is CRA attorney Mark Hall, paid as a consultant by the CRA, but not a city employee. NSBNews.net wrote an editor's blog Friday questioning the Schilsky letter and the mayor's role in it as the online newspaper was continuing gathering public documents and other fact finding for its investigative series "New Smyrna Beach CRA: Show Me the Money."

The issue of Schilsky's grant and the mayor's conflict came to light on blogger website, NSBShadow.com, published by Nahum Litt, a retired federal judge who owns residential property in New Smyrna Beach, but lives just outside the city limits. 

The Daytona Beach News-Journal published a story in today's newspaper, writing about Schilsky's grant for the first time in a story headlined: Attorney: "New Smyrna CRA grants violated state law."

The News-Journal cited a memo written last week by Hall to Otte stating in part: "It is improper for an employee or a public officer acting in his or her official capacity to 'do business' with the agency."

Hall explained in the memo that Schilsky and Kosmas "unwittingly" sought the grants while abstaining in the CRA board votes.

The Daytona paper quoted Kosmas as saying Monday that he would repay the CRA the nearly $2,000 he received and Schilsky telling the same publication that day he had withdrawn the $9,000 portion of the matching $20,000 grant. 

The News-Journal, which has received ongoing CRA advertising money from the New Smyrna Beach CRA awarded to community merchant groups and was identified at Friday's tree lighting ceremony as a key sponsor, made no mention of the mayor's stake in Schilsky's grant in today's article.

While NSBNews.net outlined the parameters of its upcoming "Show Me the Money Series" on Friday, the News-Journal ran a promotional story on the tree lighting, along with an ad paid for with CRA taxpayer dollars next to it in its online edition.

NSBNews.net, however, was the only media outlet to actually cover the tree lighting event as part of the CRA-sponsored "Christmas on Canal, spearheaded by merchants Cindy Jones and Deborah Petersen.

While covering the tree lighting at Christmas Park, right next to Kosmas' private law office, NSBNews.net asked Kosmas in person about the grants and he refused comment, saying in part: "I don't speak for the CRA," and when reminded that he is, in fact, the CRA chairman, he repeated the comment. When pressed further on whether he planned to pay back the loan, Kosmas responded, "No comment. Talk to Tony Otte."

Despite Brangaccio's e-mail to NSB News Monday night that it could receive the Hall memo today from Bledsoe, the city clerk advised NSB News he was not aware of such a memo and had to "hunt it down."

NSB News finally received the Hall memo at 9:45 a.m. Hall stated in part in the nov. 22 memo that the grants awarded violated state ethics statutes against CRA commissioners being awarded grants. 

Hall adds in the memo: "In retrospect, the CRA Commission should not have approved" the grants. Hall did mention in the memo, but the News-Journal failed to report, that Schilsky's grant came before the city commission May 10, and that the grant was "approved unanimously (4-0) with Mayor Adam Barringer abstaining due to a conflict of interest with his construction company performing the work associated with the grant award."

Hall adds in the memo: "In retrospect, the CRA Commission should not have approved" the grants. Hall did mention in the memo, but the News-Journal failed to report, that Schilsky's grant came before the city commission May 10, and that the grant was "approved unanimously (4-0) with Mayor Adam Barringer abstaining due to a conflict of interest with his construction company performing the work associated with the grant award."

In Monday night's e-mail to the city officials, the elected commissioners and the mayor, NSB News asked in part: "1. Who wrote the letter Schilsky signed rescinding the CRA grant. Schilsky stated on the record the letter was presented to him to sign during a meeting with the CRA director, the city manager and the city attorney?

2. Is that an appropriate action considering Schilsky told me he didn't know it was written until that meeting?

3. Why was it OK for Schilsky to be awarded this grant then, but not now?

4. With a city attorney, an assistant city attorney, a paralegal and a CRA consulting attorney, why wasn't this considered then?

5. Is it appropriate that Schilsky's grant be rescinded and not the one awarded then-CRA Commission member Jim Kosmas who is now that board's chair?

6. Finally, is it ethically proper for a sitting mayor or his family to receive contract work for CRA member Schilsky's restaurant considering his position of trust with the public as the top elected official, regardless of abstaining? NSBNews.net did not receive a response.