The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office are both investigating the campaign sign scandal at Bellview Library that involved two Escambia County employees.
State House District 2 candidate Trei McMullen, a Republican, filed two reports with the sheriff’s office over concerns that his campaign signs and likeness were deliberately blocked by his opponent’s signs outside the Bellview Library on Aug. 8.
He made the complaints after receiving pictures that he said appear to show West Florida Library Director Christal Bell-Rivera and her husband, Sheriff’s Office Community Relations Neighborhood Specialist Ronnie Rivera, putting up political signs for his opponent, Jon Fay.
McMullen said those signs were placed directly in front of McMullen’s signs and blocked his images.
McMullen said he filed a report with the Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 12. about allegedly moving Fay’s campaign signs to block his, as well as a separate complaint about Ronnie Rivera, as a Sheriff’s Office employee, being involved in it.
Simmons said his office has initiated an internal affairs investigation to determine whether Ronnie Rivera violated any department policies in the alleged incident.
Simmons said that because one of McMullen’s complaints alleged activities potentially criminal in nature, it was forwarded to FDLE.
“We took the criminal complaint, but because it involved one of our employees and because the Florida Department of Law Enforcement typically handles election-type complaints, we asked them to look at that one and they have agreed,” Simmons said.
Bell-Rivera submitted her resignation on Aug. 10 after only four months on the job, but the county would not comment on why.
The News Journal reached out to Bell-Rivera for comment after she resigned but she did not respond.
Her hiring was controversial because Escambia County approved her for the position over the protests of dozens of citizens, as well as the West Florida Public Library governing board.
Members said Bell-Rivera didn’t have the required experience or educational qualifications for the position, and they unanimously recommended another, more experienced and qualified candidate.
According to Escambia Elections Supervisor Robert Bender, intentionally defacing or removing a campaign sign is illegal under personal property law.
Intentionally blocking a sign, he said, is not illegal, but it falls into an ethically gray area in the political sphere.
Mollye Barrows is an award-winning investigative reporter for the Pensacola News Journal covering legal justice and government accountability matters.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia Sheriff hands off campaign sign scandal investigation to FDLE
Reporting by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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By Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
