On Friday afternoon, Commissioner Billy Keel sent an email to City Manager Greg Horwedel proposing that the commission asks the city manager’s office to send in a request to an independent agency to investigate the allegations that Keel tried to intervene in the investigation regarding Steven Singletary’s termination.
He proposed that “… the commission by way of unanimous vote (could be included in consent agenda) ask the city manager to send a request to an independent agency like FDLE, or the Ethics Commission, asking that they review the allegations that have been made against me, and make a determination based on the facts and the law,” Keel wrote. “I would also ask that it be noted for the record, that this request was made by the commission but was proposed to the commission by me in an attempt to clear my name.”
In the email, Keel admitted he was friends with Singletary but that the comments he “had on the matter were simply as a concerned friend.”
“I, in no way, used or attempted to use in any manner, my position as city commissioner of the City of Plant City to intervene in this or any other investigation, not now, and not ever,” Keel wrote.
According to sworn testimony provided by Melissa Hardwick, with whom Singletary had been having an affair, Keel sent text messages to a mutual friend in an attempt to keep her quiet.
Hardwick made the statements to Assistant City Manager of Public Safety Bill McDaniel.
“Did you see the text?” McDaniel asked Melissa in a recorded interview.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Can you tell us what it said?” he asked.
“That his (Singletary’s) job depends on whether or not, I think it said, I testified,” Hardwick said.
Furthermore, according to investigation documents, Singletary left his unmarked police car parked in the parking lot of Keel’s business, Matrix Medical, while he and Hardwick left for daylong trips to Lakeland.
“I believe that the citizens of this community deserve this answer, and I believe I deserve this answer as well,” Keel wrote. “I have spent my entire adult life working for the betterment of this community. I have always done so with honor, pride, and integrity. I will not have that tarnished by these allegations, and I look forward to a day where my name is completely and unequivocally cleared. As always, I will continue to keep the lives of all the people involved in this matter in my thoughts and prayers.”
Because Horwedel’s authority as city manager is limited to administrative personnel who only report to him, he will not file a complaint on Keel with the FDLE unless directed to by a commission’s vote. City commissioners are Horwedel’s bosses.
The commission can make a motion for staff to file a complaint. Citizens also can file a complaint, as long as they provide substantive basis for their complaint, such as the copy of the investigation, which is public record.
Although Keel allegedly reached out to a mutual friend during the investigation, Horwedel said he was not persuaded by Keel to disrupt the investigation.
“Commissioner Keel did not urge me to ignore any evidence, nor did he otherwise pressure me regarding the outcome of our administrative investigation,” Horwedel said. “He asked only that we conduct a fair and impartial investigation, which I believe we did.”
Read Billy Keel’s entire request here.