Sarasota city attorney recommends Arroyo abstain from future Ken Thompson Park votes

After a Herald-Tribune inquiry found that Sarasota City Commissioner Erik Arroyo is a registered agent for a developer he brought to City Hall to pitch a private development at Ken Thompson Park, City Attorney Robert Fournier has told Sarasota officials the commissioner should recuse himself from votes on the proposal's future.

In a memorandum to the City Commission sent on Thursday, Fournier concluded that Arroyo's relationship with developer Jeffrey Koffman constitutes a conflict of interest. He also said Arroyo should have disclosed his business relationship to the board before it considered the proposal at a February meeting.

Since Arroyo is a registered agent for Park Golf Entertainment, which Koffman said would be involved in his plan for the park, "it is my opinion that he should declare a conflict of interest and not participate in the Final Vote," Fournier wrote.

In the city attorney's legal opinion, a vote by Arroyo to approve the park project would violate two Florida statutes.

In the case of one − Sec. 112.3143(3) − the commissioner would experience a "special private gain or loss" because he is the registered agent of Park Golf Entertainment, which Fournier wrote "will be the principal entity involved in the creation and management of whatever proposal might be approved for Ken Thompson Park..."

The second involves the "Conflicting employment or contractual relationship" statute, which prohibits public officials from having employment or contractual relationships with businesses regulated by or doing business with their agency. Fournier concluded that under the statute's language, Arroyo would have a contractual relationship with Park Golf Entertainment.

"This means that it would be a violation of Florida Statutes for Commissioner Arroyo to serve on the City Commission and for his firm to simultaneously have a business entity as a client if that entity is going to be a party to a lease or contract approved by the City Commission," Fournier wrote.

Fournier told the Herald-Tribune in an interview that the "special gain or loss" clause also extends to Koffman and his company since they would stand to gain from their proposed "public-private partnership" with the city.

Fournier also said although he didn't think Arroyo's initial vote to bring the topic to the Parks, Recreation & Environmental Protection Advisory Board for review constituted an ethical violation, it would have been "better practice" for the commissioner to inform the city of the business relationship beforehand.

The parks advisory board will consider the issue at a meeting on April 18.

Fournier made clear that his recommendation is not the final authority on the matter and that any citizen unsatisfied with what has happened to date or what may happen going forward may file a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics, which would have more legal authority to weigh in.

Arroyo did not respond to a request for comment. In his only public statement on the matter, the commissioner insisted that Ride Entertainment was the company proposing the development project, which he said has "no overlap" to the Koffman companies he's connected to.

"I've since learned that Ride Entertainment may be either changing its name or doing business with another entity that my law firm acts as a registered agent for," Arroyo said.

Fournier disagreed in his memorandum; which is not scheduled for a discussion at Monday's City Commission meeting.

Koffman also told the Sarasota Observer he wants to rebrand Ride Entertainment Sarasota into Park Golf Entertainment and told the Herald-Tribune that his plans for the park include Park Golf Entertainment — the exclusive marketing arm for park golf in the United States. He was brought to City Hall by Arroyo in February to pitch a plan for private development at Ken Thompson Park that involved his company developing attractions on the property, with a profit-sharing proposal he has yet to outline.

The developer envisioned the main attraction as a course for "park golf," a Japanese-originated game. Koffman said the game was aimed at an older demographic, and he thought Sarasota was the right place for it to become the sport's national center. Koffman also said he wanted to use paid attractions at the park — such as park golf — to pay for improved, free amenities there.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: City attorney recommends Arroyo abstain on Ken Thompson Park proposal