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2 state workers can run for office
By ROBERT KING, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- Two local candidates who work for state agencies -- one, the Department of Corrections, the other, the Florida Lottery -- may run for office without giving up their jobs, their employers say. Both Gregory Williams, a corrections supervisor running for the state House of Representatives, and Stephen Galaydick, a Florida Lottery employee running for School Board, have been given legal and ethical clearance to be candidates. However, the corrections department says being a candidate is one thing and getting elected is another. Should Williams win the District 44 state House seat now held by Rep. David Russell Jr., he would have to quit his corrections job, according to corrections officials. Both state agencies reviewed the requirements of the elective offices and whether conflicts of interest could arise. In Williams' case, corrections officials initially denied his request even to be a candidate. However, they reversed their decision Monday and notified Williams that he was cleared to be a candidate. The reversal was based on an erroneous assumption about Williams' employment classification. Williams said he is grateful corrections officials agreed to reconsider his request to become a candidate. He said he feels they arrived at the appropriate decision. Williams said he understood that, should he win election to the state House, he would have to resign his job. To do otherwise would mean he would be in the position of approving the budgets for the agency he works for -- a clear conflict. Galaydick, who works in an administrative capacity with lottery sale representatives in Hillsborough and Polk counties, received approval from lottery officials on Thursday and declared his candidacy on Monday. Both Galaydick and Williams were warned by their employers not to campaign during their work time, solicit help from co-workers or use state government resources in their campaigns. The same goes for Alan Minthorn, a candidate for School Board, who is in a similar spot as Williams. Should he win election to the School Board, he would have to resign his position as a teacher at Springstead High. -- Robert King covers education in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6127. Send e-mail to rking@sptimes.com.
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From today's Hernando Times |
