Residency concerns have emerged surrounding newly elected Fort Walton Beach City Council member, Larry Patrick, following allegations that he may not have been living within the city limits during his campaign.
The complaint, submitted by former City Councilwoman Amy Jamieson on behalf of the Voices of Fort Walton Beach group, accuses Patrick of falsifying residency documents.
- The complaint was sent to various state agencies, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Elections Commission.
Leading up to the 2023 Municipal Elections for the City of Fort Walton Beach, questions regarding Larry Patrick’s eligibility as a candidate surfaced. Allegations suggested that Patrick resided in Niceville rather than at his property at 221 Yacht Club Drive within the city limits. Concerns were voiced on social media and in a circulating letter, challenging Patrick’s claim of residence.
The first time it was publicly mentioned was during a Candidate Forum leading up to the election.
- “As I was researching for tonight’s event, I came across a social media post that said, ‘How can Larry Patrick be running for Fort Walton Beach City Council if he doesn’t live in the city?'” said host Mike Minich in March.
In response to the question posed during the forum, Larry Patrick clarified, “I have two homes: one in Fort Walton Beach, which has been my home since 1984. It is my homestead. The Okaloosa Supervisor of Elections office has confirmed that qualifies me as a candidate for city council. The house in Niceville will be sold this year.”
- According to the city’s charter, council members must have resided in the city for at least six months prior to qualifying for an elected office.
Patrick says the house in Niceville was purchased as an investment property and a temporary place to live while he and his wife tore down the house on Yacht Club Drive and built their dream home. However, demolition never occurred and they ultimately decided to renovate the home on Yacht Club.
Former Mayor Mike Anderson addressed the matter during a June City Council meeting, stating that after much research and discussion with Okaloosa Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux, it turns out that “you don’t have to live in the City of Fort Walton Beach to be on city council.”
- According to Anderson, “if you have a homesteaded property, and you have had it for a while, and you spend some time at that residence…you can still be on city council.”
However, the complaint submitted by the Voices of Fort Walton Beach group alleged that Patrick had not lived at his Fort Walton Beach property for many years, despite maintaining his homestead exemption on the property.
According to a “Statement of Fact” included in the complaint, Patrick’s residency was questioned by citizens and fellow candidates, but their efforts to rectify the situation with Okaloosa Supervisor of Elections did not yield any action due to a lack of conclusive evidence.
“The group that worked on this election complaint is Voices of Fort Walton Beach,” disclosed Amy Jamieson, who filed the complaint. “Some of us tried even before election day because we knew Larry was not a resident and went to Okaloosa Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux. Unfortunately, Paul said he had no proof and there was nothing that he could do.”
The Voices of Fort Walton Beach group hired a private investigator to gather evidence and substantiate their claims. The investigator’s report indicated that Patrick was observed at his Niceville residence, while little to no activity was seen at his Fort Walton Beach property on June 29. The group aimed to obtain the necessary proof to support their complaint and bring it before local authorities.
“The reason we ended up doing that is because… per Paul Lux, he said he couldn’t do anything because he didn’t have any information,” Jamieson explained. “So one of the things we tried to do was get the proof that he [Larry] did not reside at 221 Yacht Club.”
The complaint was submitted to several state agencies, including the:
- State Attorney’s Office
- Office of Statewide Prosecution
- Florida Department of Law Enforcement
- Florida Elections Commission
- Florida Commission on Ethics
- Florida Division of Elections
- Florida Department of State Office of the General Counsel
- Okaloosa Supervisor of Elections
Last week, the Okaloosa Property Appraiser’s office confirmed to Get The Coast that the homestead exemption on Patrick’s Fort Walton Beach property had been removed.
The office stated, “Several outlets have informed our office anonymously via email and phone calls about a possible residency issue involving Mr. Patrick’s homestead. Our office removed the homestead on 221 Yacht Club Drive in March of 2023.”
- According to the Property Appraiser, Patrick has the option to file a petition to go in front of the special magistrate if he feels the homestead exemption was removed for unjust reasons.
In response to the removal of the homestead exemption, Patrick says the appeal paperwork has already been completed but has yet to be delivered to the Property Appraiser’s office. As for the house in Niceville, Patrick says this home is for sale.
“We’ve already had a lot of contacts about it,” Patrick stated. “Hopefully, it’ll go under contract soon. There’s been remodeling work going on at the house in Fort Walton for a few weeks now, and it should be finished within the next few weeks.”
Patrick maintains that he meets the legal requirements for both the homestead exemption and the election rules. According to him, the property appraiser had previously recognized the use of the homestead exemption in 2 instances before. He believes that the complaint from the Voices of Fort Walton Beach group is politically motivated, mainly due to the removal of the Fire Assessment Fee.
- Patrick is a member of the FWB Watch Group that was formed following the implementation of the Fire Assessment Fee in 2019. One of the Group’s primary objectives was to remove the Fire Assessment Fee.
At the end of his first meeting as city councilmember in April, Patrick made a motion to instruct the City Attorney to prepare necessary documents to repeal the Fire Assessment Fee effective the end of this fiscal year. Council Member Gloria DeBerry (also a FWB Watch Group member) seconded the motion.
- Patrick stated that his motion included the effective date as of the end of this fiscal year to avoid undoing something that would cause more problems within the budget such as collecting taxes that haven’t already been collected, and the fact that the revenues are tied to the budget.
- The motion passed 6-1.
Jamieson says the Voices of Fort Walton Beach group is simply ensuring that a City Council member who genuinely resides within the city limits is representing their interests. “We want what’s best for the city, which is why we’re doing what we’re doing,” she said. “It’s not a retaliation. It is a love for the city and we want what’s right. We want the truth.”
As for Patrick and the complaint, he says he is confident that this will all work itself out. “I checked with the elections office before I even filed to run and went over the circumstances and I was cleared by them at that time,” he said.
Moving forward, the resolution of the complaint could determine whether Larry Patrick’s residency issue impacts his position on the Fort Walton Beach City Council and if it potentially leads to the appointment of a new representative on the council.
