To: Greg Horwedel-City Manager of the City of Plant City

February 7th, 2014

It has been a difficult couple weeks for our community, due to the circumstances

surrounding the investigation and termination of our Police Chief. As you know,

Steve and I are friends and it was made clear to me early on that this was a non-

criminal matter, involving an extra-marital affair. I can assure you that any

comments I had on the matter were simply as a concerned friend. My thoughts

on this have always been that it was a very personal matter, and one that

deserved some privacy. It has had a devastating impact, not just on the

individuals involved directly, but their spouses, children, families, friends and co-

workers. It has been my hope and belief that they need to be left alone. They

need time to heal their personal lives and their families. They need time to put

things back together and to move forward again. Out of respect to everyone

involved, I have tried my best to stay out of this media frenzy, even though

comments have continued to be made about me. I truly believe that is the right

thing and proper thing to do, and that the people involved here need to be left

alone so they can get their lives back together.

I do recognize however, that this has reached a point where I now need to

respond.

First, let me be very clear, 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.

I do, however, recognize that this whole thing puts a cloud over the city, and puts

my fellow commissioners in an untenable position to be pressed to take

investigative action of some kind against a fellow commissioner. In an effort to

solve this dilemma, I would propose the following:

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.

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.

I believe that the citizens of this community deserve this answer, and I believe I

deserve this answer as well. 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.

City Commissioner Billy Keel