SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The general counsel for the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections office has resigned over allegations of misrepresentation.
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This comes after Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Christopher Anderson claimed he was being treated differently by county commission members because he’s Black.
“You want me to enter into a quid pro quo that as long as I say ‘I’m not being racially discriminated against,’ more than likely the building project would be approved,” Anderson said.
It’s a claim that Anderson told Channel 9 on Sept. 7.
Read: Seminole County Supervisor of Election claims racism among political colleagues, own party
He said the former county manager/county attorney called his office’s general counsel, Phil Kaprow, and discussed Anderson writing a letter to be placed on record.
But Kaprow says that isn’t true. He resigned after Anderson kept pushing the false claims.
“It’s not what was said,” Kaprow said. “It’s not what was told to me from the county manager, and it’s not what I conveyed to him.”
Kaprow said during a public meeting between Anderson and the commissioners, things got tense.
Read: ‘I really thought he was going to kill me’: Man accused of attacking woman in Seminole County
Kaprow says he called the county manager after he heard concerns from some commissioners who felt Anderson was calling them racist.
“He tried to say that he wasn’t trying to be that way,” Kaprow said. “He was simply responding to questions.”
Kaprow says the county attorney suggested it would be best if Anderson put something in writing, and there was never a quid pro quo for a new building.
“That way, he can clarify his position, and it would lower the temperature of the room, so to speak,” Kaprow said.
Anderson called Kaprow part of the Seminole County swamp, saying the swamp is pushing back.
“I didn’t bring in racial discrimination that was brought to me through Phil Kaprow,” Anderson said. “But it wasn’t a problem, then. It just happens to be a problem now that I’ve spoken up, now that I’ve uncovered the dirty secret, now that it’s an issue. All this is just retaliation.”
Kaprow said his job was to protect the office, and there are no issues regarding the elections because the staff is fine.
He also believes Anderson is a good person; he’s just not sure where some of his iterations are coming from lately.
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