In an extraordinary display of cowardice, Palm Bay’s Mayor Jose Robert Medina went out of his way to thank State Representative Randy Fine for not fighting against funding from the state for Palm Bay’s Police, Fire, road widening, and septic-to-sewer conversion. What Medina didn’t mention was that Fine, after originally submitting the projects totaling approximately $6 million, withdrew all of them in retaliation for being criticized over his silence when his endorsed candidate, Councilman Filiberto, was arrested on DUI and felony drug charges earlier this year.

Tonight, Councilman Kenny Johnson stated that he wanted to specifically recognize Senator Debbie Mayfield and Representative Thad Altman for picking up the appropriations for them after Fine withdrew them, and secured the much-needed funding for our first responders and citizens.

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Medina immediately chimed in, stating that he would also like to include Representative Fine “for not fighting against the funding.” It was a truly astounding moment. Most would argue that withdrawing funding requests for tax dollars from the state, which is funded by the very residents who this funding would benefit, is more than fighting against it. He single-handedly stopped the funding and then lied about it.

When asked by Fox35 why he did it, he stated he had no idea what the City of Palm Bay was talking about. “I’ve not pulled one dollar of funding for the city of Palm Bay,” said State Representative Randy Fine. “Every dollar that we’ve procured for them in the budget in the past, they’ve gotten.” Keywords…in the past. Speaking of the past, Fine is currently awaiting punishment from the Florida Commission on Ethics where they found probable cause that he abused his office and power, when he threatened to withhold funding from the Special Olympics and the City of West Melbourne for flood control projects, when the West Melbourne Police invited School Board Member Jennifer Jenkins to a fundraiser, and did not “honor” him. The text messages acquired from Fine to West Melbourne City Councilman Dittmore show Fine referring to Jenkins as a “whore.” Now he’s paying the price, but clearly hasn’t learned.

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Fine went on to boast about millions in funding he secured for areas nowhere near his district. In fact, most of the funding he secured was for areas nowhere near Brevard County. He gave nearly the same amount he withdrew for the citizens of Palm Bay to one organization alone. He secured the non-profit Farm Share with $5 million in taxpayer money, which he frequently uses for campaign events, giving away nearly spoiled food to the public. Fine has been caught handing out campaign materials in the boxes of this food, implying that he is supplying it himself and using a non-profit organization to run for office, misleading the voters.

Fine told Florida Today he was “under pressure from House leaders to cut down his long list of funding requests.” Compared to all other representatives in Brevard County, Fine had by far the most funding requests. He chose to cut funding from the taxpayers in his own district for critical projects and instead submitted over $24 million in funding for projects outside of his district, many located in South Florida where he is trying to become the new President of Florida Atlantic University.

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Palm Bay City Council drafted a letter on behalf of the citizens of Palm Bay requesting that the Governor and/or the Speaker of the House step in to take action against Fine’s retaliatory behavior. The Palm Bay City Charter requires that the Mayor sign letters being sent out on behalf of the City. Mayor Medina sided with Fine instead of the Charter he swore to uphold, which is on par with the cowardice he displayed tonight. Residents are beginning to ask, “What does Fine have on Medina?” as there’s no logical explanation for someone to consistently fight against his own people on behalf of one man who also told Fox35 that “Palm Bay shouldn’t even exist.” They’ve both already been investigated just last year by the State Attorney’s Office for destruction of public records in the form of text messages between the two of them.

Fine told the City of Palm Bay that he would resubmit the funding originally requested if they would censure Councilman Johnson for criticizing him for his abhorrent actions he’s consistently taken against the city and its citizens over the years. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

Besides all the pettiness of Fine and Medina, both Senator Mayfield and Representative Altman came through for the citizens in funding these critical projects and should be recognized for their efforts. Medina went out of his way tonight to ensure he got down on his knees and thanked Fine anyway, a clear slap in the face to those who actually did the work.

When it came time to replace Councilman Filiberto after his resignation, Medina infamously didn’t show up for three consecutive meetings to ensure there would be no quorum to vote on the person to fill it. Even taking advantage of Councilman Randy Foster, who was in the ICU at the time but still managed to phone in to fulfill his duties. When questioned about it, Medina stated he didn’t show up for his duty because “God told him not to.” We know from those who heard it directly that Fine himself called Medina instructing him not to go, and then bragged about it. We don’t say it lightly, but at this point, when it comes to Medina, we’re not sure what God he’s referring to.

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