Ethics Commission dismisses Minshew Complaint

Commissioner Minshew

The Florida Commission on Ethics has dismissed an ethics complaint filed against Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Genece Minshew, citing a lack of legal sufficiency.

The complaint was submitted by local activist Kelley Yates, who identifies as “The Classy Conservative” and is known for making anti-LGBTQIA2S+ statements at city commission meetings. In her filing, Yates accused Minshew of intimidating her and cited a conflict of interest due to Minshew’s leadership role in Fernandina Beach Pride.

Yates claimed she received dozens of mailings from the group, which she described as efforts to silence her public opposition to Pride events. She also alleged that the group’s social media posts were defamatory and discriminatory. Minshew is a co-founder, former president, and current treasurer of Fernandina Beach Pride, in addition to serving on the city commission.

In its statement released Wednesday, the Commission clarified that its review process is limited to assessing jurisdiction and whether a complaint contains sufficient facts to suggest a violation of the state’s ethics code. No independent investigation is conducted during this initial review phase, and the dismissal does not reflect the truth or falsehood of the allegations.

Yates stated in her May 21 complaint "I have received 34 envelopes in the mail from Fernandina Beach Pride, who are trying to intimidate me and silence me further speaking at city meetings about the idea of making Pride Events ID required to protect children from sexually explicit content and public obscenity. Fernandina Beach Pride also has a social media campaign to incite hate and defamation including prejudiced comments on my ethnicity and character for speaking up against child exploitation. City Commissioner Genece Minshew is the co-founder, former president, and current treasurer of Fernandina Beach Pride. This is a clear conflict of interest because she oversees events and is on the Pride board and a city commissioner."