Important Distinction—What an Advisory Opinion is:

Get this: The City of Lake Worth asked for an ADVISORY opinion from the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics when the City and Commissioner Szerdi knew that a CLIENT of his in ANOTHER CITY was going to have ownership of the Gulfstream Hotel. Commissioner Szerdi and the City were PROACTIVE, and he was told that he could not work for them in Lake Worth and that he would have to recuse/abstain from voting if something came before the Commission that concerned his client. THIS WAS DONE TO AVOID A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. That's a big distinction. THIS IS NOT A VIOLATION OF ANYTHING, MERELY A GUIDE TO PROPER CONDUCT.

If you received one of these letters you are being lied to; Commissioner Szerdi has no Conflict of Interest with the owners of the Gulfstream Hotel:

To date, nothing has come before the City Commission regarding his client. He is NOT working for them on their Lake Worth projects.

The Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) could have been answered by anyone and is governed by its own State Law about a "cone of silence" during the review process. The whole ITN will be publicly vetted when it is time to be presented to the City Commission and the public.

Below is the letter in response to the request by the City—almost one year ago—from the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics explaining how Commissioner Szerdi should conduct himself as a Commissioner should a client of his, from another city, come before him at the City Commission.

He has followed this opinion to the letter.

And, here is the actual letter:

Political Advertisement paid for and approved by John Szerdi, non-partisan for City Commission