Fort Pierce City Manager Nick Mimms Arrested, Charged with Two Offenses

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Fort Pierce City Manager Nick Mimms was arrested Wednesday afternoon, the State Attorney’s Office confirmed to WPTV News.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) said the man was charged with one count of bid tampering and one count of abuse of authority.

Mimms, 51, was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail at 4:08 p.m. and released at 5:48 p.m. after posting $10,000 bail.

Fort Pierce City Manager Nick Mimms was arrested Wednesday afternoon, the state attorney’s office confirmed to WPTV News.

Bid tampering is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Abuse of authority is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

WHAT ARE THE ACCUSATIONS CAUSED?

The investigation began after FDLE said it received a complaint detailing inappropriate conduct by a city official in connection with a request for proposal (RFP) to develop surplus real estate in the downtown Lincoln Park corridor. The property, which consists of two vacant lots, is owned by Fort Pierce’s Redevelopment Agency.

City of Fort Pierce website

While two-year investigationThe FDLE said its agents discovered that Mimms initiated the process to have the parcels deemed redundant, then intentionally rigged the bidding process to ensure that Lincoln Park Young Professionals (LPYP) would receive the lease. The FDLE said LPYP, a local nonprofit, was founded by two former city employees, one of whom was Mimms’ niece.

Investigators found that Mimms, while serving as RFP project manager, controlled the language of the proposal and improperly communicated with LPYP, providing non-public information.

FDLE said it used its influence to ensure LPYP had the opportunity to present its idea to the Fort Pierce Development Agency before the bid went public.

The agents found that he improperly influenced the evaluation criteria for each bid and concealed his conflict of interest during the bid submission process.

WPTV reported on the issues surrounding this project earlier this year. Click below to watch our stories:

* History: Despite more than $500,000 in public and private support, the lot remains vacant

* History: Hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants were earmarked for a Fort Pierce community center that was never built

FDLE said its Fort Pierce field office is continuing to investigate the matter.

Investigators said the case will be prosecuted by the 19th District State’s Attorney’s Office with assistance from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.

WPTV

MIMMS HAS BEEN WORKING FOR CITY SINCE 1998

According to the city of Fort Pierce’s website, Mimms is the city’s chief executive officer and administrative head, “responsible to the City Commission for the proper administration of all affairs” of the city.

According to the city website, he was appointed city manager in December 2015 after serving as deputy manager for three years.

At approximately 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, WPTV received a statement from the City of Fort Pierce regarding Mimm’s arrest:

“The City of Fort Pierce is aware of the recent arrest of City Manager Nick Mimms. We recognize the concerns this may create in our community and are committed to addressing this situation with the transparency and seriousness it requires…”

Mimms, a Fort Pierce native, joined the city in 1998 as a project engineer and has served in a variety of positions, including stormwater engineer, deputy director of public works, director of public works and director of the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency.

Mimms holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Central Florida and is a licensed professional engineer by the Florida Board of Professional Engineers and an accredited manager by the International City/County Management Association.

City officials said he is a member of the Florida City and County Management Association, the International City/County Management Association, the National Forum of Black Public Administrators, the American Public Works Association and the Solid Waste Authority of North America.

It is unclear when he will appear in court to answer the charges.

Stay tuned to WPTV News and WPTV.com for more details on this important news.