Fort Pierce - Thursday August 15, 2024: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has arrested Fort Pierce City Manager Nicholas C. Mimms on one count of bid tampering and one count of official misconduct. The 51 year old Mimms has been the City Manager of Fort Pierce since 2015.
The case began after FDLE received a complaint detailing inappropriate conduct by a city official in connection with a request for proposal (RFP) to develop surplus property in the Lincoln Park downtown corridor. The property (two blighted vacant lots) is owned by the City of Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency.
During the two-year investigation, FDLE agents found that Mimms initiated the process to have the lots declared as surplus and then intentionally rigged the bid to make sure Lincoln Park Young Professionals (LPYP) received the lease. LPYP, a local nonprofit, was formed by two former city employees, one of them being Mimms’ niece.
Mimms, acting as project manager for the RFP, controlled the bid language and improperly communicated with LPYP providing non-public information. He used his influence to ensure LPYP was able to present its idea to the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency prior to the bid going public. Agents say he improperly influenced the criteria for evaluating each bid and concealed his conflict of interest during the bidding process.
FDLE’s Fort Pierce Field Office continues to investigate this case. Mimms was arrested Wednesday afternoon and booked into the St. Lucie County jail with a $10,000 bond pending first appearance. The case will be prosecuted by the Nineteenth Circuit State Attorney’s Office, with help from Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.
This is an active and ongoing investigation and additional arrests may be forthcoming.