Tallahassee Citizen Police Review Board meets quorum for first time this year

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - For the first time this year, the Tallahassee Citizen Police Review Board has reached a quorum.

In a commission meeting Wednesday, City Commissioners appointed six capital city residents to the group. Their terms began immediately.

Members approved Wednesday:

At-large seat 4: Christian Minor. Appointed by Mayor John Dailey, Minor is the Executive Director of the Florida Juvenile Association.
At-large seat 5: Niya Hubbard. Appointed by Mayor Pro-Tem Diane-Williams Cox, Hubbard is currently on the board and was re-appointed Wednesday to serve another term.
At-large seat 6: Darlene Cordero, who recently retired from the Miami-Dade Police Department.
At-large seat 7: Justin Ravelo, a senior attorney/prosecutor for the Florida Department of Health.
At-large seat 8: Debra Barrett-Hayes, a substitute teacher/retired art teacher at Florida State University Schools.
At-large seat 9: Frank Roycraft, who served as a reserve in the Marines from 2002-2005. He also formerly worked with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Existing members:

At-large seat 1: Rosezetta Bobo. Appointed by Commissioner Jack Porter, Bobo is in her second term, which is listed on the board website as from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024.
At-large seat 2: Rashad Mujahid. Appointed by Commissioner Curtis Richardson, Mujahid is in their second term, which is listed on the board website as from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024.

Commissioner Jeremy Matlow said Wednesday that he is still reviewing applicants and will announce his appointment October 11. Matlow’s appointment will fill the at-large seat 3, rounding out the board to its maximum of nine members and filling the final vacancy.

A complicated history

The CPRB was established in 2020 as a way to “to foster transparency, enhance communication, and ensure a relationship of trust and respect between the Tallahassee Police Department and the community,” according to its website. But the board, and the city’s handling of its membership, have been the source of scrutiny from capital city residents for months.

Much of the controversy stems from the contentious removal of a board member in December.

After that member’s removal, the board could no longer reach a quorum, meaning members have not met or completed any work since the end of 2022. Board membership continued to decrease throughout this year, drawing criticism from some Tallahassee residents who believed city officials should do more to restore its occupancy.

The city began seeking more applicants for the board in March, but the mayor and other city officials repeatedly declined to share with WCTV details on how many applications they received or a clear timeline on when new members would be put in place.

Last month, city commissioners unanimously approved some of the most significant changes to the group’s rules and procedures since its inception. The myriad of revisions include discouraging board members from engaging in “community outreach on behalf of the board” and prohibiting the CPRB from sending out press releases or making public statements.

In that meeting, Commissioners Jack Porter and Jeremy Matlow raised concerns about some of the adjustments, while Mayor John Dailey, Mayor Pro-Tem Dianne Williams-Cox, and Commissioner Curtis Richardson supported the initial proposal in its entirety.

At the time of the vote, the mayor said the city was nearing making decisions on CPRB membership and suggested a final choice could come at the next meeting. However, the appointments on Wednesday came over a month after that comment.

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