Nestled between Gainesville and Jacksonville is what some news outlets have nicknamed the most corrupt city in the nation: Hampton, population 477.
It’s likely that by the end of the month, the doors to its city hall will be shut forever.
The corruption there stems from where it always does: money. Hampton’s money came from a brutal speed trap on a 1,260-foot stretch of U.S. 301.
That stretch wasn’t always within Hampton’s borders, but its annexation in the early 1990s gave the city a new revenue source. In 2011, 9,515 speeding tickets written in a town of fewer than 500 people brought in $253,000, CNN reported.
The town has about one police officer for every 25 people. The officers sit on the side of the highway, lounging in lawn chairs with radar guns, waiting for unsuspecting drivers. One officer — called Rambo by residents — gave out tickets in full SWAT gear with an AR-15 strapped to his chest.
The tickets may have caused the corruption, but it didn’t stop there. Police officers were seen using their vehicles off duty.
They’d even bring their own gas cans when they filled up so they could get more on the city’s dime. The mayor has been in jail since Thanksgiving time for dealing oxycodone.
The city clerk was overpaid by about $9,000. Now, all the employees have quit because the money has dried up in the wake of an audit from Tallahassee. Talk about a government shutdown.
According to CNN, “‘It’s a mess,’ Dan Krassner, the group’s (Integrity Florida) co-founder, said of the situation in Hampton. ‘Clearly, there has been misuse of public funds and lack of oversight. The cronyism and nepotism is out of control.’”
These aren’t even all the issues the city faces. But the most corrupt city in America has a lesson to teach us about the growing disconnection between the government and the governed.
The mayor of the city talked to CNN from jail, orange jumpsuit and all. He pointed fingers at everyone but himself — and ended up resigning Tuesday.
The city has been given one last chance to redeem itself. But without a staff, it’s unlikely Hampton will be able to fix the policies that led it to break local, state and federal laws a total of 31 times.
Keep in mind this has been going on for years without notice. If corruption this blatant has a home in the Sunshine State, there’s no telling what else gets by.
Issues like these show why people need to be engaged with their governments. We’re coming to a crossroad in our nation’s history. The federal government is plagued by increasing partisanship and deadlock in the legislature.
The executive branch is spying on U.S. citizens like no other time in American history. Our economy is still recovering from the recession, while the current technological revolution and corrupt corporations alike threaten to upend the little recovery we have seen.
But it’s not just the federal government that’s broken. Local governments have a better reputation. They’re supposedly more responsive to constituents and better fit to fix local ailments. This example in Gainesville’s backyard shows that even at the smallest scale, our politics are broken. The needs of the people are being shoved aside for the wants of a few.
The solution won’t come from them — it comes from you.
[Justin Jones is a UF journalism senior. His columns appear on Thursdays. A version of this column ran on page 6 on 3/13/2014 under the headline “Corrupt city gains national attention"]
