FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) — Former Fort Pierce City Manager Nick Mimms is on trial over allegations that he improperly influenced a city bidding process involving two vacant lots in Fort Pierce’s Lincoln Park area.
Mimms faces charges of bid tampering and official misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege he steered the process toward Lincoln Park Young Professionals, a nonprofit whose board included Mimms’ niece and another city employee.
On Thursday, much of the testimony focused on who controlled the RFP process and how closely Mimms remained involved after it was turned over to the city’s purchasing department.
FDLE Agent Derek Brisky testified about emails and other records collected during the investigation.
One focus was the nearby Lincoln Theater and its need for parking.
Brisky testified Mimms had told the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency that the RFP would include language addressing the theater’s parking needs. But that language was not included in the request Mimms sent to the purchasing department.
Brisky also testified investigators found no evidence Mimms filed a 2019 memorandum concerning the parking plans in the relevant city records.
The defense questioned the significance of that omission and emphasized that the purchasing department was responsible for putting together and publishing the RFP after receiving the project’s specifications.
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Defense attorneys also challenged the state’s characterization of the process as a sole-source arrangement. Brisky acknowledged the RFP was not technically a sole-source contract.
The state, meanwhile, pointed to emails showing Mimms continued to communicate with city employees about the RFP, including its evaluation criteria and the evaluation committee.
Other emails showed city employees knew there had been one submission after the RFP was posted. An LPYP email address was copied on one of those communications.
The defense also questioned the investigation’s treatment of other city employees involved in the process, including a purchasing official who was not charged.
Later, former Fort Pierce employee Kalita Scott testified about LPYP and its efforts to develop the Lincoln Park properties. She described the organization as a group of young professionals focused on community development and said the need for parking near the Lincoln Theater was known in the community.
Prosecutors allege Mimms manipulated the city’s process to ensure LPYP received the lease. The defense has argued Mimms did not improperly favor the organization and that the evidence does not establish a criminal conspiracy.
The trial is continuing in St. Lucie County.