Dana O'Connor
Key Points
- The Florida Commission on Ethics dismissed complaints against Apopka Mayor Nick Nesta and former Mayor Bryan Nelson for lacking legal grounds for investigation.
- Kelley Butcher alleged Nesta retaliated against her and Nelson shared city surveillance images on social media. The commission dismissed both complaints without investigating the allegations.
- The commission dismissed an earlier ethics complaint against Nesta in January 2026 and one against Nelson in June 2024.
The Florida Commission on Ethics dismissed separate complaints against current Mayor Nick Nesta and former Mayor Bryan Nelson, finding that neither met the legal requirements for an investigation.
Apopka resident Kelley Butcher filed both complaints, according to records obtained by The Apopka Chief. She alleged that Nesta used his office to retaliate against her for speaking out and requesting public records and that Nelson released images from city surveillance footage to social media groups.
The commission received both complaints Aug. 18, voted to dismiss them in closed session Oct. 23 and filed the orders Oct. 28. The commission did not investigate the facts behind either complaint.
Complaint against Nesta
Butcher alleged that Nesta made inaccurate statements about her to Apopka police, directed police to act on misleading reports and sought to limit her contact with police and city employees.
The commission cited a police report in which an investigator found certain allegations Nesta made about Butcher were “unfounded.” The commission said that even if it accepted all of Butcher’s allegations as true, her complaint lacked specific facts showing that Nesta sought a private benefit for himself or someone else, an element of misuse of public position under Florida’s ethics code.
In January, the commission dismissed a separate complaint against Nesta involving his support for $50,000 in city funding for Main Street Apopka while he was a city commissioner. Apopka resident Dale Lind filed that complaint.
Complaint against Nelson
Butcher alleged that Nelson shared still images from city security footage with social media groups to harass the people pictured and further his personal and political interests.
City records cited in the order showed Nelson requested and received the footage. The commission said the complaint offered no firsthand account or other information beyond hearsay tying him to the release of the images.
Butcher raised the surveillance allegation in a separate civil lawsuit against Nelson.
In June 2024, the commission dismissed an earlier ethics complaint Butcher filed against Nelson. It found no probable cause on allegations involving the departure of then-City Attorney Michael Rodriguez and the use of city resources for nonprofit meetings.