Diezel DePew, the Mayor of Edgewater, engaged in a contentious exchange with a resident during public comments at a Monday meeting in which the resident accused him of drinking underage by means of a fake ID. Functioning as the chair of the Edgewater City Council, DePew asked the resident to speak only on what he called 'city business'.
The resident levying the accusations was Anthony Kianvar. He started off his comments by immediately charging DePew with having used a fake ID to buy alcohol during a night out with Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette last month. He claimed the ID listed DePew as a Georgia resident who'd been born in 2000. That would make DePew about 24 years old, when in reality he's only 19.
"This is not related to city business," DePew said over Kianvar. "You engaged in behavior which is not becoming of the office of which you've been elected," Kianvar shot back. "This is a city matter." As the exchange grew more heated, DePew at one point asked for an officer. He then said that it was a personal matter that he may address later on.
Kianvar offered no evidence of DePew's alleged transgressions during his comments, but he had scarcely an opportunity to do so even if presented the chance. As of, the accusations are without known evidence.
The act of possessing a fake ID or driver's license is a third degree felony in Florida, while underage drinking is a second degree misdemeanor.
