TPD’s Fitness, Favoritism, and a Six Figure Salary

For some, the City of Tallahassee (COT) is just a job, but for Chief Revell, it’s an opportunity to give his cousin an approximately $100,000 salary as a wellness coordinator. We obtained a public records request that confirms the expected pay for this position and the applicants’ information. The public records request received substantiates the harmful impact many of our neighbors express to us about this position and selection.

In March of 2025, the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) requested a wellness coordinator position to be posted externally for seven days in April of 2025.

We noticed some inconsistencies with the dates for the job post listing, and we assume these are most likely clerical errors. Despite small inconsistencies in the produced records, the largest concern is the impression that the chief of police is participating in nepotism.

Nepotism is when a public employee in a position of authority “appoint[s], employ[s], promote[s], or advance[s], or advocate[s] for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a position in the agency in which the official is serving or over which the official exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official” (112.3135, F.S.) ¹

Note: on the above requisition form, this position is expected to pay an hourly rate of $47.34 an hour and serve a 40-hour workweek. This equals just under $100,000 ­­­—not including benefits. Many neighbors in our community who are experts in fitness, work with clients all day, and do not see a $100,000 stable salary with benefits would appreciate this opportunity. Our team assumes that if our neighbors knew this job opportunity existed, the hiring pool would have been very large.

The Applicants

In our records request, we found three applicants wanting this position. There is one applicant that stands out more than the other two.

According to the TPD’s job posting, this position requires a bachelor’s degree and 4 year’s experience or the equivalent in training and experience. For the purposes of this assessment, we eliminated candidate 3, as they do not possess that degree and the only listed experience noted is working in a gym since 2023 and volunteer work without years noted.

The other two applicants both have bachelor’s degrees. Our team agreed that with this information and no additional hiring documentation, the second applicant appears more qualified than the first.

How Did You Learn of the Job?

“How did you learn of the job?” is frequently asked on applications. Generally, the organization uses these answers for internal data tracking. It tells them how jobs are found and which job advertising platform is the most advantageous for employers to use.

Both applicants learned about the job through someone.

Applicant 1: Through TalGov.com, specifically her father Gene Revell.

Applicant 2: Through a current employee, specifically word of mouth.

Further down in the application a second question is proposed: “To your knowledge, do you have any relatives working for the City of Tallahassee? (If yes, please provide their name, relationship to you, and the department they work for.)”

Applicant 1: Lawrence Revell- Cousin- TPD

Applicant 2: No

Final Observations

Our team also observed a marked difference between the care the applicants took to fill out the application form. More specifically, applicant one notes CrossFit instructor/coach as a previous job, but omits a description of the job duties. While this omission of detail may be self-explanatory, this specific job is for a wellness coordinator, and this is perhaps where an applicant would highlight their experience, considering that this applicant’s most recent work experience is in receptionist positions.

When we placed this specific request, our team also requested:

“the number interviewed, the interview panel or decision-makers, and any scoring, ranking, or selection summary used to support the final hiring decision…Please provide records showing the approved salary range, starting salary, pay grade, classification, benefits eligibility, and any salary justification or exception related to the wellness/fitness coordinator position, including records showing who approved the compensation and whether it was consistent with comparable City or TPD positions. Finally, please provide all records showing whether the familial relationship between Allison Pratt and the Police Chief was disclosed, reviewed, or discussed before or during the hiring process, including any records concerning nepotism, conflict of interest, recusal, non-participation by the Chief, legal review, HR review, or ethics review.”

We specifically requested these items to allow the city to justify this hire. As a rule, our team assumes good intentions and this situation is no different. We assume the chief did not willingly place any pressure on hiring staff for her to be hired; however, the lack of records produced for this hire, her relationship with the chief, and her experience compared to another applicant has an impact of creating further distrust. Not just with our team and the community but also with city employees and the police department. There is no record produced by the city that clarifies how much influence the chief had in this hire. No record was produced that states what he did to mediate the possible pressure his position may have on the hiring process. There is no documentation presented that includes notes or explains the interviews for the candidates. If something was amiss or disqualifying in the interview for the other candidates, there is no documentation to affirm that.

This is a high-paying job with benefits. Many of our hard-working fitness neighbors deserve the same opportunity as the relative of the chief. Only listing this job for seven days and only through the city website (again, they did not produce documentation of where it was listed) resulted in two candidates, both of whom heard about the job from someone in the department or from the chief. A job that is expected to pay just under $100,000 should be listed longer and advertised on a larger scale.

Furthermore, the other applicant, when compared to the hired applicant, appears more qualified. We checked the current employee and since being hired she obtained her NASM/AFAA CPR in January of this year (2026) as well as her Group Fitness certification. However, we could not find a way to verify whether this was a renewal or an initial certification. We were able to locate her on CrossFit instructor search with a timeline that does match her application date.

While these certifications could have been present, her lack of documenting them for a job requiring them raises concerns.

We are better together, keep the conversation going.

Applicant 1: Hired

Applicant 2

1. The Florida Senate, statute 112.3135, July 2026 https://www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2010/112.3135 ↩︎