There’s a new call today for Tallahassee’s mayor to step down. A candidate for the city commission says Mayor John Marks should resign effective immediately.

Jacob Eaton is running for the second district city commission seat. He made the announcement about Mayor Marks needing to step down outside of Tallahassee City Hall today.

You may recall Eaton was at the center of a controversy earlier this year. When he started to speak up at a meeting of the Leon County Democratic Party Executive Committee about questionable funds funneled to Mayor Marks campaign in 2010, party treasurer Bob Henderson confronted Eaton. A scuffle then took place.

Eaton was charged with the battery of a person 65 years of age or older, a felony. However, the charge against him was later dropped.

Eaton now points to the Florida Ethics Commission finding last month stating Mayor Marks may have violated state ethics law.

“What makes me mad about the whole situation as far as what the mayor did  is that he cost the citizens of Tallahassee in the neighborhood of $60-million dollars because he wanted to enrich himself and ingratiate himself,” Jacob Eaton, City Commission Candidate for Seat 2, says.

The mayor said at the last city commission meeting he still has the opportunity to defend himself against the ethics charges. He says any rush to judgment is premature.

Eaton is running for the seat currently held by Commissioner Andrew Gillum. Eaton says Gillum has been on the mayor’s strongest supporters and needs to be replaced.

We placed a call to Gillum’s office. We hope to hear from him later today.