 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
GOP omitted key donors
By CARY DAVIS, Times Staff Writer
The Republican Party of Pasco County listed the most mundane of expenses on its campaign finance reports last year: $50 for room rental, $45 for postage, $23.85 for a Web site. Yet the party did not report its largest expenditure of 2002: $7,339.50 for a mailer endorsing five candidates for circuit judge. The party also listed the smallest of contributions on its campaign finance reports: $10 from a teacher, $20 from a nurse, $25 from a dentist. The party did not, however, report three of its largest contributions from private citizens. Those three checks, each for $2,500, were used to pay for the judicial endorsement mailer, party officials said. Those three checks came from family members of John Renke III, Robert "Bo" Michael and George Brown -- judicial candidates who were endorsed in the Republican Party mailer. Renke won election and took the bench last month as a circuit judge in west Pasco. Michael and Brown lost their election bids. Scott Factor, the treasurer for the Pasco Republican Executive Committee who prepared the campaign finance reports, said Thursday his failure to list the transactions was "absentmindedness on my part." "I'm not the world's best record keeper," said Factor, 36, an MBA candidate who ran unsuccessfully for County Commission in 2000. "The egg's on my face." It is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, to knowingly file inaccurate campaign finance reports. Factor said there was no intent to conceal the transactions from the public, though he acknowledged that the omissions look "suspicious." Party officials said they were not aware of the bookkeeping blunder until contacted by a St. Petersburg Times reporter who discovered the mistakes. Factor said he would file amended reports with the Supervisor of Elections Office this week. Judicial races are nonpartisan and traditionally have been staid affairs. That began to change in 1998, when a Pinellas judge ruled that political parties can make endorsements in judicial races. Then in 2002, a U.S. Supreme Court decision opened the door to even more political activity in these campaigns. Last year was the first time Pasco Republicans have sent out a mailer endorsing candidates for judge. Judicial candidates, by contrast, still are bound by strict laws and an ethical code of conduct. Specifically, candidates cannot do or say anything in their campaign to align themselves with a political party. They are not permitted to donate to political parties. But there is nothing that prevents family members from donating to a political party, even when there's an understanding that the money will be spent on a mailer endorsing a loved one's judicial campaign, as was the case here. Hugh Townsend, the chairman of the Pasco Republican Executive Committee last year, said the mailer was his brainchild. He said he priced the mailer in late August and then sought the approval of fellow board members. Factor said he was caught by surprise when Townsend asked for a check in the amount of $7,339.50 to pay for the mailer. Factor, who sits on the board of the executive committee, said he was left out of the decision-making process. "What bothers me about the whole thing is that they decided to do this without my knowledge," he said. "I think it stinks." He said other campaign expenditures by the party -- $3,000 for the re-election efforts of County Commissioner Pat Mulieri, and $250 for a candidate for the Mosquito Control Board -- were approved by the entire executive committee, made up of about 80 Pasco Republicans. Townsend said there was nothing unusual in how he went about getting approval for the mailer. He said he telephoned board members, something he often does when he needs quick approval. Time was short, Townsend said, because the next monthly committee meeting wasn't scheduled until after the Sept. 10 election. Factor, according to the party balance sheets he maintains on his home computer, wrote the check for the mailer on Sept. 3. About that time, Townsend handed Factor three $2,500 checks. Factor deposited them and logged the transactions in his computer, according to his balance sheets. The checks were from Judy Braak (John Renke III's aunt), Barbara Stephens (George Brown's mother-in-law), and Lisa Cesta (Robert "Bo" Michael's sister). Townsend said he and other party officials solicited the money from the donors, who were told that their contributions would be used primarily for the mailer. Townsend said the candidates themselves were never approached about the mailer. Renke and Michael both said they did not know at the time that their relatives had donated money for the mailer. "I had no idea who paid for anything," said Renke. "I told everyone going into (the campaign), 'We have to do everything by the book.' " His father, John Renke II, a former state legislator, sits on the board of the Pasco Republican Executive Committee. The elder Renke, who is Braak's brother, said he did not solicit money for the mailer. Brown did not return calls seeking comment. Cesta, Stephens and Braak said it was their decision to donate the money. And all three said they did not tell the candidates about their donations. "It was simply between me and Hugh Townsend," Stephens said. The mailer arrived in the mailboxes of thousands of registered Republicans in Pasco and Pinellas days before the Sept. 10 election. In addition to Renke, Brown and Michael, the party mailer also endorsed Wayne Cobb and Linda Allan. As for the failure to report the expense for the mailer and three donation checks, Factor said, "I do miss these things sometimes." Townsend and Factor both signed the faulty campaign finance reports. Townsend said he did not review Factor's work, trusting that it was accurate. Townsend said they were rushing to meet the filing deadline, and "we didn't want to get fined." Said Factor: "This will haunt me forever." -- Cary Davis covers courts in west Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. His e-mail address is cbdavis@sptimes.com .
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
