MANATEE REPUBLICANS 'EAT THEIR OWN' TO WIN SCHOOL BOARD RACES

[TheNutcracker]

http://www.american-reporter.com/5,036/1.html

It's about huge donations by distant corporations in the
Manatee School Board race.
*******************************

BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 18, 2014 -- The chairman and treasurer of a political action committeee (PAC) called Citizens Against Taxation (CAT), which last week sent out a mailer attacking conservative Republicans Frank Brunner and Mary Cantrell, candidates for the Manatee County School Board, said repeatedly Friday and Saturday that he was "only the accountant" and knew nothing about the allegations in the mailer.

"I was only the accountant," CPA Eric Robinson said several times in interviews with The American Reporter. He said that his role as Chairman and Treasurer are only a convenience that ensures checks written from the funds of the group are not signed by unauthorized people or cannot be accounted for.

He does not sign any of the checks because they are all electronic funds transfers, or ETFs, Robinson said.

But the issue of who pays and who's in charge goes to the larger one of transparency in campaign funding. Eric Robinson's role is barely relevant to the campaigns he serves - theoretically, anyone who can write checks and keep books can do it, and many candidates do.

Actually, the facts behind the "Pea Pod" mailer are a case study in the "triumph" of the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v Federal Elections Commission, which allowed corporations and unions to contribute unlimited amounts anonymously to the candidates of their choice through political action committees, and to do so at any time before the election is held.

While some limitations still exist on funds that state campaigns receive, at a higher level those limits were erased under Citizens United.

At the local level, the impact of that decision is deeply felt by candidates who may be in the same party, particularly when facing a well-heeled PAC whose donors are invisible. Other candidates are effectively forced to raise funds in small amounts - $5 by $10 by $20 - or sell their souls to answer expensive 30-second TV spots and full-page newspaper ads.

more at link above.....


Thank you Joe Shea!
Editor-in-Chief
The American Reporter
www.american-reporter.com

[Fred Sanders]

1. Local election voters matter most because 94% of folks do not vote, each one that does is precious.

[ChiciB1]

2. My Son & His Wife Who Used To Live In Sarasota County

now live in Manatee County got their absentee ballots to vote. They aren't familiar with the candidates and wanted my input, but I still live in Sarasota County. I have been involved with the Democratic Party here in Sarasota, not as much as I once was, but I do get regular updates.

Do you have any input you can give me. I know there was some upheaval about voting a while back, but given this general location Manatee/Sarasota and some surrounding areas I know that mostly Repukes get elected. Sarasota especially! I already know Vern Buchanan WILL get re-elected in my county. I can't remember a Democratic Representative that's been elected here, but it could have happened. Still I doubt it.

[TheNutcracker]

3. I'm hopeful Jan Schneider will be running again in 2016 against Vern.

She ran in 04 and came in the TOP 5 in the US house races. So the party shit all over her. You know how it works...right?

But get behind Jan if she runs. She wants to run in the prez election, when more voters come out.

[TheNutcracker]

4. I also know that Mitch Mallet is running for congress and he's a good guy. Not a crook.

[ChiciB1]

7. OK, Thanks... n/t

[ChiciB1]

6. Yeah, I TOTALLY Remember That Fiasco!

We have the whole Christine Jennings kerfuffle(sp) with Buchanan and the 18,000 under votes! We were invited to observe the aftermath from quite a few feet away, you needed a large magnifying glass to see anything! So screwed up! And it was the LOCAL Dems who threw Jan under the bus.

I get so uptight that leads to some depression. Hard to know which way to turn!

[K.C.Bradenton.Dem]

5. The author misses the point here

The author who has a personal connection with one of the two people being attacked in the mailing, Mary Cantrell, seems to miss the point. I say this because he seems to not care that these candidates are homesteaded in one residences and using another residence to qualify for district elections. Florida Statute is clear on the requirements for homestead but because the word "resident" is loosely defined by the law for the election they are both renting a residence within the district they are running. It is an insult to our community. As for financial mismanagement Mary Cantrell has been looked at by the district and she was not renewed after 18 years as the director of MTI. I know less about Brunner but he was on the board when the financial trouble started and it is only now starting to recover. I think PACs sending out flyers when nobody is accountable is an issue but in this case I was happy to see someone was letting people know what many of us have been discussing online as important issues.

Also neither of these two people are hurting for money. Mary Cantrell has been drawling a salary of over $100,000 for our county that she does not pay taxes in plus a pension since she retired and was rehired back in 2009.

[ChiciB1]

8. Now, I'm Conflicted A Bit...

Note my post above.

[K.C.Bradenton.Dem]

9. My opinion

In these two districts I am voting for Carpenter and Ananibar because our district has had a lot of problems and these two ladies have been key in finding the problems so a turn around can start. I want to give them a chance to keep going.

I worked for Mary Cantrell for almost 7 years and I got to see what kind of leader she really is and was not impressed. I left the job for that reason, I only stayed so long because each year there were rumors she was retiring. She is only running because she got non-renewed by the district after 18 years because a former employee submitted documentation to the district about her unethical behavior.

If you read about her in the Bradenton times (not the bradenton herald) you can get a real view.

Good luck in your decision. Everyone has their opinion. This is mine.

[ChiciB1]

10. Thanks A Lot... n/t