FEC REPORT…Feb.12,2007
NOT SO FAST…..LOOKS FAR FROM BOGUS……
REPORT OF INVESTIGATION……
RESPONDENT: James Silverstone Case No. FEC 07-054
Feb 12,2007 a sworn complaint was received that Respondent violated Chapters 104 and 106 Florida Statutes. The Commission investigated .
Section 104.071(1)(c), Florida Statutes, prohibiting a candidate or any person supporting a candidate, in order to aid the nomination or election of such candidate, from giving, paying, expending, or contributing any money or other thing of value to any other candidate;
Section 106.07(5), Florida Statutes, prohibiting a candidate from certifying to the correctness of a campaign treasurer’s report that is incorrect, false, or incomplete;
Section 106.19(1)(c), Florida Statutes, prohibiting a person or organization from falsely reporting or deliberately failing to report information required by Chapter 106, Florida Statutes.
I. Preliminary Information:
Contained information about Silverstone, running successfully for office and that he ran with his “slate partner” McIntee….His occupation and company….That he was a former officer of the VFD and formerly served as fire chief and chairman of the firefighter pension fund….
Contained information that Complainant (Mark Brown) was a registered voter and board member/editor of By The Sea Future in LBTS.
II. Alleged Violation of Section 104.071(1)(c) Fl. Statutes:
The investigator investigated whether the Silverstone violated this section of the election laws by giving money to his slate partner McIntee…at question were 3 direct contributions to McIntee and 3 expenditures shown in Silverstone’s G4 report that shows he made to McIntee…the investigator found a typewritten note on McIntee’s G4 amendment (filed 2/20/07) that said Silverstone’s contributions were not actual contributions to his (McIntee) campaign, but rather “a pass through remittance” for his share of expenses for common slate expenses of the “clean sweep slate”…McIntee sent a letter to the filing clerk in August saying as much …the investigator looked at Silverstone’s bank records and saw the 2 checks made out to Mcintee..totaling the same amount that the G4 report said were the total of 3 checks….There was a expenditure made from McIntee to Silverstone for $190 for T-shirts ….In a telephone interview McIntee said they split everything 50-50…A telephone interview with Silverstone brought the response when asked about paying McIntee directly instead of the vendors…that McIntee paid on his personal credit card, and Silverstone thought a check to McIntee was best…In another telephone interview Silverstone was asked about using “Jerome McIntee Campaign fund” on just one of his checks to McIntee and not both, Silverstone stated he could not recall why he did that….He (Jimmy) was asked if McIntee requested reimbursements in a certain way, Silverstone “No, I don’t think so.”
The investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.”
III.
Alleged Violation of Section 106.07(5) Florida Statutes:
The Investigator looked into whether Silverstone violated this section by certifying to the correctness of his treasurer’s report that were incorrect, false or incomplete…The complaint was advertising in BTSTimes and disclaimers that stated both Silverstone and McIntee paid for the political ads…what this section contained were differing invoices and payments…delays in payment for ads run…same for signage…with Silverstone not showing expenditures for his portion…and also for political flyers….there were no entries for expenditures for his half…and for postage….In telephone interviews with Silverstone the investigator had questions about how checks were written to McIntee with double entries instead of one and wrong dates…Silverstones’s claim for not paying upfront on ads did not mesh with the facts concerning what he said he had and what he actually had available to pay (59)…..
An interview was conducted by phone with former Town Clerk Medina on 12/13/07 asking her why she instructed Silverstone to amend his reports to include his ad expenditures…”Ms. Medina stated the newspapers were delivered to Town Hall and it was clear on its face that Respondent was running ads that he had not reported paying for”…..Mark Brown alleged that BTST ads were subsidized by the newspaper…but there was no evidence…..
The investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.”
IV. Alleged Violation of Section 106.19(1)(c) Florida Statutes:
The Investigator investigated whether Silverstone violated election laws by falsely reporting or deliberately failing to report information required by Chapter 106…..She looked at the signs…flyers….and complaints for the Silverstone’s reports showing no newspaper ad expenditures or accepting them as in-kind contributions form the paper….again there was no evidence of in-kind contributions …
The investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.
VI- Conclusion
Page 10-#79. ‘In a final interview, Silverstone stated “what happened is what happened.”Respondent stated he does not believe he did anything wrong.’
page 11- #80-83 The investigator contacted Town Clerk White who stated she was not the filing clerk when Silverstone ran for office, she (White) checked to see if Silverstone received election publication -2006 Candidate’s and treasurer’s Handbook….A call was made by the investigator to interview former Town Clerk Alina Medina who said Silverstone receive that publication and a copy of the Fl. statutes 104 and 106. A questionnaire sent to Ms. Medina in 2007 was never returned as of 9/ 2008. Silverstone could not recall the year of the handbook he received, and knew the information was available online and that he had reviewed them and stated that he had in fact read what chapter 104 and 106.
Page 11-#84. ‘During my investigation of the allegations contained in the sworn complaint, I found that Respondent misreported his expenditure to A Place for Silk, and Respondent made an expenditure for Tee-shirts on behalf of his slate partner. I also found some of Respondent’s political advertisements do not include the required disclaimer. However, because these violations were not alleged in the complaint, I did not investigate this information. Respectfully submitted Sept. 3,2008 Donna Ann Malphurs, Investigative Specialist.’
REPORT OF INVESTIGATION
RESPONDENT Jerome S. McIntee, Jr .Case No. FEC 07-053
Complainant Mark H. Brown…Feb 12,2007…same alleged complaints as Silverstone…plus 3 ….
Section 104.071(1)(c), Florida Statutes, prohibiting a candidate or any person supporting a candidate, in order to aid the nomination or election of such candidate, from giving, paying, expending, or contributing any money or other thing of value to any other candidate;
Section 106.07(5), Florida Statutes, prohibiting a candidate from certifying to the correctness of a campaign treasurer’s report that is incorrect, false, or incomplete;
Section 106.1405, Florida Statutes, prohibiting a candidate from using funds from his campaign account to defray normal living expenses;
Section 106.19(1)(b), Florida Statutes, failure of a person or organization to report a contribution required to be reported by Chapter 106, Florida Statutes;
Section 106.19(1)(c), Florida Statutes, prohibiting a person or organization from falsely reporting or deliberately failing to report information required by Chapter 106, Florida Statutes; or
Section 106.19(1)(d), Florida Statutes, prohibiting a person or organization from making or authorizing any expenditure prohibited by Chapter 106, Florida Statutes.
I. Preliminary Information:
Contained information that McIntee was a successful candidate…That he ran as “slate partner” with Silverstone…He was a retired police officer from Buffalo N.Y and certified expert and seasoned investigator in fire and arson investigation….served as Chief of the Arson Task Force at the Erie County DA’s Office….serves as Executive of McJon Extrication Blankets Inc….and as an officer of 2 active Fl Corps…Bel Air Residents Civic Assoc and LBTS CIC Inc….That he had been Chairman of CIC since 12/05…same information about Mark Brown as above….
II. Alleged Violation of Section 104.071(1)(c) Florida Statutes:
The Investigator investigated McIntee to see if he violated the election laws by paying, expending or contributing any money or other things of value to his “slate partner” Silverstone….some information is contained above under Silverstone’s investigation…what the investigator zeroed in on were McIntees reimbursements…and notations…such as (14) “reimbursements slingers”, but there was no bank record to support this entry….(15) a second expenditure “campaign material” with a date that did not match the invoice and a disclaimer showing both paid which does not seem to correspond…(16) a notation of “slingers” in the memo line that does not match the expenditure amount in his report in conflict with a copy his check (17) Feb 2006… an expenditure for postage with the purpose “postage stamps with no bank record entry to support it….(18) a request for backup material produces a reply from McIntee that he did not have a receipt and either paid for it by cash or credit card…(19) McIntee reimbursed himself for postage with notation “reimbursement of postage expenses” in March 2006 but no bank statement to support the entry(20) In a questionnaire the investigator asked McIntee about 2 reported expenditures to himself with no bank records to support them…he provided a check number and a letter in response…(21) McIntee responded that he had not reimbursed himself for these expenses, the funds would have come back to him as partial repayment of his campaign loan….”Respondent stated he did a very poor bookkeeping job on his election account ans asserts that the funds were spent solely for his campaign cost.”…(22) McIntee was asked about shared postage cost in a questionnaire he never answered the question…(25) in March signage was reported as an expenditure with no bank record to support it….(26) In a letter McIntee said” he paid the full costs of these signs using his personal credit card” but didn’t recall which one…
The investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.”
III. Alleged Violation of Section 106.07 (5) Florida Statutes:
The investigator investigated whether McIntee violated this section of the election law by certifying to the correctness of his campaign treasurer’s reports that are incorrect, false, or incomplete…some of this is stated above in Silverstone’s complaint…In his complaint Mark Brown says McInteee “knowingly and willingly submitted inaccurate or incomplete reports”….The MacMillans were interviewed by phone and in questionnaires …The MacMillans explained the “flat fees” charged …and McIntee after also being notified by former Town Clerk Medina about this ad expenditure not being reported (52) said he contacted the “State of Florida Election Commission” …”and asked the election official if it was okay to pay a final bill for all advertisements at the end of an election cycle.” ..McIntee said he was “it would be fine you may pay the final bill at the end of the election cycle and then submit that in your final election expense report.”…(53) The investigator sent a letter to the Election Bureau to review her files …”I Have no record of that call” was the response….(54) McIntee said he contacted the “acting town manager” (Colon) that he was repeatedly “misadvised by the filing officer (Medina)…saying she caused him to file a “Number of inaccurate amendments to meet her demands”…He said he made repeated calls to Tallahassee to clarify the proper procedures….The Complainant thought the candidates “got a free ride throughout their campaign when it came to paying for ads and other expenses”…Brown thought it gave McIntee/Silverstone an unfair advantage over their opponents…
The investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.”
IV. Alleged Violation of Section 106.1405 Florida Statutes:
The investigator investigated whether McIntee violated election law by using campaign funds to defray living expenses…this had to do with air travel and reimbursements ….(68) McIntee was asked to explain why he used campaign funds to reimburse himself to attend meet the candidates night…(69) A questionnaire was prepared for McIntee…the dates proved to be a problem and a request was made for documentation McIntee sent a letter “This complaint is so ridiculous that they don’t even have the right candidate’s night”…”There was no ticket bought to be back for the March 8 candidate’s night so the complaint is null and void The complaint is way out of line claiming I bought a ticket for the March 8th event when I did not buy any ticket in March from Jet Blue from Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale”….(70) The investigator called McIntee again for explanation on the ticket reimbursement and he stated it was a round trip ticket….bad weather….that he found an alternate flight to make the meeting…he purchased it using his personal credit card and then reimbursed himself…(71) a questionnaire was mailed to McIntee asking for documentation, “However as of today, Respondent has not provided any documentation pertaining to his airfare reimbursement”….(72) McIntee sent a letter 2/4/08 stating he paid his airfare using his American Express card and had no idea how to obtain a weather report from 2 years ago….(73) The Investigator called a travel agency in Tallahassee to get information on 2006 …with no luck…
The investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.”
V. Alleged Violation of Section 106.143(1)(a) Florida Statutes:
The investigator investigated whether McIntee violated this section of the election laws by making expenditures for political advertisements and failing to mark prominently the political advertisement with the required disclaimer….Mark Brown said BTST sent 3 e-mails advocating McIntee and Silverstone with no disclaimer…
(87) The investigator called McIntee and asked “how he came up with the disclaimer language used in his other advertisements…McIntee “stated he followed the letter of the law and that he had not done anything wrong.” ….McIntee “stated that if something was wrong with his disclaimers then it was because someone else prepared the advertisements for him.”….(88) When the investigator asked for clarification “Respondent became defensive and refused to answer my questions. Respondent stated if I wanted to know something I would need to come to Lauderdale-By-The- Sea to get answers. When I asked if his answers would somehow be more truthful if I came to Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Respondent stated he would not answer my questions.”…McIntee asked that the questions be put in writing with a copy of the ads in question….(89) The investigator sent McIntee a questionnaire June 27.2008…providing the ads and questions…”However, as of today, Respondent has not returned my questionnaire.”…(90-92)The investigator spoke to Silverstone who explained that “he and Respondent approved each and every ad, they had final say in everything they produced.”….Silverstone said they used sample advertisements and he had done some of the graphics himself…Silverstone recalled one ad almost went out without a disclaimer and it was brought to their attention…he did not know what vendor alerted them…(94-99) Mark Brown’s complaint about the e-mails concerned March 7 & 8th 2006 2 articles by Ken Wardlaw and Diane McSweeney to “list members”…the e-mails said “Ken Wardlaw, Fmr. Mayor/Commissioner “Lauderdale-By-The-Sea”…and the other said “Diane McSweeney” “Property Owner”…The E-mails said these two requested the Times to send it out with the initials of the Editor…An affidavit from McSeeeney stated the articles were submitted for publication in the newspaper as “opinion pieces”…that she sent her e-mail to the BTST Editor, and denied paying for distribution of her e-mail or any other distribution for McIntee and Silverstone..Ken Wardlaw in an affidavit denied requesting distribution of his article and denied coordinating the creation and publication of his article for McIntee and Silverstone…
The investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.”
VI. Alleged Violation of Section 106.19(1)(b) Florida Statues
The investigator investigated whether McIntee violated this section of the election laws by failing to report a contribution required to be reported….Mark Brown ’s complaint alleged that McIntee accepted in-kind contributions from BTSTimes for subsidized costs for advertising published between Jan. through March 2006 and for distribution of e-mails with monetary value “at no charge”….That McIntee failed to report this for the difference…Brown obtained a rate chart for the BTSTimes and said it did not offer any “political discounts” for their ads. and that McIntee and Silverstone would have had to pay full price……Brown found the rate chart far exceeded the amount of money McIntee and Silverstone paid for their ads…believing someone else paid for the ads and this was not disclosed…(105) The investigator called “Mrs. MacMillan who stated “she sometimes charges a fee that differs from the rate based upon the relationship with the customer and the situation”…In a written statement she stated she charged a fair price to McIntee and Silverstone for their ads…and the paper “still made money” with the fees charges significantly in comparison to the rate (for small ads)….In June the investigator mailed a questionnaire to Mrs. MacMillan to confirm this phone conversation…it came back “not properly notarized (It is said that both Mr MacMillan and Silvertone are Notaries)…The investigator wrote …”however, as of today I have not received a properly sworn response from Mrs. MacMillan.”… (110) Dec 7,07 the investigator called McIntee and asked why he omitted some contributions from his reports….McIntee stated that it “must be his mistake that some contributions were not reported because had he been intentionally trying to conceal contributions he would not have deposited them in his campaign account….The investigator made a “noteworthy” inclusion because of this statement…that McIntee had indeed deposited a Silverstone reimbursement check into an account that was separate from his campaign account…(111) The Investigator telephoned Silverstone who “admitted” that he reimbursed McIntee for shared campaign advertising expenses based upon instructions from McIntee to reimburse him for expenses McIntee paid for on his personal credit card….(112) Silverstone told the investigator McIntee was retired and had more time to take care of the advertising …Silverstone said McIntee was a “pay as you go person”….(113) The investigator examined Silverstone’s bank records …and found the only record of payments were two checks totaling the amount …. (114) Town Clerk Medina sent a letter to McIntee 10/12/06 informing him of failure to report funds given to him by another candidate….(115) McIntee sent a letter in 8/06 informing Medina it was not a “contribution’…”but merely the amount from Silverstone to the vendor for me to pass on, which I did.”….McIntee stated he contacted the Division of Elections to see if it could be handled better…McIntee said the expert had not called him back….(116) McIntee made an amendment to his report stating the above…
The investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.”
VII. Alleged Violation of Section 106.19(1)(c) Florida Statutes
The investigator investigated whether McIntee violated this section of the election laws by falsely reporting or deliberately failing to report information….Brown’s complaint alleged McIntee expenditure to the BTSTimes was incomplete and he failed to report contributions from Silverstone….did not report paying for ads…etc…but Brown did not supply any evidence…just speculation….
The investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.
VIII. Alleged Violation of Section 106.19(1)(d) Florida Statutes
The investigator investigated whether McIntee violated this section of the election laws by making or authorizing any expenditure prohibited by the statute….Brown’s complaint alleged that McIntee’s reimbursement for airfare was prohibited …
Just like all the other Alleged Violations the investigator states “no record of Respondent having previously violated this section of the election laws was found.”
IX. Conclusion:
(134) The investigator stated that in her final interview with McIntee on June 26,2008 she questioned him about the disclaimer language used in his advertisements and who prepared the ads. McIntee “began accusing me of calling him a liar and stated that “You have made my life a miserable hell for the past 18 months.”…McIntee “demanded” that her supervisor call him….
(135) The Supervisor spoke to McIntee on June 27.2008 and told him “I was nasty to her” McIntee told the supervisor that she should be “crossing her t’s and dotting her i’s” on important matters rather than a complaint against him….McIntee said he would answer the investigators questions in writing…She states “However, as of today, Respondent has not returned my questionnaire mailed to him on June 27,2008″…and…she states “In an article titled “Town Commission Hopes Rancor is Over” McIntee is quoted saying “I don’t take crap from people and nobody can touch me” “I’m untouchable”….
(136) The investigator sent a questionnaires to the filing clerk on 2/26/07 & 4/26/07/ & 11/29/07 to get information on publications given to McIntee…In Dec 2007 …By phone Town Clerk White said she could not complete the form because she was not the filing clerk at that time…White stated “that she reviewed” McIntee’s campaign file and could not say with certainty he received it..
(137) In Dec 2007 the investigator spoke by phone to former Town Clerk Medina who stated McIntee did receive the 2006 Candidate’s and Treasurer’s Handbook when he registered as a candidate…a questionnaire was sent to Median “however, as of today, Ms. Medina has not returned my questionnaire.”
(138) In an 4/4/07 affidavit McIntee stated he had received the 104 and 106 Florida Statues Handbook…but he denied receiving the Candidate and Treasurer’s Handbook…and denied knowing it was available online…McIntee said he read “an election book to determine his responsibilities under Florida election laws.”
(140) The Investigator stated that during her investigation of the allegations she found that McIntee failed to report other contributions as listed in Table 8 in exhibit 40. …She also found McIntee failed to report an expenditure to himself for repayment of campaign loan and an expenditure to Silverstone for Tee-shirts, but because the violations were not in the complaint she did not investigate them….‘Respectfully submitted on July 30,2008 Donna Ann Malphurs, Investigative Specialist.’
Dear Readers…there were findings found by the investigator…Why they were not addressed is a mystery…and it will be interesting to see if Mark Brown requests answers for how this concluded….without inquiry into those findings…
It is also quite interesting in light of this report that Vice Mayor McIntee spent so much time on the dais “berating” the Mayor and her former campaign Manager Terry Arthur over the Greenfest bank records when it appears he himself did much the same if not more….The Vice Mayor motioned and received a 4-1 vote on the dais to have the Terry Arthur case go to the State Atorney’s Office for possible prosecution…HMMMM….
This really does seem to be much the same…an apparent “slap” on the hand for the Respondents just as they received from the Fl. Ethics Commission …Quite an eye opener for the average voting citizen …..
Finally, I would like to thank the Vice Mayor for holding this report up during his 3/25/09 Commissioner Comments…Because if he had remained quiet and had not repeatedly held it up ….calling it “bogus”…and making what appears to be threats of legal action towards Mark Brown, Cindy Geesey and their Future’s paper, this writer would never have had the interest to check out his claims…and not been privy to just how out Florida Elections Commission operates…Thanks Vice Mayor it was quite a lesson learned…disturbingly so….
The Future paper should be out this coming Friday….
http://www.fec.state.fl.us/
more to come….
Tags: local government, Local Politics, update
Posted in LBTS Agendas/Meetings, Local Politics, Updates, local government
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