St. Johns County Commission candidate Mark Miner learned last week he will not face an investigation into his campaign finances.
In an Aug. 8 letter to Ed Slavin, the community activist who filed a complaint against Miner with the Florida Elections Commission, Barbara Linthicum, executive director of the commission, wrote that the complaint appeared to be legally insufficient to warrant investigation.
"Staff reviewed Mr. Miner’s campaign records and it appears that the contributors with the same addresses are different persons, as that term is defined in Section 106.011(8), Florida statutes … each person may contribute $500 to a candidate for each election," wrote Linthicum.
The definition of a person, according to the statute, is "an individual or a corporation, association, firm, partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, club, organization, estate, trust, business trust, syndicate, or other combination of individuals having collective capacity. The term includes a political party, political committee, or committee of continuous existence."
Slavin’s complaint was based on donations the Miner campaign received from 17 businesses, 14 of which share three suites on Hartley Road in Jacksonville. The other three businesses share an address on Lloyd Road, also in Jacksonville.
When first told of the complaint, Miner defended the donations.
"Those buildings are large building complexes, with lots of businesses," he said, "I work in Jacksonville and have a large professional network of people who support me for no other reason than they think I’ll do a good job."
He echoed that defense this week when he learned the complaint had been ruled insufficient to warrant investigation.
"It’s no different than if you go to a mall. All of those stores are at the same address," he said, adding that he was working diligently to ensure his campaign was following both the letter and the spirit of the law. Miner said he wasn’t surprised to learn his campaign would not be investigated.
Slavin’s complaint against Miner came on the heels of three other complaints he had filed with the Elections Commission that were determined legally sufficient to warrant investigation.
The first complaint was against Randy Brunson, a candidate for the District 5 County Commission seat currently held by Jim Bryant, who is not seeking reelection.
Slavin told the Elections Commission Brunson had failed to report paying rent on his campaign headquarters on U.S.1 in St. Augustine.
In July, after he had been notified about the complaint and investigation, Brunson filed a report showing he had recently paid $800 rent for the year, through Aug. 31. He also sent the Elections Commission a notarized copy of a lease requiring him to pay $100 per month for the property, payable at the end of August.
Slavin has also filed complaints against former St. Johns County commissioners Bruce Maguire and Karen Stern, both of whom lost reelection bids in 2006. Those complaints were very similar to the one Slavin filed against Miner, but in both cases, the Elections Commission decided the complaints warranted investigation.
Maguire said last week he couldn’t understand why he was being investigated.
"Every candidate was given their book at the Supervisor of Elections which said, ‘You cannot accept more than $500 from any individual. An individual could be a person or a corporation," he said, adding, "I may own five corporations, but each of them files separate tax returns and they are all considered separate individuals ... You could donate $500, and your wife could donate $500. Is that illegal just because you live at the same address?"
Stern refused to comment about Slavin’s complaint against her, citing a confidentiality clause in the statute, which she could waive, and which is not binding on Slavin.
"I’m not guilty of anything, so I don’t feel like I have to sit and defend myself," she said.
The three investigations will be heard by the Elections Commission at its November meeting. Slavin has 14 days to amend his complaint against Miner if he wants the commission to reconsider opening an investigation.
