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Hernando Today

Candidates Cough Up Coffer Sums

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: July 25, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Candidates have until 5 p.m. today to turn in their most recent campaign contributions to the supervisor of elections office.

However, some have already started trickling in.

In the District 1 County Commission race, incumbent Republican Jeff Stabins has amassed $14,319 through July 18.

Stabins' fellow county commission incumbents, Democrats Diane Rowden and Chris Kingsley, had not turned in their contribution lists yet. However, Stabins was ahead of both of them monetarily during the previous reporting period, which ended in April.

Also submitting campaign lists ahead of time:

- Republican John Druzbick, candidate for County Commission District 3: $25,635.

- Republican Charles Gaskin, also running for the District 3 commission seat: $3,617 for this period.

One contributor on Stabins' list was Lauralee Westine, a Palm Harbor attorney, who contributed $250 to his campaign back in February.

Westine stands out on the list because she represents various cell phone companies and cell tower builders and has gone before Stabins and his fellow commissioners for zoning approvals for her clients.

Hernando Today first reported the Westine contribution in a story in April.

As he did then, Stabins defended the donation by saying he has voted against her request for a cell tower at a Sept. 12, 2007, land use hearing.

County commissioners at their Nov. 14, 2007, land use hearing voted 4-1 (with Kingsley the sole nay vote) to approve a request from Westine that allowed her client to build a 140-foot communication tower at the southwest corner of Spring Hill Drive and Deering Avenue.

Westine made her $250 donation to Stabins on Feb. 12.

Next month, commissioners are scheduled to hear another petition from Westine. Her client, T-Mobile South, will seek approval to build a 155-foot communication tower on the west side of Linden Drive, south of Spring Hill Drive. Planning and zoning commissioners recommended approval earlier this month.

Requests to the county for the erection of communications towers typically generate lively debates because many residents don't want the tall structures perched near their neighborhood.

Stabins said Westine, as with any individual who brings business before the board, is free to take part in the political system and make campaign contributions.

"There's just nothing unusual about it," he said.

He doesn't see a perception problem and believes it unfair to focus only on the county commission.

"There's nothing illegal about it," he said. "It happens at every level of government - from the president right on down to the Brooksville City Council."

Campaigns, he said, are expensive propositions and it would be unfair to restrict people's rights to contribute to a candidate. Stabins said it would be illegal if a person or company expects a vote from a candidate in return for a contribution - a process called quid pro quo.

"If there's a problem with people doing business before the county and contributing to campaigns, how would you fund them?" he asked.

There is nothing in Florida Statutes that prohibits anyone from making a contribution to a candidate as long as donations do not exceed $500.

In April, Hernando Today reported about a $250 donation to Stabins from George Foster, president of Creative Environmental Solutions Inc., whose firm has submitted at least 10 salary requests to handle the cleanup of the contaminated former public works compound in downtown Brooksville.

A separate check for $100 from Creative Environmental Solutions Inc. also showed up on Stabins' list of contributors.

Soon after that article ran, Foster told a Hernando Today reporter he would be careful about making contributions to political candidates again.

Foster reiterated that concern Thursday.

"What's the point in making a donation to someone you're supporting if it's going to have the opposite effect?" Foster asked. "If I make a donation to somebody and the public perceives that as improper, I haven't helped him, I've hurt him. In the future, I will think carefully about the big picture."

Meanwhile, a check of Rowden's donations for the previous reporting period did not turn up any recognizable contributors who brought business before the board recently.

Kingsley's previous campaign report has donations from a Tampa-based engineering firm and local environmental services firm that are not believed to have done recent business with the county.

Hernando Today will review all candidate contributions for this latest reporting period as when they are submitted to the county.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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