Fernandina Beach voters were mailed a second political flyer that falsely claims that City Commission candidate Genece Minshew favors developers in the city.
Voters last week received a similar flyer just three weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
Minshew is running against incumbent Vice Mayor David Sturges, a residential contractor, for Seat 2 on the commission. Sturges has a pro-development record on the commission.
Both flyers were produced by Stafford Jones, a GOP political attack operative from Gainesville, who has more than 60 Political Action Committees (PACs). The flyer was issued by Holding Developers Accountable and Jones is listed as an official with the PAC.
The most recent flyer repeats the same information listed in the original mailer of 10 cases Minshew voted for during her tenure on the city's Planning Advisory Board.
At last Tuesday's city commission meeting, Commissioner Chip Ross debunked those statements as routine votes that ultimately were approved by Ross and the four other commissioners including Sturges.
"Why a PAC in Gainesville is interested in our local election has not been explained," Ross said. "What the mailer failed to mention is that her opponent, Commissioner Sturges, as well as Commissioners Bean, Ayscue and Antun voted to approve all nine of the measures (listed on the flyer). Sending out that mailer was legal, but it didn't tell the whole truth."
Several of the measures listed were annexations into the city. Another one was for Habitat for Humanity. There was also a court mandated case and a Planned Unit Development on Bailey Road that had met all of the legal development requirements.
"I do not view my record (on these votes) as a rubber stamp for developers," Ross said in denouncing the mailer. "I don't see my voting record (on these) as having a disastrous record on development and I do not feel that I'm being used as a rubber stamp for developers again and again."
Wikipedia writes that "Jones is known for creating dozens of political action committees that have spent millions of dollars in Florida state elections. In 2021, the nonpartisan watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington reported that two of Jones' organizations falsely reported on their tax returns that they engaged in no political activities and failed to disclose more than $1 million in political contributions. Florida Democrats have complained that Jones' organizations have funded spoiler candidates and used deceptive tactics."
Jones is also linked to Mayor Bradley Bean and Commissioner Darron Ayscue. PACs operated by Jones are funding Bean's 2024 re-election campaign. Bean also received contribution from Jones' PACs in his election for Mayor in 2022 and for city commission in 2020.
After the Observer's initial story on the first misinformation flyer against Minshew, a comment by Jones appeared on the Facebook page of Ayscue. He is also listed as a Facebook friend of Ayscue's.
Jones posted "Just about everything they (the Observer) wrote about me, they plagiarized from bad sources, none of which had correct information to begin with. They aren't news, they are Googlers with an attitude. Apparently, you guys need a competing and legitimate news source up there."
The Observer has twice asked Jones about his political attacks against Minshew. He has not responded.
The claim is the complete opposite of Minshew's stated position on limiting density in the city and opposing any changes to Fernandina's Land Development Code (LDC) or Comprehensive Plan that would allow for more residential development.
"Who is so afraid of me and of my election to the city commission that they would spend thousands of dollars on a smear campaign?" she said. "This is a new low for the people who are so afraid of me and my campaign that they would put out such blatant misinformation. Remember, a vote for me is a vote for a citizen, not a political party or a politician."
The estimated cost to print and mail of the two political flyers is approximately $10,000. The funding for the flyers could not be tracked.
Dark money in political campaigns refers to a political consultant or activist, like Jones, involved in the funding and strategy of political action committees that operate with minimal transparency. When "dark money" is used in election campaigns, the money is routed through nontraditional channels, often illegally, in order to deceive or make it harder for people to determine who is backing groups or candidates.
"None of the Planning Advisory Board cases mentioned in this mailer have anything to do with developers. Most of them are annexations for sewer and water, which this city commission supports. And let's not forget that the PAB is an advisory board, and all of our recommendations go to the city commission for a vote. So, nine of these cases were also voted on by my opponent (Sturges) as a sitting city commissioner," Minshew said.
Jones has no known affiliations in Fernandina Beach.
Incumbent Sturges owns a residential construction company. As commissioner, he has sought to amend the LDC to allow for more residential parcels. He voted to lower stormwater/wastewater new construction impact fees and ignored provisions of the LDC and voted to approve construction of townhomes on the Tringali property.
The Observer reached out to Sturges for comment regarding whether his campaign was involved with the PAC or knew of the attack mailer. Sturges, who is active in local Republican politics, did not respond.
The Observer also requested comment from city commissioner about the below the belt tactics against Minshew.
Tim Poynter, twice a city commissioner who is running for Seat 3 and is on his fourth city commission campaign, was disappointed that the majority of commissioners have not spoken against the attack tactics.
"By not saying anything, they are endorsing it. Their silence is deafening," he said. "It breaks my heart that we have stooped this low in this community. We're better than this. It's terrible."
Poynter said local politics changed in the 2022 city commission elections.
"That's when all the Tallahassee PAC money started showing up (in candidate contributions)," he said. "It used to cost $5,000 to run for city commission. Now it's $30,000 for a town of 14,000 people. That's absurd."
Jones has an extensive history of attack campaigns that have rattled other Florida cities and counties.
Four years ago, the Villages-News online publication, which covers the huge retirement Villages community in Sumter County, wrote this about Jones:
"It turns out William Stafford Jones is a shadowy political operative based in Tallahassee, who has nothing to do with Sumter County. He has had a number of ethics complaints filed against him according to the Lakeland Ledger. Based on a Google search, he has established numerous PACs and his PACs will apparently back any cause or candidate that ponies up money. The internet has a number of stories about his questionable activities."
Jones' PACs and dark money were involved in the 2022 Jacksonville city council race, the 2019 Venice city council election as well as the Martin County school board race in 2018 and Juno Beach city elections this year.
In 2022, Jones chaired a PAC named Sun Coast Alliance that became involved in Sarasota politics.
According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Jones' Sun Coast Alliance received a $100,000 donation from an organization named Serious Conservatives on Jan. 25, 2022. A tax form indicated that there is a 501(c)(4) organization called Serious Conservatives, so these could be the same organization. 501(c)(4) organizations don't need to disclose the names of their donors.
Holding Developers Accountable lists a Gainesville address. But no other information is available. According to the website ProPublica, the PAC is connected to a Tallahassee consulting group called ElectioneeringConsulting.com. That site consists of a single page with an address and email listing.
The only official listed is Jones. He is associated with other PACs like Progressives, the Sunshine State Freedom Fund and a Republican linked PAC Good Government for Florida.
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