A.G. Gancarski
Received a mailer supporting State Senate District 19 Democrat Daryl Rouson lately on Obamacare support?
Or mailers hitting SD 31 Democrat Jeff Clemens on “allowing a Lake Worth utility to dump harmful waste near a pristine coral reef” and supporting high power bills?
If so, they came from an interesting committee: “Floridians for a Better Florida.”
The committee is interesting primarily because of who its chair is: Sam Shiver, a current employee of Republican 4th Circuit Public Defender Matt Shirk, who is currently locked into a tight primary campaign for re-election, a campaign in which he claims his opponent is not a true Republican.
Shiver, listed on the page on the state elections website, wrote a check on behalf of the committee as recently as December 11, 2015, despite claiming the PAC was “inactive.”
Shiver was “not aware that the PAC had been taking money” or was active, “especially in non-Republican campaigns.”
His understanding was that a new chair had been selected, though a review of paperwork related to the committee revealed no moves in that direction.
“I’m not familiar with any activity,” Shiver said.
Shiver has already become part of the campaign. Shirk’s opponent, retired judge Charles Cofer, criticized him for working campaigns while on the public payroll to the tune of $73,000 per annum.
“It is clear that Mr. Shirk has found it difficult to raise funds to support his campaign,” Cofer said. “It is also clear that his solution to this problem is to have taxpayers finance his campaign indirectly through his Public Defender’s Office budget. This is clearly illegal and unethical.”
“The only role that a public relations employee can have at the Public Defender’s Office is to try and restore Mr. Shirk’s tarnished reputation within the community,” Cofer said in June. “The most appalling aspect of this sham is the dishonest manner in which Mr. Shirk has chosen to use public money to help pay obvious campaign expenses, like the salary of his political consultant.”
Shiver’s firm is not being paid out of the campaign account for campaign work, said Cofer, who added Shiver is being overpaid “in order to receive kickbacks” to Shirk’s campaign account.
“This is an obvious illegal diversion of taxpayer funds.” Cofer said. “I call on Mr. Shirk to immediately discontinue this illegal and unethical practice.”
Shiver is still there, of course. And is at least nominally associated with a PAC playing in Democratic races.
