No comparison between Materio, Lambert campaigns
I strongly disagree with the two implied conclusions in Editorial Page Editor Rick Christie’s recent “Opinion Zone” blog post and column, “Christie: Follow the money in heated West Palm Beach commission race.”
First, I completely disagree that there is a comparison to be made between the alleged illegal activity of political consultant Rick Asnani and his Cornerstone employees, and the frivolous-in-nature complaints against my campaign, in which I mistakenly accepted a $50 contribution, which I discovered and self-disclosed; and a second complaint in which I supposedly sent out a Christmas card without the proper campaign disclosure.
All contributors and the amount of their contributions to the Materio campaign, as well as any political committees acting in support of Shanon Materio, are fully disclosed, public information, and properly filed.
This is absolutely not true for the entities formed to support the Christina Lambert campaign.
The three entities in particular are not political committees regulated by the state of Florida and have been discovered to be nothing more than shell companies formed to hide who the contributors are and even worse, how much each contributor gave.
I am disappointed, although not surprised, that Commissioner Lambert has not responded to my request that she join me in demanding Asnani and Cornerstone reveal to the public who these shadow contributors really are.
I am even more disappointed that The Post hasn’t seized on either the illegal activity aspect, or the lack of transparency and what it means in terms of the First Amendment.
The Post decries even the slightest perception of a governmental body’s lack of responsiveness to a public records request.
But when it comes to hundreds of thousands of dollars raised and spent with the specific purpose of hiding the money, you instead compare it to a $50 campaign violation.
SHANON MATERIO,