Citizens for Sarasota County
To the Press
For Immediate Release
July 11, 2024
Citizens Group Urges Candidates to Pledge Against Corruption
Mystery money and vile attacks poison fair and honest elections, group says.
Sarasota, Florida: Citing a history of Dark Money PACs and personal attacks in Sarasota County political campaigns, the grassroots advocacy group Citizens for Sarasota County (CSC) has invited all candidates in this year’s contested county elections to sign a “Sarasota County Clean Campaign Pledge.”
“For more than a decade, we have witnessed Dark Money PACs and hired political operatives from outside Sarasota County turn our local elections into mud-slinging free-for-alls that ignore local issues,” said Tom Matrullo, one of the group’s founders. A similar Pledge used by Venice Thrives in the 2023 Venice City election led to two incumbents losing their seats after refusing to sign.
“Sarasota citizens feel we are not represented by our elected officials,” said Cathy Antunes, creator and founding member of CSC. “Thanks to the Citizens United decision of 2010, local campaigns are fueled by huge contributions from a handful of individuals and their affiliated companies. Local elections are also impacted by Dark Money PACs, which do their best to hide their donors from voters,” she added.
“When PACs use their deep pockets to boost their selected candidate by launching unsubstantiated negative and personal attacks against a rival, a political machine is shaping our lives, lands, roads, and ecology while residents wonder what happened to open, democratic representation,” said Matrullo.
“The Pledge will raise voters’ awareness of negative campaigning and focus discussion on issues of real concern to the voters of Sarasota County,” added Susan Schoettle, a member of the CSC Steering Committee.
CSC has monitored County issues since 2014 via the Citizens for Sarasota Blog, The Detail -- a local radio program, and a community group on Facebook with over 4,400 members.
CSC has invited 50 candidates across 17 countywide races to sign the Pledge. Results will be reported well ahead of the August Primaries.
========
The Pledge:
Sarasota County Clean Campaign Pledge - Election 2024
To do my part to ensure an honest, fair election that focuses on the
issues facing Sarasota County voters, I pledge to:
1. conduct my campaign accurately and honestly, keeping the focus
on issues relevant to the voters of Sarasota County, Florida.
2. not engage in character defamation of other candidates or
participate in invasions of personal privacy unrelated to campaign issues
and to publicly repudiate any campaign material, communications, or
advertisements of other groups who engage in such activities.
3. refuse both direct contributions and indirect support, e.g. in the
form of advertising, communications, or mailers using my name or photo,
from organizations that do not disclose the origins of their funding, such as
dark money PACs.
###
No comments:
Post a Comment