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| Countywide Clean Campaign Pledge |
The following story appeared in YourSun:
VENICE — Venice Thrives has brought back the Clean Campaign Pledge it asked City Council candidates to sign last year, and now it’s the inspiration for a similar effort this year by a Sarasota County group.
Citizens for Sarasota County has sent essentially the same pledge to all candidates in contested county races, with plans to report responses online starting Friday.
About Venice Thrives:
“Venice Thrives is a nonpartisan citizens group that focuses on issues in Venice that contribute to economic prosperity, strong property values and our quality of life: preserving our historic downtown core, neighborhoods, homes and buildings; protecting the visionary John Nolen plan of our city to keep Venice a walkable, green, vibrant city; maintaining Venice’s strong sense of place as it grows.” — VeniceThrives.com
About Citizens for Sarasota County:
“Citizens for Sarasota County is a coalition to promote ethical, responsive government that preserves and enhances Sarasota’s unique natural environment and cultural heritage while building a sound local economy based on effective stewardship and innovation.” CitizensForSarasota
All three Council candidates have signed the pledge, according to a news release from Venice Thrives: Kevin Engelke and Pat Ouellette, who have filed to replace Helen Moore in Seat 3, and Jim Boldt, who’s unopposed so far in a bid for reelection to Seat 4.
The qualifying period for the two positions, which are nonpartisan, ends at noon, Friday, Aug. 23.
The pledge commits a candidate to “conduct my campaign accurately and honestly, keeping the focus on issues relevant to the voters of Venice, Florida”; “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 or advertisements of other groups who engage in such activities”; and “refuse both direct contributions and indirect support, e.g. in the form of advertising or mailers using my name or photo, from organizations that do not disclose the origins of their funding, such as dark money PACs.”
Venice Thrives initiated the pledge “to combat the dirty tricks politics that had begun to infect Venice races,” the release says. “The group believes that the focus of Venice elections should be on the local issues that Venice voters care about and that no candidate should be subject to personal attacks.”
As noted in the release, Joan Farrell and Ron Smith, who signed the pledge last year, won their races, defeating a two-term incumbent and a political newcomer who both declined to sign but said they were committed to running clean campaigns.
Having this year’s candidates on board with the pledge “will make it harder for out-of-town political and special interest groups to interfere in our local races,” the release stated.
“Venice Thrives is also gratified to see that Citizens for Sarasota County has just launched a countywide Clean Campaign Pledge modeled after the Venice pledge,” it continued.
The only difference between the two versions of the pledge is that the one put out by CSC substitutes “Sarasota County” for “Venice” as the focus of campaign issues.
It was sent to all the candidates in races for the County Commission, School Board, Hospital Board and Charter Review Board via email, or by U.S. mail and social media post if they didn’t provide an email address, as well as to their campaign managers, CSC’s blog states.
Shari Thornton, a nonparty affiliated candidate for County Commission Seat 3, said via email that she has signed the pledge, as has Charles Bear, a Republican candidate for tax collector, according to CSC’s Facebook page.
The cover letter included with CSC’s pledge says the group won’t be endorsing candidates “but instead will focus on the Clean Campaign Pledge as our contribution to local County elections.”
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