Media Release from DaigleCreative.com
June 15, 2016 9:47 a.m.
The State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit harshly rebuked Carlos Slay, candidate for Nassau County Tax Collector, in a June 7 letter calling Slay’s frivolous allegations against incumbent John Drew “without merit” and saying the attacks includes a “reckless disregard for the truth.”
Further, SAO Senior Nassau County Division Chief Stephen Siegel warned Slay that his accusations against Drew could constitute a violation of Florida Statutes that prohibit “false or malicious charges against an opposing candidate.” The crime is a third degree felony that could result in fines and/or disqualification from the Tax Collector’s race, Siegel wrote.
Siegel’s letter comes in response to a seemingly endless series of increasingly inflammatory accusations that Slay has made against Drew since the beginning of the campaign. These charges have included attacks on Drew as well as on members of his family and other elected officials in Nassau County. Drew has consistently denied the allegations and called on Slay to apologize for the malicious and false attack campaign. The SAO went a step further.
Siegel wrote that Slay’s accusations “are little more than a circuitous impermissible stacking of inferences and innuendo… The Nassau County Tax Collector’s Office has been independently audited for the last seven years by certified public accountants. On each occasion the auditing firm concluded the Tax Collector complied with his statutory requirements as set forth by Florida law. The claims of financial mismanagement or improper use of Tax Collector funds are refuted by years of successive audits determining lawful compliance by the Tax Collector. The audits are public record and I trust you would have reviewed them before making your claims. Similarly, your claims regarding inappropriate expenditures and improper credit card usage are without merit.”
Drew said he hoped the SAO’s opinion would finally bring a welcomed relief from the extremely personal and despicable mudslinging campaign Slay has mounted against him since late last year.
“I would like to think that the State Attorney’s opinion will end these cowardly false attacks, but knowing Carlos Slay and those he’s working for in this race, I’m afraid it will not,” Drew said. “It is truly sad that it’s come to this, but I trust that Nassau County voters on August 30 will send Slay and his handlers a strong message about this type of dirty political character assassination attempts.”
The complete letter from the State Attorney may be viewed below:
There is an inference to those whom Mr Slay is actually working for, his handlers, that is interesting. Wonder what special interest group that might be????
It appears that if Trump lies every time he opens his mouth, our local politicians feel they can do the same? Who can you believe anymore?
While I find Mr. Slay’s actions against John Drew and Kathy Burns totally uncalled for, I do not totally accept Siegel’s defense against the charges of improper disbursement of funds or credit card usage just because an audit was done. Back in 2005 there was an employee of the Clerk of Courts office who embezzled more than a $1 million over a 10 year period despite the CoC office getting “clean” audits over that period. If the specifics of the transactions in question were examined and found to be proper, that is a different story but an audit does not examine every transaction made but normally does a small random sample to ensure proper accounting.
Agree totally with Dave Lott. We are getting caught in the noxious vines and weeds as FDR once said, when we really need to take a big look at the bigger picture. Think, while we can think – and not just knee jerk react to every word. I like to think professionals still exist.