From 1998 to 2007 Florida has had 824 public official convicted of various crimes. New York came in second with 704. This is a good time to bring this up that Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio, Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene have all made the CREW list for corrupt candidates. One of these men will end up being a United States Senator.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White was caught breaking campaign finance rules by spending $6,100 on his personal wardrobe. White tried to get away with the bogus billing by citing the owner of BC Men's Wear as his fashion consultant. White was found guilty in court of sexually harrassing former employee Alyssa Ogden. White is the favorite to win the District 3 race.
Former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom was charged with official misconduct, grand theft and conspiracy. He also used nonprofit money from the Republican Party of Florida to charge $173,000 on a credit card. Sansom still has not repaid the money. Sansom got a standing ovation from fellow Republicans when he steeped down as Speaker.
Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer was indicted on several counts of felong grand theft. Greer set up the bogus company Victory Strategies to profit from billing the RPOF. Greer attempted to destroy the paper trail by bringing a paper shredding machine to the RPOF offices. Crist defended Greer until the near end.
Florida has an obvious corruption problem. It is time for citizens to back changes that will hold public officials to a higher standard. The Florida Commission on Ethics lacks teeth. The Attorney General office under Bill McCollum showed an unwillingness to investigate Sansom. This isn't a partisan issue. This is about having honest public officials. A democracy cannot run if the people do not trust their elected officials.
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