Democrats Demand Full Disclosure From McCollum On Campaign-style Ads

NEWS FROM THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY

For Immediate Release: March 23, 2009

 

Democrats Demand Full Disclosure From McCollum On Campaign-style Ads

Tallahassee, FL - The Florida Democratic Party today sent the following letter to Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum demanding that the Attorney General correct the incomplete disclosures and turn over the rest of the documents related to the ad campaign, which does more to promote McCollum's political career than protecting Florida's children.

March 23, 2009

The Honorable Bill McCollum
Office of Attorney General
State of Florida
The Capitol PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399

Dear General McCollum,

Thank you for your staff's prompt reply to the Florida Democratic Party's public records request.

Every Floridian - regardless of political party - agrees our Attorney General has a solemn duty to protect Florida's children from predators. Unfortunately, to many Floridians it appears your $1.4 million TV ad campaign does more to promote your political career than protect Florida's children.

We certainly share the disappointment over failures by Gov. Charlie Crist's office, Commissioner Charlie Bronson's office and other government agencies to inform the public about protecting themselves and their families against cybercrimes. Nonetheless, the people of Florida would be better served by a genuine public education campaign than by the self-promotional advertising you have chosen to spend state dollars on instead.

Floridians are certainly smart enough to recognize that your so-called "public service announcements" look strikingly similar to the political ads you ran during your last campaign. Of course, this is not surprising, since you have admitted to giving your long-time political consultant -- the company that produced your 2006 campaign TV ads -- a no-bid contract to produce your state-funded advertising.

Instead of being surprised by what we found in the blizzard of documents your office provided in response to our public records request, I was more surprised by what you failed to include.

As someone who has personally been involved in the creation of many ad campaigns, I am pretty familiar with what the process requires. None of the documents your office provided revealed how the ad campaign was developed. None of the documents shed any light on deliberations by your office regarding how you might create the most effective education campaign to promote public safety. For instance, none of the documents revealed any discussions within your office as to whether a police officer, sheriff, victims' rights advocate, or other genuine cybercrime expert should be featured in your ads. And none of the documents detailed the reasons you chose to air your ads when and where you ultimately did.

I was genuinely shocked that nearly every document you provided focused on the process of demanding state payments to your personal political consultant, rather than offering any substantial evidence your office was focused on how to best protect Florida's children.

Despite the specifics clearly outlined in our formal public records request, there were no drafts of ad scripts or information on how you decided where to place the ads.

While your staff asserted in response to a press inquiry on March 9th that, "Mottola offered us a packaged deal," and further claimed this "packaged deal" served as the basis for giving your partisan consultant the no-bid state contract -- where, then, is the documentation of this most generous offer?

Pursuant to Florida's Sunshine Laws (Florida Statute 119.011), I expect that you will promptly correct your incomplete disclosures by providing digital copies of any and all documents, emails, communications and other related records which detail the creation and crafting of this ad campaign. As you recently reminded the Trustees at Northwest Florida State College in the case of former Speaker Ray Sansom, "Any public officer violating the provision of the Sunshine Law is guilty of a noncriminal infraction, punishable by a fine not exceeding $500."

Sincerely,

Eric Jotkoff
Communications Director
Florida Democratic Party

 -###-