A complaint filed with the Florida Elections Commission was rejected just a week after it was filed, though the resident who lodged the complaint says he plans to amend it and resubmit it by the Feb. 7 deadline.
Bill McMullan filed a complaint with the commission Jan. 17 alleging that the corporation Celebrate Marco was engaging in activities befitting a political action committee, but was not registered as such.
His complaint hinged on letters sent by Celebrate Marco to island residents sharing literature about the city’s Septic Tank Replacement Program, which hung in the balance in Tuesday’s election. Celebrate Marco also placed ads in area newspapers sharing similar information and refuting the claims of one candidate.
“I was a little surprised to the fact that they didn’t contact me direct, because they don’t have all of the facts,” McMullan said of the Elections Commission’s decision, which he learned of through a letter sent to a lawyer for Celebrate Marco board member John Arceri. “I will provide the base of the rest of what I have.”
McMullan said the additional information he plans to file will consist of hard materials and witness information.
Arceri said he hoped that the dismissal letter would mark the end of the episode, though. The letter, signed by Florida Elections Commission Executive Director Barbara Linthicum, was dated Jan. 24, and called the complaint “legally insufficient.”
“I thought this was not a valid complaint, but just the same old stuff,” Arceri said. “As they’ve done in the past, these were allegations without any basis.”
He called the complaint a “publicity stunt” in the final days leading up to the election, and said the voters rejected “this negativity.”
But McMullan said he just wants to see the corporation ruled by the same laws that oversee PACs.
“I just think they’re operating as a political action committee, and I think they should be governed accordingly,” he said.
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