ST. CLOUD — Osceola County Republican Paula Stark wants voters to send her back to the Florida House of Representatives, where she racked up questionable expenses and failed to file required state financial documents correctly and on time, costing taxpayers money. The office expense account covered by the funds was frozen.
The St. Cloud native, a former newspaper publisher and nonprofit executive, won a House seat in November 2022 as part of the red wave that swept through the Florida Legislature.
She soon found herself in trouble with House staff for not submitting office expense reports on time and submitting ambiguous and “unacceptable” reimbursement forms.
In March, the House of Representatives suspended the account that pays her office fees after finding $13,000 worth of fraud. Your account remains frozen.
The political action committee, which is raising money for Mr. Stark’s 2024 campaign, has collected more than $23,000 in fines through July. He has also spent on expenses that experts say may violate Florida campaign rules, including a rental home in Tallahassee and a trip to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The committee is run by her longtime boyfriend, who was also involved in day-to-day parliamentary business, according to former aides.
Stark, who ran the Osceola News-Gazette for more than 20 years, said the issue with his office account was a matter of balancing the aides he has since fired with his duties as a new legislative commissioner and his longtime job running St. Cloud Main Street. This is attributed to the efforts to take care of people. She said she was not in charge of her political committee, but experts said she was responsible for its spending as a beneficiary.
“Obviously we were behind the curve,” Stark said. “There is no question that the cost is justified.”
Maria Revels, a first-time candidate and Mr. Stark’s Democratic challenger for the 47th District seat, said her opponent’s financial problems cast doubt on his suitability as a candidate.
“Her mismanagement of her office and spending is alarming,” Revels said. “We’re supposed to be straight shooters, but she seems to be out of control with money that doesn’t belong to her.”
The district covers most of Osceola County, including Kissimmee and St. Cloud, and a portion of southern Orange County, including Lake Nona. It is predominantly Hispanic and working class, and registered Democrats outnumber Republicans. It is one of six seats in the Orlando area that Democrats hope to retake in this election.
Ben Wilcox, research director at Integrity Florida, a nonprofit government watchdog group, said lawmakers need to keep accurate records and submit them on time, whether it’s spending accounts or campaign reports. Ta.
“This is a matter of public trust,” Wilcox said. “The public needs to know how their tax dollars and campaign funds are being used.”
Administrative funds
The Orlando Sentinel reported in May that Stark had failed to submit expense reports for her firm’s accounts for six months, and that some of the reports submitted had been deemed “unacceptable.” Reported for the first time.
Two former aides brought their concerns about costs to Stark and alerted House officials after she took no action.
Congressional Senior Accountant Fran Keyes said investigators found $5,696 in unspent funds that should have been returned to Congress, and investigators recovered $7,000 in miscellaneous expenses that were listed as “contingent” with no supporting receipts. As a result of their discovery, House authorities froze her office accounts. The Florida House said in an email to Mr. Stark in March.
Mr Keyes called this explanation “unacceptable” and said further repayments would be withheld until the report was updated.
Stark’s office has not received any additional funding since March. And seven months later, the Legislature is still working to obtain receipts and paid invoices to prove Stark’s office expenses, House spokeswoman Jenna Sarkisian said.
“For the time being, the 47th District’s monthly allowance will be withheld to avoid new costs,” said Sarkisian, director of open government and special projects in the Speaker’s Office. “Ultimately, if receipts cannot be provided, House policy requires members to return funds for unfounded or unacceptable expenses.”
He said only two of the 120 members of the House of Representatives are in a similar situation, with their accounts frozen for not submitting their reports on time. They are U.S. Rep. Bruce Antone (D-Orlando), who defeated his primary challenger in August and was re-elected, and U.S. Rep. Patricia Williams (D-Pompano Beach), who was blocked from re-election due to term limits.
Two of Stark’s aides who alerted House staff to the spending problems both said they were troubled by the role of Stark’s boyfriend, Joel Davis, in the office. They said he acted as if he was in charge of the district office and its accounts.
Stark denied that Davis controlled the books and said he was the only person with the authority to draw checks from the firm’s accounts. But she acknowledged that he helped her apply for travel expenses.
Davis, a former developer and lobbyist who now leases billboards and outdoor advertising space at bus stops, is also the chair of her political committee, Friends of Paula.
J.D. Widharm, one of Stark’s aides who worked at Stark from September 2023 to the end of March, said, “I was very displeased because it seemed like there was gross negligence or, in the worst case scenario, a trap was set up to misappropriate funds.” I’ve come,” he said. In 2024, he was fired.
Mr. Widharm and fellow aide Daniel Lopez told officials that Mr. Davis had great influence in Mr. Stark’s office. Davis was frequently copied in messages between representatives and staff, sometimes acting as if he were their boss.
Lopez also said Kathy Pearson, a Kissimmee spokeswoman and longtime friend of Stark’s who was hired by the campaign, organized district events and fielded calls from media seeking Stark. It was also mentioned that
Mr. Lopez had been working for Mr. Stark for just two months when he was fired in May.
Mr. Stark said Mr. Lopez was “completely oblivious” to how the office’s funds were being spent, and that both aides were fired for other reasons, not for alerting House staff to the office’s financial problems.
campaign funds
Mr. Stark’s political committee has also come under fire for chronically late filing of campaign reports, resulting in a $16,224 fine between April 2023 and November 2023. imposed. Davis is appealing those fines, with a hearing scheduled for November after the election.
The PAC’s performance has improved since January, but it was fined an additional $6,267 in July for late reporting, according to Florida Board of Elections records. It’s not uncommon for candidates to submit expense reports late, but not this often.
Records show the political committee paid $1,800 a month in rent for the district office twice in June and July 2023, which Stark later paid back. Mr. Davis, the account’s financial director, said the PAC paid the rent because the state forgot to send Mr. Stark $3,300 a month for the district.
PAC also paid $1,650 a month in rent for a home in Tallahassee for 13 months, or $21,450. Although it is listed as “office rent,” Stark will be there when Congress is in session and is vacant the rest of the time, Davis said.
Congresswoman Paula Stark of Florida’s 47th District stays at this home in Tallahassee during the legislative session. Her political committee pays the rent for the house, and she will be reimbursed for the rent while she is there. (Jeff Schwiers/Orlando Sentinel)
According to campaign records, Ms. Stark reimbursed the PAC $4,733 for lodging at her Tallahassee home.
The home is owned by Leon and Laura Lee Corbett. Stark and Laura Corbett have known each other for more than 20 years, since Stark began operating St. Cloud Main Street and Corbett served as director of the Florida Main Street Program, which oversees programs throughout the state. is.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is a legitimate expense,” Davis said.
But Mark Herron, a Tallahassee ethics attorney and election and election law expert, has his doubts.
“I don’t think paying rent is a sanctioned political activity,” he said. “Committee funds cannot be used for regular living expenses.”
Other expenditures made by Stark’s committee could also be considered gifts to candidates and are not allowed, raising questions, Herron said.
For example, the PAC provided Mr. Stark’s nonprofit $1,880 for entertainment and conference expenses to advocate for the issue.
PAC also paid more than $6,000 for lavish meals at gourmet restaurants in Tallahassee and elsewhere, including $1,587 for a meal at Saber, an upscale restaurant in downtown Tallahassee just a few blocks from the Capitol. It also included dollars.
The committee’s spending report showed that nearly all meals typically shared with elected officials and lobbyists were classified as meetings or entertainment to advocate for an issue or candidate.
“I’m with her all the time, and we pay the bills from the PAC to protect her from lobbyists paying for her meals,” Davis said.
The state strictly prohibits lawmakers and staff from accepting meals from lobbyists.
Mr. Stark’s committee also paid for his travel to and from the Republican National Convention. She stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee in July, and also stayed at hotels in Birmingham, Alabama, Jackson, Tennessee, and Marion, Illinois.
“She was a delegate to the Republican National Convention,” Davis said. “We drove there and back.”
The committee paid $1,257 for a charter jet from Tallahassee when Mr. Stark was invited to former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach last December.
Mr. Herron, the ethics attorney, said some of that may not be legitimate spending.
A handbook published by the Florida Department of Elections for political committees states that office fees, travel, advertising and other expenses are used to represent and defeat candidates and ballot issues. It is stated that if a claim is made, a claim can be made to PAC.
But state law says candidates and their families cannot solicit or accept gifts from political committees, and political committees cannot give gifts to candidates or their families. The fine is a civil penalty of three times the amount of the gift.
“This bill was passed in response to people who make a living off the income of political committees,” Herron said.
Mr. Stark’s commission fees appear to be over the line, he added. “Sometimes it’s hard for some people to follow the rules.”
