February 7, 2011
Official Statement from Brian Blair Regarding Ethics Complaint
(Tampa, FL) - George Neimann filed an Ethics Complaint against Brian Blair in 2008 over two campaign contributions that exceeded the $500.00 limit per person by a total, of $100.00 and $500.00 dollars. When brought to his attention, the Blair campaign promptly refunded the contributions.
Mr. Neimann described himself as a watchdog Ethics Complainer in a recent article in Creative Loafing. His complaints rarely have merit and are overwhelmingly against Conservatives. Mr. Neimann has also cost the taxpayer’s of Florida, untold thousands of dollars in FEC labor and Attorney fees.
The FEC recently agreed to settle the dispute for $750.00 from Mr. Blair, without findings of intentional violation. This came after Blair won the initial hearing however the FEC appealed this case, in large part to avoid paying Mr. Blair’s legal fees. A new hearing was set for March 31st prior to the settlement.
Candidates rarely do their own campaign treasury work, which entails data entry, filing timely treasury reports that include contributions and expenses. Campaign Treasurer, Joe Chillura one of Hillsborough County's most respected people, served as Blair's Treasurer during this election; Chillura was perplexed to say the least.
“I entered thousands of contributions totaling about $250,000 and because of a software glitch that allowed 2 contributions that totaled $600.00 to accidentally be accepted -- Brian took a lot of grief for something he would never have willfully done” says Chillura and adds “I know Brian very well and he gives much more than that to charity's each year.”
Blair stated, "as soon as we realized that both contributions exceeded the $500.00 dollar limit per person and or corporation per election cycle (Primary and General), both contributions were promptly refunded"