Straight from Abel Harding, whose stuff you better be reading: An ethics complaint has been filed against State Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, according toTangerineFL, a blog covering Florida politics.
The blog included a copy of the complaint, filed by Todd W. Byars as a result of news stories that appeared in the Times-Union and its sister paper, The St. Augustine Record.
Byars, a Tallahassee resident and a former Leon County Teacher of the Year, alleges Thrasher violated the public trust in pushing through SB 6. A portion of the letter is below:
The following discussion and attached documents will demonstrate a violation of Florida Statutes, Section 112.311(1), which provides that “public office may not be used for private gain.”
News Agencies and on-line resources indicate a conflict of interest and financial gain by Senator John Thrasher who was until recently, a paid Lobby for Testing Companies and Charter School groups. The referring stories are attached with links or other information to the source. Due to a request for brevity in the instructions for Complaint Form 50, only 2 Items are attached.
Discussion of each item and its relevance to this complaint:
Item 1: Article from Florida Times Union – ‘Testing Companies paid Thrasher’s former lobbying firm.’ John Thrasher was a paid lobby for the firms until very recently. As such he is paid to promote these causes.. This is a conflict of interest when he proposes legislation that benefits his testing companies and charter schools statewide. Senator Thrasher is being paid as a Senator and a Lobby. This is a violation of the Statutes listed above and possibly others.
You can read the full text of Byars’ complaint here.
