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By Mike Salinero
The Tampa Tribune
Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White has agreed to pay a fine of $9,500 for filing false election finance reports regarding his use of campaign money to buy tailor-made suits and ties.
Lawyers with the state Elections Commission approved a settlement with White that dropped charges he used $1,915 in campaign money to buy a personal computer. The settlement must still be approved by the commission at its Aug. 16-17 meetings.
The former Tampa city councilman and city police officer faced up to $38,000 in fines for the election violations relating to his run for the County Commission in 2006.
White said today he thought at the time he spent $6,100 in campaign money on clothing that the purchases were legitimate campaign expenditures because of all the personal appearances he had to make. He said he now realizes that buying the tailor-made suits “rubbed people the wrong way.”
“I made a mistake, I recognize the mistake, I replaced the money for the mistake and I’m paying the fine,” he said. “I apologized. I’m not going to do it anymore.”
The commission launched an investigation of White’s campaign spending after receiving a complaint from Tampa resident Lawrence R. Schuler.
The commission found that White had violated 14 counts of state elections law, including making false statements about campaign expenditures and using campaign cash to defray personal living expenses. The violations were a civil, not criminal offense.
Most of the charges stemmed from checks totaling $6,100 that White wrote from his campaign to pay for clothing from Belmont Clothier menswear. In a July 2005 campaign report, White said the checks were paid to Robbins Consulting, not the clothier.
White compounded this false statement by certifying to its correctness in later campaign finance reports.
A commission report said that Robert Robins, spelled with one “b” owns Belmont Clothier at 2903 E. Hillsborough Ave. Robins told a commission investigator that there is no Robins Consulting, but that considered himself to be White’s “wardrobe consultant.”
Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com.
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