City council candidate calls incumbent’s campaign ‘a criminal enterprise’

Various accusations of verbal threats, tampering with a vehicle, theft of campaign signs and running a campaign like a “criminal enterprise, are saturating a Bradenton City Council campaign ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

It’s been an ugly race from the onset when challenger Bill Sanders and Ward 4 incumbent Bemis Smith held their first debate in September. Sanders later acknowledged he may have come off angry to some voters during the debate, but tensions have not eased between the two.

Two separate police reports were filed in recent weeks accusing a Smith supporter of threatening one of Sanders’ family members and accusing Smith of violating Sanders’ privacy rights. Sanders now alleges — though admits he can’t prove it — that Smith is responsible for damage to the brake lines on his vehicle on Wednesday.

The verbal threat complaint originated during a Facebook argument between Sanders’ sister, Joann Ash, and a supporter of Smith. The alleged threat was a statement about one of Sanders’ family members being “hurt,” according to Sanders. The comment has since been deleted.

Sanders directed a comment on Facebook to Smith with, “Civil discussion only!!! Your followers threaten my family and was reported to Bradenton Police .... Criminal behavior and you supporting it will not be tolerated!!! Understand.”

Smith is blocked from Sanders’ Facebook page, but he said he heard about the incident through a third party. Smith said he, too, contacted BPD to ensure police took a look, but he said he was unaware of the substance surrounding the conversation.

The report states that the person who used the term “hurt” was referring to feelings and that it was a misunderstanding between parties. It goes on to state that Ash “feels better after all that was clarified and did not want to make a police report.”

Ash said that’s not accurate, noting the last time she heard from the police was that the incident was being investigated and denies saying she declined to file a report. She was unaware Wednesday that the case had been closed, she said.

Sanders files complaint against Smith

Shortly after the police closed the verbal threat complaint, Sanders filed a criminal complaint against Smith for posting photos of his Florida license plates, which replaced his Iowa plates. Smith has maintained through his campaign that Sanders claims to have lived in Bradenton since 2011, but he only recently became a full-time resident.

Smith also posted some information on what it cost Sanders to register his vehicle, based on information readily available online. Sanders believes Smith violated the Driver’s Privacy Act, which states that information cannot be publicly shared without written approval from the vehicle owner.

That’s true if the information was obtained through personal information, but Smith said he only posted the general fees that are listed on the website, noting, “You don’t have to be a genius to estimate the costs.”

Sanders said that the number quoted was not an exact cost to what he paid.

Smith said he was unaware of the complaint filed against him until contacted by the Bradenton Herald, which received an email from Sanders with the header, “Bemis and his Campaign are now under Criminal investigation.”

Though Sanders sent the email, it did not elaborate on the complaint, nor did Sanders wish to discuss it. Sanders believes Smith not only violated privacy laws, but used his position in authority to conduct the personal information search.

BPD found that not to be the case and Smith did not violate any laws, according to BPD. The case was closed late Tuesday.

As to the Facebook incident, Smith said, “I have no idea how it relates to me other than my opponent has reportedly stated he will throw whatever accusations about me that he can imagine against the wall to see if it will stick. He has photo-shopped (Facebook) posts of mine in the past to make it look as if I said something he thought was relevant for him to attack even though I hadn’t.”

Smith said he took the photos of Sanders’ license plates and posted them to make a point. It is legal to do so and Smith thought it was ironic that Sanders suddenly changed his Iowa plates to Florida plates when Smith has made it a campaign point to question the validity of his residency and qualifications to even file for office in the first place.

Sanders does have a home in Bradenton since 2011, but Smith said having a house and it being your primary residence under election rules are two different things.

Sanders said he does not agree with the conclusions made by BPD in either case and said Wednesday he will likely turn the complaints over to the FBI or file a civil suit.

“It’s not closed in my view,” Sanders said. “And it’s not closed in (my sister’s) view.”

Dirty politics?

It wouldn’t be the first time in this election cycle a candidate tried to use law enforcement against an opponent for political gain and Smith believes these incidents to be the same kind of dirty politics.

“It seem obvious that the report is politically motivated since I had nothing to gain by (allegedly) running his plates and he contacted the media to let them know that he filed the report,” Smith said. “My opponent has run his campaign in the gutter, attacking me because has no record in the community and has made no effort to assimilate into the community, certainly not prior to late spring of this year.”

Smith said Sanders talks in vague terms about his background considering he cites extensive financial experience. Sanders said Smith’s, “campaign has turned into a criminal enterprise. I didn’t create this, he created this. Not one person or in my family has said anything negative, and if they did, I want to know about it so I can put a stop to it.”

Sanders said he will dispute the BPD findings and, “As far as I’m concerned he is still under criminal investigation. All of these happenings in the last 30 days are not coincidental. I’ve never seen such an ugly thing over a city council race. What is going on this town?”

Smith said Sanders is severely underestimating the intelligence of Bradenton voters if he thinks they are going to fall for this kind of politics.

“I am assuming that he made unsubstantiated claims against me because he has no record to run on and he thought it might taint me somehow,” Smith said.