{"id":10513,"date":"2012-07-11T20:29:54","date_gmt":"2012-07-12T01:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=10513"},"modified":"2012-07-11T20:33:28","modified_gmt":"2012-07-12T01:33:28","slug":"the-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2012\/07\/the-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"The Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Editor,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sonny Haas Candidate for Lee County Commissioner Seat 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Saturday, July 7, 2012 I appeared before the Lee County Republican Executive Committee Republican Forum held at Edison State College and made the following presentation regarding critical issues facing Lee County and how Frank Mann, Sr.\u2019s political actions belie his 2006 conversion from Democrat to Republican.\u00a0 In summary I stated the following:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a02008 Presidential Donor Public records show campaign contributions from Frank Mann\u2019s immediate family members to Barak Obama\u2019s presidential campaign more than $2000.\u00a0 This fact may be verified by conducting a public records search using the Donor Lookup: Find Individual and Soft Money Contributors-Open Secrets, www.opensecrets.org<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 Frank Mann called me a liar in public\u00a0and said no family member\u00a0has contributed to Obama.\u00a0He stated he didn’t know where I had come up with those “idiotic allegations”<\/p>\n

2. Frank Mann\u2019s recent News-Press editorial attempting to provide an explanation \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for\u00a0Jet\u00a0Blue\u00a0Park\u00a0Funding\u00a0was\u00a0smoke and mirrors and written so that voters could easily be misled into thinking that Jet Blue Park\u00a0has already been paid for by tourist tax dollars.<\/p>\n

According to Lee County Clerk of Court public records, Jet Blue Park was initially funded by internal bridge loans from Lee County MSTUs and Parks and Recreation Budget funds.\u00a0 Ultimately, these bridge loans were paid off without voter approval with bonds funded by Obama stimulus money, the acceptance of which was approved by Frank Mann, Sr.<\/p>\n

3. Lehigh Acres\u2019 fate as a Section 8 housing community was sealed by Lee County Commissions\u2019, and yes, Frank Mann\u2019s vote, implementing the Obama funded Neighborhood Stabilization Program of Lee County.\u00a0 Lehigh Acres\u2019 realtors claim this action has all but destroyed Lehigh Acres property values.\u00a0 This program even contemplates a Lee County funded second mortgage program that properly belongs in the private sector.<\/p>\n

4. Frank Mann, Sr., the champion and staunch defender of the integrity of Lee County Conservation 20\/20 program, has through his actions called into question his own integrity.\u00a0 I believe that integrity must start at the top and Frank Mann, Sr., owes the voters of Lee County an explanation of why his Statement of Financial Interest reflects no agricultural income, yet he claims the benefit of an agricultural exemption on his 15.5 acres in Alva.\u00a0 The privilege of claiming an agricultural exemption on real property is contingent upon the existence of bonafide agricultural activity.\u00a0 According to Lee County Property Appraiser staffers, none of the records provided by landowners to the property appraiser are Public records and absent a court order, the only person who can explain this apparent inconsistency is Frank Mann, Sr.\u00a0 A reasonable explanation could be that the agricultural operations of Frank Mann, Sr. are operating at a loss, and therefore no income is reflected on his Statement of Financial Interest. Alva residents have approached me in my campaign activities and requested I look into this issue. The voters of Lee County, especially the taxpayers of Lee County, deserve an explanation from Frank Mann, Sr., their elected commissioner, who is claiming a tax exemption that has the appearance of impropriety.\u00a0 The Florida Secretary of State public records have no record of Frank Mann, Sr. being connected with any Florida corporation, limited liability corporation or registered partnership.\u00a0 In the past, Mann has claimed that he allows not for profit organizations to pick fruit from citrus trees on his Alva property.\u00a0 Again, according to Lee County Property Appraiser staffers, this activity does not give rise to the benefit of an agricultural exemption.\u00a0 I challenge Frank Mann, Sr. to explain the apparent discrepancy between his Statement of Financial interest and his claim of an agricultural exemption on his real property in Alva.<\/p>\n

5. Integrity is a serious issue and the problems facing Lee County are serious.\u00a0 Lee County is dead last in exports and has the 2nd highest unemployment rate in Florida.\u00a0 Like President Obama, Frank Mann, Sr. has tried to spend our way out of a recession.\u00a0 I propose we work our way out of a recession.\u00a0 Let\u2019s have that voter referendum on whether the voters want Tallahassee to allow a destination resort that includes a casino in Lee County.\u00a0 Let\u2019s have a referendum on consolidation of emergency services. Frank Mann, Sr. has run Lee County by indecision. I will make decisions that will restore Lee County\u2019s economy at the local level.\u00a0 We can\u2019t rely on Washington or Tallahassee to do our work for us.<\/p>\n

I am asking you to vote for me as your full time District Five Republican Lee\u00a0County Commissioner.\u00a0\u00a0I am a proven conservative who has previously reduced the debt of a fire department to zero and reduced ad valorum taxes 2 years in a year.\u00a0 Please vote for me on August 14th!\u00a0 Thank you!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sonny Haas<\/p>\n

Candidate for Lee County Commissioner Seat 5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Editor, On Saturday, July 7, 2012 I appeared before the Lee County Republican Executive Committee Republican Forum held at Edison State College and made the following presentation regarding critical… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10513"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}