Elections Commission: Davie’s Caletka Violated Law
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Former Davie Town Council member Bryan Caletka just got slapped by the Florida Elections Commission.
Commissioners found that there was probable cause to believe Caletka violated election laws in October, 2007.
The order was filed on Monday.
Caletka failed to use the correct disclaimer on a campaign fund raising letter. The disclaimer is the language required to disclose who paid for the letter.
Florida law requires the disclosure language to be exactly like this: “Political advertisement paid for and approved by. . .
Caletka’s fund raising letter stated: “Pol. Adv. Paid.
That abbreviation could cost Caletka a $1000 fine.
Silly. Maybe.
Even the commission investigator called it a “minor violation.
Still, the law is the law.
What appears to have really pissed off the commission is that Caletka refused to admit he had done anything wrong.
Caletka told investigators that he didn’t think it was wrong to abbreviate the disclosure. He refused an offer to settle the dispute for $250, according to state documents.
“(Caletka’s) actions in this case were willful, an investigator wrote.
The Davie politician can request a hearing to appeal the election commission’s findings. Or he can pay the fine.
He is currently running to regain his seat on the Davie Town Council, a seat he had to quit to run a losing race for County Commission against John Rodstrom.
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Na-Na-Na-Na,
Na-Na-Na-Na,
Hey Hey Hey…
December 4th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Did the Order say “all the best, Love Judy” on it.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Bryan’s a good guy.
My advice to him is to just suck it up and take it like a man. If he pursues a hearing, they’ll just bolster their own forces, support their earlier decision and raise the fine to $2,000 splitting it between the fine itself and “court costs.”
There are times when it pays to fight, and times when it doesn’t. this is one of those times.
Had Bryan acknowledged the error up front, the fine could have been negotiated down to probably between $100 and $250.
December 4th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Brian is a great guy and very smart too. But in this instance I agree with Marty, just bite the bullet….I mean somebody had to look very closely and had it in for Brian to even bring such a stupid violation to light. there were some in the last election that nobody brought up….Good Luck Brian. Hey Marty, I heard through the grapevine tht you might run for School Board again????
December 4th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Brian is a fool…He is a person who votes “NO” on everything. So calling him a good person is not correct….So for Davie he needs to leave and never look back.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Beth, as much as I might like to, my doctors tell me “absolutely not!” The fact that I can no longer walk without assistance, if at all, seals the deal.
But its nice to know the rumor mill is active…
There are other rumors about my various involvements, some just might be true!