Clearwater official running for mayor accused of ‘electioneering on city time’

When City Council member Kathleen Beckman wrote to a group of Clearwater Beach residents earlier this month saying the city was working to fix their flooding issues, the letters on city stationery did not mention her campaign for mayor.

But the use of city resources caught the attention of Mayor Brian Aungst Sr., who on Tuesday accused Beckman of “electioneering on city time” by sending the letters only to targeted female voters. He alleged she also used staff time in the process, calling it “a clear violation of ethics.”

Aungst is not running in the March 19 election but has endorsed Beckman’s opponent, lawyer Bruce Rector.

In the letters dated Jan. 4, Beckman wrote that the city was planning to replace stormwater piping and install five lift stations in the area, an expenditure the council would have to approve in a future vote.

“I truly sympathize with the challenges you are facing,” Beckman wrote. “I will pledge my commitment to allocating resources to improve the North Beach infrastructure.”

Although Beckman paid to mail the letters, she had the council’s executive assistant Tammy Cummings print copies on city stationery and provide envelopes, according to their email exchange.

On Jan. 8, Beckman sent Cummings a spreadsheet of the 139 residents to whom she mailed the letter. All were women of various political party affiliations, according to voter registration data. Each name on Beckman’s spreadsheet included a hyperlink that led to VoteBuilder, a website supported by the Democratic National Committee to help candidates organize voter contacts.

In response to Aungst’s allegations at Tuesday’s council work session, Beckman denied that the letters were election related because they “did not mention my campaign.” She said she was sharing updates about a critical issue impacting beach residents.

“Even though I’m a candidate, I am still a council member, and I work full time as a council member keeping residents informed of what goes on,” Beckman said.

In text messages with the Tampa Bay Times following a request for a phone interview, Beckman said she has visited north Clearwater Beach numerous times before, during and after storms to survey the flooding.

After a flood last month, she said she corresponded with city staff about potential solutions, wrote a letter to share the information with residents and “quickly pulled together a list of people on streets in the affected areas” using “names and addresses of the people I had available to me in my files.”

She said she has kept contact information of residents she met knocking on 10,000 doors during her four years in office, including by using VoteBuilder. But two letter recipients reached by the Times on Wednesday said they had never spoken to Beckman before.

Asked why she sent the letter only to women, Beckman responded that: “I am working to expand that list in that neighborhood to more effectively communicate but did not want to delay communicating to residents if I did not have a complete list.”

During Tuesday’s discussion, City Attorney David Margolis declined to give an opinion on whether the letters were appropriate. He said the Florida Elections Commission would be responsible for deciding any violations of state elections law if an individual were to file a complaint against Beckman.

But before Beckman mailed her letter, emails show that City Manager Jennifer Poirrier warned that city staff cannot be involved in campaign activities.

On Dec. 17, Beckman told Poirrier in an email that she had spent two and a half hours walking north Clearwater Beach to survey flooding from the storm the night before. Beckman asked a series of questions about the city’s handling of the issue.

Poirrier responded with a lengthy email detailing how city departments prepare infrastructure for storms and respond to flooding. She explained staff was creating a stormwater master plan for north beach to install new lift stations and piping that could cost up to $100 million.

Beckman forwarded this email chain to beach residents over the next few weeks, records show.

On Jan. 3, Beckman emailed Poirrier again with more questions that came up as she was canvassing the neighborhood. She wrote that “my competitor shared information with North Beach residents about $60 million” being allocated to address infrastructure needs. Beckman asked if that was true.

She sent Poirrier a second email that evening with text for the letter she later distributed to the 139 residents and asked her to review it for accuracy.

Poirrier responded the next morning but included a caveat. She said while it is routine for staff to provide council members information, her answers were “not intended to validate or debunk any campaign related circumstances.”

“I know you can appreciate that staff ... has to walk a fine line in ensuring we are not engaging in campaign activities,” Poirrier wrote.

In an interview on Wednesday, Poirrier said that when she reviewed Beckman’s letter, she did not know who it would be sent to or that names were pulled from a Democratic campaigning website.

Poirrier said she would not have responded to any council member asking for information that would be used for campaign purposes.

During Tuesday’s discussion, Beckman said she has mailed letters on city stationery outside of election season, like when she sent information on the Drew Street project or congratulatory notes to residents for accomplishments.

City Council policies include a provision allowing letterhead to be used for city business, but they do not specify who can use it or when. Margolis said this may be an opportunity to update the rule to be less ambiguous.