There’s old saying that’s very apropos for two “fake candidates” who disrupted the democratic process in two Sumter County Commission races during the August primary election – what goes around comes around.
That’s right, karma came to visit Villagers Pete Wahl and Jerry Prince this past week and if you ask us, it couldn’t have come soon enough. Because what these two so-called leaders in the community tried to pull in the primary election is beyond despicable and they should be hanging their heads in shame for kowtowing to The Villages Developer’s dirty tactics.
In case you’ve forgotten, Wahl and Prince filed as write-in candidates for the Sumter Commission election in an obvious effort to help Republican incumbents Steve Printz and Don Burgess get re-elected. Those two, along with fellow Villages-backed Republican candidate Al Butler, were on the hot seat for approving a 25 percent tax hike last year that clearly was seen as a sweetheart deal for the Developer, as it funded infrastructure in the newest portions of his mega-retirement community and paid for repaving roadways.
Democratic activist Marsha Shearer didn’t find humor in the attempt to game the system by cutting out 45,000 Democratic and No Party Affiliation voters because of a peculiarity in Florida election law. So after Printz and Burgess were soundly defeated by Oren Miller and Craig Estep, respectively, and Wahl and Prince quietly dropped out of the races, Shearer filed a formal election fraud complaint with the state.
Shearer cited the clearly unethical shenanigans that went on with the election and last week received a reply from Colleen O’Brien, assistant general counsel for the Florida Department of State. You can see a copy of that letter at this link: Marsha Shearer received this reply from the Florida Department of State.
“We have reviewed your elections fraud complaint and found it to be facially sufficient. Additionally, there is reason to believe elections fraud in connection with voting may have occurred. As such, we have referred the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for criminal investigation and prosecution, if warranted,” O’Brien wrote.
The election fraud complaint lists a total of five persons or entities “against whom fraud complaint is brought:” Wahl, Prince, Burgess, Printz and The Villages of Lake-Sumter, Inc (and related companies and individuals).
What makes this debacle even more ridiculous is that “yes” men Wahl and Prince would agree to stoop so low. We have no doubt that the Developer’s top political hack was knee-deep in this dastardly deed, and when he decided to play super dirty, he called on the desperate-to-be-relevant Wahl and the beyond-desperate-to-be-relevant Prince, who clearly tossed their ethics to the wind and came running to the Brownwood Taj Mahal to get their marching orders.
It’s important to note that Wahl has a rich history with Florida’s Friendliest Hometown, having spent more than 20 years as Villages District manager. He has done some wonderful things for our community and is perhaps best known for starting the Rotary Club’s annual Chili Cook-Off in The Villages. He was around in the lean years and oversaw the development of Spanish Springs one building at a time and currently serves as chairman of the Lake-Sumter State College Board of Trustees.
But he’s apparently forgotten being unceremoniously shoved out the door in 2008 when the Developer was ready for a change in the District office. Or perhaps his still-gigantic ego needed stroking so badly that he just couldn’t turn down the request from the top political hack that obviously came with the promise of seeing his name in print again – no matter how nasty or unethical his actions would be.
And then there’s Prince, who up until recently oversaw the second-tier local Republican Club in The Villages – a group that had donated $5,000 to each Sumter Commission incumbent (yes, we all see the irony in that one and we’re guessing FDLE will, too). He also orchestrated a Republican endorsement for the three commission incumbents despite the local Republicans’ bylaws which forbid such preferential treatment within party ranks. (Guess he didn’t have any ethics to start with).
Prince, who stood up to a chorus of boos in September when he praised the commissioners at the tax hike meetings, also arrogantly suggested in an email to his club members that county commission challengers didn’t understand the nuance or the need for the 25 percent tax increase. He even went so far as take a swing at the media by writing: “This information of 25% was reported by many non-reputable Medias or as President Trump calls them ‘Fake News.’”
Not surprisingly, the somewhat hot-headed Prince also branded as “lies” reports by Villages-News.com indicating he had filed as a write-in candidate to help tip the scale in favor of Printz. He promised to explain his candidacy at the club’s July 9 meeting but it was canceled by, in Prince’s words, the “China Pandemic.” He also hung up the phone on a Villages-News reporter when given the opportunity to tell his side of the story – one of several calls seeking comments from him.
Note to Jerry: We bet you and The Villages’ top political hack are still thanking the recreation department for canceling that July meeting so you didn’t have to come up with some outrageous lies to explain your so-called candidacy. We, like many Villagers you apparently think are stupid, would have loved to have heard your “explanation” because we can only imagine just how ludicrous it would have been and how desperate you would have looked in delivering such poppycock.
We have no idea if FDLE will proceed with this case or what the outcome might be. Regardless, we think it’s fantastic that the Florida Department of State also apparently smells a rat and is at least was willing to move the case along for consideration of a criminal investigation and possible prosecution, if warranted.
We all know that what the Developer, Wahl and Prince did was beyond despicable. And regardless of whatever ruling comes from the state, we hope every Sumter County resident won’t soon forget the manipulation that was used against them by the Developer, his henchman and their two willing errand boys in an effort to thwart the democratic process by cutting out voters who clearly had the right to cast their ballots and make their wishes known.
