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The race for Volusia County Council in Southeast Volusia has turned dirty with an anonymous e-mail sent to media outlets, shown at left, pointing out personal finances of Edgewater City Councilman Justin Kennedy, pictured at the far right. New Smyrna City Commissioner Jim Hathaway was critical of Kennedy's finances three days earlier, but denied sending the e-mail. Deb Denys of New Smyrna Beach, a former elected school board member, said the anonymous e-mail is despicable, but she said Kennedy should have been forthcoming about his finances -- a bankrupty and three foreclosure issues, from the onset of his campaign.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Just three days after Volusia County Council seat 3 candidate Jim Hathaway complained that fellow candidate Justin Kennedy was getting a free pass regarding his personal finances, an anonymous e-mail was sent to media outlets with dirt on the Edgewater councilman.
Hathaway had complained that Headline Surfer had allowed Kennedy to take the New Smyrna Beach commissioner to task because Hathaway allowed Robert Lott to campaign for him during the Edgewater Expo.
"Why don't you report on his bankruptcy and his foreclosures," Hathaway implored the New Smyrna Beach-based Internet newspaper. Hathaway also pointed out that Kennedy's financial issues could be read by logging onto clerk.org, which is the website for lawsuits and other legal matters with the clerk of the circuit court for Volusia County. That was a week ago Friday.
That Sunday, Headline Surfer sent an e-mail to Hathaway, Kennedy and fellow candidate Deb Denys of New Smyrna Beach, which read in part: "I refuse to be a conduit for a candidate to hurt his opponent. You've got the goods on Kennedy's finances and you want to make it part of the campaign Then great, put it in a press release, sign it and e-mail it, along with your documentation. Then I'll give him a chance to answer. And his other opponent to weigh in as well. I'm not going to define any one candidate's achilles heel."
Then the following night, an e-mail was sent to media outlets, ripping into Kennedy's personal finances. The e-mail, slugged "Volusia County Council Candidate" and from *Defenders Of Volusia* stated: "To Whom it May Concern, In the body of this email are four case numbers that are either pending or closed in Volusia County. They concern Volusia County Council District 3 candidate Justin Kennedy."
The anonymous e-mail continued: "I encourage you to peruse Clerk.org. These cases are relevant to his candidacy and his credibility. They are previously unreported by any news entity. The writer then lists four court files and ends the e-mail with: "Cordially, anyone but Kennedy."
It was sent 8:05 p.m. Monday to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, the Orlando Sentinel and a free weekly paper as well as to Denys and Hathaway.
Hathaway could not be reached for comment that night, but the following morning said he had nothing to do with it, adding, "I got the (anonymous e-mail, too."
When Headline Surfer pointed out to Hathaway that the reference in the e-mail to the clerk.org was exactly as he had mentioned just three days earlier, Hathaway didn't give a direct response, but said no one in his campaign wrote the e-mail. His campaign manager is his son, Spencer Stratton Hathaway, an entry-level attorney hired last fall by Mark Hall, who was the city's CRA consulting attorney for nearly two decades until several weeks ago when the CRA board was disbanded. The city commission took over direct oversight of the CRA with legal duties going to City Attorney Frank Gummey.
Kennedy, midway through his first term on the Edgewater City Council, said he was taken aback by the anonymous smear since qualifying doesn't end until mid-June.
"I guess it means somebody is afraid I'm going to win," said Kennedy, adding he told both the Sentinel and the News-Journal previously in his run for the Edgewater municipal seat. "There are some people out there who will stoop so low -- to the gutter," Kennedy said, explaining he filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of the decade when he was 25 years old after his lawn business was wiped out by the wildfires that ravaged Volusia County.
Two foreclosure cases were related to two rental properties that he couldn't keep afloat because of rent issues with tenants when the economy started to make a downturn. The fourth involved a mortgage with his family's home three years ago, for which he has since re-mortgaged with the bank.
Denys, who alerted Headline Surfer of the anonymous e-mail, told the Internet newspaper she was not responsible for sending it out and that she felt bad for Kennedy to be exposed behind his back, especially so soon in the campaign. But Denys was quick to chastise Kennedy, saying, he should have divulged the issue of his finances from the onset of his campaign.
"As a candidate wanting the public's trust, he has the responsibility to get that information out," Denys said. "Maybe you can get away with it at the local level, but not at the county level."
Still, Denys said she belives in redemption, even for candidates in financial difficulty, adding, "These are tough economic times."
Denys said she was not going to point any accusing fingers in Hathaway's direction, saying, "You can't prove it, but the timing is questionable."
Headline Surfer wrote to all three candidates through their campaign-listed e-mails 3:59 a.m. Sunday, May 13, two days after after Hathaway complained that a story published as part of Headline Surfer's investigative series, "Show Me the Money: New Smyrna Beach" focused on former Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce President Robert Lott sporting a campaign badge for Hathaway and campaigning for him in the recent Edgewater Expo.
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Headline Surfer file photo / Robert Lott, shown here at a New Smyrna City Commission meeting, campaigned for Jim Hathaway at the Edgewater Expo.
Lott and his wife, Michele, former publisher of the defunct weekly Observer, staved off hundreds of creditors out of several hundred thousands in debts in federal bankruptcy court earlier this month, including two widows who were solicited by Robert Lott, then-owner of Lott Financial Services on Flagler Avenue in New Smyrna Beach, to invest in his wife's Coronado Beach Publishing, the corporation name for the Observer.
A 60-year-old widow, Sylvia Roy off Edgewater, lost $50,000 in her investment in the Observer through Robert Lott as did 82-year-old Mary Crosby of New Smyrna Beach who was convinced by Lott to invest $60,000. Crosby sued last year in state circuit court, alleging fraud.
Other creditors included the developers of the Hampton Inn, owed $46,000 that was fronted four years ago and was supposed to be used for advertising and marketing once the hotel was built. Hundreds of subscribers, many of them elderly, were also left out in the cold.
The Lotts moved the Observer operation from Robert Lott's Flagler Avenue suite when he got behind on the rent to their Edgewater residence 13 months ago, but stopped printing in November, adding press releases and columns to a weekly Internet version of the Observer. The home was in foreclosure as well.
Kennedy had said of Hathaway allowing Lott to campaign in a previous story: "I thought he was smarter than that. You would think after 18 years in government, he would be more selective in who he has campaigning for him."
And Denys added in that same story of Hathaway allowing Lott to campaign despite his financial woes: "It's concerning if a candidate knowingly makes alliances with individuals who have proven not to be trustworthy with the public's money"Accountability is already an issue at the county level. What will happen on a larger scale if left unchecked?"
Kennedy led an Edgewater City Council vote with only Mayor Mike Thomas casting the dissenting vote, to have Lott removed as chairman of Edgewater's economic development advisory board.