讀後心得

According to a report by the Messenger, Sheng Tao has not paid her campaign manager, Kaski, tens of thousands of dollars in debt nearly six months after being elected. Although state law prohibits the use of public funds to finance campaigns, Sheng Tao's former chief of staff, Hansen, revealed that she had considered this approach. Kaski denies any knowledge of this plan but still believes that the money is owed to her. New documents reveal Sheng Tao's governance issues and her conflicts with municipal officials. Despite facing federal corruption charges, Sheng Tao still hopes to use municipal funds to pay off Kaski's debt; Hansen disagrees with this move but states that it is not illegal.

According to reports, Sheng Tao has been delinquent in paying her campaign manager, who helped her win, tens of thousands of dollars nearly six months after being elected and taking office. Under longstanding state law, politicians are prohibited from using public funds to finance campaign activities, but recently released records show that Sheng Tao's former chief of staff mentioned she had considered this possibility. The campaign manager owed money by Sheng Tao ultimately became a municipal employee, but she denied being aware of any plans to use public funds to settle the debt in a statement this week, emphasizing that the money is still owed to her. These details were revealed in thousands of pages of municipal records seized by federal prosecutors and made public this week.

Sheng Tao, who was ousted by voters in November last year, along with her partner, is accused of accepting political favors and monetary bribes in exchange for lucrative municipal contracts. The newly disclosed documents help piece together Sheng Tao's early governance work, including her directing communications between bribery suspects and municipal officials. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty, and if convicted, they face federal imprisonment. Although Sheng Tao's debt to the campaign manager is not directly related to the federal corruption case, it further reveals the new mayor's struggles to address the lingering issues from the previous year's election, highlighting her attempts to blur the lines between political alliances and municipal governance.

In a text sent on June 29, 2023, Sheng Tao's chief of staff and political advisor discussed how to pay for the mayor's "executive coach." When the advisor suggested using city funds, the chief of staff pointed out that the mayor's office budget was tight and that Sheng Tao wanted to allocate some of those funds to settle her campaign debt. The campaign manager served as Sheng Tao's campaign manager in the 2022 elections and was soon hired in the mayor's office as the Director of Climate Collaboration. According to the latest financial records from the 2022 election, Sheng Tao still owes this campaign manager $58,488 in consulting fees, which originally was close to $80,000.

The campaign manager confirmed this amount in a statement responding to written questions but denied knowledge of the text messages between the chief of staff and the advisor. On Friday afternoon, the chief of staff confirmed that Sheng Tao intended to allocate $50,000 from city government funds to pay the campaign manager as a consultant, stating that she disagreed with this move but emphasized that it was not illegal and highlighted that the campaign manager had never been formally hired as a consultant.