讀後心得

According to a report by the Messenger, Shengtao still owes her campaign manager Kasky tens of thousands of dollars after being elected, even though state law prohibits the use of public funds to finance election activities. Kasky later became a municipal employee and denied being aware of any plan to use public funds to pay off the debt. Records show that Shengtao and her former chief of staff Hansen had considered using the municipal budget to pay the debts. The federal corruption charges Shengtao faces are not directly related to this debt but illustrate her efforts in dealing with the leftover issues from her predecessor's election. According to the latest records, Shengtao still owes Kasky $58,488, and Hansen disagrees with allocating funds from the municipal budget to cover this cost.

According to reports, nearly six months after Sheng Tao was elected and took office, she still owes her campaign manager tens of thousands of dollars who helped her win the election. State laws prohibit politicians from using public funds to finance campaign activities, but the latest records show that Sheng Tao's former chief of staff mentioned that she had considered this option. Although the campaign manager owed money by Sheng Tao later became a municipal employee, she stated in a recent statement that she was unaware of any plans to use public funds to repay the debt and reiterated that the money remains unpaid. This information was obtained from municipal records seized by federal prosecutors, which were recently made public. Sheng Tao was recalled by voters last November, and she and her romantic partner were accused of accepting benefits and cash bribes to secure municipal contracts. The newly released documents help reconstruct the circumstances of her early administration, including bribery conversations between her and officials. All four defendants pleaded not guilty and face federal imprisonment if convicted. While the debt between Sheng Tao and the campaign manager is not directly related to this corruption case, it indicates her efforts to address leftover election issues and seems to blur the lines between these political alliances and municipal governance.

In a text message dated June 29, 2023, the former chief of staff discussed with a political consultant how to pay Sheng Tao's "executive coach" fees. When the consultant suggested using city government funds, the former chief of staff pointed out that the mayor's office budget was tight and that Sheng Tao wanted most of the funds to go towards repaying campaign debts. The campaign manager served Sheng Tao during the 2022 election, and the latest financial records show that Sheng Tao still owes her $58,488 in consulting fees, with the original amount being close to $80,000. The campaign manager confirmed this amount in a statement responding to written questions but denied knowing about the text exchanges between the former chief of staff and the consultant. Recently, the former chief of staff confirmed that Sheng Tao wanted to allocate $50,000 from city government funds to pay the manager's consulting fees, to which the former chief of staff disagreed but also pointed out that such a situation is not illegal and that the manager was not hired in a consulting capacity.