讀後心得

After Sheng Tao was elected, he still owed campaign manager Kaczki hundreds of thousands of dollars. State law prohibits the use of public funds to support campaigns, but former chief of staff Hansen stated that Sheng Tao had considered doing so. Kaczki recently issued a statement denying knowledge of the matter, emphasizing that he has still not received the owed money. Records from federal prosecutors revealed political favors and bribery allegations between Sheng Tao and businessmen. Despite Sheng Tao's efforts to clear up election-related issues, there is no direct connection between the debts and corruption cases. Hansen confirmed that Sheng Tao attempted to allocate funds from the city government to pay Kaczki's fees as a consultant, but Hansen disagreed with this action, stating that it was not illegal.

According to reports, Sheng Tao was still in debt to her campaign manager for tens of thousands of dollars shortly after being elected. State laws prohibit politicians from using public funds to finance campaign activities, but newly released records show that Sheng Tao's former chief of staff had revealed that she considered this option. The campaign manager, Kasky, who is owed money, ultimately became a municipal employee but denied in a statement any knowledge of plans to use public funds to settle the debt and emphasized that the money is still owed to her.

This information surfaced in thousands of pages of municipal records seized by federal prosecutors and was made public recently. Sheng Tao and her partner have been accused of accepting political bribes in exchange for municipal contracts. The new documents provide context to Sheng Tao's early days in office, showing her attempts to conceal the boundaries between her political alliances and municipal governance.

In a text message, Sheng Tao's former chief of staff and political advisor discussed how to pay for Sheng Tao's "executive coaching" fees. When it was suggested to use city funds, the former chief of staff pointed out budget constraints and indicated Sheng Tao wanted to use those funds to pay off her campaign debts. Kasky was Sheng Tao's campaign manager in the 2022 election, and shortly after the text exchange, she was hired as the director of the Climate Cooperation Department in the mayor's office.

The latest campaign finance records show that Sheng Tao still owes Kasky approximately $58,488 in consulting fees, down from an initial amount of nearly $80,000. Kasky confirmed this amount in a statement responding to inquiries but denied knowledge of Hansen's text messages. Recently, Hansen confirmed that Sheng Tao sought to allocate $50,000 from city funds to pay Kasky, but Hansen did not agree to this proposal, stating it was not illegal since Kasky had never been hired as a consultant.