Paula Stark, an Osceola lawmaker seeking reelection, faces spending questions

ST. CLOUD — Paula Stark, an Osceola County Republican who wants voters to send her back to the Florida House, has racked up questionable expenses, failed to file required state finance forms correctly and on time and had her taxpayer-funded office expense account frozen.

The former newspaper publisher and nonprofit executive from St. Cloud won a seat in the House in November 2022, part of a Red Wave that swept the Florida Legislature.

She soon ran into trouble with House staff for failing to file her office expense reports on time and for filing vague and "unacceptable" reimbursement forms.

In March, the House suspended her account that pays office expenses, saying it had found $13,000 worth of irregularities. The account remains frozen.

Stark's political action committee — raising money for her 2024 campaign — has racked up more than $23,000 in late fines through July. It has also spent money on expenses experts say could violate Florida campaign rules, including a rental house in Tallahassee and travel to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The committee is run by her long-time, live-in boyfriend, who former aides also said was involved in day-to-day legislative staff operations.

Stark, who ran the Osceola News Gazette for more than 20 years, blames the office account problems on aides she has since fired and on her effort to balance her new legislative duties with her long-time job running St. Cloud Main Street. She said she is not in charge of her political committee, but experts said as the beneficiary she is responsible for its spending.

"Clearly we got behind," Stark said. "There is no question that the expenses are legitimate."

Maria Revelles, a first-time candidate and Stark's Democratic challenger for the District 47 seat, said her opponent's financial problems raise questions about her suitability as a candidate.

"Her mismanagement of her office and expenditures is disturbing," Revelles said. "We're supposed to be straight shooters, but she seems to be out of control with money that is not hers."

The district covers much of Osceola County, including Kissimmee and St. Cloud, and a southern sliver of Orange County that includes Lake Nona. It is a predominantly Hispanic and working class and registered Democrats outnumber Republicans. It is one of six seats surrounding Orlando that Democrats hope to regain this election.

Lawmakers need to keep accurate records and file them on time, whether they are expense accounts or campaign reports, said Ben Wilcox, research director at the nonprofit government watchdog, Integrity Florida.

"It's a matter of public trust," Wilcox said. "The public needs to know how taxpayer dollars and campaign funds are used."

OFFICE FUNDS

The Orlando Sentinel first reported in May tha t Stark had failed to submit expense reports for her office account for six months, and that several reports that were filed were deemed "unacceptable."

Two former aides shared their concerns about the expenses with Stark, and when she did nothing, alerted House officials.

House officials froze her office account after investigators uncovered $5,696 in unused money that should have been refunded to the Legislature and flagged $7,000 in miscellaneous expenses that had no receipts to back them up and were labeled as "temp," Fran Keyes, senior accountant for the Florida House, said in an email to Stark in March.

Calling the description "unacceptable", Keyes said any further repayments would be withheld until the reports are brought up to date.

Stark's office has received no additional funds since March. And seven months later, the Office of Legislative Services still is working to obtain receipts and paid invoices to substantiate Stark's office expenses, House spokeswoman Jenna Sarkissian said.

"In the meantime, District 47's monthly allowance is being withheld so that no new expenses may be incurred," said Sarkissian, director of Open Government & Special Projects for the House Speaker's office. "Ultimately, if receipts cannot be provided, House policy requires Members to return funds for unsubstantiated or unacceptable expenses."

Only two other House members out of 120 are in a similar situation with their accounts frozen because they did not file reports on time, she said. They are Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando, who was re-elected in August after defeating his primary opponent, and Rep. Patricia Williams, D-Pompano Beach, who was prevented from seeking reelection because of term limits.

The two Stark aides who alerted House staff to the expense problems both said they were troubled by the role Joel Davis, Stark's boyfriend, played in the office. They said he acted like he was in charge of the district office and its accounts.

Stark denied Davis managed her books, and said that she was the only one with the authorization to write checks off the office account. But she admitted that he helped with filing her travel expenses.

Davis — a former developer and lobbyist whose current business is leasing outdoor advertising space at billboards and bus stops — is also the chairman of her political committee, Friends of Paula.

"I was becoming very uncomfortable because it appeared to be either gross negligence or at worst it appeared to have all of the trappings of misappropriation of funds," said one of the aides, J.D. Widhalm, who worked for Stark from September 2023 to late March 2024, when he was fired.

Davis had a lot of influence in Stark's office, Widhalm and fellow aide Daniel Lopez told officials. Davis was frequently copied on messages between the representative and her staff and sometimes acted as if he was their boss.

Lopez also noted that Kathy Pierson, a Kissimmee public relations agent and longtime friend of Stark's hired for the campaign, was organizing district events and handling media calls for Stark.

Lopez had only been working for Stark for two months when he was fired in May.

Stark said that Lopez had "no idea" how the office spent money and that both aides were fired for other reasons, not because they alerted House staff to her office's financial issues.

CAMPAIGN FUNDS

Stark's political committee has also come under fire for chronically filing campaign reports late, racking up $16,224 in fines between April 2023 and November 2023. Davis has appealed those fines and a hearing is scheduled for November, after the election.

Since Januarythe PAC has done better, but it was fined another $6,267 for a late report in July, according to Florida Election Commission records. It is not uncommon for a candidate to get behind on filing expense reports, but not as frequently as this.

Twice, in June and July of 2023, the political committee paid the district office rent of $1,800 a month, which Stark later reimbursed, records show. Davis, who is the treasurer of the account, said the PAC paid the rent because the state had forgotten to send Stark the district monthly allowance of $3,300.

The PAC also paid $1,650 a month in rent on a house in Tallahassee for 13 months, or $21,450. It's listed as "office rent" but Stark stays there when the Legislature is in session and the rest of the time it's empty, Davis said.

Stark has reimbursed the PAC $4,733 for the nights she stayed in the Tallahassee house, campaign records show.

The house is owned by Leon and Laura Lee Corbett. Stark and Laura Corbett have known each other for more than 20 years, since Stark began running St. Cloud Main Street and Corbett was director of the Florida Main Street program that oversees the programs statewide.

"As far as I know, it's a legitimate expense," Davis said.

But Mark Herron, a Tallahassee ethics lawyer and expert on election and campaign law, has his doubts.

"I don't think paying rent is an authorized political activity," he said. "You can't use committee dollars for normal living expenses."

Other expenditures paid by Stark's committee also raise questions as they could be viewed as gifts to the candidate, which are not allowed, Herron said.

For example, the PAC gave Stark's nonprofit $1,880 for entertainment and a meeting to advocate on issues.

The PAC also paid out more than $6,000 for lavish meals at gourmet restaurants in Tallahassee and elsewhere, including $1,587 for meals at the fancy Savour restaurant in downtown Tallahassee, just blocks from the Capitol.

Almost all the meals, usually eaten in the company of elected officials or lobbyists, were categorized as a meeting or entertainment to advocate an issue or the candidate, according to the committee's expense reports.

"I'm usually with her and we pay the bills out of the PAC to protect her from lobbyists paying for meals," Davis said.

The state has a strict prohibition against lawmakers or their staff accepting meals from lobbyists.

Stark's committee also covered her expenses traveling to and from the Republican National Convention. She stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee in July and also had hotel stays in Birmingham, Ala., Jackson, Tenn. and Marion, Ill.

"She was a delegate to the Republican National Convention," Davis said. "We drove there and back."

When Stark was invited last December to Mar-a-Lago, former President Trump's compound in Palm Beach, the committee paid for a charter jet from Tallahassee for $1,257.

Some of those may not be legitimate expenses, said Herron, the ethics lawyer.

The handbook published by the Florida Division of Elections for political committees says office, travel, advertising and other expenses can be charged to a PAC, if they are used to advocate on behalf of or to defeat a candidate or ballot issue.

But state law says a candidate or family member can't solicit or accept any gift from a political committee, and a political committee can't give a gift to a candidate or family member. The penalty is a civil fine of three times the amount of the gift.

"This was passed in response to people from living off of their political committees," Herron said.

Stark's committee expenses seem to cross the line, he added. "Sometimes people just have problems following the rules."