Lance Romance.
Posted on 02/11/2005 10:38:04 PM PST by SmithL
NASHVILLE - Sen. John Ford has used campaign money to pay for a wedding and thousands of dollars in payments to the mothers of his children, filings show.
The Memphis Democrat has been the focus of scrutiny recently over a child support fight that raised questions about whether he lives in the district he represents and whether he failed to disclose more than $200,000 of income from a TennCare subcontractor.
Now that subcontractor, the governmental affairs company Managed Care Services Group and chief executive Ronald R. Dobbins, have been fired.
A Doral Dental spokesman said the firm fired Dobbins both "in light of some of the information that's been coming out" and specifically after learning Dobbins is not a registered lobbyist in Tennessee.
Doral Dental landed an exclusive $6.3 million contract to provide dental coverage to about 620,000 poor and uninsured children through the state's publicly funded TennCare program.
Spokesman Michael A. Pflughoeft said Doral Dental had no independent knowledge of involvement by Ford in Managed Care Services Group.
An examination by WTVF-TV of Ford's campaign financial disclosures to the state shows thousands of dollars in questionable spending.
Ford, who has testified during a child support hearing that he maintains two different homes with two different families, has been making payments of out of campaign money to the women who head those households and to a third woman challenging him on the child support.
The Nashville TV station also reported that Ford used campaign money to pay for portions of his daughter's wedding, including the cake, video and a singer.
Almost $11,000 from political contributors also was paid to Karen Michelle Snell, a former Ford assistant who was once involved in a brawl with his ex-wife.
Ford has consistently declined to talk to reporters this week about the mounting allegations and the possibility of an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.
"It's very clear about the personal use of campaign funds - the law specifically says you cannot use campaign funds for personal benefit," said Drew Rawlins, executive director of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance.
The records show that in the last two years girlfriend Connie Matthews, mother of two of Ford's children, was paid $18,400 for "professional services."
"It could be anything," Rawlins said of the payments. "It could be work done on his campaign. It could be that she worked in his district."
Ex-wife Tamara Mitchell Ford, mother of three of Ford's children, received $2,450 in 2004, and $3,000 went to adult daughters Kemba and Autumn Ford in 2003-2004. And a "D Smith" of Raleigh, N.C. was paid $400 in 2003. Ford pays child support to a Dana Smith in Raleigh.
The reports also show that two years ago, when one of the senator's daughters got married, Ford paid a number of expenses out of campaign money.
The campaign paid $9,000 to Memphis's elegant Peabody Hotel for "reception, professional services" and "entertainment."
Another $1,500 went to Larry Dodson from the Memphis group the Barkays for "entertainment expense."
And thousands more went to companies that handle wedding videos, flowers and other decorations.
Rawlins says he "can't think of any," justification for a campaign to pay for a wedding.
"It's hard to know if something was personal or not personal when somebody's doing an expenditure," Rawlins said. "It could go either way."
The Registry of Election Finance, which regulates campaign spending, said it will investigate if someone files a sworn complaint against Ford.
If thats a fact then its more than just 'suspect'
Expect another letter from the Dems in the senate, this time asking Bush to "stop the attacks" on Sen. Ford.
Just another state politican who had his fingers in the bank. Most local newspapers always refuse to investigate local politicians...because the paper owner is in the same bed and gets special favors somewhere down the line. If you walked into any state capital and did a investigation of all of state politicans...you'd fill a 10 volume series of books with dirty laundry. We always see the national level stuff...millions of dollars at stake...but these local guys are skiming $100k here and a $100k there...and pump the money into their pockets or pockets of friends. Works the same way at the county level...except here you are talking of bribes of $1k to $5k to get some permission slip from the country road department. Those bloggers who want to make a difference....ought to open up a site on each county commission, and pump out the facts of contracts and who gets what. Connect the dots...they all lead to corruption.
Lance Romance.
Tamara Mitchell Ford (I SWEAR I saw her in a B.E.T. video)
This guy must be a relation of the corrupt hip hop mayor of Detroit, kwame kilpatrick.
The Memphis Fords, including the current congressman's father, Harold Ford, Sr. himself a former congressman, have lived well at the public teat. Corruption has surrounded them for decades. Young Harold, though, seems to have either concealed or avoided corruption.
You white devils are just out to get the black politician...(tongue firmly planted in cheek)
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