The Action Center Insiders Complain Wiechman’s donations are too Slow

         In the latest chapter of the strange and bizarre saga of former city council woman Sue King’s personal vendetta against sitting city councilman David Wiechman, Ms. King stooped to “looking the gift horse in the mouth” by complaining Mr. Wiechman’s charitable donations were too slow for her.

            The latest story begins with the mayor and his designated successor, Adam Paul, trying to score political points with local charities and their supporters by donating city tax money to ten charities. Councilman Wiechman took exception to the timing of these donations and moved that they be tabled until after the Fall elections.

Wiechman further argued it was not right for politicians to be making donations with the taxpayers’ money. He suggested instead councilors follow his example and make personal donations to worthy local charities. To demonstrate he was not making an empty political statement but rather was acting on his convictions by putting his “money where his mouth is” he noted he gave $10,000 to the Action Center in 2014 for their campaign construction campaign.

C        ouncilwoman Cindy Baroway, who recently stepped down as Board Chair of the Action Center countered Wiechman’s donations were slow in coming. Wiechman explained he was donating his city council salary.   Since he is only paid on a monthly basis therefore his donations were made on an installment basis.

While Baroway and King’s harping that Wiechman’s donations were not fast enough seems incredibly silly and petty, it does raise the disturbing question of why is the Action Center revealing the contribution record of one of their donors to a city council member. One would think a donor’s contribution record should be confidential and certainly not given to rival politicians for them to make political hay with.

Finally, lakewoodpols wonders what motivates Wiechman to give so generously to the Action Center. A review of the Action Center’s public documents indicates Wiechman has been donating for years to the charity including making a pledge to the Self-Sufficiency Council, which is described as a commitment of at least $5,000 over five years. This would suggest Wiechman has contributed at least $15,000 to the Action Center.

In addition to being lambasted by the Action Center’s Board Chair for being slow, a previous Board Chair, Betty Boyd, ran against Wiechman in 2013 when he was seeking re-election to a second term. In that race, Boyd raised around $25,000 forcing Wiechman to invest a similar amount.  Ironically all those campaign contributions could have been donated to their common charity.

         Finally a review of campaign finance records reveals the Action Center’s president Mag Strittmatter made a personal campaign contribution to Wiechman’s 2013 rival. Since Ms. Strittmatter’s salary is paid out of Action Center donations, in essence some of Wiechman’s donations were being turned around and being spent against him. One has to wonder whether Wiechman’s choice of charities is backfiring against him. It will be interesting to see who he donates his salary to next year.