Candidate Ryan Maier: You were right, your lie is "easy to prove." Read/watch this:

The video above is from the Bryant Park candidate forum at the Municipal Golf Course Clubhouse on 2/23. Check out what Ryan Maier says at the 1:04 mark. This came up at last night's Lake Worth Playhouse Debate. The first video of the playlist below is Commissioner John Szerdi's response to the question of how informative/entertaining these debates are. In his response, Commissioner Szerdi references the allegation made by Mr. Maier at that forum on 2/23.

This is Mr. Maier's accusation:

"In fact, he [Commissioner John Szerdi] recently received word from the Inspector General of Palm Beach County, that his relationship with the developer of this project is an ethical violation."

This video where Mr. Maier makes this claim has been on YouTube and this blog since last Tuesday (2/24) and served as the impetus for Commissioner Szerdi to have the "cease and desist" letter served to Mr. Maier last week—along with a request for a written apology.

Last night, yours truly (Wes Blackman) was called out by Mr. Maier, referencing the videos that I take of candidate forums. That is the second video of the playlist here:


This is what Mr. Maier says at the start of his closing remarks:

"My opponent speaks the truth this time. He did have his attorney recently serve me with a “cease and desist” order because of a statement that he claims that I made in the last candidate forum. I did not say that Mr. Szerdi's connection to the developer was an ethical violation. I said that it was an ethical conflict. Because it is a conflict. And that is exactly what the Inspector General informed Commissioner Szerdi. Now all of this can be easily cleared up by Mr. Blackman over here, a paid campaign consultant for Mr. Szerdi's campaign. Because as you see Mr. Blackman videotapes all of the candidate forums and typically posts that videotape the very following day on YouTube. Now this would be very easy to prove or disprove with that videotape. And the response that my attorney has delivered to Mr. Szerdi's attorney is that we are waiting for you to prove that I made that statement. What I said was that it is a conflict and I stand by that statement. And I believe a “cease and desist” letter is an intimidation tactic. And I am not intimidated."

First, let's start with definitions. A violation is not a conflict. A violation is:

–the act of doing something that is not allowed by a law or rule–the act of ignoring or interfering with a person's rights
–the act of showing disrespect for something (such as a holy place) usually by damaging it

A conflict, Mr. Maier's word used last night to describe the situation, is:

–a struggle for power, property, etc.
–strong disagreement between people, groups, etc., that results in often angry argument
–a difference that prevents agreement, disagreement between ideas, feelings, etc. 

I think he was referring to what is known as a conflict of interest, to be exact. From Wikipedia:

"The presence of a conflict of interest is independent of the occurrence of impropriety. Therefore, a conflict of interest can be discovered and voluntarily defused before any corruption occurs."

This is exactly what Commissioner Szerdi did when the city attorney requested an advisory opinion on this topic. This letter was issued last March, almost a year ago, by the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics.

This is the letter that Commissioner Szerdi had with him last night and you can see that in the video. It is also important to note that the Inspector General of Palm Beach County, as referenced repeatedly by Mr. Maier, is not the same thing as the Commission on Ethics. This is a symptom of Mr. Maier's naiveté of local government, since his only experience was a brief stint on the Sister City Board, that we also heard AGAIN last night. He was removed from that board due to excessive absence and not taking the required ethics training. Had he done that perhaps he wouldn't confuse the two agencies.

A public records request from the OIG produced only these letters related to a baseless complaint filed by Lynn Anderson and Katie McGiveron.

So, there is the proof, Mr. Maier. You said it was going to be easy and it was. When will you start telling the truth?