A mailer landing in Clay County mailboxes tells voters to “Cap Politicians Pay.” It urges a yes vote on the county charter amendment on commissioner salaries. It says a yes vote “ensures any changes to our county politicians’ salaries must be approved by a majority of voters.” The amendment does the opposite.
Inside a Tallahassee-Funded Mail Campaign
The ballot language asks voters whether to “remove the requirement that any salary changes must be approved by a majority of electors in a general election.” Since 2008, Clay voters have had to approve any change to commissioner pay. A yes vote ends that. The amendment also removes the charter’s fixed $37,000 salary. Commissioner pay would instead follow a state formula for non-charter counties. The Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research estimated that formula at $96,993 for Clay commissioners in its September 2026 report, according to First Coast News.
Accountability In Government Inc. of Tallahassee paid for the mailer. State campaign finance records show the committee is part of a network run by Republican operative William “Stafford” Jones. Jones is a former chairman of the Alachua County Republican Party. He has been listed on the paperwork of more than 85 Florida political committees. In 2021, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington reported that two of his organizations told the IRS they did no political work while failing to disclose more than $1 million in political contributions.
Accountability In Government raised $582,655 in 2026. Of that, $565,000 came from a single source: the Greater Florida Foundation, another Jones committee at the same Tallahassee address. The Greater Florida Foundation has no donors of its own. It reported no spending on advertising or staff. Its largest source was the Freedom First Committee, which gave $1.81 million. Its largest 2026 sources include: Building a Brighter Future for Florida, the Republican State Leadership Committee, Florida Crystals Corp., and Florida Chamber of Commerce groups.
Clay County Political Committees Fund Jones Committees
Some of the money feeding Jones’s committees comes from committees tied to Clay County political figures. A committee supporting Sheriff Michelle Cook, The Committee for Professional Law Enforcement, amended its state registration in April 2023 to list Sheriff Michelle Cook as the candidate it supports. Its chairman is Charles “Scotty” Taylor Jr. of Middleburg. The Republican Party of Florida lists Taylor as the Clay County Republican Party’s committeeman. That committee gave $5,100 to Accountability In Government in June 2024. It gave $2,500 to Believing in Clay’s Kids on Sept. 21, 2026.
Cook, Taylor and Cummings have not said whether they knew their committees’ money was going to groups now campaigning on Clay ballot questions. Commissioners have said they did not ask for the amendment. The Charter Review Commission drafted it and placed it on the ballot. “Not any of these commissioners asked to have anything put on the ballot, nor did we set the fee or set the amount,” Commissioner Betsy Condon told First Coast News. Under the county charter, the board appoints all 15 members and five alternates. Commissioners cannot serve on it themselves. But once the review commission approves an amendment, the charter requires commissioners to place it on the ballot.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
