State Ethics Board Investigating Pro-Charter PAC Stand For Children

NASHVILLE, TN — A political-action committee that drove a record amount of spending in August's Metro school board races is now under scrutiny from a state ethics board.

The board of Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance issued a show-cause order to Stand For Children Wednesday. The board's decision is in response to a petition filed by progressive group Tennessee Citizen Action and a Metro schools parent alleging that Stand For Children illegally coordinated with the campaigns of four pro-charter school board candidates — Thom Druffel, Miranda Christy, Jackson Miller and Jane Grimes Meneely — and that it spent money during the so-called blackout period just prior to election day. All four of those candidates lost.

In July, Stand For Children spent $200,000 in Davidson County on school board races, mostly on mailers and advertising.

The complaint cites a report from The Tennessean about emails from the director of the non-profit Martha O'Bryan Center that appear to show she coordinated with Stand for Children to find campaign workers for the four hopefuls. It also references a story from WSMV about a meeting Stand For Children Director Dan O'Donnell had with Druffel during the 10-day blackout period. O'Donnell said the meeting was permissible because he took a day off work.

The ethics board's chairman, Tom Lawless, told The Tennesseanthere was "enough to smoke" to merit an investigation.

"If they violated (the law), we need to be consistent. We don’t have to be punitive, we can be constructive," he said.

Bone McAllester Norton attorney Stephen Zralek, who represents Stand for Children, told the newspaper the organization takes election ethics issues seriously and consistently follows the law.

"The Registry’s order is standard procedure whenever a complaint is filed. We look forward to answering the Registry’s questions and providing an accurate account of the facts," he said in a Wednesday email, according to The Tennessean.

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