Dear Editor,
In researching the School Board candidates' financial reports recently, we found some interesting information about School Board candidate Will Fonseca and his ties to (current Board members) Julius Melendez and Jon Arguello. I feel that voters should be aware of the ties between these three men before casting their ballots for the district 4 School Board race.
Fonseca was paid $28,300 by School Board member Julius Melendez in income for last year, roughly two-thirds of his income. This information comes directly from VoteOsceola.com. Also, Melendez happens to be the largest individual donor with $3,000 donated to Fonseca’s campaign; $1,000 of that donation was listed under Julius Melendez’s name and the other $2,000.00 was from Melentree, a company owned by Melendez. On Oct. 6, Fonseca paid School Board Member Jon Arguello $8,000 from his campaign funds to a company owned by Arguello called King and Carpenter for communication services. Arguello’s political committee is sending mail and texts for Fonseca.
I believe that this type of financial interdependence between elected officials on the same School Board and one candidate seeking election to that same board is not ethical. Members of the School Board should not be financially dependent on each other. This causes me concern as a citizen and voter of Osceola County. If the Gazette doesn’t share this information they will only feel empowered to even more unethical conduct.
Verna Cornell
Kissimmee
Editor's note: Calls and an email to Mr. Melendez regarding comment on this matter were not returned.
