Jeff Stone, a state senator who also your uncle’s forwarded emails in human form, recently took what looks like a lovely trip to Israel and South Africa with his wife and used over $8,000 in campaign donations to pay for it – though he says it was needed for important research ?.
Sam Metz of the Desert Sun details the trip and spending and, well, Stone really didn’t do much to disguise the trip as anything more than a long vacation with his bride.
As Metz notes, Stone spent $8,330 out of his campaign account to pay for airfare, taxis, lodging and food in Israel for him and his wife.
Stone said that the trip allowed him to meet with officials in the Knesset and also businesses working on firefighting and desalinization technology.
“I wanted to go where the technology was that we need in California. Why not learn from them?” Stone proclaimed. “It was state business, but I don’t believe in charging the taxpayer for any travel, so we bill our campaign for that.”
Yeah, looks like he was working hard:
Of course, there is another option that would’ve been to pay for the trip out of his own bank account like any of us would have to do – which sure seems like it would’ve been an easy option for Stone – seen here learning about firefighting technology:
So yeah, maybe don’t donate to this dude’s campaign next time or, well, ever.
And Stone is not alone, the Desert Sun article points out that local elected officials Chad Mayes and Eduardo Garcia have recently spent thousands of dollars from their campaigns on trips to Arizona and Mexico City after the election.
So yeah, maybe don’t donate to their campaigns either.
Our system is so badly broken.
