Keys prosecutors decline to file charges over Marathon election ad

The Monroe County State Attorney’s Office concluded that a Marathon City Council member did not break the law when he appeared in a local cable television commercial standing in front of the Marathon city seal while endorsing his colleague in her election bid for county commissioner.

The ad, which ran briefly in early October, prompted an anonymous complaint to State Attorney Dennis Ward’s office on Oct. 16 for “unauthorized use of an official seal,” Larry Kahn, spokesman for the State Attorney’s Office, said.

In it, Marathon City Councilman Dan Zieg discusses why he feels Councilwoman Michelle Coldiron is qualified to serve on Monroe’s Board of County Commissioners.

While he speaks, “the city seal is prominently displayed in the background during the recording process,” SAO Investigator Christopher Weber wrote in his Oct. 25 “close-out memorandum,” the document prosecutors’ offices complete when they decline to file charges.

Using an official municipal seal for non-city related business is a possible second-degree misdemeanor, Weber wrote, but it appears the city of Marathon never adopted the seal in question, therefore no crime was committed.

“The language of the statute would appear to require an adoption of the seal by ordinance in addition to failure to acquire permission to use an adopted seal,” Weber wrote. “With both being prerequisites to prosecution or as element of the crime.”

Kahn said Ward “recommends the Marathon City Council officially adopt the seal through an ordinance or resolution to forestall any future controversy.

In the ad, Zieg identifies himself as a city councilman, but “he does not indicate that he is speaking on the behalf of the city of Marathon, the city of Marathon council, or anyone other than himself individually,” Weber wrote.

Nevertheless, Coldiron pulled the ad immediately after hearing “someone was upset about it,” she said. A request for comment sent to the channel that aired the ad, TV88 in Marathon, was not immediately returned. Zieg also did not respond to a question asking him if he thought the commercial would prompt complaints.

Coldiron, a Republican, is running against Democrat Thomas “Tommy” Ryan, to represent District 2, which covers parts of Marathon in the Middle Keys down to Big Pine Key in the Lower Keys.

Weber said TV88’s videographer set up his equipment outside city hall to shoot the spot, but Zieg asked him to come inside and led him to council chambers, “where the video was ultimately filmed,” Weber wrote.

Coldiron paid TV88 $1,000 for the ad featuring Zieg and another just featuring her, Kahn said. She said she did not know Zieg was going to film the spot in front of the seal, but she did see the ad and approve it after it was filmed. She said Zieg and other incumbents for Marathon City Council filmed similar spots in front of the seal in 2016 and there were no complaints filed.

“I was a little surprised all this happened,” she said.

This story was originally published October 29, 2018 at 6:35 PM.