Activist accuses House Democratic leader Saunders of ethics violations

House Democratic leader Ron Saunders "double-dipped" by billing taxpayers and his campaign account for travel to and from the state capital, according to a batch of complaints that a conservative activist leveled Tuesday at the Key West representative.

The three complaints that activist Fred K. Barnes filed with the Ethics, Elections and House Rules committees on the first day of the legislative session target Saunders' travel and campaign activities in 2007 and 2008.

Barnes says Saunders violated ethics and campaign rules because he was reimbursed for some of the same expenses by both his campaign account and the state. The state pays legislators $80 a day for food and lodging and 45 cents a mile for travel to their jobs in Tallahassee during committee weeks.

Saunders said he couldn't "specifically recall" some issues Barnes raised because "it was a long time ago." He accused Republicans, who recently helped recruit former Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson to run against him, of being behind the complaint.

But Saunders did acknowledge some sloppy record keeping. He pointed to an Oct. 29, 2008, check he wrote for $717.56 to reimburse his campaign account for any instances where he paid for legislative travel with his campaign debit card "by accident."

One of Barnes' complaints notes that Saunders failed to designate in writing an authorized user of his campaign debit card, as required by law. Saunders said he thinks he made such a designation. The Division of Elections says it has no such filing on record.

Another Barnes' complaint points out that Saunders received a reimbursement from one legislative account for his travel on May 15, 2007, from Tallahassee to the Keys, where he arrived at 5:01 p.m. But on the same morning, Saunders reported he was driving in the Keys from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. — and billing a separate legislative account for that travel.

In another instance, in late August 2007, Saunders claimed his state-provided $80-a-day reimbursement for travel between the Keys and Tallahassee. But at the same time, he ran up $114.60 in fuel expenses on his campaign debit card.

Marc Caputo can be reached at mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com