A board member for Manatee County Habitat for Humanity is outraged at what she says is a twisting of her words, by Democratic candidate for Congress Keith Fitzgerald, in an effort to smear opponent U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota.

NPR-member radio station WUSF reported Monday that Patricia Staebler, a current board member for the world-renowned  charity dedicated to providing “simple, decent, and affordable” housing for the indigent, said Habitat “was misled” when it purchased a piece of property from Buchanan’s brother in 2009. Staebler is a property appraiser, and was not on Habitat’s board at the time of the purchase.

Habitat purchased the property for some $1.4 million after having it appraised. The property is currently worth about $500,000.

The Fitzgerald campaign seized on Staebler’s statement, later telling the Bradenton Herald, "Congressman Buchanan and those like him in Washington are what is wrong with the system. He ... is now involved in scandal for 'misleading' Habitat for Humanity in a questionable real estate deal. Corruption like this is fueling wasteful deficit spending.”

“That is outrageous. I am speechless. This is ridiculous,” a frustrated and indignant Staebler told Sunshine State News. “They’ve used something I said, that was already taken out of context, and twisted it around even more. This is completely wrong.”

Staebler explained that she never intended to give the impression that either of the Buchanan brothers misled Habitat for Humanity in its purchase of Cortez Landings in Bradenton. She says she was simply giving her professional opinion that the property might have been wrongly appraised at the time of sale. Neither of the Buchanan brothers is a property appraiser, nor did either of them appraise the land for Habitat.

“This is all a blunt lie, meant to try to disgrace [Rep.] Buchanan, who has done so much for Habitat and for Manatee County,” Staebler insisted. “The record has to be set straight.”

Her words echo those of Jim Lane, board president for Habitat’s Manatee County chapter, who repeatedly emphasized, in an interview with Sunshine State News, that Rep. Buchanan and his brother “did not deceive us in any way, shape, or form.”

Any insinuation to the contrary is “absolutely wrong,” he continued. “I was on the board at the time the sale was made. We believed it was perfect for us then, and we continue to believe the purchase was a good one for us.”

In a letter to the Buchanan campaign Tuesday, Frame said “we all know land values have changed dramatically since 2008. Most folks have personally experienced this change. The Cortez Landings property is no different or exempt from the economic challenges the country has faced.”

“Fitzgerald should be ashamed of himself for dragging Habitat through the mud in a sleazy and dishonest attempt to smear Vern,” said Buchanan campaign spokeswoman Sally Tibbetts in an email to Sunshine State News.

Sunshine State News contacted the Fitzgerald campaign and spoke with spokesman Adam Scott. Scott would not answer repeated questions as to whether the campaign had reached out to Staebler before citing her remarks in its criticism of Buchanan. He would say no more than, “Buchanan needs to do the right thing. This is another in a long line of examples of Congressman Buchannan working for himself instead of the hard-working families and seniors in this community. He needs to come clean and explain himself.”

Buchanan has faced a number of corruption allegations in the course of his campaign, though he hasn’t been found guilty of any of them.  On Tuesday, his campaign announced the Department of Justice had ended all of its probes into allegations that he had improperly reimbursed former employees for their contributions to his campaign, and that no criminal charges would be forthcoming.

Staebler told Sunshine State News the Fitzgerald campaign never contacted her. She said she resents having become a collateral casualty in this latest campaign season kerfuffle.

“This is not only about Mr. Buchanan and Habitat,” she insists. “This has jeopardized my professional integrity, and I don’t like that.

"I never said Vern Buchanan misled Habitat for Humanity. Nor do I believe so. In fact, he has been very helpful to the board. Claims that Buchanan misled Habitat are false, untrue, and dishonest.”


Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.