Jane Howington is trying hard to control the narrative regarding her dark money group Clocktower Collaborative. The 501c4 that she organized with Bill Wooldredge and George Roth is facing a probable cause hearing at the Ohio Elections Commission (OEC) January 18th for operating as an unregistered PAC. But, the seriousness of this didn’t prevent Jane, et al from lying in a full page ad in Hudson Life Magazine.
The uncovered emails between Clocktower Collaborative and their candidates, Patricia Goetz*, Michael Bird*, and Madeline Lepidi-Carino have exposed the dark money group’s intentions and plans to circumvent the law. The public airing of these emails has stirred up trouble for Hudson’s newest council members and Howington, Wooldredge, and Roth. So, now they are in spin mode.
Spin is a big part of politics. It’s also what makes people distrustful of the process. People are sick of being lied to, but that’s exactly what Clocktower Collaborative did with another full page ad in Hudson Life Magazine. They are attempting to portray that everything is fine when it definitely is not.
At the heart of the matter is that the candidates were on Clocktower Collaborative planning email lists. This is important because there must be a firewall between the candidates and the plans of PACs or dark money organizations working on their behalf. But, Goetz*, Bird*, and Lepidi-Carino had front row seats to the dark money group. Even worse, Goetz and Bird’s treasurers were also included on the emails, spelling double trouble for Hudson’s newest elected officials. This is particularly embarrassing to Michael Bird who campaigned against dark money before this was exposed.
Patricia Goetz*, Michael Bird*, and Madeline Lepidi-Carino are also the subject of a probable cause hearing at the OEC in January for campaign coordination with Clocktower Collaborative. None of them have been exonerated. But that’s what Team Howington claims in their latest ad.
“Unfortunately, making false claims that hurt reputations has become a pattern in our town. Thankfully, every accused person or entity has been fully exonerated…”
Clocktower Collaborative’s ad in Hudson Life Magazine
None of them have been exonerated. But, the spin doesn’t stop there. They claim nonpartisanship in their ad after conveniently only supporting Democrats and including Tom Bevan, the Chairman of the Summit County Democratic Party (and Nicole Kowalski’s attorney) on at least one of the emails.
The Clocktower Collaborators are the source of the division they claim to be combatting. They have lied about being non-partisan. They have lied about being “fully exonerated.” The emails that been released reveal that Team Howington lied to the public about their intentions. Now, they are attempting to cover their tracks and control the narrative with a full page ad.
This is what gaslighters do and Jane Howington and her Clocktower Collaborators are attempting to gaslight all Hudson residents with their deceit and lies.
But, this full page ad also brings up a very important question that should soon be answered.
These ads, their mailers, and the Facebook ads aren’t cheap. This is going to open up another can of worms for the Clocktower Collaborators: Who is funding them?
While Jane Howington made promises that donors would be shielded from public disclosure, the pending legal matter should bring it all into the light. Now, because of the upcoming hearings, the public should find out who funded this dark money group and how much the candidates knew about it.
You can read two of the Clocktower Collaborative emails by clicking here.
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