The Hudson Inclusive Playground (HIP) should be a unifying community initiative. Instead, it has become a political weapon for Amanda Weinstein and her slate of candidates for City Council. The politicization of a charity that is mainly funded by tax dollars has caused a public relations nightmare for HIP and a possible issue for Hudson Community Foundation since HIP is under its umbrella.
A few weeks ago, Weinstein whipped up some faux outrage by claiming the Inclusive Playground was being pushed to the side by City Council in order for a gun range to be “fast tracked.” It’s easy to get residents engaged when they feel children of differing abilities are getting pushed to the side. The fact that it wasn’t true didn’t matter to Weinstein. Amanda wants to displace sitting Council members and she’s shown she was willing to do that with lies and politicization of the inclusive playground. Then came the next step; using the playground for political gain.
Katie Madio and Kelsey Wozniak of “Northeastern Ohio Living Powered by eXp Realty Luxury” hosted a fundraiser for HIP. This event was also promoted by HIP and HIP Board President and Founder Megan Higgins. Even though IRS laws don’t allow charities to get mixed in with politics, that’s exactly what happened with this fundraiser right from the start.
The invitations stated those in attendance will “Hear from Hudson City Council Candidates Amanda Weinstein, Samantha D’Eramo and Kyle Brezovec. This invitation is posted on Katie Madio’s page twice at the time of publishing. It is also visible below. Not only did the candidates all come wearing swag (Kyle and Samantha appear to have their entire families in campaign apparel), but Madio admitted on Facebook to allowing her candidates to fundraise for their campaigns at the charitable event.
The invitation mentioning the candidates is still on the Hudson Inclusive Playground Instagram page at the time of this publishing. The tag from event hosts @neohlivingkatiekelsey was never removed.
HIP is being funded largely by City and State tax dollars. It’s a public-private partnership and as such certainly shouldn’t have turned political. Even candidate Samantha D’Eramo posted about the event using a different invitation, but still parroting that those in attendance will hear from candidates. As you can see below, she tagged Amanda Weinstein and Kyle Brezovec.
The Facebook event for the HIP fundraiser stated attendees would hear from Weinstein and her slate of candidates. The day after the fundraiser when this was pointed out on social media, the candidates names were removed.
Clocktower Files received multiple emails about this event, including from some who attended and were shocked to see not only Weinstein openly campaigning and fundraising but being endorsed by Katie Madio. While the candidates did not actually get to speak at the microphone, they did plenty of campaigning.
There were large QR codes for Weinstein and her running mates’ campaign coffers prominently displayed so HIP supporters could easily give to the candidates when getting raffle tickets . There also was campaign literature on this table.
Council President Chris Foster posted about the politicization of the event. He also pointed out that this is yet another instance of Hudson candidates breaking the campaign finance laws. The City’s campaign finance limit is $100 per person per year.
Less than three months after the Ohio Elections Commission ruled that Hudson “non-profit” Clocktower Collaborative operated as an illegal PAC in Hudson’s 2023 elections, Madio and Wozniak hosted a joint fundraiser for HIP and Weinstein’s slate of candidates. Complete with a band and a professional videographer, Madio boasted on Foster’s post that she spent “thousands of dollars.”
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There is plenty of evidence pointing to the fact this was intended to be a campaign event and Ohio law is clear that those costs should be reported as in-kind donations to the campaigns. But, the costs far exceed Hudson’s campaign donation limit.
Hudson resident Tracy Holland Corpus commented that she wanted to attend so she could meet one of the candidates, further proving that many people understood it was a political event.
Madio admitted in Foster’s post that she had endorsed Weinstein’s slate of candidates at the HIP event. She even followed that up with a Facebook endorsement of the trio of candidates with a picture with Weinstein and D’Ermo from the HIP fundraiser. The endorsement was posted the morning after the fundraiser, but disappeared on Madio’s page after the legal and ethic issues became a firestorm. Screenshots of that endorsement are below.
Madio attempted to shame the sitting Council members and even the Mayor for not attending. But according to the invitation, they were never welcome. From the start, the event was to include Weinstein, D’Eramo, and Brezovec’s campaigns, even though City Council voted to fund the Inclusive Playground.
In an unusual move, Madio’s father, former State Rep Tom Watkins attempted to come to her defense. Someone must have fed Watkins false information as it is littered throughout his comment. He changed his tune after learning the facts.
Madio’s father attempted to come to her rescue, but as a former elected official who is familiar with campaigns, he quickly realized how “highly inappropriate” the fundraiser had become. Watkins blamed the candidates instead of his daughter.
Amanda Weinstein refers to her slate as “Team Hudson.” This is incredibly telling since this is what Jane Howington referred to her group at Clocktower Collaborative, which the Ohio Elections Commission ruled was an illegal PAC that influenced Hudson’s 2023 election. Weinstein has relaunched “Team Hudson” complete with a campaign finance scandal, this time involving an inclusive playground and the children who will play there.
Much more to come!
