(ESCAMBIA COUNTY) --- A Political Action Committee can be used for good.
Diego Konopka is the first to tell you why.
The 22-year-old local begins by noting PAC's history of swinging elections, including the recent influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in the Kentucky 4th Congressional District election, which ousted U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie.
(Photo: Diego Konopka, founder of the United America Political Action Committee)
Well-versed in PACs, primaries, and all things legislative, Konopka told OpGov.News, he is not the only one paying attention to powerful political tools.
"I would say 50% of my people my age, or more, follow politics," Konopka said. "My generation grew up in a time that was heavily politically charged, with the rise of Trump during this time in high school and middle school."
It wasn't always willing, even intrusive at times.
"The morning Trump was elected, my 7th-grade English teacher was actually crying," Konopka said, adding she feared Trump's win was a loss for women's rights.
Not to mention Konopka’s 7th-grade math teacher.
"She said anyone who voted for Trump were Morons, causing the students to be confused and concerned as to why their teacher was insulting their parents,” Konopka said.
Now old enough, Konopka takes his political history to the next level by founding the United America Political Action Committee (UAPAC). Don't let his youth fool you. If anything, take heed of the young man who has done his research on local PACs.
"Many candidates will have their own PACs," Kopoka points out.
Representative Michelle Salzman is the perfect example.
(Photo: Representative Michelle Salzman PAC, showing questionable filings from the Florida Department of Elections)
"It coordinates with her campaign so they can pay for campaign ads, and it doesn't come out of her donation pool," he said. "That's how they do all these hardcore ad campaigns without breaking the bank."
Speaking of the bank, Salzman's PAC filing is questionable, as seen in the August 24 letter from the Florida State Department of Elections, signed by Chief Donna Brown. After glancing at Salzman’s penalties, including “Purpose Not Specific," "Incorrect Contribution Type," and "Incorrect Expenditure Type," it's easy to see why PACs could be considered “dark money.”
It's this very fear that Konopka wants to set straight.
People fearmonger PACs all the time, and there is a right to be somewhat cautious around them, according to Konopka.
"It's dark money in the sense that no one shines a light on this tool; it's kept in the back of the cabinet where people keep it for their own personal use," Konopka said. "It's so sad to see because we have all these open documents from the government about PACs that no one in current Escambia politics knows about."
Without question, unlike Salzman's PAC, which is focused on funding candidates, UAPAC has a purpose, beginning with infrastructure.
“It is clear that current infrastructure is being somewhat ignored,” he said.
Industry expansion is next, according to Konopka, saying, “It is clear that tunnel vision on tourism will be a money sink.” Some of his ideas include diversifying “our industrial might” by moving into shipbuilding, oil refining, and exports.
Urbanization reform is also key to Konopka.
“There is no need for heavy urban areas at or above 9 Mile when downtown and Cordova can still be built up,” he said, adding there should also be mixed zoning and increased policing and fire there.
Next, Konopka said the city needs to reform the spaghetti mess that is our Escambia County Area Transportation system, suggesting it be "streamlined like Europe or Asia, and that will probably cut costs."
Konopka has officially filed with the Florida Department of State Division of Elections and the Federal Election Commission.
"PACs run everything, donations run everything, and I want to be secure financially, if I ever were to run for office," Konopka said. "I want to make sure that the people I care about are being taken care of, especially in local government."
Konopka has been in the field, attending Escambia County Board of Commissioners meetings to follow the players.
(Photo: Diego Konopka prepares his Federal Election Commission filings for the United America Political Action Committee)
"I went to a meeting a couple of weeks ago, where I was talking to people about it, and so many did not know what a PAC was," Konopka said. "But this random girl my age, working at an ice cream shop, knew what a PAC was."
It's this ignorance of the "modern machine" here that keeps Konopka pumped.
"This is really exciting for me because I really love politics," Konopka said. "I do think there is a huge gap between Escambia citizens' knowledge of politics and how modern-day politics truly operate, and the only way to counter it is to play the modern political game, and that's through targeting their finances."
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