Thanedar campaign report shows links, payments to Detroit radio hosts

Kathleen Gray | Detroit Free Press

In addition to the $2.3 million he repaid to himself and the millions in television advertising he has purchased, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Shri Thanedar also paid one radio host and a company connected to another radio host to work on his campaign.

The first host — David Bullock — was paid a total of $24,000, including $6,000 while he was working as a host on the WFDF-AM (910) radio station doing interviews with Thanedar and promoting his candidacy.

And the Ecumenical Ministries Alliance, where the Rev. Horace Sheffield is the chairman, was paid $31,392 for phone banks and consulting by Thanedar’s campaign. The revelations, which showed up in updated campaign finance reports filed on Sunday, could represent a conflict of interest for two hosts who often interviewed political candidates.

Station owner Kevin Adell fired Bullock in May as soon as he found out that Thanedar had hired him as his campaign manager. He suspended Sheffield on Monday after Thanedar’s updated campaign finance reports revealed the payments to the Alliance. Sheffield hosted a Saturday morning radio show.

“If anyone was going to work on a campaign, I had to be notified,” Adell said. “I’ve got an FCC license that I have to worry about. You have to offer equal time to every candidate.”

Adell also said that Thanedar tried to hire two more of his employees. When he told his employees that they had to make a choice — either work for the campaign or the station — they chose the station. He also said that Thanedar offered him money for extra advertising spots on the station.

Read more:

Voters face key decisions in 2018 Michigan primary election

“He was trying to tip me like I was a restaurant worker,” Adell said. “I walked him out. I don’t think he realized that I was the owner of the station.”

Sheffield said he disclosed the contract with the campaign on the air and that he never received a paycheck for the services he provided — the company did.

“I don’t know what the big to-do is all about,” he said. “I indicated on the air that I was part of an entity that had a contract with the campaign.”

But Adell said he asked Sheffield directly whether he was being paid by Thanedar and was told no.

“I’ve been friends with Horace for a long time,” he said. “I’m disappointed. But I don’t know how you get past lying to the CEO.”

Adell is turning the matter over to a retired FBI agent who works for the station to investigate and then will decide whether the suspension is lifted or becomes permanent.

Sheffield said he doesn’t think the matter represents a conflict of interest. In addition to Thanedar, he also had the other two Democratic candidates for governor — Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer and former Detroit Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed — on his show.

“But for me, the solution is simple. I won’t be involved in any more campaigns,” he said.

Sheffield has been a longtime political activist. He’s the founder of the Detroit Association of Black Organizations and has been affiliated with the Detroit and Michigan chapters of the National Action Network, a civil rights group formed by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

He also ran for Congress in 2014, trying to beat U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, who won the primary election with 86% of the vote. Sheffield’s daughter Mary Sheffield is a member of the Detroit City Council.

Thanedar, in a statement released Monday evening, said "David Bullock and Horace Sheffield's Ecumenical Ministries Alliance were paid consultants to the Shri Thanedar for Governor campaign. Bullock was initially hired as a field consultant and later as campaign manager. Horace Sheffield's organization EMA has provided community organizing and phone banking services. Mr. Bullock and Rev. Sheffield were never paid any money for appearances on their radio shows."

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.