Questions for Mike Moran

When it came to light earlier this month that three people running for office in Sarasota, all new to politics, had erred in accepting donations larger than what the county Charter allows, Commissioner Mike Moran didn't hesitate to condemn their acts:

“I find it outrageous that these candidates appear to be violating the very charter that they were running to protect,” Moran said in a statement. “It is clear they didn’t bother to read the rules of the charter, do not understand them, or have chosen to ignore them.” 

Mr. Moran now has some acts and omissions of his own to explain. 

A look into the Commissioner's public records reveals unpaid business taxes; unpaid intangible tax for three years; questionable and possibly illegal campaign contributions; undisclosed private debt, and the troubling appearance of multiple conflicts of interest within his campaign and Political Action Committee, or PAC, operators. 

Moran and Jack Brill demanded the Sheriff to investigate the Democratic candidates, who received contributions from their own party and its executive committee, all of which they reported to the Supervisor of Elections. Two candidates reported receiving $1,000 each; the third, reported $7,500, - for a total of $9,500 for all three candidates. (HT story 10.2.20)

Mr. Moran found the candidates' acceptance of money from their own party "outrageous." Those contributions however comply with State law, which allows up to $50,000 from parties to candidates. It turned out the party's donations violated a $200 limit peculiar to Sarasota County's home rule Charter.

The Democrats immediately acknowledged their errors and returned the contributions.

Questions about practices

Questions about certain of Mr. Moran's practices have now arisen.

According to the Herald Tribune of October 15, Mr. Moran last year made $100,000 from serving as executive director of a public/private agency that appears to use the credibility of public officials to market home improvement loans. 

Jim Ley

Before becoming PACE executive director -- apparently through recruitment efforts of former County Administrator Jim Ley -- Commissioner Moran voted to approve Sarasota County's working with PACE, the HT reported.

PACE falls under no regulatory authority; a Tampa Bay Times investigation showed that homeowners were not clearly warned of risking a "tax hit":

. . . many homeowners didn’t know their property tax bills could spike. Some PACE recipients in the Tampa Bay area risked losing their homes because they could not pay the hefty loans and thousands of dollars in interest. . . .One Brandon man’s annual tax bill jumped from $900 to $6,250.    TampaBay

Mr. Moran has reportedly helped shape the loan program which has ties to the powerful local builders' association lobbying group:

Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association serves as a mailbox for Florida PACE and holds a contractual agreement with the agency – an agreement that Moran helped shape. (HT)

The head of the Building Industry group, Jon Mast, serves on state boards and on the Sarasota Board of Zoning Appeals. The record of interrelationships of Mr. Moran's work on the PACE program raise conflict of interest questions. At least two Florida counties have broken relations with PACE, citing potential dangers and a lack of protection for consumers. 

The convoluted relationships extend further: Mr. Moran's accountant for PACE and another line of private business, Wendi Leach, also chairs the Florida Country PAC which has contributed more than $185,000 to his reelection campaign.

And the Herald Tribune reported that Commissioner Moran failed to pay business taxes due on his PACE directorship job.

Unpaid taxes, undisclosed debts

Soon after the HT story broke, new evidence emerged suggesting that Mr. Moran might face more to answer for:

According to public records cited by NoMoreMoran.com, Mr. Moran 

• not only failed to pay business taxes, but also reported no intangible taxes on two side businesses which account for hundreds of thousands of dollars of income;
• his campaign has received contributions from a 501(c)3 -- illegal in Florida;
• the Chair of the Florida Country PAC, Wendi Leach, is the subject of a federal election complaint alleging an illegal contribution from a foreign corporation, and 
• in public filings, Moran repeatedly failed to disclose private mortgage debt to a Sarasota businessman and political donor:

Arm's length Political Action Committee?

The connections and potential conflicts of interest thicken, as revealed by documented research into Mr. Moran's campaign financing.

PACs are supposed to have an "arms-length" relation to candidates*, yet as noted, Ms. Leach is Mr. Moran's employee in two private business ventures. Mr Moran's campaign treasurer, Eric Robinson, is also treasurer of the Florida Country PAC, which has taken in $185,000 from developers to reelect Mr. Moran. Robinson, who is involved in dozens of PACs that move anonymous money into various campaigns, recently was the subject of a Florida Election Commission complaint resolved in his favor..

For someone outraged by $9,500 of contributions to Democratic candidates, the record of Mr. Moran's actions while in public office raises troubling questions. Sarasota Republican Party Chair Jack Brill, who called for a criminal investigation into the Dems, has said nothing regarding the concerns surrounding Mr. Moran.

What does Mr. Moran have to say?

So far, Commissioner Moran has denied conflicts of interest regarding his role in PACE, but has said nothing publicly about the other issues.

The trail of public records leads to further questions involving large contributions from developers in other counties, and to how the redistricting effort of 2019, rushed through and challenged in court, cost taxpayers some $400,000 to protect Mr. Moran. His District 1 was gerrymandered to exclude voters from Newtown - the black, largely Democratic community. Newtown was removed, and two largely white conservative precincts were added to tip the balance in the Republican's favor.

Read more, with links to public records here: NoMoreMoran.

===

*Regarding the relationship of PACs to candidate campaigns:

Florida Statute 106.011 (12)(a) states: “Independent expenditure” means an expenditure by a person for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or the approval or rejection of an issue, which expenditure is not controlled by, coordinated with, or made upon consultation with, any candidate, political committee, or agent of such candidate or committee. An expenditure for such purpose by a person having a contract with the candidate, political committee, or agent of such candidate or committee in a given election period is not an independent expenditure.

Sarasota GOP, Martin Hyde and PACs targeted in complaints

Zac Anderson

A series of complaints lodged with the Florida Elections Commission allege they violated election laws in 2017.

A series of complaints lodged with the Florida Elections Commission alleges that the Republican Party of Sarasota County, former Sarasota City Commission candidate Martin Hyde and two political committees associated with Sarasota County School Board Member Eric Robinson violated election laws in 2017.

>>>More on Eric Robinson here

Hyde said he is “not going to try and defend” what he did and has offered to settle the complaint against him and pay a fine. He said he was “unaware it was a breach of the rules” and blames Sarasota GOP Vice Chairman Jack Brill for giving him bad advice.

>>>More on Jack Brill here

Brill and Robinson declined to comment because the cases are ongoing.

City elections are nonpartisan and candidates are prohibited from advertising their party affiliations.

The complaints allege that Hyde, the Sarasota GOP and the committees chaired by Robinson schemed to get around the prohibition on partisan campaigning by moving money from Hyde to a political committee and ultimately to the party, which paid for a mailer saying the party backed Hyde in the March 14 election.

“This is an unusual case in that it peels back the curtain and very clearly shows how the money’s being manipulated,” said Ron Meyer, the Tallahassee attorney representing Michael Belval, a Sarasota resident who filed the complaint.

Meyer said it is no secret that political committees often are used to move money around and “obfuscate what is the overarching purpose of the election code, and that is to show who gave it and who got it.” But such accusations can be hard to prove. The difference in this case is that Hyde openly discussed the arrangement during a radio interview.

“We know it goes on,” Meyer said. “It doesn’t usually get detected because it is something that’s covert and rarely do the participants in these kinds of transactions come forward and acknowledge what they’re doing.”

Hyde gave $4,000 to the Making a Better Tomorrow political action committee on Feb. 13, 2017. That same day the Legal Reform Now Committee gave $4,000 to the Republican Party of Sarasota County.

Robinson is the chairman and treasurer of Making a Better Tomorrow and also served in those roles for Legal Reform Now before that organization shut down last year. He also is the Sarasota GOP’s accountant and past chair.

On March 22, 2017, the Sarasota GOP gave Andrick & Associates in Sarasota two checks totaling $4,302.26 for “mailers,” according to campaign finance reports.

“Hyde’s funneling of money through other political organizations to the Republican Party of Sarasota County so that it would produce a partisan mailer, constitutes a direct violation” of state law, according to the complaint.

The complaint also notes that the scheme was “confirmed by Hyde himself” during an interview with radio host Cathy Antunes, who asked Hyde why he contributed the $4,000 to Making a Better Tomorrow.An

“That $4,000 went to a mailer that was sent from the GOP supporting me,” Hyde said during the interview, which was conducted during the campaign and is posted on YouTube.

Antunes then asked Hyde why he didn’t use his own campaign account to pay for the mailer.

“It’s a nonpartisan race,” Hyde said. “As it relates to coming from my campaign, my campaign can’t directly send something out notifying ... me as a Republican, so it was suggested that Republican Party didn’t have the resources to fund a city mailer so I sent the money to a PAC and it came from there, simple as that.”

“It was a mechanism to get money to the GOP,” Hyde added.

Coordinating on partisan ads

Citing a 2003 advisory opinion, the complaint says state law prohibits candidates from trying to get around the prohibition on partisan campaigning by coordinating with other groups to do partisan ads.

“Political advertisements done by others in consultation with a candidate must meet the nonpartisan requirement,” the complaint states.

Additionally, the Sarasota GOP violated a state law that prohibits political parties from accepting contributions that are earmarked “for the partial or exclusive use of a particular candidate,” according to the complaint.

The political committees controlled by Robinson also are accused of multiple legal violations.

In an interview with the Herald-Tribune, Hyde said he didn’t intend to break the law but made the mistake of “taking advice from people who I thought would know what they were doing because they’ve been involved in American campaigns for a long time now.”

“I was a babe in the woods,” Hyde added, pointing to the fact that he admitted what he did to Antunes as evidence he didn’t know it was unlawful.

“I didn’t do much of a job of covering up,” Hyde said. “I didn’t know I was supposed to cover up.”

Hyde blamed Brill for the legal entanglement, saying Brill “should have known better, there’s no question.” Hyde said Brill came up with the idea of the Sarasota GOP sending out the mailer and asked Hyde to pay for it.

“I suggested sending the check to the Republican Party,” Hyde said. “He told me to send it to the PAC. He gave me an address to send it to.”

Critics of Robinson have called him the “prince of dark money” and say he has become an expert at shifting political contributions around to hide the true source of funding for attack ads and other political communications.

“Looking back it looks like somebody trying to filter, launder, clean money,” Hyde said. “I’ve never had to do that ... I don’t think it’s a good idea, I don’t think it’s appropriate and if I had my druthers and my time back I wouldn’t do it. I literally didn’t give it a second thought. I just assumed it was well within the bounds of normal practice given that it was the vice chairman of the party telling me to do it.”

Meyer said he views the entire scheme as “a serious transgression.”

“It really goes against what the law is intended to ensure,” he said. “And that is transparency so that anybody can see who’s giving the money and who’s getting the money in political races.”

Meyer said the four cases tentatively are scheduled to go before the Florida Elections Commission in August. Hyde also said he was told his case will be heard in August.

An investigator for the commission has completed his inquiry into the complaints, copies of which were obtained by the Herald-Tribune. The next step is for the commission’s general counsel to present the cases at a hearing, either with recommendations for settlements or that probable cause exists of election law violations, Meyer said.

If any of the cases are not settled and there is a recommendation that probable cause of a violation exists, the commission would vote on whether to accept the recommendation and refer the case for a hearing in front of the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings, Meyer said.

The only penalty that the FEC can impose is fines, Meyer said.

“I’ll pay whatever it costs and accept my punishment and sanction, whatever it is,” Hyde said, adding: “It was an expensive mistake but not ruinous.”

Traces of corruption in Sarasota County?

Two excellent letters to the editor:

Text messages provide chilling glimpse of politics

The recent text messages between Sarasota County School Board member Eric Robinson and Sheriff Tom Knight provide an unpleasant yet much needed glimpse of local politics.

Mr. Robinson should theoretically favor a balanced budget, with more money spent on education. Instead he is caught trying to undermine the institution he should protect.

Clearly the public life of Sarasota County is run by political “elites” in conjunction with the real estate developers who fund them. The methods are chilling.

Public support? No problem. Sheriff Knight can start a “letter writing campaign” to deceive residents into thinking the public agrees with him.

More pressure? Evidently the county commissioners are in the bag for Robinson. He makes a few calls and the puppets move as directed.

Need county staff? Another Robinson phone call assures their support. Manipulate the press? Covered.

If this is only one public document request, what have we missed?

We are entitled to elected officials who actually support the institutions and boards they are elected to serve and whose first concern is the public good.

If Mr. Robinson controls county commissioners and staff, we deserve to know it. We are also entitled to believe that public input actually reflects people’s opinions, instead of a manufactured “letter writing campaign” meant to deceive.

I urge voters to carefully research political candidates, including their campaign finance reports on the supervisor of elections website, sarasotavotes.com.

Let’s hope more comes out of this than officials talking on the phone to avoid a public-records request.

Deborah Anderson, Venice

Development interests are influencing court system

I want to draw attention to the latest attempt by developers to gain influence in Sarasota County civil institutions, in their never-ending scramble for profits. Their latest target is the one institution that should be above politics and special interest — our court system.

Judge Judy Goldman submitted her “surprise” resignation letter shortly before the qualifying date for potential candidates, to become effective four days before her term ends. The timing precluded a November election, allowing our governor to pick the next judge instead of the voters.

Who suggests judicial nominees to our governor? A committee that includes developer Pat Neal and several attorneys who list real estate and construction as their specialties. Why bother to sue a developer when they help pick the judges?

So what do we have here? A judge who times her resignation to prevent voters from exercising their right to vote, a governor with a demonstrated affinity for developers based on his previous appointments, and a judicial nominating committee dominated by development interests.

The losers in this situation? The residents whose right to vote has been stolen and who will predictably end up with another judge who owes his or her job to development interests.

The rule of law is the foundation of our country. We are entitled to a fair, unbiased judiciary that is above politics and special interests. I urge residents to educate themselves about the wholly inappropriate influence that developers have in our community and vote accordingly.

Deborah Anderson, Venice

PAC Money, Dark Money in Sarasota FL

Astonishing half-hour talk by Cathy Antunes tracking the flow of large sums through interlinked PACs in Sarasota County, FL

Cathy Antunes on Dark Money in Sarasota Politics - anonymous PACs whose sole function is to funnel money into the campaigns of politicians who serve the interests of developers, builders, contractors. Antunes explores the relation of their interests to Charter Schools who spend 40% of their revenues on rent paid to real estate groups from whom they lease their school buildings.

At the center lies Eric Robinson, whose accounting firm channels money at the behest of big donors like Pat Neal, James Gabbert (waste plant at Celery Fields), Rex Jensen (Lakewood Ranch), Gary Kompothecras (Siesta Key), Benderson Development and Carlos Beruff. It also earns rather hefty fees for its "consulting" work, notes Antunes.

The money flows from these developers to PACs run by an elected official (Robinson is on the Sarasota County School Board) to Republican political campaigns. A former head of the Republican Party in Sarasota, Bob Waechter, is active in finding malleable candidates for the County Commission, School Board, Hospital Board, Charter Review Board and other races.

The Tipping Point

While the newspaper points out that rapid, uncontrolled growth is the #1 issue on Sarasota voters' minds, and despite what happened to Carlos Beruff's boat channel, we have reason to take this cum grano salis, and to anticipate the November victory parties of Mike Moran. Eric Robinson, Greg (Got Gun?) Steube, and Joe Gruters. Unless we wake up soon. This week might offer some alarm clocks:

Monday, Sept. 12: Confused about local and state amendments? Wondering about the language about solar in primaries and general ballots? CONA Sarasota hosts an informed discussion of county and state amendments we'll see on the ballot in November -- Monday evening, 7 pm at the Garden Club.

Thursday, Sept. 15: Our esteemed Planning Commissioners -
including the aforementioned Moran * - will meet to consider Pat Neal's humble request to violate or abolish every last feature of the 2050 Comprehensive Plan that he doesn't like. It would be politically, socially, and economically beneficial for folks to tell the Planning Commission what to do with Mr. Neal's request. 6:30 pm. County Commission Chamber, 1st floor, 1660 Ringling Blvd.

For more context, see "Pat Neal Grabs Land"

*NOTE: Mike Moran is no longer on the Planning Commission - after enabling Carlos Beruff to develop two parcels that abut an old, potentially toxic waste dump, he moved on to become a candidate for County Commission. He reports a PAC-stuffed war chest of $76,758.13, built by the usual suspects: Carlos Beruff, Pat Neal, Bob Medred, Bill Merrill III, John Ask, Lakewood Ranch Communities (Rex Jensen), and many, many more.

The current County Commission is the least independent, most developer-friendly Board folks here can remember. They've brought us to what might be Sarasota's tipping point. If Pat Neal and his buddies push these plans through, we can say goodbye to the place we've known, called home, and fought for. Please share this with everyone you know who cares about Sarasota County.

​

Citizens for Sarasota County (CSC) is a new coalition to promote ethical, responsive government that preserves and enhances Sarasota's unique natural environment and cultural heritage while building a sound local economy based on effective stewardship and innovation. 

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Recent election news: Sarasota County

Some late breaking news stories and commentary ahead of the August Primaries (tomorrow):

Carlos Beruff says he's in Senate race to win
     More about Beruff

Charter Review Board Races
     More about the Charter Review Board

Sarasota School Board for Sale
     Connecting Cash - Cathy Antunes
     More about the Sarasota School Board

Eric Robinson: Beyond Dark Money
     (Robinson is Carlos Beruff's campaign manager)
     More about Eric Robinson

Robinson behind books, not message

More about Developer/Builder Pat Neal

Sarasota's Election Day is in August, not November - here's why

Updates for Sarasota, Manatee, and Three-Card Monte at work

In case you've been away or given up on media, a few recent stories:

In Sarasota County:

UPDATE: Whole Foods lawsuit dismissed

(One has to read the comment thread to understand what actually took place):

Tom Ochsner: To me this doesn't sound like anyone got paid off. What it does sound like is the developers basically threatened to countersue the entire Manasota 88 group for costs and, likely, "damages". My guess is those representing the 1,000 members had to decide if it was worth exposing financially each individual member. I can't blame them, though it is very disappointing and does show that big $ runs the show.

Dark Money Part Z: Eric Robinson finances Holder's Attack on Steube.

Look, we think Steube's gun politics is criminal. But Robinson is Mr. Dark Money. And now he's on the School Board. 

DiCicco: Antidote to Sarasota’s Toxic Commission

"Bottom line: an entrenched political machine has been effective in undermining Sarasota’s quality of life for the last decade, with greater success in recent years. Those who fund and direct this “growth machine” effort are Pat Neal, Carlos Beruff, Rex Jensen and Randy Benderson. A review of local PACs and campaign ledgers reveal their investments in their growth machine candidates."

Sarasota County Commission candidates trade jabs

Again, the comments provide the insight:

Ray Porter: The same Republicans who cry and moan about influence peddling and corruption at the federal level are so quick to deny that anybody is influenced by developer cash at the local level. Why the double standard? Government closest to the people is the MOST vulnerable to political influence and favoritism. We should move toward district-only voting for county commissioners - level the playing field; encourage more candidates to come forward; and make the elections winnable through grassroots campaigning in limited geographic areas. Someone could win with good ideas and $20,000 in contributions, as opposed to buying a seat with $150,000 in developer money.

Eric "Dark Money" Robinson

Dark Money Sarasota Manatee II: Who is Trying to Buy Your Vote?

"By the way, remember that $50,000 donated by Robinson Hanks Accounting to Manatee Against Taxation on June 5, 2013? On July 3, 2013, Manatee Against Taxation turned around and paid Robinson Hanks $50,000 for accounting services. It’s interesting that a political committee required accounting services valued at 43% of its total 115K in assets, and remarkable when a company can make a 50K political committee donation and then one month later charge the same political committee an exorbitant 50K accounting fee, recouping its original donation. Even more remarkable how the PACs treasurer, chair and registered agent are one and the same – Mr. Robinson. Now Sarasota has Mr. Robinson’s accounting prowess at the helm on the Sarasota School Board."

In Manatee County:

Mosaic Phosphate Mining Operation allowed to go forward despite concerns about water contamination.

BRADENTON — At Thursday's Special Planning Commission meeting, Mosaic Fertilizer LLC requested the commission recommend an ordinance to rezone 3,596 acres from General Agriculture (A) to Extraction Zoning District (EX) and extend their mining permit through 2037.

Phosphate mining creates “moonscape” in Florida - 

A WMNF podcast presentation by Andy Mele of Sierra Club on gypsum stacks.

See also this excellent reporting by the Herald Tribune:

Florida Mental Hospitals 

Florida’s state-funded mental hospitals are supposed to be safe places to care for people who are a danger to themselves or others. But years of neglect and deep budget cuts transformed them into treacherous warehouses where violent patients roam the halls with no supervision and workers are left on their own to oversee dozens of people. Now, no one is safe inside.

The only uncertainty is whether the piece concerns actual mental hospitals, or Rick Scott's funny farm. 

Dark Money - gets darker

The Detail:

When it comes to dark PAC money in Sarasota/Manatee, there are relatively few managers. Eric Robinson is by far the leader in managing local dark money. With 30-40 political committees under his management, Mr. Robinson manages millions in political committee donations. As he has explained in the local press, donors to political committees “don’t want to be identified”

By the way, remember that $50,000 donated by Robinson Hanks Accounting to Manatee Against Taxation on June 5, 2013?

On July 3, 2013, Manatee Against Taxation turned around and paid Robinson Hanks $50,000 for accounting services. It’s interesting that a political committee required accounting services valued at 43% of its total 115K in assets, and remarkable when a company can make a 50K political committee donation and then one month later charge the same political committee an exorbitant 50K accounting fee, recouping its original donation. Even more remarkable how the PACs treasurer, chair and registered agent are one and the same – Mr. Robinson. Now Sarasota has Mr. Robinson’s accounting prowess at the helm on the Sarasota School Board.

Eric "Dark Money" Robinson

Complete story at The Detail.

Going Stupid

Anyone who has spent half a day in S. Florida knows that the folks over there blew it. Growth created hell, and it extends even to public lands. Here's an advisory from a public parks site near Avvventura:

* ALERT: PARK CAPACITY 

Once the park reaches capacity no one will be allowed to enter until space becomes available. If you have rented a pavilion, hosting an event or have been invited to an event please plan accordingly because you will not be allowed to re-enter until space is available. 

This is, simply put, stupid growth. For years, Sarasota County has tried to rein in cupidity and stupidity -- to allow for a slower, more organic, thoughtful pace of development.

Dan Lobeck's analyses of the new Comp Plan heading for State review convincingly show that smart growth is over:

Neighborhoods, Mobility under Attack

Nature at Risk

And Jono Miller notes a change that could make hunting in parks not the exception, but the norm:

On Friday the tenth of June 2016, the County Commission may consider amending PARKS Policy 1.1.5 to allow recreational hunting in areas voters were promised would not experience consumptive uses or activities that were not ecologically benign.

Jono's complete post is here.

What's behind all this?  

Start with Cathy Antunes on the dark money propelling these changes. 

And listen to Cathy's new show Friday at 2 pm on SRQ.

Is this the year Sarasota County officially goes Stupid?

PAC money and Sarasota's schoolchildren

Cathy Antunes:

School Board candidate Eric Robinson works for over 40 political committees. A review of their financials raises a number of issues.

Follow the Money! 

This bit of wisdom tells us to take a close look at how money moves through our political system. Understand the money flow and who is involved and you gain clarity around who influences elections and what they may expect to gain from doing so. Simple enough. But these days, following the money is a different animal. Political committees have changed the campaign funding landscape as donations are swapped from political action committee to another. Political committees are exempt from limits on donations, and can stuff voter mailboxes with a barrage of political ads late in local elections. Candidates who don’t attract lush PAC funding are unable to respond to the onslaught. This dynamic is a huge factor in City and County elections. School Board candidate Eric Robinson works for over 40 political committees. A review of their financials raises a number of issues.  Read more . . .

Political Action Committees:

More about PACs and SuperPACs:

Wikipedia
Open Secrets 
Federal Election Commission

Eric Robinson

Runs for School Board

Sarasota School Board Background

Destroying Tenure Tip of Poisoned Iceberg

This piece by Dennis Maley is reprinted from The Bradenton Times in full, because it offers a clear and important overview of the political landscape right now; developer-driven, and serving a far right-wing agenda. The original piece can be found here.

SCF Trustees Want Respect But Earn Laughter

Dennis Maley
Sunday, Jan 31, 2016

On Tuesday, I went to the State College of Florida’s Board of Trustees meeting to watch them cast their final vote on abolishing the practice of "continuous contracts," a less-than-tenure protection for a select group of the school’s top educators that is in place, at least partly, to prevent good instructors from being victims of political agendas—though ineffective instructors could and have been removed for cause even after attaining it.

It was no secret how the vote would go, but I wanted to see for myself. A lot of people had contacted me to tell me they had planned to show up to oppose the vote, hoping the trustees would come to their senses and realize that the policy had the potential to be utterly destructive to the quality of education at what has for decades been an exemplary institution of higher ed.

For 40 minutes, former and current professors, students, parents and members of the community gave seething public comment. How could you do this to our beloved school? Why would you deliberately create a policy that had no discernible benefits but a host of obvious negative ones? 

The questions were rhetorical. The speakers knew why, and they let the trustees have an earful on that front as well. This was a political move, orchestrated by a political boss, for political benefit, through a board that is little more than a political conduit.

Millionaire developer Carlos Beruff is one of the most powerful political figures in Manatee and Sarasota Counties. He and his frequent business partner Pat Neal largely control Republican politics in the local area. Aided by a handful of other development interests—Benderson Development, Schroeder Manatee Ranch, etc.—they organize and distribute much of the campaign cash that decides who sits where in local government.

Carlos Beruff

It was Beruff, one of nine trustees for the college, who suggested out of nowhere last fall that the school dump continuous contracts and consider having instructors bid for their jobs, or at least indicate what the least amount of compensation they’d accept would be. Beruff gave no argument as to why it would be in the college’s best interest, beyond a few platitudes equating policies in the business world, with those at the educational institution—a field in which he has no expertise to speak of.

The rest of the board, which is largely made up of other local Republican political types—including several who have their own political ambitions or are married to someone holding or seeking public office—eagerly went along.

Everyone from the college’s president to other institutions of higher learning quickly lampooned the idea. What kind of candidates will we attract when we’re the only college in the state that doesn’t offer the opportunity to achieve continuous contract status? Will the best students want to enroll in a college that clearly doesn’t seek the best instructors?

There was no real dialogue as the plan moved forward over several months. There were no workshops with faculty and the community. There were just a bunch of public comments, limited to a maximum of three minutes each at the beginning of the meetings, followed by a few board comments at the end, defending their decision in vague and hollow terms without bothering to explain it.

That’s because no one has the political courage to give the real reason: Mr. Beruff would like it to be this way, and we would all like to remain chummy with Mr. Beruff and his various political action committees and campaign fundraising devices.

Why does Mr. Beruff want to screw with a highly-successful institution against the advice of those with infinitely more experience and expertise on the subject? My guess is that it has nothing at all to do with SCF or what may or may not be best for it, or even what Beruff himself thinks about the matter. Reforming the liberal education system is a huge pet issue on the far right, one that Governor Scott—who appoints the trustees of Florida’s 28 state colleges—is rather fixated on.

Scott already ended tenure for Florida’s public school teachers in 2011, a promise he made while campaigning the year before. SCF is the first college in the system that he has now appointed a majority of the trustees to their board. I doubt it’s a coincidence that it’s also the first to take this step, or, for that matter, that it was one of his close political allies who carried the water for him on it. Why is Scott so concerned with this issue? Because it is a popular one for him to laud to the far right as he tries to advance his political career, possibly in a 2018 Senate run. I wrote more on the ideological component of this issue in a previous column that can be found here.

The question on so many minds on Tuesday, however, was why were so many people following Beruff. That goes back to the point about political ambitions. The chair of the board of trustees is Ed Bailey. When Bailey ran for Manatee Supervisor of Elections as a Republican in 2012, Beruff was his biggest supporter, giving maximum contributions from multiple LLCs set up for his Medallion Homes operation. Bailey’s wife is currently running for school board in Manatee County.

SCF Trustee Lori Moran is married to Mike Moran, a Republican running for the Sarasota County Commission. Moran has also received a number of contributions from LLCs under Beruff’s umbrella and the rest of his hefty campaign account is largely funded by a cadre of influential local development interests. Another trustee, Robert Wyatt, is the treasurer of the Republican Party of Sarasota. Wyatt had planned to run for the Florida House this year when it looked like incumbent Ray Pilon would be redistricted, but stepped aside when Pilon remained in district 72. Clearly, he has political ambitions.

Eric Robinson is what’s known as a bag man in local politics, though to be fair, Robinson usually carries much bigger bags than the term typically implies. A Venice-based accountant, Robinson is the go-to treasurer for local Republican candidates who’ve received the blessing of the local development cartel.

Even more importantly, Robinson is often chosen to manage some of the biggest shadow PACs in state politics, expertly using technically-legal sleights of hand to obscure the money trail, blocking the intended transparency of such contributions, while often making it impossible to determine who exactly has funded nasty attack ads. He’s built a profitable little niche in this role and is obviously intent on staying tight with the people who provide the beans he counts.

Robinson himself is running for the Sarasota County School Board this year, and his campaign war chest is a veritable Who’s Who of the local development establishment. His wife is Christine Robinson, an incumbent on the Sarasota County Commission. Commissioner Robinson, who came under fire when she took the job as head of a special interest group that routinely lobbies the board she serves on for pro-development issues, will be forced out by term limits at the end of this year. She too has benefited significantly throughcontributions from Beruff and the other local developers.

As you can see, there’s plenty of incentive for those sorts of people to be thought well of by Beruff, while demonstrating that they are extremely receptive to whatever ideas he might have by not even attempting to discuss them before falling in line, as was the case with continuous contracting. And even if they aren’t able to get Beruff behind their ambitions, they surely know that it would be even more unwise to encourage him to be standing in the way of them. As much as Beruff can propel a willing surrogate to victory, he’s even more adept at knocking down enemies.

In 2012, Beruff trained his sights on 22-year Manatee County Commissioner and TBT publisher Joe McClash. McClash was a socially-conservative Republican but ran afoul of Beruff’s litmus tests at two points. While he’d consistently been pro-growth, McClash was a staunch believer in smart growth policies and the idea that new growth should pay for itself. He also saw our environmental resources as an important component to an economy dependent on tourism and migration, as well as a key quality of life component for current citizens.

McClash was rarely against a development in general, but when it came time to ask for permission to destroy wetlands that got in the way of adding a few extra houses, amending the county comp plan to increase density in rural areas that lacked the infrastructure to accommodate it, or increasing development intensity in floodplains or evacuation zones that could affect public safety, McClash was often the lone voice of dissent.

Of course, he almost never got his way. Beruff and other developers had stacked the board with a majority of commissioners who would do as they were told, but his mere calling attention to the issues was enough to inspire Beruff to fund one of the most expensive and vitriolic attack campaigns in Manatee County history, which you can read about here. McClash lost the seat by 494 votes, out of more than 25,000 cast, and Betsy Benac, a development consultant Beruff sponsored for election, was able to win the countywide seat.

Beruff also spent heavily on getting and keeping District 1 Commissioner Larry Bustle in office. Bustle will retire at the end of this year, and a potential candidate speaking under the condition of anonymity said they were told not to bother running for the seat, as the development cartel had already anointed former State Rep. Ron Reagan as their guy.

Reagan has already received several max donations from SMR related entities. SMR-related interests also paid for Vanessa Baugh’s East Manatee seat in 2012, and Pat Neal and company have sprinkled money over several campaigns in both counties to make sure their county commissions continue to see things the same way as developers.

When a Manatee County School Board seat was vacated last summer, it was Neal and Beruff who did the vetting of nearly two dozen applicants who wanted the governor’s appointment to the seat. The timing was crucial, as that board would soon be voting to reinstate impact fees, which had been inexplicably abated since 2009.

The developers tapped John Colon, who’d challenged Baugh for the county commission seat in 2012 with strong support from Beruff's LLCs. Unsurprisingly, Colon was the most vocal advocate for not having developers pay the impact fees prescribed in a taxpayer-funded study that detailed their need. 

It’s not just the elected officials who can help the developers. Some of the boards have considerable power, like Swiftmud, our regional water management board. Until recently, Beruff also served on its board—again surrounded mostly by those who seemed eager to appease him. On the same day he resigned, Beruff motioned and voted for the approval of a permit that would allow Neal to destroy high-quality wetlands for a development on Perico Island.

When Neal goes before Governor Scott and his cabinet—who have final say on land use disputes since the governor gutted the Department of Community Affairs in 2011—he’s arguing his case in front of very friendly faces. Neal has been very generous in fundraising for both Scott and Ag Commissioner Adam Putnam, who quickly ruled in his favor on the Robinson Farms issue, even after an Administrative Law Judge’s recommended order was to do the opposite.

If these boards and bodies seem incestuous, that’s because they are. It’s all part of a game where the deck is stacked in favor of those who grease the skids to keep the gravy train rolling. When Neal’s wife resigned as a trustee from SCF in late October, the governor replaced her with Peter Logan, who happens to be the President of Beruff’s company, Medallion Homes. Perhaps more than any other trustee, Logan definitely has reasons not to rock the boat when it comes to Beruff's wishes.

So, there you have it teachers, students, parents and community members. It isn’t about education. It isn’t about efficiency. It isn’t even about the State College of Florida. It’s about politics—which is why when Wyatt suggested with a straight face to SCF President Dr. Carol Probstfeld that now that this matter is behind them, he would hope she could get the faculty to start showing the board morerespect, the room literally burst into laughter. 

Wyatt looked genuinely hurt and perplexed as to why they were all laughing at him, but the answer was simple. The SCF Board of Trustees is nothing but a bad joke. If he wanted the respect of a community of highly-competent educators, he should have earned it by standing up for common sense and voting against the new policy, or at least forcing a discussion on a meritless plan that wouldn’t have stood up to debate.

Instead, the board—every single one of them this time—showed political cowardice, something I’ve yet to see inspire respect from anyone.

What is Eric Robinson up to?

Did candidate violate Florida campaign finance rules?

Dark Money in Sarasota's School Board Politics - Antunes

By Kathy Antunes: The Detail

School Board Member Frank Kovach announced in April he will not run for reelection after 16 years of service. Kovach said the recent nonpartisan school board race was “corrupted by cash” and he expects the trend to continue. Former Sarasota GOP chair, Eric Robinson (husband of County Commissioner Christine Robinson), has expressed interest in running for the seat Kovach intends to vacate.

When Kovach first ran for school board in 2000, $10,000 for a campaign would have been a lot. Last fall’s race between Bridget Zeigler and Ken Marsh had each candidate raising over $51,000 and $72,000, respectively, with Zeigler getting additional support from a shadowy political action committee called Citizens Against Taxation. Eric Robinson was the PAC’s chair, treasurer and registered agent.

The Herald-Tribune reported last fall on difficulty tracing a major donor to the Citizens for Taxation PAC.  The donor in question, Phoenix Media, gave $45,000 to the PAC. Robinson refused to disclose who was behind Phoenix Media and the Zeigler PAC financed mailers, saying “donors don’t want to be identified.”  More...

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Petition and Data backing up the story

There are significant concerns in the community regarding the ethics of Sarasota County Commissioner Christine Robinson’s dual employment by the Argus Foundation.  Click here for a summary of the issue and petition, Robinson’s Conflict of Interest, Step Down From Argus or the County Commission:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/robinsons-conflict-of-interest-step-down-from

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Background information for this article:

Herald Tribune storie on dark money in 2014 school board race, click on links:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20141024/ARCHIVES/410241053?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20150422/ARCHIVES/504221054/-1/todayspaper?Title=KOVACH-SAYS-HE-S-FINISHED

Wyoming Phoenix Media LLC state filing, click on link:

https://wyobiz.wy.gov/Business/FilingDetails.aspx?eFNum=032129063052086130228032043232108196150036046075

250 LLCs at 1621 Central Ave, Cheyenne WY (Phoenix Media address) click on link:

http://www.bizapedia.com/addresses/1621-CENTRAL-AVE-CHEYENNE-WY-82001.html

250 LLCs at 1620 Central Ave, Cheyenne WY (next door to Phoenix Media LLC address)  click for PDF

http://www.bizapedia.com/addresses/1620-CENTRAL-AVE-STE-202-CHEYENNE-WY-82001.html