Follow-up: Shady Miami Beach PAC costs — what for?

The new, half million Miami Beach PAC funded by vendors and special interests and chaired by the termed-out Commissioner Jonah Wolfson has also had some interesting expenses. My bad for not mentioning before. Ladra got too caught up in the specter of a possible shakedown scenario.

And it could be a war chest for Mayor Philip Levine‘s political ambitions beyond the city.

Giving the Relentless for Progress or “RFP” PAC a second look Friday, Ladra found some interesting things to add to Thursday’s story, which was all about the contributions.

Of the $83,750 in expenses in May, of the $80,000 was a “donation” to another PAC, Citizens for Effective and Ethical Leadership, and, yes, PACs often have misnomer titles. This is a typical tactic campaign operatives use to hide the real source and delivery of monies. Sometimes they jump through three or four PACs before the true intended receiver. But this time it was just one, because…

Citizens for Effective and Ethical Leadership paid almost $50,o00 to David Custin in May: $15,690 for a direct mail piece, $9,236 for a phone bank and $25,000 for “research services” — whatever that is. Probably code words for something else. Or maybe it was research on absentee ballot lists.

Custin, as everybody knows, works for both Wolfson, who is termed out, and Mayor Levine, who is running unopposed — which is such a shame because Ladra thinks he’s beatable since he hasn’t really done anything but taken over committees, alienated lots of people, overspent on the centennial (more on that later), promoted himself and made Custin more relevant, at least on the Beach.

And while the Effective Bullshit PAC lists the DRC Consulting expenses in May, it does not list the contribution from the Relentless Crap PAC — which may be a violation of campaign finance laws.

By the way, Wolfson has not picked up his cellphone, not one of the four or five times I have called. His voice mail is full and he has not responded to two text messages sent Thursday and Friday. Custin has made it exceedingly clear that Ladra is never to call him again — a gift for which I am very thankful. You can’t believe a word he says anyway.

But some sources say this war chest may be for a different race than this November’s. Insiders say Levine is being strongly encouraged to run for Miami-Dade Mayor in 2016 and maybe this is the bank he is building for that battle. After all, it’s what he really wanted to run for in the first place.

There are two camps apparently egging him on: The one that thinks he can win and the one that wants him to be a patsy and steal anti-Gimenez votes away from the real threat, Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado.

People close to him — like friend Democratic fundraiser Chris Korge and campaign consultant Christian Ulvert, who is political director of the Florida Democratic Party — apparently believe that if Levine can make it into a runoff, he wipes Gimenez or anybody else away with his big bucks and the Hillary wave of November. There’s also the bonus of turning the Miami-Dade mayoral race into a partisan fight during an important presidential year when one of our own locals — Sen. Marco Rubio or former Gov. Jeb Bush — might be on the red side of the ballot.

People who still like the mayor — and there are a few of them left, but they mostly gain from him being in office — think Levine is an easier candidate to beat in November in a non-partisan race because he’s not Hispanic.

Maybe it’s not the mayor’s race. Levine, who paid out of his pocket to advertise his State of the City address in Tampa — might be eyeing a statewide campaign, like for senator or governor in 2018.

The sky’s the limit after all. Since the PAC is getting $100,000 checks from people with business before the city commission, you can expect Relentless for Progress to collect at least $2 million by the end of the year.

Maybe by the end of the summer.

David Custin, Jonah Wolfson, PACs, Philip Levine

Follow-up: Shady Miami Beach PAC costs — what for? added by Ladra on June 12, 2015
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