More than 20 new PACs prepare for 2019 and 2020 elections

With the big four Miami-Dade cities having elections this November and six of the 13 county commissioners termed out in 2020 leaving open seats, a new crop of political action committees are getting in line to take special interest money and turn it into attack ads.

There are at least 21 new PACs registered with the county and the state within the last eight months. Count em: 21! While there is no study or independent corroboration, this certainly looks like a record, possibly fueled by the number of open seats on the county commission next year, which is unprecedented.

Many of these have reported little or no campaign activity. At least two of them are going to impact the 2020 county mayoral race.

There are already two long existing PACs for 2020 mayoral candidates. Transportation Solutions for Miami-Dade is Commissioner Esteban Bovo‘s PAC, which has collected more than $1 million since 2015. He has spent about $160,000 so he still has $850K cash in hand and we are still 16 months out. Imagine Miami is Commissioner Xavier Suarez‘s PAC, which he formed in January of last year. It has raised $865,985 and spent $168,155. Neither Bovo nor Suarez has opened a campaign account, but both are pretty sold on running.

The two new mayoral PACS are:

Bold Vision, the political committee for former Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, has raised a little over $900,000 (and spent about $15,000) since it opened in April. This includes $200,000 from healthcare mogul Mike Fernandez and his family as well as at least $100,000 in ten $10,000 checks from businesses with ties to Martin Caparros, former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina‘s business partner. Penelas hasn’t officially opened a campaign account but everybody knows he is running.

Our Democracy is the political action committee that consultant Christian Ulvert created for Commissioner Daniella Levine-Cava‘s mayoral run, which has collected $709,525 so far (and spent $28,342).

The following is a list of the other new PACs and while it may not always be obvious who or what they are for — Hialeah for Reform is self explanatory — the people giving or running them may provide some early insight. It helps to know that there are municipal elections this year in the county’s four largest cities: Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah and Homestead.

This is what we’ve gleaned about the other 19 new PACs from the public records filed with the county elections department, the Florida Division of Elections or various city clerks — besides the fact that it’s going to be a very good year for accountants Carlos Trueba and Jose Riesco. Ladra is listing them alphabetically so nobody cries foul or favoritism:

A Bright Future for Homestead filed paperwork earlier this month and has not reported any financial activity yet. The chairman is former State Rep. and attorney to the pols J.C. Planas and the stated purpose is “supporting a bright future in municipalities within Miami-Dade.” The mayor’s seat and three council seats are on the ballot in Homestead in October.

Benjamin’s Voice is a PAC formed May 31 to help Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Benjamin Martin, photographed right, win the county commission seat for Miami Gardens vacated by termed out Barbara Jordan. It has raised only $100 so far from chairman Willis Howard.

Biscayne Gardens Brighter Future PAC was formed in December, but is included here because it has collected $6,000 and spent less than $300. What are they up to? The chair is Bernard Jennings and the treasurer is Lawrence Jessup, who each contributed $2,500. The other $1,000 came from the GA Group Ltd.

Citizens for Excellence in Miami-Dade Government was formed in February and has collected $2,500, all from Baroque Properties (spent $324). Attorney Roland Sanchez-Medina is the chairman and Carlos Trueba is the treasurer. The stated purpose is “civic and governmental policy education,” but the two have paired up before for former Miami-Dade School Board Member and mayoral candidate Raquel Regalado, who is running for commissioner in District 7 to replace Suarez.

Fight For Our Future was formed May 1 and already raised $37,500 (spent $621) in its first month. It is another Christian Ulvert PAC so it may be used for Levine Cava or whoever he ends up running in her open seat.

Friends of South Dade was formed March 7 “to support or oppose candidates for public office.” Jose Riesco is the treasurer and Maria C. Igarzabal is the chair. There has been no financial activity.

Hialeah For Reform was created in May “to support or oppose candidates for statewide, multi-city legislative, countywide and municipal offices.” The chairman is Nelson Hernandez and the treasurer is Robert Renfrow. There has been no financial activity to report.

Improve Miami filed May 7 and is chaired by Barbara Hardemon, aunt of Miami City Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who is running for the county commission seat to be vacated by Commissioner Audrey Edmonson. The PAC, which only has $1,000 collected so far (just wait), states its purpose as “supporting candidates in Miami-Dade County.”

Independents For a Better Miami was formed in October but is included here because it has had no financial activity yet. Jose Riesco is both treasurer and chair and the stated purpose is “candidate and ballot issues, statewide, legislative multi-district, countywide and municipal elections.”

Keeping Government Accountable filed paperwork March 13 and is the PAC for former Sen. Rene Garcia, who is running for commissioner to replace the termed out Bovo who is running for mayor. This PAC has raised $15,900 — thanks in part to $5,000 from Ralph Garcia-Toledo, who wants to keep his juicy county contracts, and $1,800 from real estate developer Russell Galbut — and its only real expense was the $1,573 fee to fundraiser Brian Goldmeier.

Miami Beach Vibe hasn’t raised anything since filing paperwork in March that identified Ana McCowan as the chairwoman and Jose Riesco as the treasurer. The stated purpose, which seems to be a template answer, is “to support or oppose candidates for state, county and municipal office.”

One Miami-Dade is another PAC filed May 7 by Barbara Hardemon because two PACs are better than Biggie…er, I mean one. Maybe one is for whoever runs to replace Keon? This one has $16,250, including $10,000 from lobbyist Jorge Luis Lopez‘s New Leadership Network PC (which also gave $10K to Levine Cava’s PAC and $5K to Bovo’s PAC), $4,000 from duty free kingpin Bernard Klepach and $2,000 from former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff.

People, Animals and Government Ethics, also known as PAGE 2020, is the new PAC organized by people involved in the Miami PetsTrust initiative. The chairwoman is Pets Trust co-founder Rita Schwartz and treasurer is Marivi Betancourt. The purpose is “supporting candidates that only want the betterment of our community.” The PAC has collected $9,878, including $500 from Congresswoman Donna Shalala.

Prosperity with Transparency for Miami Beach registered with Miami Beach in October, but it’s included here because it has yet to report any activity. Chairman is J. C. Planas, who represents several rental scooter companies that won reversal of a ban last January. The stated purpose is “supporting responsible economic development” in Miami Beach.

Protect Our Future was formed in April “to support or oppose candidates for county and municipal office.” Rochelle Levin is chair and Janet Schwartz is treasurer. The PAC has raised $10,000 in two months, including $5K from Barbara Stiefel and $4,000 from Pinecrest Mayor Joseph Corradino.

Putting People First was formed in February by chairman John Egusquiza and treasurer Carlos Trueba for “civic and governmental policy education.” It has not raised a dime.

South Dade Matters formed June 3 to “educate and advocate based on candidates positions on the issues” and to support candidates in Miami-Dade. The chair is Venusmia Fernandez and the treasurer is Isabel Barcelo. It has not had a reporting period yet.

Transparency and Accountability for Miami was formed in February “to support or oppose Miami-Dade County and city of Miami candidates and issues” as well as “educate and advocate on political and legislative issues of local concern.” This is the PAC controlled by attorney Ben Alvarez, the chairman. Already, he’s raised $27,500, including $10K from Edgewater Management Services and $5K from barber shop owner Jose Goyanes.

Vision 2020 is a PAC filed in March by consultant Jesse Manzano, who is the chairman. Jose Riesco is the treasurer. The stated purpose is “candidate and ballot issues statewide, legislative multi-district, countywide and municipal elections.” It has not yet raised anything.

That’s 21 brand spanking new PACs and there may be a few that Ladra missed. It’s impossible to search the state database by date of filing.

Plus while the city elections will be over in November, there is still more than a year to go before the county elections, which will also coincide with a state legislative year, so we fully expect to see more of these before November comes.

Why worry? Because if history has shown us anything it is that PAC abuse in South Florida is rampant. Violations of laws — which exist precisely so voters can know who is funding this candidate or that issue — are hardly ever or selectively followed up on and there is no consistency from the authorities.

State Rep. Michael Grieco got in trouble when he was a city commissioner because a PAC connected to him took a foreign contribution. But newly-elected Coral Gables Commissioner Jorge Fors can pay for more than $50,000 in mailers with monies from a hidden, unknown — and possibly foreign, who knows? — source, y nada. Crickets.

We’ve seen elected officials form PACs and raise a hundreds of thousands from city contractors and vendors and we’ve seen PACs mysteriously disappear after reporting no contributions and no expenditures but obviously buying media or postage. We’ve seen PACs give to PACs who give to other PACs so that they can give to still other PACs and further hide the true source of funding for someone or something.

With almost two dozen new PACs operating at about the same time, we can be sure that we will see more of all of the above in the next 16 months.

In fact, unless authorities crack down on these shenanigans — and that includes legislators passing campaign finance reform that goes against their own interests, which ain’t gonna happen — this is our future.

One day, 21 PACs is gonna be nothin‘.

campaign financing, Miami-Dade Mayor 2020, PACs

More than 20 new PACs prepare for 2019 and 2020 elections added by Ladra on June 16, 2019
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