Betsy Perez backed by Miami Beach special interest PACs

Just because the shady Relentless for Progress PAC was shut down after public outcry, that doesn’t mean that special interests do not firmly have their hands on the Miami Beach runoff election Tuesday.

Sure, Miami Beach Commissioner Jonah Wolfson was forced to close RFP after residents and the media questioned more than $1.4 million in donations from developers and contractors doing business with the city. But special interest donors obviously found — or, er, were pointed to — somewhere else where they could try to buy public officials and who knows what favors.

Mailers arriving at Miami Beach homes for Betsy Perez, Mayor Philip Levine‘s handpicked candidate for commission — who is facing a tough runoff against Kristen Rosen Gonzalez — are coming from Tell the Public The Facts, Inc., a longtime political action committee run by campaign consultant/lobbyist David Custin for his multiple campaigns. Tell the Public The Facts, which had been dormant since March of last year, got a sudden $212,000 in donations in the last two months.

The largest donor is developer Heinrich Von Hanau, whose company is building two towers on Fisher Island. He gave $75,000 to David Custin’s PAC in September.

Another $137,000 came in October from several different entities: 6800 Indian Creek LLC ($25,000), Deco Capital Group ($21,000), Sobe 17 Manager LLC ($20,000), and $15,000 each from LBL Group, 3425 Collins LLC, MRK Marlin Hotel and Boucher Brothers Management, which runs the Jet Ski and watersports and pool concessions on Miami Beach. The electrician’s union kicked in $1,000 and two law firms — Colson, Hicks Edison and Bercow, Radell & Fernandez gave $5,000 a piece.

Through October, Custin has been paid just over $137,000 for TV ads, direct mail and a phone bank. That would be before the Nov. 2 election, not for these mailers. We’ll get a final tally after the runoff.

But Custin’s work is getting sloppy. The latest mailer for Perez has her name spelled wrong twice and the word integrity spelled wrong. Which is classic since they have none.

They have enough money, however, to hire a proofreader. Go figure.

And there’s yet another PAC pushing Perez for Levine.

People for Truth and Integrity is chaired by former State Rep. and attorney to politicians J.C. Planas. The PAC collected $83,000, of which the most, or about $56,000, came from Stephen Bittel through three of his companies, including one that seems to be inactive due to the annual report not being filed. Another $20,000 came from developer David Mancini and sons. Epik Financial gave $5,000, the Boucher Brothers gave another $3,000 and Commissioner Michael Grieco gave $1,500.

So far, the PAC has spent $67,000 in October alone, mostly on mail pieces. But not through Custin. Remember, Planas and Custin had a falling out after the 2013 Beach election, so the attorney — who still represents Levine legally — now uses a company in Teaneck, NJ, called Elect and Connect.

One of their more recent mailers takes Rosen Gonzalez’s quotes to the Miami Herald out of context and says she is opposed to the city’s “innovative plan” for pumping stations. But she is not as opposed to it as concerned about pollutants the city may be pumping into Biscayne Bay and curious about the rollout priorities and why streets that are dry now are tied to the mayor and his business partners.

Even the mailer quotes something — again out of context — from the Miami Herald: “With pumping stations active, as many streets flooded, “one corner of Miami Beach stayed perfectly dry.'”

Guess which corner. Alton Road and 10th. Where Levine’s office is.

The mailer doesn’t say that, of course. It simply questions if voters should trust Rosen Gonzalez “when she can’t see what’s right before her eyes.”

Ooooh, how dramatic. Custin-inspired.

But at least they spelled her name right.

Betsy Perez, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez

Betsy Perez backed by Miami Beach special interest PACs added by Ladra on November 12, 2015
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