UPDATED: David Custin wasn’t always so successful in Miami Beach.
Before he played a crucial role 
in electing Mayor Philip Levine and Commissioners Joy Malakoff and Michael Grieco in 2013, Custin was really just a glorified mailboy-turned-campaign-consultant who dabbled sometimes as a lobbyist.
He only had one client, the red light camera American Traffic Solutions, Miami Beach in 2009, according to the city’s archives of lobbyist registrations. He only had two in both 2010 and 2011. He had not one single client in 2012 and only one in 2013.
But boy did he blow up in 2014 after the election, when he suddenly had access to a majority of votes — he already had Commissioner Jonah Wolfson — and became the defacto gatekeeper to that city’s vault. That’s when he really began to cash in on those relationships with the electeds with seven — count ’em, seven — registrations as a lobbyist. He has eight this year.
Compared to the state, where Consultant Custin runs the campaigns of several state reps — including future House Speaker Jose Oliva — but only three clients, it seems that Miami Beach is Lobbyist Custin’s backroom bread and butter, with $340,000 plus in fees so far just this year. More than $400,000 since most of his slate was elected in 2013.
Custin, who did not return a phone call to comment, is making at least $28,500 a month right now just from four Beach clients, to lobby their zoning and business matters before city officials — the very same city officials he helped get elected and who fear he will run someone else against them if they don’t toe the line.
Like Jorge Luis Lopez and Ralph Garcia-Toledo and other counterparts at the county, Custin’s clients are basically paying for access and expected good favor with the mayor and commission, ladies and gentlemen.
Read related story: Rebecca Towers and a campaign manager’s $10,000 a month
Of that, and as we’ve established previously, $10,000 a month is coming
from TC Miami Beach Marina, a company formed in November last year, a year after the election, to lobby for the “redevelopment of property and city approvals for Miami Beach Marina and Rebecca Towers.” Or he was. Because after Political Cortadito’s first story came out on the planned Rebecca Towers redevelopment and Custin’s ties to it, the item was removed from his list of clients on the city’s online lobbyist log. Apparently, he withdrew as the lobbyist of record with TC Miami Beach Marina on Sept. 30. He sent an email about his intent to withdraw on Sept. 4, which was the same week as qualification.
In the withdrawal form, Custin said his full compensation was $30,000 — but $10,000 a month through August would amount to $60,000. So, in which one was he being truthful?
And how much you wanna bet the item appears again after the election?
Another $8,000 a month comes from Ocean Terrace Holdings, which is the company owned by the developer that wants to raze two historic era hotels on North Beach’s Ocean Terrace and 74th Street and build a high rise with luxury condos.
They need a zoning change to do it. It’s already been approved by the commission. Now the overwhelmingly unpopular measure is on the ballot. Custin has been getting those $8,000 monthly since February — so that’s $56,000 so far.
He also gets $8,000 a month from the Betsy Ross Hotel for two land use/zoning items, a setback request and a bridge over the right of way, an easement over air rights, which he registered for in June. The commission has already waived the competitive bidding for the air rights. He has collected about $24,000 from Betsy Ross so far.
And he’s paid a $2,500 monthly retainer from Southern Waste Services, which won the commercial waste collection and disposal contract. He’s been getting that since January of last year for a total of about $60,000 from Southern Waste for his services.
He also got a few one-time flat fees in the past couple of years for this and that:
- $60,000 to represent Motorola in a request for proposals for communications products and services to the city, probably for the police department and 911 center, for which he registered in August.
- $60,000 to lobby for redevelopment and licensing of the Shore Club, which has a zoning text amendment requested, registered last October.
- $30,000 from the owner of 4000 Alton Road for property and board approvals for luxury condos next to Talmudic University, registered last November.
- $30,000 from G4S Secure Solutions, whose security services contract expires with the city this year, to represent them on a bid for renewal, registered in February.
He also gets $1,000 an hour from National Marketing Group Services, the city’s health insurance agency of record, to represent them. Hope that cost isn’t passed down to employees in higher premiums.
Read related story: Jonah Wolfson shuts down shady PAC — $1.5 million later
And that doesn’t count all the consulting fees he’s charging the candidates, including $80,000 he got for his own PAC from the shady Relentless for Progress PAC financed by vendors and developers who were shaken down by the mayor and Commissioner Wolfson.
Indeed, Custin is having a very good year. Maybe he wants to move to one of the multimillion-dollar homes on Sunset Islands near the mayor.
This is not unattainable if he gets three more commissioners elected. Custin will lose Wolfson, who is termed out in November, and is trying to get a replacement and two others elected to two other open seats. If the mayor and his slate wins Custin would get a stranglehold on Miami Beach. He could command whatever price he wants because he has four votes.
After all, he’s already been relatively successful. He got the balcony ordinance approved for the Shore Club. He got the tennis contract at Flamingo Park and North Shore for one of his clients. And the commercial waste pick up and disposal for another. Other matters are getting through committee. Why do you think Levine took Commissioner Deede Weithorn off the finance committee and appointed his boy Wolfson as chair?
Wanna bet he gets the security contract? Commissioner Wolfson, as chair of the finance committee, has already instructed staff to rewrite the request for proposal to incorporate changes Custin has recommended. 
Really? Now lobbyists are recommending how the RFP is written for their client?
Custin has done this before. As a consultant to Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi (before he was arrested in 2013 on bribery charges), Custin once called him during a meeting to about the state lobbying contract that the council was discussing.
Ladra doesn’t understand why Levine hasn’t dumped Custin and cut his losses, before Dave hurts him any more politically. He’s had ample opportunity after Custin got him into that mess with Wolfson’s shady PAC (no doubt Custin’s idea). That’s something that could haunt Levine’s higher political aspirations and warranted Custin’s immediate firing. Then the Rebecca Towers thing became public and Levine had another opportunity to distance himself from his political guru. His attorney, former State Rep. JC Planas, has already divorced his one-time partner.
Makes one wonder… what’s Custin got on the mayor?
We already know he’s the threatening type. He threatened Ladra in 2013 when we went sniffing around Levine’s bought-and-paid-for mayoral campaign and wondered what kind of influence Custin would have in the future (prophetic, huh?).
This year, he threatened candidate Kristen Rosen Gonzalez — who had Custin as her campaign manager two years ago before she caught on to him and withdrew her candidacy — can attest to that with this text message she got when she told him she would file to run against one of Levine’s handpicked pocket rubber stampers.
And Ladra that we will hear threats again. After all, Custin’s very livelihood depends on Levine and the slate winning.
Lobbyist/consultant David Custin cashes in on Miami Beach added by Ladra on
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