Does anyone remember a #DirtyPolitician by the name of Mark Weithorn?
This is the putz who ran for his wife’s Miami Beach Commission seat last year against Ricky Arriola. Throughout the campaign, Deede Weithorn accused her political enemies of soliciting money from city vendors for their political committees.
Meanwhile, her husband Mark was using his own hidden political committees to attack Arriola. His sleazy tactics didn’t work. Mark Weithorn lost spectacularly.
Former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora, who is now running for State Senate District 38, is apparently employing the same tricks from the #DirtyPolitician Playbook.
Not surprisingly, both of them have ties to the same political committees.
Even less shocking, both of them are hypocrites.
Michael Góngora is in a snit about negative campaign mailers sent out by a political committee called “A Stronger Florida,” which was formed on July 16, 2016. This political committee was funded by Kenneth Pizzo, the father of one of his opponents, Jason Pizzo.
In an email sent out on August 22, 2016, Góngora whined that the committee’s attack ads are “absurd” and “mean-spirited,” and that Pizzo is “obnoxious in his campaign style.”
Cue the violins!
Seriously, this is politics! Góngora needs to pull up his big boy pants and deal with it!
Góngora further groused in his email, “So, I’m speaking up. To the best of my ability with the funds I have available, from family and friends and others who believe I am the best choice for State Senator, I will stand up and be counted as one who protests the ridiculousness of my opponent’s desperate attempts to disparage my charcter [sic].”
Interesting mention about the funds he has available. Hmmm.
According to the Herald article that Góngora reprinted in his email, another candidate has also been the recipient of attack ads. That candidate would be former North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns.
And yet somehow, Kevin has managed to refrain from crying to the media that his feelings got hurt.
Burns, in fact, has been the target of lots and lots of “mean-spirited” criticism over the years, including, and especially from this blogger, yet you never hear him bitching about it.
Unlike Góngora, Kevin knows that it’s not personal and shrugs it off.
But here’s the thing.
Even as Michael Góngora is attempting to smear Jason Pizzo for using an elections communication organization (ECO) to attack his opponents, what he’s not telling his supporters is that HE’S doing the EXACT SAME THING!
Can you spell H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E?
And what about Góngora’s mea culpa about the funds he has available?
Well, let’s follow that money trail.
On June 24, 2016, Registered Agent Mark Herron of Messer Caparello, P.A. in Tallahassee, filed a Statement of Organization for the Elections Communications Organization “One Florida PAC.”
How do we know this ECO belongs to Góngora?
For one thing, a week before the ECO was formed, Góngora filed a Statement of Solicitation in order to “Establish/Control” the organization known as “One Florida.”
Oops! BUSTED!
Another clue is that “One Florida” was funded on August 3, 2016 with a $10,520.00 donation from another Elections Engineering Organization called “A Better Miami Beach.” (An additional $3,000.00 donation, which does not appear to be related to Góngora, was received from Art & Cinema Incorporated in Bay Harbor on August 10, 2016.)
The ECO “A Better Miami Beach” was originally formed on May 10, 2013. Curiously, on October 2, 2013, this ECO reported a disbursement of $5,500.00 to one Alberto Góngora for “payment for telephone calls.” Alberto R. Góngora is Michael’s father.
Well, isn’t that interesting? It certainly appears that the Góngora Family has been in the PAC biz long before Jason Pizzo got in the game.
It gets even better.
“A Better Miami Beach” was disbanded on February 26, 2015, at which time it disbursed its final $10,013.75 to none other than Miami Beach #DirtyPolitician Mark Weithorn’s ECO “Common Sense,” which received unaccounted for campaign contributions of $13,316.73 on July 21, 2015.
Hmmm. The plot certainly thickens.
A second ECO by the name of “A Better Miami Beach,” was organized on July 21, 2015 – the same date that “Common Sense” was mysteriously funded, at which time it also received a $10,000.00 from Weithorn’s “Common Sense.”
This New & Improved “A Better Miami Beach” was disbanded eleven months later on June 24, 2016.
To date, the only expenditures listed by “A Better Miami Beach” were $480.00 to Mark Herron’s firm and $1,000.00 to “Common Sense.” As of the July 1, 2016 reporting period, “A Better Miami Beach” still has $10,520.00 in its coffers.
But that’s not even the craziest part of this whole situation.
As I mentioned above, Góngora’s ECO “One Florida” was funded on August 3, 2016 by the ECO “A Better Miami Beach,” which was DISBANDED ON JUNE 24, 2016!
Wait, WHAT?
How can a political entity that is NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE fund another political committee more than a month later?
Even more suspicious, while “One Florida” claims it received a donation from “A Better Miami Beach” on August 3, 2016…
…There is NO SUCH CORRESPONDING EXPENDITURE REPORTED BY “A BETTER MIAMI BEACH!”
Which leads me to wonder…
…If Góngora’s ECO “One Florida” also reported no expenditures as of August 12, 2016…
How did it pay pay for this just mailed out hit piece against Jason Pizzo?
Aaaaah. Politics!
Such a dirty, dirty game.
Played by #DirtyDirtyPoliticians.
Just saying.
While you’re wrapping your minds around that scandal, keep in mind that every single one of the Electioneering Communications Organizations I mentioned above connecting #DirtyPoliticians Mark Weithorn and Michael Góngora (“Common Sense,” “A Better Miami Beach,” and “One Florida PAC”) were formed by Tallahassee lawyer Mark Herron.
Cash flowed back and forth among all three of these organizations in what certainly appears to be Michael Góngora’s attempt to hide the money trail.
It didn’t work.
But, it did earn him this award.
Congrats!
Stephanie
As usual, great work. This is why you make the big bucks…just kidding.
When I heard that Gongora expressed righteous indignation about Pizzo’s funding, I knew that Gongora was a hypocrite. Because whenever politicians expresses righteous indignation about anything, they are usually faking it and guilty of the same thing. In fact, that is true about most people. Only truly righteous people should show righteous indignation and most people aren’t righteous, just self-righteous.
Be careful joking about all the “big bucks” I make. There are people who accuse me of “shilling” for candidates and being “in pockets.” None of it is true, though. I simply support candidates whom I believe are honest, ethical and fiscally responsible. Unfortunately, there are some people who simply refuse to believe that I voluntarily do this out of a genuine desire to clean up government. I have spent my entire adult life as a community activist and volunteer. Writing this blog is merely an extension of my obsession to be of service and a contributing member of society. Selfish, self-centered people do not understand those concepts, which is why they are so skeptical about my motives. Oh, well. Their criticism of me means nothing and they cannot deter me from my mission. Plus, I’m having fun!
Isn’t there supposed to be a complete separation between candidates and PAC’s? Isn’t that so because of candidate campaign finance dollar amount limits per person contributing and, also, disclosure/ reporting of contributions while PAC contributions are now virtually of unlimited amount because of the Citizens United US Supreme Court case?
I thought so, too, but apparently it’s okay if certain candidates break the law, you know. Look how many broken laws Frantz Pierre has gotten away with! Apparently, KFR cherry picks her targets for political reasons. I can only imagine what she’s received from L’il Frantzie P in exchange for not prosecuting him. Hmmmm.
Stephanie, I have to give you credit for great work, as usual. I love it when these crooked politicians get caught. Unfortunately some of them get away with it.
As a senior member of life I kept getting confused. What you should have done is make a cheat with arrows to show what went on
Great Job Steph!!!! Hey Steph, this is marterial right up Joe Centorino’s alley. Please forward your blog to him because this should be a slam dunk ethics violation case, as you already did all the work.
It seems like I always do all the work. I’ll let someone else file an official complaint if they like. I’ve already provided all the exhibits. Personally, I have no pony in this race. The constituents of District 38 need to step up and demand accountability. Here’s how to do it: http://ethics.miamidade.gov/complaints-how-to-file.asp