Today I received an attack political flyer in the mail from a stealth "527" attack group in Tallahassee.
Their name is "Florida First Forever, Inc" and it is one of several front corporations apparently setup to attack election candidates without easily being able to find out who did it. There are three people as officers in the group, Daniel Burns, Tom Wheeler & Jonathan Andrews. THIS link shows you a diagram of various corporations connected to Andrews, including FFF. Scroll down on that website to see the diagram showing the connections. It is a Florida 527 Political Filing organization, as described HERE. The group was setup in 2008, and the above website indicates they have received no contributions or spent any funds, so the website must be out of date, or funds were received just recently before required reports. We will follow up on this.
The flyer attacked
Larry Metz, candidate for Florida State Representative, District 25. His only opponent is Rick Joyce, but we have no evidence to show if Joyce is involved, which may be the point of the stealth 527 organization.
The flyer attacks Metz, who I support, on three issues. Metz is currently on the Lake County School Board, and has been on it for six years. He has been attacked by a blog provided by friends of homebuilders and land developers, Right Side of the Lake.
Since I have attended most School Board meetings, and observed all five Board members, including Metz, I have some observations about the three issues described in the flyer:
The flyer says Metz, an active Republican, is a liberal because he:
1. Is a "big spender" due to the Board passing about $550-million in bonds several years ago to finance schools needed for growth. At that time, it is my understanding, impact fees were not very much, and using bonds was the way to finance schools to build them in time for the growing population DUE TO BUILDERS BUILDING AND SELLING HOMES. So, this is ludicrous, attacking Metz who was the newest member of the Board, for ALL the board passing a bond issue to finance schools. The State requires schools to be built to handle growth.
2. The flyer says Metz is a "liberal" because he nominated "ultra liberal Cindy Barrow" to chair the School Board. The School Board is non-partisan, and every Board rotates Chairperson positions. Barrow was the Vice Chair, and was next in a normal rotation, and Metz, as the outgoing Chairman, exercised professional courtesy and nominated his Vice Chair for the position. I RARELY ever saw any visible partisan behavior at School Board meetings, and this claim is a hollow statement. The flyer listed the "Right Side of the Lake" blog as the source for calling Metz a liberal.
3. The flyer says Metz is an attorney, therefore it is a reason to kick him out. In contrast, Metz continuously used his legal skills to write needed School Board policies, provide alternatives to contract issues, and in my experience as a Fortune 500 Internal Audit Manager, was very professional.
So, who is to gain by these distorted attacks? Only two known parties:
- The Right Side of the Lake and Romac CEO Don Magruder constantly attacks Metz because Metz once forwarded a request for increases school impact fees to the County Commission. That Board turned down the request. But, acting in his judicial duty as a Board member chair, he did have a responsibility to forward a request APPROVED BY THE SCHOOL BOARD for increased impact fees. Magruder and builders don't want impact fees. They want every tax payer to pay the burden for increased school and road construction due to growth through sales taxes, gas taxes, and increased property taxes on people who already paid impact fees when their house was new.
- The opponent, Rick Joyce, gains by these attacks. He has collected $138,000 so far, and you wonder why all those groups want Joyce elected? I don't have any evidence that he has participated in this attack campaign, but the attorney behind the "Florida First" organization is a mediator, and so is Joyce. Magruder has claimed on a Facebook posting that he has only met Joyce twice, so maybe this is all personal since Magruder benefits by attacking anyone that supports impact fees, since his construction supply firm, RoMac, depends on builders for revenue.
I like builders. I used to work in a construction materials firm. But these actions by Romac's Magruder and this separate shell company, Florida First Forever, should really embarrass local homebuilders.
Something stinks in Denmark... err, Lake County, and if anyone has some inside information on why this is happening, and who funded the flyer, let me know by email or post a comment here. I will research it further.
So, show your disdain for such antics and vote for Larry Metz.
Vance Jochim