This article, originally published by Al Zucaro on BocaWatch.org, is preserved for historical purposes by Massive Impressions Online Marketing in Boca Raton.
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If there is an election for Boca Raton City Council and candidates for office include current Mayor Scott Singer and repeat candidate Andy Thomson, you can safely conclude that both will be heavily funded by developer related entities. Singer and Thomson are the chosen ones by the lawyers, architects, developers, etc. to keep the drumbeat of overdevelopment alive in Boca Raton.
Mayoral Race
Scott Singer – Al Zucaro – Bernard Korn
For this report Mr. Korn is not included as he has raised a total of less than $1,000 and is not considered a serious contender for this seat. The fundraising race is overwhelmingly in favor of Mr. Singer. This is due to his early filing that resulted in a seven-month advantage versus his opposition. Singer has accumulated $117,000 against Zucaro’s $20,400 (both numbers include in-kind contributions).
Notable among Singer’s contributions is the $7,000 that comes from Tower 155 builders and architects. This same group provided $6,000 for Singer’s 2017 campaign. Singer was among those councilmembers that approved a change to our building code to allow Tower 155 to soar to one hundred and forty feet on what many consider an undersized parcel of land. The vote was not unanimous. More recently Mr. Singer voted in favor of a failed vote to approve a “temporary” parking lot for Tower 155 that could have been a precedent setting decision that would allow the parking lot to remain for as long as construction continued in the downtown with no motivation for the property owner to improve the eyesore. This would have had a negative impact on the adjacent residential neighborhood.
A demonstrably overdevelopment friendly position taken by Mr. Singer.
For his part, Zucaro has reported slightly more than one month’s fundraising with no funding from “bundled” contributors. More clarity will emerge with Mr. Zucaro’s next finance filing.
City Council Seat A
Kathy Cottrell – Tamara McKee – Andy Thomson
Unlike the Mayoral race all three candidates are actively pursuing this seat and all have provided at least $20,000 in personal loans to their campaigns. In addition to these amounts Cottrell has attracted $14,700, McKee $8,600 and Thomson $31,600.
While Mr. Thomson has received only 35% of his funds from individual contributors, Ms. McKee has received 61% and Ms. Cottrell a full 87% comes from individuals.
Consistent with Mr. Thomson failed campaign in 2017, the contributions from legal and development related entities combined account for 48% of his funds raised.
Next Report
The next Campaign Finance Report for all Council candidates is due today, August 3rd. An updated report from BocaWatch will be published shortly thereafter.
I found this excerpt in an article published from the Palm beach post on 6/30/2018:
“It’s incredibly important to know who’s behind the money, because developer interests have stakes in outcomes. If they can hide their involvement in a political race, it does not allow the public to know who the elected official is aligned with and to whom they may be obligated.”