Contributions from the latest G3 Report--
Mayor Pam Triolo: $40,031Drew Martin: $7,383 had 18.44% of what the Mayor had and the final vote showed it.
Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell: $49,245
Sarah Malega: $19,340 had 39.27% of what the Vice Mayor had.
That's a big difference when you are trying to win a campaign, walking all over town knocking on doors and all the big money is against that effort, not to mention the unions, PACS and influence peddlers (and we have a ton of those). When you want to build infrastructure all over town, develop ball fields and rip out a pool, they come out of the woodwork.
It used to be you could run for office in our small city for around $8-9,000. Those times are over as Scott Maxwell reminded us at his last election when he raised a small fortune from people all over the country. There is way too much corruption and influence being peddled. And the longer you are in office, the more connections you get and the more tempting the money is and the odds of overturning an incumbent are nearly impossible but certainly unfavorable.
This is a word of advice to all you grassroots people who still believe in honesty and ethics in elections--don't waste your little $25 or $50 contribution that used to mean something. Politicians don't need your money; they get untold amounts from those looking for some sort of pay-back or influence.
Think about our national politicians. They go into office with little assets and come out as multi-millionaires. So, politicians learn on the job how to amass wealth and "friends." And the same thing often happens on the local level.
Our elected officials have a lot to lose if they should be voted out of office such as their higher salaries that they voted in for themselves and their $6,000 a year car allowance not to mention health care and 401k's. People are afraid to go up against them as the odds are stacked to kick them out of office. Their main goal is to sustain their power, status and wealth and vote the way they want, not what the people want. How do I know? They never ask me or even return e-mails. That's a form of corruption in my book. In the case of Lake Worth, it is to vote the way the city manager wants and Scott Maxwell.
And no, Pelican Pete, it's not that we can't ever be satisfied as long as our candidate is not elected--it is all about those in power making decisions that they feel is best without asking us, without our approval and of course we can't forget that they overturned the height referendum or voted to give the Atlanta Braves 100 Acres of John Prince Park They listen to their core group, the city manager and their drinking pals and that's about it.
Some of the companies that gave big contributions to Triolo and Maxwell are:
Delray New Wave LLC: Located at 10 SE 1st Avenue, Delray Beach gave a fundraiser for Pam Triolo when she was running a few years ago. They are also registered at 102 N Swinton Avenue in Delray. Right down the road is Hudson Holdings at 20 S Swinton Avenue--Connect the dots.
Jetport II, LLC: This company has the same corporate agent as Delray New Wave. JetPort is one of Sun Recyling's many companies that was acquired by Waste Management. Do you remember how Southern Waste Systems infiltrated our local elections back in 2008 and Retha Lowe was fined $2,500 for filing false reports regarding them? She got off lightly--this was a small price for her to pay for these days of honest services fraud. Sun companies have been lurking around our politics for years with campaign contributions to certain candidates that they feel are favorable to their cause.
Republic Services of Florida LP:
Republic is a large national corporation and Southern Waste Systems is privately owned and local. In 2011, Southern Waste Systems was awarded a contract for Broward's trash business through a sub-contract deal with Republic. "We are really excited about the partnership on this contract with Republic Services and to have city staff and commission support on the collaboration," said Charles Gusmano, President and CEO of SWS and Sun Recycling.
Waste Management $400
The Sun Recycling connection. Just can't get rid of Sun in this city.
There were many $1,000 contributions and large ones from various Unions, Developers, Contractors, Engineers, Mark Foley, all sorts of attorneys giving big bucks, including one Palm Beach County commissioner, Dave Kerner giving a total of $750 to Maxwell and at least $500 to Triolo and the usual suspects who give a lot of money because they aren't happy with our little city and want to change Lake Worth as well as cement in our pool.
12 comments:
ALL THIS TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH MONEY THE OPPONETS GOT OR HOW BAD THE NEW PEOPLE DID IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.WE HAVE TO SUPPORT NEW PEOPLE BETTER IF WE WANT CHANGE.OTHERWISE JUST KEEP COMPLAINING
New people have to do a better job of fundraising and getting boots on the ground. It is really up to the candidate, anonymous at 8:09. You seem to have missed the essence of this blog.
Their annoying flyers went straight to the trash, they won due to low turnout which incumbents can always rely on.
Lynn,thank you for printing this. You are very detailed, and very damning details if you ask me. I did find it hopeful that at least a differing viewpoint is somewhere being printed. A very small sliver of light among the astounding black dark hole of campaign contributions. Contribution being the new polite word replacing "Pay to Play."
Reading old Pelican Pete is very depressing to see the same old tired pablum spewing how any differing democratic viewpoints, or candidates, are all placed in the same heap of nonsense about "those who dare impede us MOVING FORWARD."
And this very sadly is our only local newspaper.
And by the way, Dave Kerner also took contributions last election from a fronting source for the Atlanta Braves. And of course denied it, however could not even reply when I emailed him the same taken right from the official election contribution page.
Looks like we have been bought and paid for with all those lush campaign $$.
How can you buck a triumverate apparently in for life??
It's a little power fraternity in this county. It doesn't matter if you have a D or an R in front of your name. It's about being part of the club. Dave Kerner a Democrat gave a large donation to Scott Maxwell a Republican. Thanks for showing up at the Republican club with your hand out ,Maxwell . Good to see you for the first time in two years. (The Republicans really are chumps).It makes me want to throw up when I see candidates listing endorsements from other politicians on their fliers. Like I said,It really is all about that club membership gold card.
Actually low turnout usually helps those motivated to make change. There wasn't enough controversy this go round to get pissed off people to the polls. Sarah did all the right things. She walked the walk and got support from many. She probably would have gotten more votes if she had aligned herself with the crazies. Instead we had two good candidates that were similar in views and the voters wanted to keep the momentum going and didn't want to take a chance on change.
I can't remember a $9,000 campaign that won.
@11:09--"aligned herself with the crazies?" What the hell does that mean?
There are several reasons why she lost. One obvious reason that you mention is that the negatives of her opponent were not mentioned by her. I would have rammed them home at every opportunity. She campaigned on her personality, her energy and her motivation to improve Lake Worth. I personally don't believe that she and Scott have similar views at all. But if you think they do, then the message got lost. Voters are fooled by a lot of things. If you tell voters how great you are, they have a tendency to belief the hype.
Do you remember the Marc Drautz and Rodney Romano campaign. David and Goliath.
The crazies lost the election for Sarah. I personally know of at least 10 people who would have voted for her. If Scott or any of the incumbents don’t run and she is a candidate we’d vote for her and she most likely would win. Scott got my vote when I was told he has a picture of Sheriff Joe Apraio on his wall, you gotta respect that!
Name the "crazies."
A photo of Joe Arpaio on his wall? That's rich particularly as he has done nothing for law enforcement and the illegal situation in this city.
Now who's crazy?
Pam could have beat Drew with no money. He was completely unprepared, did no research, and even with his one trick, the environment, Pam had more experience and accolades. He didnt even know that City Hall has sensor lights. He was delusional in thinking he had the knowledge and experience needed to be the Mayor of this city. Sarah was a good candidate. I didnt like her east vs west platform and all the democratic parties that came into assist her with the intention of moving her up the political chain. Her greatest asset was that she isnt Scott - not good enough for the majority.
Arpaio would have half the population of LW running scared out of town if he was elected to commission tomorrow. Maxwell is all talk. I’m starting to see how lazy he’s become collecting his check but phoning it in.
You lost! You lost again! Quit crying about losing again. Candidates you support have lost again, connect the dots!
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