Group V candidate Dominique “Nikki” Whiting raised $42,905 during the latest four-week reporting period, more than any other Coral Gables candidate, while Mayor Vince Lago collected $13,600 in contributions on a single day.
Nestor Menendez, the challenger in Group IV, raised another $29,300 and remains the overall fundraising leader, with $122,420 since entering the race. Whiting is second at $96,055.
Altogether, the seven candidates for mayor and two City Commission seats reported $99,358 in new money between Aug. 29 and Sept. 25.
Much of it arrived in $1,000 increments. Seventy-four contributions were for exactly $1,000, accounting for $74,000, or nearly three-quarters of all candidate money received during the period. Florida law generally limits contributions to candidates in municipal elections to $1,000 per contributor per election.
The campaigns spent $39,093 during the same period. Based on their previous and current filings, the Gazette calculates that they had about $190,250 combined remaining.
Group V: Whiting leads the period
Whiting reported 61 monetary contributions totaling $42,905. Thirty-three were for exactly $1,000.
Twenty contributions worth $12,750 carried Coral Gables mailing addresses, or 29.7 percent of the money she raised during the period. Business entities supplied $19,900, or 46.4 percent.
The filings also show several clusters of contributions from the same addresses.
Four $1,000 contributions came from 4533 Ponce de Leon Blvd.: Roberto Behar and Key Largo 37 LLC, Key Largo 38 LLC and Key Largo 189 LLC.
Florida corporate records tie Robert Behar to all three companies. Behar Font & Partners lists Robert Behar as a principal at the same Ponce address, and a city architectural filing uses both “Roberto Behar” and “Robert Behar” with the same Florida architect license number. Behar served on the Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Board as Mayor Lago’s appointee.
Three more $1,000 contributions came from Suite 1104 at 16690 Collins Ave. in Sunny Isles Beach: Urban Navarre Development LLC, Urban 301 Madeira LLC and Privee Capital LLC. State corporate records identify Jonatan Sredni as a manager of the companies, with Erwin Sredni also listed as a manager of Privee Capital.
Four other addresses produced pairs of $1,000 contributions.
Demetrio Perez, of the Lincoln-Martí Charter Schools, and Susan Perez each gave $1,000 from 1025 Sunset Road.
Sunshine Dade Investments LLC and Sunshine Gasoline Distributors Inc. each gave $1,000 from 1650 NW 87th Ave. State records list Sunshine Gasoline as a managing member of Sunshine Dade Investments and Maximo Alvarez as a manager of the investment company.
JAXI Builders Inc. and JAXI CMD each gave $1,000 from 1629 NW 84th Ave. JAXI Builders says Abel Ramirez founded the construction company and Eduardo Caballero later joined as a partner. State records list Ramirez and Caballero as the two authorized members of JAXI CMD.
De Los Reyes Engineering LLC and H&A Group Inc. each gave $1,000 using 8726 NW 26th St., Suites 1 and 2. State records identify Hector, Ana and Adrian De Los Reyes with De Los Reyes Engineering.
Altogether, 15 of Whiting’s 33 contributions of exactly $1,000 came from those six addresses.
The common addresses do not by themselves establish that separate contributors are legally affiliated or that any contribution was improper. In several cases, however, corporate records document common managers or other business relationships.
Whiting also received $500 each from current Planning and Zoning Board members Alexander Bucelo and Ignacio Alvarez. The city roster identifies Bucelo as Commissioner Richard Lara’s appointee and Alvarez as Commissioner Melissa Castro’s.
Another current board member, Alice Bravo, appeared in earlier reports as a contributor to both Whiting and Menendez. The Gazette identified Bravo among at least six contributors who had given to both campaigns through Aug. 28.
An apparent classification problem
Whiting’s filings contain another issue that is not explained by the reports.
Twenty-six contributions totaling $16,155 are classified on the city’s public campaign-finance system as “Cash,” including 10 contributions of $1,000.
Florida law limits actual cash and cashier’s-check contributions to an aggregate of $50 from the same contributor per election.
The pattern, however, points to a possible reporting or coding problem rather than establishing that Whiting actually received thousands of dollars in currency.
Her Aug. 29-Sept. 11 report, for example, labels six contributions ranging from $250 to $1,000 as cash while also reporting $151.80 in transaction fees to online fundraising processor Anedot. The following report again labels its first 20 contributions, ranging from $100 to $1,000, as cash and reports another $484.30 in Anedot fees. The public filings do not say which contributions generated those fees.
The reports do not explain the classification or establish that the contributions were actually made in cash.
Whiting spent $16,355 during the period. Nearly all of it, $15,719, went to DRC Consulting for yard signs, H-frames and a mailer.
Sanabria reports nine $1,000 contributions
Whiting’s Group V opponent, Gonzalo Sanabria, raised $9,500 in 10 contributions. Nine were for exactly $1,000.
Only one carried a Coral Gables mailing address: former Coral Gables Commissioner and Vice Mayor Frank Quesada. Frank Quesada PA gave another $1,000 the same day from a Miami address.
Hilda Mora and Pedro Gomez also each gave $1,000 from the same Brickell Key apartment.
One contributor gave to both Group V campaigns during the period. Precision Home Title contributed $1,000 to Whiting on Sept. 21 and $1,000 to Sanabria four days later.
Sanabria spent $7,301, including $3,830 with Apex Strategies for fundraising consulting, $1,799 on mailers and $1,470 with Gables Magazine.
He had about $16,887 remaining.
Group IV: Menendez keeps the largest war chest
Menendez reported 50 contributions totaling $29,300. Nineteen were for $1,000.
Using the mailing cities listed in the filings, $8,050, or 27.5 percent, came from Coral Gables addresses. Business entities supplied $17,400, or 59.4 percent of the money.
His largest same-address cluster arrived Sept. 4.
VC 6795 Warehouse LLC, 3047 Investment Corp., BBC Investors LLC, Merrick Signage LLC and Studio 26 LLC each gave $1,000 from 3850 Bird Road, Suite 801.
That address is the headquarters of CFH Group, whose managing member is developer Tomas Cabrerizo. State records also identify Cabrerizo directly with 3047 Investment and Studio 26, while numerous companies associated with CFH use the same Bird Road address.
The five contributions supplied $5,000 of the $6,800 Menendez reported receiving that day.
Four more $1,000 contributions arrived Sept. 24 from executives associated with two prominent South Florida development and construction companies.
Jon Paul Pérez, president and chief executive officer of Related Group, and Nicholas Pérez, president of its condominium division, each gave $1,000.
Sean Murphy gave $1,000. Another $1,000 came from Tom Murphy.
Coastal Construction identifies brothers Sean Murphy and Tom C. Murphy as its co-chief executives, while their father, Thomas P. Murphy Jr., remains chairman. The campaign filing does not provide enough information to establish which Tom Murphy made the contribution.
Menendez spent $13,152 during the period. Big Tuesday Media received $10,223 for yard signs, printing and digital media, and SRS Solutions received $2,500 for fundraising consulting.
He had about $81,687 remaining, the most of any candidate.
Castro’s latest contributions all carry Gables addresses
Commissioner Melissa Castro reported seven monetary contributions totaling $3,200. All seven carried Coral Gables mailing addresses.
Her largest contribution, $1,000, came from architect Felix Pardo, a current member of the Planning and Zoning Board.
Anthony D. Lopez also provided 5,000 door hangers valued at $722.25 as an in-kind contribution.
Castro spent $1,625, including $1,000 for advertising with Gables Magazine, and had about $8,894 in monetary campaign funds remaining.
Mayor’s race: $13,600 for Lago on Sept. 24
Lago reported $13,850 in contributions during the period after raising only $3,650 through Aug. 28.
Sixteen of his 17 new contributions, worth $13,600, are dated Sept. 24. Twelve were for exactly $1,000.
Nine contributions worth $7,100 carried Coral Gables mailing addresses, or 51.3 percent of the money.
His $1,000 contributors included builder Manny Angelo Varas, attorney Richard Cole, electrical contractor Hector Ortiz and lobbyist Les Pantin. Pantin Gov LLC, which described its business as government-relations consulting, also gave $1,000.
Only one of Lago’s 17 contributions came from a business entity.
He spent $447.90 during the period, all of it in Anedot transaction fees, and had about $16,233 remaining.
His two opponents reported no contributions from other donors. Laureano Cancio put another $400 of his own money into his campaign. Jackson “Rip” Holmes made three additional loans totaling about $203.
Coral Gables First spends $21,281 with Big Tuesday
Candidate reports tell only part of the campaign-finance story.
Coral Gables First, the political committee associated with Lago, reported $9,300 in contributions and $21,354 in spending from Sept. 5 through Sept. 18.
Almost all of the spending went to Big Tuesday Media.
Three payments on Sept. 9, 10 and 11 totaled $21,280.89 for software updates, digital media, canvassing and strategic consulting.
Big Tuesday also works for Menendez. His campaign paid the firm $10,223 during the latest reporting period after having spent $21,402 with it through Aug. 28.
Coral Gables First had also paid Big Tuesday more than $34,000 during the spring and early summer for websites, political consulting, digital media, outreach, video and other services.
The use of the same vendor does not by itself establish coordination between a candidate campaign and a political committee.
Coral Gables First’s largest contribution during the latest period was $5,000 from Nelson J. Albareda, chief executive of Miami-based entertainment and marketing company Loud And Live.
Hermpire LLC, which listed public affairs as its business, gave $2,500. Florida corporate records identify Jean-Paul Chavez as the company’s manager and registered agent.
The Gazette previously reported that Hermpire gave $1,000 each to Menendez and Whiting in August.
Hello Gables enters the reports
A new political committee, Hello Gables, appears in the latest filings.
Its report covering Sept. 12 through Sept. 25 lists one contribution: $2,000 from Sebastian Salvat, who identified his occupation as design and development officer.
The committee reported $1,203 in expenditures, including $1,120 to Apex Strategies for fundraising consulting.
Apex also works for Sanabria’s campaign. The shared consultant does not by itself establish coordination, and the report does not identify which candidate or candidates Hello Gables intends to support.
The expenditures are dated Sept. 14 and 15, while the $2,000 contribution is dated Sept. 25. That report alone does not establish what balance the committee carried into the period or when money used for the earlier expenditures was received.
$1,000 contributions dominate the latest reports
The new filings leave the three races with markedly different financial profiles.
Menendez remains first in total money raised and estimated cash remaining. Whiting led the latest four-week fundraising period. Lago, after raising relatively little through August, collected most of his campaign’s current money on Sept. 24.
The geographic mix also differs.
All $3,200 Castro raised during the period came from addresses reported as Coral Gables. Lago’s share was 51.3 percent. Whiting’s was 29.7 percent, Menendez’s 27.5 percent and Sanabria’s 10.5 percent.
But the most consistent feature across the candidate reports was the size of the checks.
Seventy-four $1,000 contributions supplied $74,000 of the $99,358 raised during the period.
With the Nov. 3 election less than a month away, the filings show not only which candidates are accumulating money, but which donors, companies and business networks are supplying it.
