Weekly Update, July 30, 2010 from the Director Public Affairs

Commissioner Ray Judah Touts Economic Development Triumphs at Chamber Lunch
Commissioner Ray Judah was part of a panel discussion regarding the appropriate role of the public sector in regional private sector economic development and infrastructure projects at the Chamber of SW Florida luncheon held this week. He touted several of the economic development triumphs by stating that during the last 18 months, Lee County has seen 10 new companies come into our economic picture bringing with them 1,133 new jobs with an average salary of $58,000 which is above the median. He indicated that with an approximate $12.7M Lee County investment thus far, an estimated $484M return is anticipated, which paints a very rosy and successful picture indeed.

He went on to speak of the upcoming Red Sox Stadium groundbreaking, and indicated that many CEO’s of corporations are avid sports enthusiasts and that these amenities do play a significant role in their business expansions and their lure of other spin off businesses to our market. He also touted the opening in October of the Algenol plant off Alico Road which will provide jobs as they endeavor to turn algae into ethanol for more green energy opportunities.

Mayor Randy Henderson also agreed that public investment helps with private enterprise, citing the huge City investment into the downtown infrastructure and beautification which has been paying off and will continue to do so. He stated that the Indigo Hotel now in receivership has a written contract and hopefully a new buyer will close on that property, which would bode well for the City. In addition, downtown condominiums continue to appear attractive to renters as well as investors and second home buyers due to the new infrastructure downtown. The final phase of the downtown plan which will enlarge the river as a drainage basin inward and create developable land for another hotel, shops, restaurants and a destination for visitors and residents will be another achievement resulting from this infrastructure investment.

Mayor John Sullivan stated his hopes for Cape Coral to follow suit and expand their utility areas for more investment opportunities. He also said the City was exploring a new waste/energy facility to add jobs and manufacturing opportunities into the Cape.

John Manning Sworn in as Fifth Lee County Commissioner
On Tuesday July 28, 2010 John Manning was sworn in during a ceremony in the downtown Commission Chambers by Clerk of Court Charlie Green. Also present was his longtime friend Cheryl Wooley who had been Congressman Porter Goss’ Chief of Staff due to the absence of his wife attending to a new grandchild. Scores of County Department heads, media, and local business and community leaders were also on had to greet the newly sworn in Commissioner, who indicated in his remarks he was ready to hit the ground running and provide leadership to ensure that recent stalemates on the Commission are a thing of the past. The other four commissioners all offered positive welcoming remarks to Commissioner Manning, who still must run for the seat in an August primary against other opponents. The first meeting with all five commissioners will be August 10th.

BOCC Campaigns Heating Up with Words; Money
The biggest campaign chest doesn’t guarantee victory, as Lee County residents may remember from a number of years ago. Developer backed Ted Evans, a local banker, had over $100,000 in his war chest when he ran against Mary Ann Wallace in the 1980’s. An activist housewife of a local CPA, she didn’t raise much. She won the seat soundly, however, indicating clearly that money is not the main event in local campaigns. It does, however, help buy TV time and get a candidate’s message out. With three and a half weeks to go before the primary elections, and about three months before the general election, campaign filings indicate that:

• Candidate Dick Ripp (District 2) has the most campaign dollars, though 97 percent of his $243,000 in reported contributions comes from himself.

• Incumbent Lee Chairwoman Tammy Hall has raised $129 for each of her opponent’s $1 or $129,294.00.

• Newly installed Commissioner John Manning is leading a tight fundraising battle for the District 1 seat, having raised $18,800 in little more than a month. “Unfortunately, it costs money to get your message out,” Manning said to local media. Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Manning to fill the seat for 31⁄2 months until the November election decides who will fill the last two years of the late Bob Janes’ term.

• Manning’s $18,800 puts him just in front of former Sanibel Mayor Carla Johnston, who has $15,000; and former Cape Coral Economic Development Director Mike Jackson, who raised $14,900. Cape REALTOR® Chris Berardi has raised $7,470.00 thus far. Former School Board member Bob Chilmonik had a little over $ 9,000 at the reporting period.

• The totals include donated services and money contributions of as much as $500. Campaign laws prohibit any contributions more than $500. Hall has the most individual donations: 609 since Aug. 2009. That’s three times those of Cecil Pendergrass with the second-highest number of donations.

• After several fundraisers and a flood of donations, Hall’s two Republican opponents dropped out, leaving her in a two-way race with independent candidate Debbie Jackow. Jackow has eight donations totaling about $1,000.

• Fellow incumbent Brian Bigelow has raised one-sixth the amount of Hall’s campaign. Bigelow’s opponent, retired Fort Myers police officer Cecil Pendergrass, has raised $39,000 since February — $17,000 more than Bigelow. “It’s all been grass roots,” Pendergrass told media reps. “I’ve had a lot of support.”

• Pendergrass, who heads the Gulf Coast Chapter Police Benevolent Association, received support from the statewide police benevolent association and Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott. However, with more than 200 donations, Pendergrass notes, his support is varied. Candidates are required to file a list of campaign contributions again Aug. 4. Many say they plan to ratchet up their fundraising ahead of the Aug. 24 primary. The signs alongside our roadways are indicative of election season in full force.

Statewide Office Campaign Chests Filling Up; Polls Show Changing Picture in Elections Governor’s Race: Alex Sink has $5.7-million on hand compared to $45,000 for Bud Chiles and $543,000 for Bill McCollum and $656,000 for Rick Scott. Bill McCollum recently got the endorsement from the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Attorney General: Dave Aronberg/Dan Gelber are nearly tied at about $660,000. Pam Bondi is leading the Republicans with $400,000, compared to $316,000 for Jeff Kottkamp and $275,000 for Holly Benson.

Chief Financial Officer: Jeff Atwater has $2.3-million compared to $622,000 for Loranne Ausley.
Agriculture: Adam Putnam with $1.3-million, Scott Maddox with $394,000.

A New Public Policy Polling analysis — culled from the 900-voter robo-poll done earlier this month and released this week — now shows Rick Scott with a14-point lead over Attorney General Bill McCollum, solidifying recent polling by other companies that show Scott as the frontrunner. Indeed, slightly more Republicans now have an unfavorable view of McCollum — who’s spent 30 years in GOP politics in Florida — than see him favorably, the poll reports.

Scott has certainly succeeded in destroying McCollum’s popularity with GOP primary voters. Only 26% have a favorable opinion of the Attorney General while 40% see him unfavorably. He hasn’t done much though to make Republicans take a charitable view of him as 35% see him positively while 32% have a negative opinion of him, not usually the kind of favorability numbers you want to see with your party’s base.

Scott has tried in particular to court the party’s large conservative voting bloc and his favorability with them is a positive 38/27 spread. But that’s come at a cost to his standing with moderate Republicans, who see him negatively 28/43. That doesn’t bode well for the general election and goes a long way toward explaining why Alex Sink fared so well in the numbers released recently. With 28% of voters still undecided, McCollum is certainly not out of it but Scott is seen as the strong favorite at this point.

At the same time, Miami Congressman Kendrick Meek has a 28-25 percent lead over billionaire Jeff Greene in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary– but with 37 percent still undecided and both candidates largely unknown even to Democrats. With Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an independent, taking dead aim at Democratic voters, neither Meek nor Greene is in great shape.

Meek’s small advantage is built on strong support from African Americans and liberals. The race is even with whites, but Meek is up 44-19 with black voters. Meek has a 3 point lead with moderates, balanced out by Greene’s 19 point edge with conservatives, but the tie is broken by a 39-26 margin for Meek with liberal voters.
45% of primary voters don’t know enough about Greene to have formed an opinion and 47% have not yet formulated one of Meek. Democratic voters haven’t been very impressed with what they’ve seen from Greene so far – 33% have an unfavorable opinion of him while just 22% see him positively. Charlie Crist should definitely be rooting for Greene given those numbers because it would significantly increase his odds of holding onto the Democratic support that’s fueling his current lead in the race. Meek’s favorability numbers are better at 33/20. Clearly, this race is looking a lot different than it did four months ago and it could shift a lot more yet in these final 3.5 months leading up to November 2nd.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek plans an 11-day statewide bus tour; Fort Myers hosting Aug.12
The Democratic candidate’s new statewide bus tour starts in Orlando next Wednesday, where Meek began his petition campaign to get on the ballot. He was the first statewide candidate to do so, gathering more than 112,000 voter signatures. On the first day, he goes to Sanford, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville.

Meek plans to spend most of Thursday in Jacksonville, then move on to Live Oak. On Friday, he'll move quickly across the Republican-leaning Big Bend and Panhandle, with rallies set for Monticello, Tallahassee, Chattahoochee, Marianna, Panama City and Destin.

On Saturday, Aug. 7, Meek starts the day in Pensacola and Bonifay, and then hits the Wausau Possum Festival – a major stop for every election year. He'll return to Tallahassee that night.

On Sunday, the bus goes to Gainesville and Ocala for a rally with former Lt. Gov. Buddy Mackay, then on to The Villages in Sumter County. With early voting starting on Aug. 9, Meek will run down to Miami Gardens on Monday to put in his ballot.

He has a debate with opponent Jeff Greene in Orlando on Aug. 10, then a bus stop in Lakeland. On Wednesday, Aug. 11, he'll be in the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas for three rallies.

Meek has more rallies in Fort Myers and Homestead on Aug. 12, then in Fort Lauderdale, Belle Glade and Highlands County on the 13th and the tour winds up with stops in Kissimmee, Melbourne, Vero Beach and Miami on Aug. 14.


'Paminator' Pam Bondi and Jeff Kottkamp trade insults over trial-lawyer ties
In the hotly contested Republican primary for attorney general, it doesn't take much to start controversy, according to Tampa Bay media. A brief e-mail from a lawyer who dated candidate Pam Bondi for five years did the trick. See article below from the Times/Herald:

Bondi, 44, a former Hillsborough prosecutor, is criticizing rival Jeff Kottkamp for his ties to Morgan & Morgan, the powerhouse personal injury law firm whose "for the people" billboards and radio ads promoting its pro-consumer work are seen and heard all over Florida. Kottkamp, 49, briefly worked for Morgan & Morgan, and the firm and its members have donated about $25,000 to his campaign, nearly a third of it on July 16. Trial lawyers are not the most popular group in any GOP-only contest.

Seeking to deflect Bondi's criticism of his connections to the trial bar, Kottkamp cited an e-mail written in the fall by Billy Howard, 43, a member of the Morgan & Morgan firm, who once dated Bondi. In the e-mail to his boss, Howard suggested that Bondi would hire the firm if she wins the race. "Told me at church today she will use us for consumer protection if she wins," Howard wrote on Nov. 22, 2009. "She plans to announce this week I think, but u would know more than me as usual."

Both Howard and Bondi now insist such a conversation never took place. In a brief phone conversation, Howard said: "There was never any talk about retaining our law firm." He asked that more questions be submitted in writing, then responded to those by saying Bondi had made no such offer. "No, she never did. Absolutely not," he said in an e-mail reply.

Howard has not contributed to Bondi, and records show he gave $250 to Kottkamp's campaign on July 16. Bondi declined to be interviewed, but issued a prepared statement accusing Kottkamp of a "smear campaign."

"Jeff Kottkamp received a forwarded e-mail from his former boss and head of the personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan, containing information that is absolutely untrue," Bondi's statement said. "I state without any hesitation or doubt that this purported conversation did not occur."

A search of campaign records found no Morgan & Morgan law firm members who have donated to Bondi's campaign. The e-mail indicates that Howard sent it to John Morgan, the law firm's founder, who forwarded it 14 minutes later to Kottkamp, the candidate Morgan is backing. The e-mail's subject line: "Paminator."

As Howard explained: "The term 'Paminator' was a nickname I gave her because of her work as an aggressive (assistant) state attorney." The outspoken Morgan dismissed the e-mail controversy, and said it was doubtful that Bondi could send legal work his way, even if she wanted to. "I think the people who are supporting her would turn five shades of purple if something like that happened," Morgan said. "She's close to the Fox News people, you know."

Bondi's campaign literature features her work as a legal analyst for Fox News. Kottkamp said Bondi's explanation "doesn't pass the credibility test," and that because Howard dated Bondi for five years, "he would have no reason to fabricate such a comment." "The offering of a state contract is illegal and should be investigated," Kottkamp said.

The third Republican in the primary for attorney general, Holly Benson, 39, has stayed out of the Bondi-Kottkamp fray. Kim Kirtley, an adviser to Bondi's campaign, asked the Times/Herald not to publish this article, and noted that Bondi was not yet a candidate at the time of the disputed conversation with Howard. "I wish you would reconsider the article and choose to ignore the low levels of mud-slinging in this race," Kirtley said.

Upcoming Meetings of Importance
Hispanic American Business Alliance (HABA)

The Hispanic American Business Alliance (HABA) of Fort Myers will hold its monthly networking event from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 3 at Cantina Laredo located, 5200 Big Pine Way, in Fort Myers. The event will feature local leaders born outside the United States of America. The featured speakers are Ray Judah, Lee County Commissioner; Mei-Mei Chan, President and Publisher of The News-Press; and Mayela Rosales, Vice President and TV host,

Azteca America Southwest Florida.
The cost to attend is $9.99 and includes appetizers and a soft drink. For information or to RSVP, contact Leonardo Garcia at (239) 560-2035 or L.GarciaHaba@gmail.com.
Alliance of the Arts Hosts School Board Candidate Forum

August 4th at 6:00PM

The future of Lee County schools, budgeting and other important issues are slated for discussion among candidates at a community forum at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers. Board candidates representing three districts will present their qualifications and platforms prior to the primary runoff election on August 24, 2010. One candidate from each district will be chosen by voters. Seven candidates are vying for the open seats.

Participating candidates, Don Armstrong, Mary Fischer, Arnold Gibbs, Elinor Scricca, Tom Scott and John Traube will address a variety of issues pertaining to one of Florida's largest (80,000 students) and most diverse school districts. A question-and-answer session will follow candidate remarks. The forum is free and open to the public.

Alliance for the Arts
10091 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers, FL 33919
239/939-ARTS (2787)

BusinessPeople United for Political Action Committee (BUPAC)
SPEAKER schedule:

Aug-05 Mike Jackson, candidate County Commission D-1
Aug-12 John Manning, candidate County Commission D-1
Aug-19 Cecil Pendergrass, candidate County Commissioner D-2
Aug-24 Primary Election
Nov-02 General Election

Where: Edison State College, Taeni Student Services Hall room S106

Cypress Lake Dr at Edison Lane, Parking Lot-6, Look for Clock Tower

When: 7:00 a.m. Breakfast; Program 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

Cost: $8 with food, or $4 without food

District 27 candidates to appear at Estero WCR luncheon Aug.13
The Women’s Council of REALTORS® Bonita Springs-Estero Chapter will host a business luncheon Aug. 13 starting at 11:30 a.m. at Grandezza Country Club in Estero. The featured political forum will have a question-and-answer session from four competing candidates for the state senate position for District 27, this area.

Those attending will be the two Republican candidates, Lizbeth Benacquisto and Sharon Merchant, and the two Democratic candidates, Peter Burkert and Kevin Rader.

RSVP to Karen Boring, council chapter treasurer at 239/250-3570 or e-mail kboringwcr@comcast.net. Cost is $20. For more information about the chapter, visit wcrbonitaestero.com.

SAVE THE DATE: NOVEMBER 4TH FOR THE BLUE CHIP AWARDS
The 16th Annual Southwest Florida Blue Chip Community Business Awards coordinated and sponsored by BB&T-Oswald Trippe and Company, will take place Nov. 4 at Harborside Event Center in Fort Myers. The award recognizes small businesses that have overcome adversity to achieve success. Registration begins at 11 a.m. Keynote speaker will be Olympic gold medal winner Nikki Stone. Applications, which must be submitted no later than Sept. 13, can be requested by contacting Stacey Mercado at (239) 433-7189 or SMercado@BBandT.com. Independent judges will select the winner.

GREATER FORT MYERS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP LUNCHEON
Marian Johnson, Vice President of Political Strategy for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, will be the guest speaker at the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce monthly membership luncheon. The topic will be Florida Politics and the next legislative session. The meeting will be:

Date: Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 11:30 am
Place: Fiddlesticks Country Club located at 15391 Canongate Dr. SE, 33912
RSVP: Call the Greater Fort Myers Chamber at 239/332-3624 or email: info@fortmyers.org

Save the Date: August 25th Luncheon

The Chamber of Southwest Florida will be holding a lunch on Amendment 4. Call 239/278-4001 for more information.

Save the Date: September 15th Trade show

The annual REALTOR® Association Trade Show will feature a fantastic RPAC booth with another special technology price to be auctioned off to benefit RPAC. You won’t want to miss this exciting event! Stay tuned for more information.