Digging for 'dirty money'

How to figure out how much your county commission candidates got

At VoteWater we focus on “dirty money” because politicians who take money from polluting special interests are more likely to vote for those special interests, and against clean water.

There’s a direct correlation.

Our “Dirty Money Project” — tracking campaign cash from polluters to elected officials at the federal, state and county commission level over the past six years — will soon be ready for prime time. Meanwhile, for those of you wondering how much dirty money candidates for your local county commission are getting, we can help.

Candidates must file finance reports with their county Supervisor of Elections, detailing all contributions (and expenditures). The links below will take you to those finance reports for each county listed; you can see the aggregate total raised by each candidate and download the details.

Click here for St. Lucie County campaign finance info

Click here for Martin County campaign finance info

Click here for Palm Beach County campaign finance info

Click here for Broward County campaign finance info

Click here for Miami-Dade County campaign finance info

Click here for Monroe County campaign finance info

Click here for Collier County campaign finance info

Click here for Lee County campaign finance info

These are the eight south Florida counties where VoteWater focuses our resources; if your county isn't listed you can visit your county's Supervisor of Elections website and root around — the info will be there, though it may be tricky to find.

And if you see big bucks from Big Sugar and other agricultural interests, from phosphate mining firms, big utilities or development-related interests — like we said, there's a direct correlation between what candidates get and how they vote.

So cast your own ballot accordingly.

Lies, damned lies and political mailers

Like us, your mailbox is likely packed with campaign mailers full of dubious claims.

Case in point: Recent mailers from incumbent Martin County Commissioner Doug Smith and Susan Gibbs Thomas, candidate for the Third District seat, sounding the same theme: How dedicated they are to protecting the Martin County way of life.

“Doug Smith is protecting our most precious places from excessive growth and out-of-control development,” read his mailer.

This, from a commissioner who routinely votes for comprehensive plan amendments to facilitate more and denser development. He voted to leapfrog the Urban Service District boundary and create the “rural lifestyle” land use; in December he voted in favor of a proposal to permit development more than a mile into existing farmland.

This makes sense when you consider Smith, who as we noted last week has raised $164,541 for his re-election campaign, got huge sums from developers and development-related interests like land use attorneys or construction companies.

Smith isn’t the guy standing in front of the bulldozers. He’s practically driving them.

If anything, the mailer from Gibbs Thomas is even more ludicrous. She will “Put a stop to growth and protect our Martin County way of life,” it reads.

Thomas has raised $78,574 and gotten an even greater percentage of that cash from developers, home builders and real estate investors than Smith.

And the mailer itself was paid for by a political action committee called “Keep Martin Green” — which, according to state records has gotten all of its money from another PAC called “Accountability in Government." That PAC got $482,000 from a third PAC, “Fight for Florida” — which gets most of its money from developers, homebuilders, construction firms and the like.

So this is how it works; slick mailers make you think candidates will stand against “sprawl”; but the candidates themselves are funded by the sprawl industry — guaranteeing sprawl will continue.

And that, unfortunately, has indeed become not just the “Martin County way of life” — but the FLORIDA way of life.

It's election time. What are you voting for?

Florida's primary election is Tuesday, Aug. 20; early voting has begin or will soon begin in your Florida county.

The last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot for the primary is today, Thursday, Aug. 8; mail-in ballots must be received by your local Supervisor of Elections by 7 p.m. on Aug. 20.

And polling places are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on election day, Aug. 20.

Get out there and vote for clean-water candidates — because nothing will ever change if you don't. And stick with VoteWater as we pass the primary and set our sights on the Nov. 5 general election.

It's a big year. Let's make a big difference.

P.S.: Have you completed and signed this year's petition for the proposed Florida Right to Clean Water Constitutional Amendment yet? Why the heck not? Stop by the VoteWater office at 3727 SE Ocean Blvd., Suite 200A in Stuart to pick up a petition — or head over to the Right to Clean Water website to print one at home.