COMMENTARY
“The Tampa-based political action committee’s attack on Amelia Graves is also an attack on the residents and voters of Vero Beach, for the group seeks to subvert the community’s right to choose its leaders in a municipal election held free of undue, shadowy outside influence.”
“…it is difficult, if not impossible to see CAFE’s attacks on Graves as anything less than an effort to help challenger Harry Howle in his second bid for a seat on the City Council.”
“To attack a candidate in a non-partisan municipal election on party grounds, is essentially to advocate for one-party government. Because absolute power corrupts absolutely, one-party government has never worked well. Consider Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. Is that what CAFE wants for America? It would seem so.”
MARK SCHUMANN
Political post cards attacking City Councilwoman Amelia Graves began arriving in mailboxes throughout Vero Beach Friday. The mailer was paid for by Citizens Alliance for Florida’s Economy (CAFE), a Tampa-based political action committee. Local politicos are now asking why a Tampa-based PAC would take an interest in Vero Beach’s municipal election.
The mailer claimed Graves cast the deciding vote on Vero Beach’s recent tax increase, but did not mention that Vero Beach’s recent tax increase was also approved by Mayor Richard Winger and Councilman Randy Old.
Winger and Old are arguably two of the most competent, knowledgable, conscientious and forward-thinking council members ever to serve Vero Beach.
It should be noted that Councilwoman Pilar Turner, who cast the lone vote against the 2015/16 budget, refused to specify where she would cut expenses. Likewise, challengers Harry Howle and Laura Moss have also refused to be specific about where they believe the City is spending unnecessarily.
Without acknowledging the City is budgeted to collect less in tax revenue than it did in 2007, or that it has 25 percent fewer employees than it had in 2009, the Tampa-based group accused Graves of being “good for big government,” and “bad for Vero Beach.”
In truth, the Tampa-based political hacks behind this last-minute smear campaign against Graves have no idea what is good for Vero Beach.
In attacking Graves for her 2012 support of President Obama, the CAFE mailer failed to acknowledge that she was joined by the majority of American voters. Without doing so overtly, the CAFE mailer is at least partly an attack on Grave’s political party affiliation.
To attack a candidate in a non-partisan municipal election on party grounds, is essentially to advocate for one-party government. Because absolute power corrupts absolutely, one-party government has never worked well. Consider Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. Is that what CAFE wants for America? It would seem so.
The chairman of CAFE is Anthony Pedicini. Pedicini is also CEO of Strategic Image Management, a “one-stop shop for political campaigns and corporations.” CAFE and Strategic Image Management share the same Tampa address. Since March of this year, CAFE has paid Pedicini’s company $31,000.
Strategic Image Management has a branch in Vero Beach, which operates out of 726 Hibiscus Lane, a residential address in the central beach. The principle is David Millner. Millner also owns a consulting company, the David Millner Group.
Earlier this year, Millner, his brother Michael and Pedicini were named in a Tampa Bay Times report on the activities of a shadowy political action committee that attacked a candidate for the Tampa City Council.
About Millner’s and Pedicini’s roll in the attack post card, Tampa City Council members Yvonne Yolie Capin, Harry Cohen, Frank Reddick and Mike Suarez said in a letter to local newspapers that they were “disturbed by shadowy, unknown entities becoming a factor in the race” and urged voters to “send a clear message rejecting this type of anonymous negative campaigning and be leery of unsourced, unverified attacks.”
“We find the introduction of third-party attacks that cannot be traced to be a very alarming and destructive development.”
Following the Times report on Pedicini, Saint Petersburg blogger, Peter Schorsch, wrote, “The Tampa-based political consultant is being dragged through the mud he otherwise expertly throws because he — let’s be honest — is doing what almost every other successful political consultant in the state does.”
Pedicini has connections to State Rep. Debbie Mayfield, who many suspect elicited from a Bradenton-based PAC vicious political attacks on Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan, when she was challenged in the 2012 election by Sandra Harpring, a former assistant to Mayfield. Pedicini also has connections to Indian River County Commissioner Bob Solari.
CAFE appears to be working hand-in-hand with the state Republican Party, which has contributed directly to the group. Their partisan attack on Graves in a non-partisan municipal election is likely less about competing political philosophies than it is about competing visions for Vero Beach. In fact, it is difficult, if not impossible to see CAFE’s attacks on Graves as anything less than an effort to help challenger Harry Howle in his second bid for a seat on the City Council.
Howle, who currently serves as chairman of the City’s Code Enforcement Board, just yesterday reported accepting a $350 from local attorney Barry Segal. Segal recently represented a boarding house operator in a code violation case. Howle sided with Segal’s client, but was in the minority on a 3-2 vote.
Was FPL instrumental in persuading CAFE to attack Graves? Could the move be driven by the vacation rental industry? Or, could local Tea Party leaders, many of whom have aided Howle financially, called on CAFE to attack Graves. Following the money transferred among Florida’s shadowy political action committees makes it all but impossible to discover who is pulling the strings.
What is clear is that the Tampa-based political action committee’s attack on Amelia Graves is also an attack on the residents and voters of Vero Beach, for the group seeks to subvert the community’s right to choose its leaders in a municipal election held free of undue, shadowy outside influence.
Indian River Guardian 
It seems to me if Mr Howle accepted money from the attorney representing the boarding house owner he should resign his seat on the Code Enforcement Board.
John, the board members serve at the pleasure of the council. If the council has an issue with a board member then it is their responsibility to have the board member removed. It is not up to the member to resign. BTW. this shadowy group seems, especially Millner, to have ties to State Rep. Debbie Mayfield and Tom Goodson. Not surprising at all to me.
Outside money, as I recall from Tampa, also dominated our local School Board race.
There are connections between CAFE and charter school groups that spent nearly half a million dollars in last year’s Indian River County and Volusia County school board races. What you have here are radical, ant-government, fundamentalist Libertarians like Bob Solari using outside money to corrupt, even poison Indian River County’s political process. These fanatics are opposed to all communication, cooperation and collaboration. They seek to concentrate power in the hands of a few. In the coming School Board and County Commission races, look for Laura Zorc, Tim Zorc and Solari to be aided by similar outside groups that will carry on relentless smear campaigns against their opponents. Seemingly, there is nothing the Zorcs, Solari and their kind will not do to gain and hold power.
This is the same Debbie Mayfield who can’t get anything done in the state legislature.Thank goodness she is term limited.
As usual, Mark is covering all the real news “that is fit to print”. His well researched article is a must read for anyone who wishes to be well informed about the two candidates: Amelia Graves and Harry Howell. Ms. Graves is an admitted democrat who supported Obama, but as Mark points out, he won the majority of American votes. That party affiliation is not relevant in a non-party election for City Council. But what this ‘soft money’ PAC did–a swift boat attack–is outrageous. Mr. Pedicini, who is not even from our area, is a hired hitman, using his Tampa-based Strategic Image Mgt LLC political consulting firm to help Harry Howell’s campaign. Mark asked the right question—why is Pedicini (and his compatriot David Millner of Vero) helping Howell? Is it just to promote Republican values? Or is it something deeper—that Howell seems willing to sell Vero’s quality of life to the highest bidder. As Mark points out, Howell voted IN FAVOR of a dubious plan by the attorney for Banyon Boarding House owner, Irene Snyder, to allow her to keep operating this illegal activity in a residential house in Central Beach. And a few weeks after the vote, Mr. Howell gets a $350 campaign contribution from Snyder’s attorney? This is a clear violation of ethics, if not patently illegal. The voters need to take note. Will Howell, if elected, offer to convert the Vero beachside into vacation rental ‘mini motels’ and boardinghouses? Perhaps this is what Mr. Pedicini’s financial backers–who they are is secret–are trying to do by interfering in our local elections. Mr. Howell should publically give back the $350 from Snyder’s attorney, and disavow the Strategic Image Mgt. hitman’s swift boat ad attacks on Ms. Grave, to clear up this matter. Or the voters should soundly reject Howell’s candidacy for City Council, as ethically unfit for office, and demand he also quit the city’s Code Enforcement Board.
Looks like big money out of town developers and short term rental owners are behind the Howle candidacy.
Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Poor Harry will loose again and hopefully fade into the sunset with Mrs Carrol and Mr Fletcher who cost the city $2,000,000 in attorney fees along with Mrs Turner for signing a contract with FP&L that could not possibly be consummated.
David, The contribution from attorney Barry Segal to Howel was given just a few DAYS after Howle voted in favor of Segal’s client in a case before the Code Enforcement Board.