Update on Mast's developer dollars - District 1 BCC Race

From the Sarasota News Leader: 

Mast’s reports

From April through May of this year, Mast added another 36 contributions, but only six of them were at the maximum level of $1,000.

Teresa Mast. Image from her campaign website

Those $1,000 contributions came from the following: Shawna Wilson of Sarasota, director of purchasing at Kolter Homes; the Realtors Political Advocacy Committee, a political action committee (PAC) based in Orlando; the Taylor Morrison Building PAC, based on Scottsdale, Ariz.; the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange PAC; Commodore Realty of Key Biscayne; and Creekside South of Parrish, which is identified on the form as an agricultural firm, though the News Leader found several websites for Creekside residential communities in Parrish.

In that report, the largest portion of the expenditures — $17,450— went to Strategic Image Management (Simwins) of Tampa for multiple types of campaign-related assistance — from social media management to campaign photography to consulting work.

Cathy Antunes, one of the founders of the Citizens for Sarasota County Facebook page and host of The Detail on WSLR radio in Sarasota, has identified Anthony Pedicini, a partner with Simwins since September 2009 — as his LinkedIn account notes — as a political consultant for both Mast and Rainford. Antunes has reported on the Citizens Facebook page that Pedicini’s company has made more than $33 million in the past four years with its “portfolio of political services.”

From April through May, that campaign finance report shows, Mast also reimbursed herself $4,760.72 for expenses she had paid out of pocket.

Mast’s filing for the period of June 1 through June 14 notes that she added only $220 in contributions, but she spent $1,821.20. The largest single amount on the contribution list was $100, from a retired registered nurse named Teresa Hoffman, the form indicates. Hoffman’s address was “protected,” which typically means that the person at one time worked in law enforcement or in a district attorney’s offices — or the person is the spouse of someone who is or was so employed. The goal, per the relevant state law, is to try to protect those individuals and their families from retaliation because of the law enforcement/district attorney’s office work.

The largest expense in that report for Mast was $1,250, paid to Simwins for consulting work. The document does note that Mast reimbursed Commissioner Moran $171.20 for an “endorcement [sic] flyer.” That apparent misspelling, for the same purpose, shows up in a report filed by Commissioner Rainford. The same figure is listed as a payment to Moran in Cutsinger’s report for the first half of June; however, it is listed as a reimbursement for printing.

In the second half of June, Mast raised $3,400, and she spent $1,651.50, that report says.

Of the six contributions listed, she received $1,000 apiece from retirees Robb Peterson and Ashley Peterson of Sarasota, plus $1,000 from an audio engineer named Jacob Peterson, also of Sarasota.

Once again, the largest portion of her expenditures went to Simwins: $1,514. Of that total, $1,130 was for “text messaging service,” the document said.