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Minto has faced criticism for its involvement in ITID elections; officials are arguing

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Minto has faced criticism for its involvement in ITID elections; officials are arguing

The website and flyers attacking Indian Trail Improvement District commissioners were paid for by the PAC, which received donations from the communities of Minto, Westlake’s main builder.

Minto communities participated in a dark money campaign to defeat officials in the recent Indian Trail Improvement District election, a move that infuriated two candidates — one who lost and one who won.

Westlake’s master builder has donated more than $200,000 to two political action committees in Tallahassee, Florida First Initiative and Building Florida’s Future.

The money was used to create a website and send out thousands of leaflets attacking incumbents Betty Argue and Keith Giordano. Natalya Melian won the argument; Richard Vassalotti, a retired firefighter, defeated Giordano.

Building Florida’s Future paid for the website and flyers. The website indiantrailneedsachange.com is still operational. Both PACs are led by William S. Jones of Tallahassee; they also have the same treasurer.

“They sent hate mail,” Giordano said. “We have never encountered anything like this. It was a nonpartisan election, and Minto used it as payback for losing its lawsuit against ITID.”

What is dark money and why does it matter in local elections?

More and more money is being used to finance campaigns, but instead of going to a specific candidate, it goes to a political action committee that distributes the money on behalf of the candidates.

The spending, called dark money, is difficult to track because the PAC does not disclose on whose behalf it spent the money. Often he simply pays for negative, aggressive advertising, as was the case with Indian Trail.

Using dark money is legal. But it is unusual for it to be used in a small developed area whose sole responsibility is to maintain roads and parks. Many of the Jones-controlled PACs have contributed to campaigns involving prominent Republicans such as Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The Building Florida website falsely claimed that Indian Trail had lost police protection. Arga and Giordano are being accused of “massive tax increases,” and one sender questioned what “they’re doing with all our money.” Mailings include unflattering photographs of actors.

Minto and Indian Trail have been involved in a contentious lawsuit over whether Westlake can connect to roads in the improved area. This year, a judge ruled that Indian Trail did not have to allow Minto access to its roads. Minto is appealing the decision.

Lou Colantuoni, treasurer of the Landowners Association and a longtime resident of the area, called Vassalotti and Melian “puppets” of Minto and said, “Minto is trying to take over the board of directors.”

Bernard Lecker, an ITID lawyer, said much the same thing.

“Minto has made no secret of the fact that if it loses the case, it will pursue other means of gaining access to ITID roads,” Lecker said. “This means putting candidates on the board to allow them to do what they want. This is the end of the decision on the claim.”

A Minto spokesman said the developer did not wish to comment on the allegations. Attempts to get comment from Vassalotti and Melian were unsuccessful, but both told The Wellington Town Crier they had nothing to do with the leaflets.

Minto agreed to provide the county with up to $18 million to improve roads in the region. If he had access to Indian Trail roads, he might not be able to cover those costs. Indian Trail estimates it could cost up to $100 million if Westlake traffic is diverted onto its roads. He will have to make improvements.

Westlake, the county’s 39th municipality, is located north of Lion Country Safari and west of The Acreage. About half of Westlake’s 4,500 homes have been sold.

Political consulting firm’s use of Data Targeting questioned

Jones-controlled PACs relied heavily on the Gainesville-based political consulting firm Data Targeting. Two PACs that received money from Minto paid Data Targeting nearly $170,000.

In 2019, the Gainesville Sun reported that data targeting had become “a must-have Republican campaign staple, often delivering victories to candidates at all levels of government, sometimes with the help of cronies and questionable tactics.”

Its owner, Patrick Jay Bainter, was involved in a scheme to recruit a third-party “ghost” candidate to siphon votes from a Miami-Dade County Democrat. In 2020, Jose Javier Rodriguez, a Democrat from Miami-Dade, lost by 32 votes. A third-party candidate was paid $50,000 to run in the election. He had the same last name as Rodriguez and received 6,000 votes.

More: New Western communities attract buyers and cause traffic problems

Putting a “ghost candidate” on the ballot is legal, but paying for it is not. Former state Sen. Frank Artyles was sentenced Nov. 18 to three years probation for conspiracy and “false swearing” related to the scheme.

Prosecutors alleged that Artiles orchestrated the complex scheme with Bainter, who paid Artiles $90,000 through his firm, Data Targeting. Bainter was never charged, but testified for the prosecution. He said he didn’t know Artiles was using the funds to pay for a ghost candidate.

More: Homebuilder Minto Loses Bid to Use Rural Palm Beach County Road to Build Westlake

In Minto’s case, a review of campaign finance reports shows that Minto made the following contributions to the Florida First Initiative:

  • $50,000, June 27
  • $25,000, July 25
  • $25,000, August 2.
  • $25,000, August 15.
  • $30,000, August 30.
  • $40,500, October 18
  • $14,900 Oct. 30.

On August 6, Florida First contributed $20,000 to Building Florida’s Future, an organization whose name appeared on most of the mailers critical of incumbents.

“The degree of outside influence on this election was unprecedented,” Arg said. “However, there is a lot at stake here, but no one ever thought that dark money would find its way into ITID elections.”

Meanwhile, Argu believes the cost of the dark money campaign to oust her and Giordano exceeded $300,000. The county Republican Party also contributed to the election, donating $2,500 to Melian and $3,500 to Vassalotti. County Commissioner Sarah Baxter’s PAC donated $1,000 to Melian.

County Republican Party Chairman Kevin Neal said the party had nothing to do with the texts or flyers. He defended its involvement in the election, noting that it is perfectly legal for the organization to endorse candidates in nonpartisan races.

“Melian and Vassalotti were republicans. We support the Republicans. It doesn’t matter if the election is non-partisan,” Neal said.

Lecker said he was disappointed in the GOP’s involvement.

“This is a symptom of the massive growth encouraged by county Republicans who don’t have to deal with the consequences of traffic congestion or lack of schools. They have become very adept at using PACs to fund campaigns. Republicans want to see row houses in ITID,” he said.

Argue questioned Baxter’s participation in the election, noting that county commissioners had never participated in an Indian Trail election before.

Baxter said she supported Melian because Melian was a candidate who supported the rights of Indian Trail residents to use their property for self-sufficiency by parking trucks on their land, as they have done for years. She claimed that Argu wanted to deprive her of these rights.

Mike Diamond – journalist Palm Beach Postpart of the USA TODAY Florida network. He covers Palm Beach County government and issues affecting homeowners associations. You can contact him at [email protected]. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.