OIG No. 20-06: Investigation of Alleged Unlawful Campaign FinancingJoseph M. Centorino, Inspector General
June 16, 2020
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members
FROM: Joseph Centorino, Inspector Gen
RE: Alleged Unlawful Campaign Finan
OIG No. 20-06
ommission
Executive Summary
Attached is the Office of the Inspector General's review of an allegation of unlawful
campaign contributions by unknown vendors and developers during the 2019
Commission District IV race. The review concluded that, in the absence of evidence that
there was a direct or indirect solicitation of a prohibited donor to a PAC which supported
or opposed a candidate for City elected office, the contributions would not be unlawful.
Based on the results of the review, and the declination by the Miami-Dade Commission
on Ethics, no further action was taken.
OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL, City of Miami Beach
1130 Washington Avenue, 6 Floor, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Tel: 305.673.7020 • Fax: 305.587.2401 • Hotline: 786.897.111I
Email: CityofMiamiBeachOIG@miamibeachfl.gov
Website: www.mbinspectorgeneral .com
Joseph M. Centorino, Inspector General
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TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission FROM: Joseph Centorino, Inspector General
DATE: June 16, 2020
RE: Alleged Unlawful Campaign Financing OIG No. 20-06
Complaint Re: Alleged Unlawful Campaign Financing
Complainant: Mr. Jeff Donnelly
Allegation:
Unknown vendors and real estate developers contributed to a PAC targeting candidate
Kristen Rosen Gonzalez in violation of the City of Miami Beach campaign finance ordinance.
Relevant laws: Miami Beach Code Sec. 2-487-491, Campaign Finance Reform
Facts: The complainant mailed to this office campaign material paid for by Our Future Now, a political action committee (PAC) with an address in Tampa, Florida. (A copy of the material is part of the file.) The PAC’s documents filed with the State of Florida Election Department indicate that it neither supports a particular candidate, nor is connected to any committees supporting a candidate. Additionally, at the time of its
creation, Our Future Now did not support or oppose any issues. Nevertheless, the campaign material it mailed out alleged that Kristen Rosen Gonzalez who, at the time, was a candidate for the Miami Beach Commission, had accepted thousands of dollars from developers and vendors. Rosen Gonzalez had three opponents in the 2019 election: Michael Barrineau, Steven Meiner, and Rafael Velasquez. The campaign materials did
not endorse any of the other candidates. The complainant asked this office to investigate Our Future Now and its donor sources.
Analysis:
Chapter 2, Division 5, Section 2-276 of the Miami Beach City Code states, in part, that “the City of Miami Beach Office of Inspector General is hereby created as an independent body to perform investigations, audits, reviews, and oversight of municipal matters,
including City contracts, programs, projects, and expenditures, in order to identify
inefficiencies and to detect and prevent fraud, waste, mismanagement, misconduct, and
abuse of power..." The allegation in this complaint involves a municipal matter (an
election) that may have involved misconduct by candidates running for City Commission
in violation of the City's campaign finance laws. Therefore, this inquiry is within the
purview of the Inspector General.
In 2015, Miami Beach engaged in a rigorous process of amending its campaign finance
laws. At the time, the City ordinances prohibited incumbents or candidates for office from
soliciting or accepting, directly or indirectly, contributions from vendors, real estate
developers, or their lobbyists. However, the ordinances did not specifically prohibit a
contribution or solicitation of a contribution, directly or indirectly, to a PAC that supported
an incumbent or other candidate for City office so long as the incumbent and/or candidate
did not either directly or indirectly seek the contribution or solicitation.
In an effort to remedy the appearance of quid pro quo corruption that became part of the
public debate at the time, the City assembled a public workshop, which included ethical
guidance and legal opinions from the City Attorney, as well as, the Executive Director of
the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, Joseph M. Centorino, and
Attorney former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raul Cantero. As a consequence of this
public discussion, the Miami Beach Commission voted to amend its campaign finance
ordinance. The amendments, which the City Commission unanimously adopted, state,
in part, that candidates for the offices of Miami Beach Mayor or City Commissioner, as
well as their campaign committees, may not directly or indirectly solicit, accept or deposit
into such candidate's campaign account any campaign contribution from a vendor, real
estate developer, and/or their lobbyists. The amendments further prohibit candidates or
their campaign committees from soliciting, directly or indirectly, from a vendor, real estate
developer, or lobbyist for a vendor or real estate developer, for a contribution to a PAC
that supports or opposes candidates for City elected office.
Enforcement of Section 2.487-491 of the Miami Beach Code is within the jurisdiction of
the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics. This matter was discussed with Michael
Murawski, Advocate for the Commission on Ethics. Mr. Murawski declined to investigate
further and concurred that, in the absence of evidence that there was a direct or indirect
solicitation of a prohibited donor to a PAC which supported or opposed a candidate for
City elected office, this would not be an unlawful contribution.
The OIG has concluded that, in the absence of evidence of a direct or indirect solicitation
by a prohibited donor, as outlined above, or any information upon which to suspect such
an illegal solicitation, there is no basis for further investigation.
Kristen Rosen Gonzalez provided a statement to the Office of Inspector General, but she
did not have any further information about the sources of funding for Our Future Now.
She was advised that there would be no further action on this matter.
The complainant was advised of these conclusions.
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This matter is now closed.
IN UIRY CLOSURE SIGNATURES:
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OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL, City of Miami Beach
1130 Washington Avenue, 6 Floor, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Tel: 305.673.7020 • Fax: 305.587.2401 • Hotline: 786.897.1111
Email: CityofMiamiBeachOIG@miamibeachfl.gov
Website: www.mbinspectorgeneral.com
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