Ron Book is exploiting a loophole in the law to take kickback from a politician

 No surprise here to see the convicted criminal still engaged in questionable activity with another politician. 

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/2024/11/01/lobbyist-ron-book-looks-to-clear-his-name-sue-pbc-ethics-commission/75940551007/

A lobbyist was cited by the ethics commission; now he's suing and wants to clear his name

Lobbyist Ron Book was cited in September for failing to cash checks from county Commissioner Sara Baxter for a ride on his private jet to Tallahassee to attend the inauguration of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

By Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post, 11/1/2024

Lobbyist Ron Book has filed a lawsuit challenging the ability of the Palm Beach County Ethics Commission (COE) to take action against him based on an anonymous complaint.

Book was cited in September for failing to cash checks from county Commissioner Sara Baxter for a ride on his private jet to Tallahassee to attend the inauguration of Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2023. Book's lawyer, Mark Herron of Tallahassee, argues in the lawsuit that a new state law should be applied retroactively, a move that would prevent the COE from pursuing the complaint even though it was filed well before the bill was considered by the Legislature.

The new law, SB 7041, adds time limits to the length of ethics investigations, requires sworn affidavits to launch complaints and bans second-hand knowledge from being used in investigations. Critics argued the law would limit the ability of ethics commissions to enforce county ordinances.

The law took effect Oct. 1; Book was cited three weeks earlier. The lawsuit says the statute says it can be applied retroactively. Should Book prevail, ethics investigations that were being pursued before the effective date of the new law could be jeopardized.

Ethics commissions across the state, including the Palm Beach County COE, called on Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto the bill as did newspaper editorials but DeSantis signed it into law in June.

Book argued in September when he was issued a "letter of instruction" that the commission had no right to follow up on the anonymous complaint because the action was taken after DeSantis signed the law. Much of what was alleged in the anonymous letter was confirmed through the COE investigation.

Book cashed the checks 18 months after they were written once a COE investigator asked him for verification. He also paid for Baxter to attend a pricey VIP dinner as well.

Sitting on the checks after 90 days of receiving them turned the trip and the dinner into gifts, according to COE, which meant Baxter had to report them as such, and she did not. The COE has not taken formal action against Baxter but Book's lawsuit discloses that a complaint, not yet made public, has been filed against her as well. Efforts to obtain comment from the COE as to the claim made in the lawsuit that a complaint against Baxter is pending were unsuccessful.

The COE has yet to file an answer to Book's appeal filed in Circuit Court. The case is not expected to be heard for several months.

Will the Ethics Commission cite Commissioner Baxter?

Book was cited for violating that part of the county’s ethics code that bars a registered lobbyist from giving a gift of more than $100 to an official of any governmental agency within Palm Beach County.

“Because the checks were not cashed, the value of the airfare and dinner may be considered a prohibited gift in excess of $100,” the COE concluded. Baxter said she never reported the trip and dinner as gifts because she reimbursed Book. She has said she was unaware that Book did not cash the checks.

The letter-of-instruction penalty for Book was one of the lower citations that could have been levied. He was told “to be more diligent in the future." Book's lawyer, Herron, said Book believes he did nothing wrong and is determined to clear his name. That is why he is asking the courts to nullify what the COE did, Herron added.

Although COE could not establish an exact value of admission to the VIP dinner, Investigator Mark Higgs said in his nine-page report that open-source reporting showed sponsorship packages for political donors ranged in cost from $25,000 to $1 million.

Precedent-setting lawsuit is months away from being resolved

The COE investigation began in August 2023 after the agency received the anonymous letter complaining that Baxter attended the inauguration on Book’s private jet and went to the dinner after the inauguration.

One of Book’s clients is BBX Capital, a real-estate holding company, that is currently building a major warehouse project in an unincorporated area west of Delray Beach. BBX made a $15,000 contribution to Baxter’s political action committee shortly after it was created on Nov. 15, 2022.

It obtained final approval for its project in June 2023 despite opposition by county planners. County Mayor Maria Sachs was the only commissioner to vote against the project.

Ron Book donates $1500 to dubious Palm Beach County housing PAC

Ron Book "cares" so much about the homeless,
he looks like he hasn't slept under a roof in years.

Ron Book's name pops up in yet another dubious housing scheme. By the way, Ron Book doesn't have throat cancer, throat cancer has Ron Book. 

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-col-schultz-affordable-housing-pac-20221011-jj365w6eyrbw5cafre3yxoqwsa-story.html

Palm Beach County’s affordable housing scam | Randy Schultz

By Randy Schultz

South Florida Sun Sentinel

Oct 11, 2022 at 3:23 pm

A recent mailer in support of Palm Beach County’s affordable housing bond referendum looks very civic-minded.

Don’t believe it.

The mailer comes from Hometown Housing Trust. It features first responders and teachers and asks voters to support the $200 million bond program on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Hometown Housing Trust also has a website. It promises that the referendum will deliver 20,000 homes and apartments for “the people who keep us safe and provide so many of the things that make Palm Beach County a great place to live.”

The problem of affordable housing is real. But here’s the reality of Hometown Housing Trust.

Randy Schultz is a Sun Sentinel columnist. (Mike Slaughter / Sun Sentinel/South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

Behind this political action committee are developers and their representatives who helped to cause the affordable housing crisis by not building enough affordable housing in the first place. Now they want public subsidies for developers, overseen by county commissioners who get donations from those same developers and their representatives.

Hometown Housing Trust had raised nearly $400,000 through Sept. 29. One of the largest contributions — $25,000 — came from GL Homes.

The company’s headquarters actually is in Broward County. But given how many homes the company has built in Palm Beach County, “hometown” might not be a stretch.

Very little of that building, though, has been affordable housing. As The Palm Beach Post reported, GL lobbied the county to relax rules that required builders to include affordable units in their projects. In just two examples, GL avoided having to build roughly 700 such units, which have lower profit margins.

The company is now offering to build 277 moderately priced units near Boca Raton — but only if GL Homes can build 1,000 high-end homes where rules now don’t allow them. The trade could mean an extra $750 million for the company.

Under Florida law, the seven commissioners and top administrators can’t campaign for the afordable housing referendum. So the Economic Council of Palm Beach County and CEO Michele Jacobs are taking the lead. Which brings us to Hometown Housing Trust.

A GL vice president serves on the council’s board. So does an executive from Minto Communities, which donated $10,000. So does an executive from Florida Crystals, which donated $50,000. In addition to producing sugar, Florida Crystals has a real estate operation.

Indeed, almost all of Hometown Housing Trust’s donations have come from developers or their representatives. One of the many real estate lawyers who donated serves on the council’s executive committee. He’s a registered lobbyist for GL Homes.

Another lawyer/contributor works for the firm whose address is that of Hometown Housing Trust. Several other contributors are council board members.

The group got $25,000 from The Richman Group, which builds multi-family housing. Another $25,000 came from Miami-based Pinnacle Communities, also a multi-family builder.

Just for good measure, Hometown Housing Trust got $1,500 from Ron Book. He’s the very well-connected Tallahassee lobbyist whose daughter is a state senator. From Broward County.

The Palm Beach Post also reported that the economic council helped to craft the referendum at the request of home builders, who resisted options that could cost them. The proposal thus would shift responsibility for solving the problem onto the public and away from the industry that created it.

Hometown Housing Trust’s mailer says the referendum is all about helping regular folks. The money says otherwise.

Surprise! Lauren Book "sprinkles" herself with $500,000 more Floridiot taxpayer bucks

"Woo hoo! More money for ME!"

According to the Florida Bulldog, 37 of 45 bills introduced by Lauren Book didn't even make it out of committee.

In case you want to keep score, these are the only bills she helped pass:

1. The sex doll ban
2. An administrative bill changing agency names for the state's elderly care department
3. "Andrew's Law" yet another named law, this time targeting school hazing
4. Creating a new bureaucracy, the "Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission"
5. A bill revising rules for Stroke Centers

The rest died in committee or failed to pass later.

Remember the Progressive Ad "Only Winners Get Sprinkles"? I don't think Senator Bimbo earned her sprinkles this year.

https://www.floridabulldog.org/2019/05/legislative-sprinkle-extra-half-million-dollars-to-state-senators-nonprofit/

Legislative ‘sprinkle’ adds extra half-million dollars to state senator’s nonprofit, quietly doubling state payout to Lauren’s Kids

MAY 22, 2019
AUTHOR: FRANCISCO ALVARADO

In the waning days of the most recent Florida legislative session, it appeared the nonprofit agency founded and run by Plantation State Sen. Lauren Book would walk away with only half-a-million dollars in taxpayer funding after consecutive years of receiving seven-figure sums.

Then came the April 30th meeting of the budget conference chairs. That’s when Lauren’s Kids got sprinkled.

The so-called “sprinkle list” is used to describe how legislators shower favored organizations with additional dollars near the end of session.

Toward the end of the hearing, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Rob Bradley, R- Green Cove Springs, announced that the children’s cancer awareness foundation Live Like Bella and Book’s organization, Lauren’s Kids, had been erroneously left off the list. He said each would receive an additional $500,000.

With a stroke of a pen, Bradley made sure his colleague’s nonprofit walked away with $1 million for its educational outreach program aimed at preventing sexual and physical abuse against children, as well as encouraging the reporting of child-abuse cases. Book later voted to approve the budget bill containing the allocation for Lauren’s Kids.

But according to ethics watchdogs, the large allocation of public funds to a senator’s nonprofit  raises concerns about whether Book, a Democrat, properly disclosed her ties to Lauren’s Kids. Likewise, they question the legislative practice of doling out public dollars to private groups after legislative committees have already voted on how much money the groups should receive.

Subversive sprinkle

Peter Cruise, executive director of Florida Atlantic University’s LeRoy Collins Public Ethics Academy, said the sprinkle list subverts the committee process. “It becomes more concerning if it involves a legislator and the organization has her name on it, even if it’s for helping abused kids,” said Cruise, who is also a Palm Beach County ethics commissioner. “Things like this should not happen, no matter how worthy the cause is.”

Ben Wilcox, research director for the watchdog organization Integrity Florida, said legislators only have to disclose a possible conflict of interest if the appropriation directly benefits them. “She can argue that it is not a direct benefit to her because the allocation is to the nonprofit,” Wilcox explained. “But it is a really gray area. If I were her, I would err on the side of full disclosure.”

Furthermore, Book should have sought an opinion from the Senate’s general counsel before voting on the state budget, Wilcox said. “If you don’t take some steps to fully disclose what could be a potential conflict, it doesn’t look good to the public,” he said.

Since its inception in 2007, Lauren’s Kids has sought and received grant funding from the state, collecting more than $13 million in the last five years alone. The senator, a rising Broward Democrat whose father is powerhouse lobbyist Ron Book, receives a $144,250 salary as Lauren’s Kids CEO, according to the nonprofit’s 2016 tax return, the most recent available. The same document shows that government grants represented 68 percent of Lauren’s Kids 2016 $4.1 million revenue. Book’s Senate salary is $29,697.

In a 2017 interview before the start of her first year in office, Book told Florida Bulldog that she consulted the Senate’s general counsel about voting on issues relating to Lauren’s Kids. She said she was advised “that I do not abstain on these matters unless the funding directly inures to my benefit, which it will not.” Book insisted that her CEO salary was restructured so that is not paid with state funds and that she derives no personal benefit from public tax dollars.

During her first term, Book has quickly risen up the ranks in the Republican-controlled Legislature. She is chairwoman of the Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee and is a member of the Appropriations Committee and two appropriations subcommittees that oversee education, health and human services. However, she has been mostly ineffective in passing her own legislative agenda.

According to her Senate website, 37 of 45 bills Book sponsored died at the committee level, including measures to establish trust and compensation funds for victims’ families of the Feb. 14, 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High mass shooting.

A ‘scrivener’s error’

As a member of the Appropriations Committee and subcommittees, Sen. Book was at the April 30th budget conference. When Bradley said a ‘scrivener’s error’ had mistakenly left off funding for Live Like Bella and Lauren’s Kids, Book was a few feet away from the Senate appropriations chairman, according to video footage of the meeting.

“As an appointed member of the overall Joint Budget Conference Committee and a member of both the Education and the Health and Human Services Budget Conference Sub-Committees it was my duty to be there,” Book said in an emailed statement. The senator said the $500,000 sprinkle for Lauren’s Kids was requested by Democratic Sen. Bill Montford of Leon County, who also is the CEO of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. Bradley and Montford did not respond to phone messages and emails requesting comment.

Book said she became aware of the scrivener’s error during the budget conference, but that she did not discuss Lauren’s Kids funding with any of the legislators or Senate staff in attendance.

Lauren’s Kids spokeswoman Claire VanSusteren told Florida Bulldog that Book has not been involved with any legislative funding requests related to the nonprofit.

“She does not lobby her colleagues on the budget, and does not participate in foundation-related legislative updates as she is no longer a member of the Lauren’s Kids board of directors,” VanSusteren said. “The only exception has been to vote on a final state budget as is required of her as a state senator.”

Cruise, the ethics commissioner, said having a colleague like Montford sponsor funding for Lauren’s Kids puts some distance between the senator and her nonprofit, but that the sprinkle list subverts the vetting process undertaken by the legislative committees.

“The appropriations process is extremely political,” Cruise said. “It is hard to get on an agenda and organizations can get knocked out at the last minute. To have something come out of left field is not the way the process is supposed to work.”

Another day, another conflict of interest for Ron and Senator Lauren Book

Another day, another backroom deal for south Florida corruption

How can you tell if a Book Crime Family member is lying? Their lips are moving.

https://www.local10.com/news/florida/broward/broward-sheriff-accuses-local-10-news-investigative-reporter-bob-norman-of-bullying

Sheriff meets with father of member of commission to investigate Stoneman Douglas tragedy
Scott Israel says he will never answer another question from Bob Norman

By Bob Norman - Investigative Reporter
Posted: 6:19 PM, May 03, 2018
Updated: 7:48 PM, May 03, 2018

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Broward Sheriff Scott Israel hosted a service today in honor of the National Day of Prayer, and while he didn’t mention the Parkland massacre, he did reference his own travails in light of the school shooting that left 17 dead.

Israel said God puts people in rough seas because their "enemies can’t swim."

"If you seek shelter with the most high, you will be protected in the shadow of the almighty," he said.

After an overwhelming no-confidence vote by his deputies' union and with investigators -- from both the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Gov. Rick Scott's public safety commission -- looking into his actions after his agency's failures in Parkland, Israel may need all the protection he can get.

"Everything is on the line right now," said union chief Jeff Bell, who led the no-confidence vote and is encouraging Scott to suspend Israel from his post, alleging incompetence and neglect of duty.

The clouds surrounding BSO could explain the sheriff's meeting with lobbyist Ron Book Tuesday night at J. Alexanders in Plantation. Book is one of the most powerful lobbyists in Tallahassee and has the ear of the governor, who has said he will decide whether or not to suspend Israel when the FDLE investigation into the BSO response to Parkland is completed.

Presenting a more serious potential conflict of interest for Israel is the fact that Book's daughter, Sen. Lauren Book, sits on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, which is also investigating the shooting and BSO.

Bell said the meeting raises serious questions, saying the sheriff should take the same advice given to deputies who fall under investigation – stay away from potential conflicts of interest.

"Any time that you’re being investigated and you’re meeting with people who have direct ties with running that investigation or have family members of close friends that are involved in that decision making process you should always stay away from that," Bell said. "We’re always held to a higher standard and we should know better so to put yourself in situation like that where you could even be accused of having a conversation to dictate the outcome of an investigation."

When Local10 News investigative reporter Bob Norman asked Israel about the meeting with Book after the prayer service, Israel made it personal, accusing Norman of "bullying and disrespect."

"So you’re not going to answer my questions?" Norman asked.

"None of your questions ever," Israel said. "And I told you that four or five years ago, but thanks for coming Bobby."

Book said the two men had bumped into each other earlier this week and that he made a suggestion they catch up some time, though he said he doesn’t recall them ever socializing in the past. He said Israel called him the following day and suggested they meet for dinner at J. Alexander’s.

While he conceded they discussed the Parkland shooting, Book said the subject of the investigations and the governor were never mentioned. He said the subject of his daughter sitting on the Parkland commission also didn’t come up.

Book also said he didn’t consider the meeting a conflict of interest because he did not discuss Israel with his daughter either and that the two keep such matters "separate" from each other.

Ron Book and his patsy Jose "Pepe (le Pew)" Diaz flat out LIES to the Miami-Dade subcommittee in support of ordinance to arrest homeless registrants

Ron Book is pimping Miami's latest proposal to "clean up" the homeless camp by making it legal for the police to arrest them for being homeless altogether. Currently, the police must provide the homeless with the opportunity to go to a shelter and can only arrest after the homeless refuse the shelter. Thus, police can't arrest a homeless registrant because there aren't any shelters for the in Miami-Dade. If they succeed in passing this local ordinance, then the police can just arrest them without offering shelter. I suspect this will lead to a roundup of camp residents.

See full story at http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-dade-commissioners-propose-arrest-of-homeless-sex-offenders-on-sight-9807032

Ron Book's lies can be found at 44 minutes in. The bill passed the subcommittee and will go to a full committee on January 23rd.

It is hard to tell what is worse here- Ron Book's lying mouth or Jose "Pepe Le Pew" Diaz planting his lips firmly on Ron Book's lying ass.

http://miamidade.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=4704

“To dump people out on the street is stupid. And it’s dumb. And it’s inconsistent," says hypocrite Ron Book

“To dump people out on the street is stupid. And it’s dumb. And it’s inconsistent.” These are the words of the hypocrite Ron Book, the man whose name is synonymous with the Julia Tuttle Causeway "Sex Offender" camp.

Why is Ron even head of the Homeless Trust?

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article77604477.html

Lobbyist Ron Book calling the shots in Miami-Dade’s homeless fight

Ron Book illustrates just how much he cares for the homeless.

BY DOUGLAS HANKS
dhanks@miamiherald.com

When Miami-Dade’s homeless board convened for the first time Friday to grapple with the loss of nearly $6 million in federal aid, chairman Ronald Book did most of the talking and all of the table pounding.

The prominent lobbyist delivered a tirade about conflicts he saw between Washington’s goal of ending homelessness and its recent decision to deny grant requests from Miami-Dade’s domestic-violence shelters, drug-treatment centers and other providers that Book described as the biggest financial blow to ever hit the local agency.

“What makes me angry is that cutoff at the knees,” said Book, his voice nearing a shout in a County Hall conference room, the diamonds in an oversized ring catching the light as his clenched fist made contact with the plastic conference table. “To dump people out on the street is stupid. And it’s dumb. And it’s inconsistent.”

The funding squeeze looming for charity providers and the 700 beds backed by the federal dollars presents the latest test for Book and his enduring post atop Miami-Dade’s homeless programs. A leading campaign donor who is a paid lobbyist for Miami-Dade itself in Tallahassee, Book has consistently won county waivers to extend his tenure as chairman of the Homeless Trust, which oversees both the agency and the bar-and-restaurant tax that funds it.

Unlike chairs of county boards overseeing the transit tax, hospital tax and children-services tax, Book serves as the public face of the county’s homeless arm, with director Victoria Mallette, a former county spokeswoman, generally declining on-the-record interviews. “Ron is the only authorized spokesperson,” Lisa Mozloom, an executive with the public-relations agency working for the Homeless Trust, wrote in a text message Friday.

Last year, Miami sued to force the Homeless Trust to spend $100,000 on sleeping mats so that the city’s overflowing homeless shelter could house people outside. Book refused, saying mats were an undignified violation of long-standing federal policy to invest in beds. He also dismissed a more expensive plan to have the trust pay for portable restrooms to cut down on Miami’s homeless defecating in the city’s business district, which boosters outlined with a digital “poop map” that drew national attention.

 Follow
 Daniella Levine Cava ✔ ‎@DLCAVA
This is a crisis. And on the day we declared Mental Health Month. https://twitter.com/newsbysmiley/status/727612019973619712 …
5:48 PM - 3 May 2016
  1 1 Retweet   2 2 likes

The two sides ultimately brokered a compromise that ended the mat program in favor of adding county-funded beds elsewhere. The deal came after critics blasted Book for being more concerned with proving his dominance of the county’s homeless policy than in making a reasonable course change to help Miami.

“The Trust was a macabre experience,” former Miami city commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who led the city’s fight for mats and toilets, said Friday. “I think it’s time for a total review by the county, and every municipality, to see if it’s equipped to do what it’s supposed to be doing.”

On May 2, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced $355 million in grant awards that contained bad news for Miami-Dade: Of the roughly $6 million it requested, only about $200,000 was granted. The Junior League of Miami’s Inn Transition domestic-violence shelters lost out on about $900,000, as did a job-training program run by Jewish Community Services. The New Hope drug-rehab center in Homestead was denied a $430,000 grant.

“We help people living in their cars. We help people living in parks,” said Robert Berman, housing coordinator for Lutheran Services’ Access program, which provides security deposits for homeless who have a little income but not the money needed to start a lease. “Hopefully something can be done. Otherwise, we have to shut down.”

About 40 percent of the county’s $59 million homeless budget comes from a 1 percent tax attached to bills at restaurants and bars located outside of hotels across Miami-Dade. Federal dollars account for more than half.

HUD divides funding requests into two tiers, with the first all but guaranteed and the second thrown into a pool where each agency must compete with counterparts across the country. Last year, the second tier was nominal — just 2 percent of an agency’s existing federal funding. But this year, HUD told agencies that 15 percent of their prior funding would shift to the second tier.

That move created a nationwide competition that Book said cost Miami-Dade more money than any other agency in the country.

HUD gives priority to programs that place the homeless in long-term housing — such as rental subsidies in for-profit apartment buildings. The federal agency also has been steering local providers away from short-term housing options in group settings, such as a domestic-violence shelter or drug-treatment home. Those facilities typically limit stays to 24 months at the most, while long-term housing can last indefinitely.

By making the grants more competitive, a HUD spokesman said the agency wanted to push providers away from “transitional” beds and into permanent programs.

“We have these goals,” said HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan. “We’ve got to get there.”

The denied funds from Washington put Book under pressure on two fronts — he is seen as the de facto head of an agency that failed to secure crucial grant money, and he’s now using his political heft to wage an appeal for the funds.

IF WE’VE GOT A PLACEMENT THAT’S OUT OF ORDER, IT’S GOT TO BE RUN BY ME. I’M INVOLVED IN THE DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES OF REVIEWING WHAT WE DO.
Ron Book, longtime chairman of Miami-Dade’s homeless board

“Miss Mallette has listened to my multiple upon multiple conversations with Congressman [Mario] Diaz-Balart,” Book told board members at the meeting Friday. “Not a third-level, fifth-level, ninth-level staff, but to the congressman directly. There is a reason that Senator [Marco] Rubio called from Iraq. It’s because we have a community that cares.”

State records list more than 100 lobbying clients for Book, including the counties of Broward and Palm Beach, 18 cities, the University of Miami and the Miami Dolphins. The 62-year-old said the Miami Heat isn’t a client, but that the 2013 championship ring he wears reflects his devotion to the team (Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade are “close friends,” he said). His daughter, Lauren, is running for state Senate in Broward County.

He has served on the Homeless board since it started in 1994, and he has been its chairman since 2006. County commissioners consistently waive the board’s six-year term limit so that he can retain his seat. In the 2014 commission elections, Book gave $37,000 combined to all six incumbents running, enough to put him in the Top 20 list of donors for that cycle, according to a Miami Herald campaign-finance database.

Book raised eyebrows in 2014 when he backed Mallette for the $142,000-a-year director job at the Homeless Trust. Mallette’s sister, Kelly, is director of governmental affairs and a top deputy in Book’s Aventura lobbying firm. Mallette — who was communications chief when Carlos Alvarez served as county mayor and then took a fund-raising post at the Parks Department — brought no social-services background to the position. Book said the board was eager for “new eyes” at the agency.

Despite Mallette’s communications expertise, the trust continued its $143,000-a-year contract with Miami’s M Network for media and public-relations services. (That fee includes a $53,000 budget for promotional materials and other reimbursable expenses.) Book describes himself as a “strong chairman” who insists that Mallette and her deputies get approval before getting creative with housing dollars.

“If we’ve got a placement that’s out of order, it’s got to be run by me,” Book said. “I’m involved in the day-to-day activities of reviewing what we do.

“Ask what is the chairman’s favorite word. I promise you, to the person, they will say ‘free.’ I’m cheap and I’m frugal,” he continued. “I treat these tax dollars more importantly than my own money.”

Two years into the job, Mallette knows many of the homeless men and women who linger by the fountain outside County Hall. Regular visitors to the building see her talking to them about services the county offers. At Friday’s meeting, she walked providers through sticking points of HUD funding priorities and said the agency hopes to find enough dollars to keep their programs afloat through the fall.

“What do you need to continue those programs,” asked Mallette, who declined an interview for this story. “We are going to have to morph into something different and more streamlined. . . . We’re going to have to rethink how we do transitional. Because it’s going to have to be done locally ”

Other agencies also are reeling after losses in HUD funds; Tampa said 200 temporary beds are endangered by a loss of $800,000 in Tier 2 money. Programs in Arizona, New York, and Indiana also reported surprising setbacks from HUD, according to news reports.

 Follow
 Phil Latzman ‎@PhilLatzman
#HUD has defunded 7 housing programs in #Arizona. It could result in evictions of homeless families. @kathymritchie reports 7:44a @KJZZ_ME.
10:40 AM - 12 May 2016
  Retweets   likes

After the HUD decision, Book faced questions about why Miami-Dade didn’t try to game the grant process better by putting programs likely to score well in the second tier and less secure applicants in the safer first tier. But that also would have put some of the county’s most successful long-term housing programs at risk. On Friday, he was also challenged on a decision to offer up $900,000 in local money for new projects when so many existing providers are scrambling to replace federal dollars.

“You don’t build a swimming pool when your kitchen is on fire,” said David Raymond, a former Homeless Trust director who now serves as a consultant to providers in Miami and across the country.

Book sees some vindication in the latest crisis: During the mat controversy, Miami leaders had mocked the Trust for “hoarding” millions of dollars in reserves while ignoring the city’s plight, but that $7 million rainy-day fund is now being looked at to cushion missing HUD grants.

“I’m a strong personality,” he said. “I’m here to lead.”

Senator Lauren Book: How Will She Serve in Daddy's Shadow?

If Lauren Book can't even answer her own questions at a Q & A at the Tribeca film festival flick about her pathetic family, how can she function without Ron Book pulling her strings?


http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/senator-lauren-book-how-will-she-serve-daddys-shadow

Senator Lauren Book: How Will She Serve in Daddy's Shadow?
By NANCY SMITH
September 1, 2015 - 10:45pm

If just-announced state Senate candidate Lauren Book was anybody but the daughter of one of the most influential lobbyists in Tallahassee, the media would be over her like vultures on road kill.

Don't even think about a race for this job. Book is as good as elected. Anybody who challenges Ron Book's little girl is either wildly delusional or plays with razor blades and likes it.

At the age of 30 and just out of the gate -- without having to offer a platform -- Lauren Book has Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler publicly supporting her. See Saintpetersblog. By the end of the month, it's going to be more a question of who isn't for her? Heck, even our Republican governor heaps praise on the Plantation Democrat.

I Beg to DifferHere's the problem: The founder of the high-profile nonprofit Lauren's Kids is going to have probably the longest list of conflicts of interest of any senator ever to serve in the Florida Legislature. Think about it: How do you consider issues objectively and vote transparently and ethically when you serve with the perception that your daddy is whispering in your ear every day before you go to work, and maybe a whole lot more than that?

She nevertheless told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel on Tuesday, "I'm not my father's voice. I'm there to push a button for the people who live in the 33rd District. And I do not take that lightly. ... Anyone who's been in a room with my father and me for more than two minutes knows we can disagree about a great many things. We put the fun in dysfunctional."

Book created a political action committee, Leadership for Broward, last September. Her PAC has collected nearly $640,000  -- more than any other state Senate candidate in Florida, and she only officially announced her candidacy Tuesday. Some of the donors, like the Miami Dolphins ($100,000) and the private prison company GEO Group ($25,000), also happen to be her dad's clients. All contributors/contributions are listed here.

Book was abused by a nanny when she was 11 years old, and since 2007 has responded with purpose and commitment, by leading a crusade against the sexual abuse of children,  mostly by appealing to children not to stay silent, but to tell somebody. Since 2010 she has walked the length of the state annually, ending in a final leg side-by-side with her father and a "Rally in Tally." Legislators, members of the Cabinet, former legislators who now lobby, celebrities of every description have stood on the steps of the Old Capitol during those rallies, praising her and Lauren's Kids.

Not only has she written two books -- "It's OK to Tell" and "Lauren's Kingdom" -- but she has appeared severally on national television and has been featured in major newspapers. In 2013, at a ceremony in Paris, she was named the L’Oréal Paris “Woman of Worth.”

Her profile has been big enough and bold enough to flood the Book empire with checks. Not only from private donors to her charity over the years, but from the Florida Legislature. In a state with literally hundreds of charities, lawmakers have been super-duper, over-the-top generous to Lauren's Kids. The Broward New Times reported it first: "... In recent years, a disproportionate amount of money from the state budget has been given to her charity, Lauren's Kids. For example, in 2015, the Legislature allocated the sex-abuse chairity $3.8 million while the Girl Scouts and YMCA got $300,000."

All of the honors she's gathered are laudable. Believe me, I take nothing away from Book's accomplishments. But the support from so many lobbyists and friends of her father -- in fact, from her father as much as anyone else -- players looking for favors only the Legislature can provide, will put her in a real pickle every day she asks a question, debates a bill or casts a vote -- let alone introduces bills of her own.  

All those checks for the 30-year-old daughter of one of the biggest power players in town -- it's a matter of perception, is all I'm saying. I can hear minds turning it over now -- Whose ends is Lauren Book justifying today? What did she and her dad hash over last night, this morning, 10 minutes ago on the phone? 

I've heard it suggested more than once around town that Lauren Book will break new ground next year by being the first member of the Florida Senate to buy a seat with taxpayer money. I don't go along with that entirely. Certainly the Legislature's money didn't go into her Leadership for Broward PAC. But I know what they mean: The public money is going to help elect her. That $3.8 million allocation this year alone is a lot of taxpayer dough elevating Book's profile, greasing her path to term-limited Eleanor Sobel's seat.

But I would just as soon move on. Lauren Book is in, let's face it. It now becomes less how she got there than how she's going to handle a reputation that links every day she serves to her father's business.

 COMMENTS:

Submitted by Air Force Captain on September 2, 2015 - 12:10pm
Typical Dem.....lives on/spends OPM (Other Peoples Money)...... AKA: Hillary

Submitted by C Breeze on September 2, 2015 - 4:37pm
A HUGE number of BEHOLDEN "politico" type supporters "lined up" to make sure they don't end up in Book's "Book" of ingrate traitors....
- See more at: http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/senator-lauren-book-how-will-she-serve-daddys-shadow#sthash.H6dDvujk.dpuf

This twisted "Cinderella
Permalink Submitted by C Breeze on September 2, 2015 - 9:58am

This twisted "Cinderella Story" is a "closed Book";...just 'one more' political nepotistic-spawn version mimicking the "created story" of District 2's Gwen Graham, a do-nothing "rubber stamp" of the destructive Democrat regime (but, Gwen DID vote AGAINST de-funding "sanctuary cities": You know,...cities where vicious crimes and murder run rampant..but NOT, thankfully anywhere close to Gwen). The "Lauren 'Book" has almost no beginning, no interesting details, no substance and a predictable bad ending (it belongs on the shelf next to the more presumptuous "Ron 'How To' Book",...another 'poor read'). It's no wonder that Debbie "Do-Whats-erman" Schultz is a supporter of the "childrens Book", Debbie herself has minimal "life experience" outside of the stilted halls of a legislature, having been merely a State Legislative Aide & "Public Official" and NOW occasionally a "college instructor" when a political guest from the "Halls" is necessary. Schultz, Graham, and now "Little Book" are ALL cut from the same nepotistic cookie-batter. WAKE UP FLORIDA !..."politics" is becoming more and more like nepotistic Hollywood every day,.. presumptuous parents lifting up their progeny to permanently suckle at the "government mammary" for a lifetime. Hmmm, I wonder if the "Books" have a "Foundation" like "B,H&C" do..to A$$IST with day-to-day 'details' (After all, "imitation" in politics is a form of flattery...especially with Democrat politicians (and lobbiests)..................signed,... A FED UP Democrat !

Lauren Book gets free publicity from the state

I would think there is some kind of ethics violation here, since Lauren Book is running for State Senate.

http://www.browardbeat.com/senate-candidate-uses-public-bucks-for-publicity/

Update: Senate Candidate Uses Public Mailing

BY BUDDY NEVINS

First, the plan was to rename Federal Highway through the Fort Lauderdale City Commission in honor of Lauren Book , a child abuse awareness advocate.

Now, a Browardbeat.com reader reports that Broward County is mailing flyers publicizing Book’s charity with your license plate renewals.

This, like the street naming, is simply wrong.

It is highly unfair for a candidate for state Senate to use public mail to build name ID.

Granted, the insert doesn’t mention Ms. Book.   But the enclosure directs you to a website that is a paean to her and her work.

This, and the street naming, appears to some to be distasteful overreaching by candidate and her father, lobbyist Ron Book.

Mainly, Ron Book and his bag of lobbying tricks. His fingerprints are all over both the street naming and the insert.

Ron Book honed his lobbying skill over decades by pulling strings behind the scenes in Tallahassee and locally. It was easy for him to pull those strings for his daughter.

In this case, Ronnie went too far!

These tricks to stack the deck for Ms. Book’s candidacy aren’t needed because the deck is already stacked in her favor.

Ms. Book is a shoe-in. She is a well-spoken, intelligent candidate who has over $1 million in her campaign and no realistic opponent.

The street naming is off pending passage by the Florida Legislature.

Expect Ron Book to be pushing it. He told the Sun-Sentinel that “his daughter’s name deserves to be on this stretch of road because of the good she’s done for victims of childhood sexual abuse and because it’s near the treatment center that helped her after she was abused by her nanny.”

The paper continues, quoting Ron Book: “My daughter has done some things that to others may not appear to be heroic, may not appear to be lifesaving, but I know different, and I know a lot of other people who know different, and she has become a symbol for victims all over this state and all over this country.”

Ms. Book is quoted as saying she is “humbled” that anyone thought she deserved the street renaming honor. But she also told her father to back too, a good move.

Meanwhile, expect the plugs for Ms. Book’s organization when you are notified you need to renew your license plate.

I’ve got some advise to Ms. Book, which I personally told her.

The biggest obstacle she will face in Broward and in Tallahassee is the belief that she is controlled by her father. She needs to put some distance between herself and Ron Book. Publicly.

 After this piece was posted, Lauren Book sent me the following explanation of the enclosure in the license plate renewal: 



…The insert you received is an older one, designed long before I became a candidate and is part of an educational program that has been in place and distributed for several years – and, hopefully, will remain in place for many more years to come. However, it is important (contrary to what your blog post implied) to note, not one single dollar of tax money was used to pay for the flyer….

The foundation has offered the informational flyers to all Tax Collectors free of charge and, to date, 45 of the 67 collectors around the state have for several years voluntarily decided to include the inserts – and, I need to repeat this, because someone who provided you false information, clearly got this wrong – at no cost to taxpayers, and clearly did not begin as some ploy. It is part of our overall effort statewide to bring about change.

And Buddy, we are hardly the only charitable organization that has or provide inserts, e.g. Hispanic Heritage, breast cancer, and Florida Heart to name a few. Our effort is a part of our larger program of bringing about systemic change in what we teach and how we teach our children to better protect them. The reason I believe so many of our Tax Collectors from around the state who will disseminate over 10 million of these inserts this year alone, is because they want to be a part of providing better education to the public in the fight to protect children. Am I happy that so many have chosen to join and help in our fight to end childhood sexual abuse? Of course I am. Is it, as your post clearly implied, costing taxpayers money? No. If so many others believe in it, why would we want to provide less in Broward County?

Thank, you by the way, for correctly noting that the insert does not mention me by name but focuses instead on the work of the foundation which bears my first name only. I am sensitive to that and take every precaution possible to avoid the potential conflict.

Sincerely,

Lauren

Lauren Book, Running Unopposed, Raises $1.3 Million Despite Criticisms

I LOVE the Broward County/Miami New Times. They seem to be the only ones with the guts to ask the hard-hitting questions about the Books. The Miami Herald used to, but even they have grown silent on this issue. Oh, and the New Times has even posted a link to this humble blog. This site is merely a repository for existing info already out there about the Books. 

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/lauren-book-running-unopposed-raises-13-million-despite-criticisms-7673729

Lauren Book, Running Unopposed, Raises $1.3 Million Despite Criticisms

TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2016 AT 9:58 A.M.

Plantation resident Lauren Book, 31, has raised about $1.3 million for her state senate campaign, though she's running unopposed. Her charity was also awarded a million dollars by the state legislature this session.  

Book is the daughter of powerful Florida lobbyist Ron Book, and after suffering horrific abuse by a nanny in her teen years, she founded Lauren's Kids, which raises awareness about childhood sexual abuse and advocates for legislation affecting sex offenders.

She has designed an educational curriculum and written two books, Lauren's Kingdom, and It's OK to Tell. Every year, Book walks across the state during an annual "hope and healing tour." The walk passed through South Florida this past week. During portions of it, Book was joined by Miami Heat staff and hundreds of survivors of sexual abuse.  

Despite the phenomenal support, Book has faced criticism that due to her father's influence, her charity and, in turn, her candidacy get "outsized" benefits not typically afforded to a small non-profit or novice candidate. The Florida Legislature this year awarded Lauren’s Kids $1 million for “school and instructional enhancements." In 2014 and again in 2015, the charity received $3.8 million from that part of the state budget, far more than most other groups that were awarded funds in that category.  Billboards with her face on them promote her charity but have the side effect of increasing her visibility as a candidate. 

Book had initially drawn an opponent, former Walmart worker Emmanuel Blimie, but due to redistricting she is now unopposed in District 32, which includes Cooper City, Coral Springs, Davie, Plantation, Southwest Ranches, Weston, and parts of Miramar, Pembroke Pines, and Sunrise. As of February 29, she had raised $529,484 via 735 small campaign contributions (up to $1,000 each), including donations from pro athletes Dan Marino, Alonzo Mourning and Shane Battier.  

In addition, a political action committee called Leadership for Broward had raised $761,950 for Book. That includes donations from major Florida companies (like $20,00 from Autonation and $10,000 apiece from U.S. Sugar Corporation and Florida Crystals), plus $100,000 coming from the Miami Dolphins and $65,000 from the GEO Group — her father’s former or current clients. In the past, some have expressed concerns that if she were elected, Lauren's votes would be influenced by her father's work. (He is president of Lauren's Kids, and the charity is headquartered in the same office building as his firm.)  

This year, Derek Logue, a convicted sex offender who runs a website critical of the Books, says, “I’d love it if someone challenged Lauren Book on collecting GEO Group money considering the fact GEO group’s track record of allowing rampant physical and sexual abuse within their walls. I guess Lauren doesn’t care about abuse when it is about juveniles in facilities.” (A Department of Justice investigation into the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, which is run by GEO Group, found that it was “deliberately indifferent to staff sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior with youth. The sexual misconduct we found was among the worst that we have seen in any facility anywhere in the nation.”)

Book's campaign manager, Steve Vancore, said Book was too busy to comment due to her annual walk. But in the past, she has deflected criticism with characteristic sweetness, saying she wished critics “would speak directly to me so I can show them the amazing work we are doing on behalf of children.”

Lauren's Kids boasts of having helped pass some two dozen laws to stop childhood sex abuse, such as mandating the placement of a red “P” on the driver’s licenses of sexual predators. Some groups have argued that laws created as a result of the zeal to punish sex offenders have had unintended consequences like breaking up families, and may not necessarily be effective in stopping abuse. A new documentary called Untouchable will explore how the Books’  efforts to regulate where sex offenders could live meant that some had nowhere they could reside legally except under a bridge (something Ron Book has publicly regretted). Filmmakers were not available this week, but promotional materials say the film "argues for a new understanding of how we think about and legislate sexual abuse." The film will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 13 to 24 in New York.

Lauren's Kids spokesperson Claire Van Susteren, said Book “is keeping a wall between her Foundation work and the campaign. Regarding the Untouchable film — neither Lauren nor Ron have seen the full version yet but I am sure would be able to comment once it’s officially been released.”

I look forward to hearing the reaction from the film. Below is the film trailer. 

UNTOUCHABLE - Festival Trailer from Meerkat Media on Vimeo.

Florida gives $3.8 million to Lauren’s Kids charity after questionable poll on sex abuse

EVERY action of Lauren's Kids should be questioned, not just this one. This isn't the first time a supposed victims' rights group has been caught padding the stats.

http://www.floridabulldog.org/2015/06/florida-gives-3-8-million-to-laurens-kids-charity-after-questionable-poll-on-sex-abuse/

JUNE 26, 2015 AT 9:40 AM
Florida gives $3.8 million to Lauren’s Kids charity after questionable poll on sex abuse
Filed under A1 TOP STORY, CHARITIES, GOVERNOR{6 COMMENTS}

By Francisco Alvarado, FloridaBulldog.org

On June 4, Lauren’s Kids, released the results of an Internet poll it commissioned that found more than one-third of female respondents and one-fifth of male respondents had admitted to being sexually abused as children.

The survey’s results came in just as legislators reconvened for a special session to decide the 2015-2016 budget, which included a $3.8 million grant for the Aventura-based charity that specializes in child sex abuse prevention education.

Founded by Lauren Book, the daughter of prominent Tallahassee lobbyist Ronald Book, Lauren’s Kids got the funding, even escaping Gov. Rick Scott’s dreaded veto axe. But the trustworthiness of the online survey – a method national polling experts warn often results in unreliable, inaccurate public opinion data – can’t be verified.

Sachs Media Group, the Tallahassee public relations firm that was paid an undisclosed sum by Lauren’s Kids to conduct the poll, declined to provide detailed information about how individuals were selected to participate in the invitation-only survey. A Sachs senior executive also would not say how many people received invitations, and cited privacy considerations in declining to provide a list of the 1,033 participating Florida adults and their responses.

“We use industry standard balancing and targeting techniques to ensure randomness [of the participants],” said Karen Cyphers, Sachs Media Vice-President for Research and Policy. “The survey was fully online, no person-to-person interviews were conducted. Of those who clicked on the initial invitation to participate, the completion rate was just over 75 percent.”

Cyphers did provide FloridaBulldog.org with the list of poll questions that led to some of the alarming conclusions in the Lauren’s Kids survey.

For instance, the first question asked, “Were you sexually abused prior to age 18?” According to the document provided by Cyphers, 21 percent responded “yes.”

The participants who answered “no,” “not sure,” or “don’t want to say” were then shown a list of acts that constitute child sexual abuse that included being forced to expose themselves to grown-ups and being forced to watch adults have sex, Cyphers explained.

They were then asked, “After seeing a list of what constitutes child sexual abuse, were you sexually abused prior to age 18?” Nine percent of those who had answered “no,” “not sure,” or “don’t want to say” changed their answer to “yes,” according to the poll questions document.

QUESTIONS ABOUT SURVEY ACCURACY

Russell Renka, a retired political science professor at Southeastern Missouri University who wrote a 2010 research paper on what makes a good and bad poll, told FloridaBulldog.org the Lauren’s Kids survey is an advocacy poll being used to promote a specific viewpoint, which raises questions about accuracy.

Renka said professional pollsters, like the Pew Research Center, regularly publish backup data with survey results so that observers can independently evaluate the information. He noted Lauren’s Kids has only posted on its website selected highlights of the poll instead of the entire survey with the full set of questions and a full explanation of the methodology.

“You are counting on them to assure that the results are accurate,” Renka said. “That is a slippery slope.”

Click here to see the Research Methodology sheet provided by Sachs Media and its unit, Breakthrough Research, for the Lauren’s Kids survey.

Heather Gray, executive director of Lauren’s Kids, defended the nonprofit’s poll, saying Internet surveys have overtaken telephone methods in reaching a diverse, representative sample of respondents while producing reliably comparable results.

“Internet surveys reduce interviewer bias, enabling respondents to share personal or undesirable opinions without fear of judgment by another person,” Gray said. “This is important, particularly for a topic as sensitive as this one.”

However, even some of the nation’s most respected numbers crunchers caution about the use of Internet-based surveys.

In an early June post on his blog FiveThirtyEight, stats wunderkind Nate Silver said web polls are a big part of gauging public opinion, but that some pollsters are abandoning scientific principles when conducting them.

“It’s fundamentally challenging to ‘ping’ a random voter on the Internet in the same way that you might by giving her an unsolicited call on her phone,” Silver writes. “Many pollsters that do Internet surveys eschew the concept of the random sample, instead recruiting panels that they claim are representative of the population.”

Silver points out that online surveys grossly miscalculated the results in last year’s mid-term elections, Israel’s general election in March, and the Parliament elections in the United Kingdom last month.

“The foundation of opinion research has historically been the ability to draw a random sample of the population,” Silver writes. “That’s become much harder to do.”

Cliff Zukin, a former president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, wrote in the June 20 New York Times Sunday Review that there are major problems with Internet polls.

PROBLEMS WITH INTERNET POLLS

“First is what pollsters call ‘coverage error,’” Zukin wrote. “Not everybody is reachable online.”

A professor at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics and Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Zukin asserts that statisticians have not figured out how to draw a representative sample of Internet users.

“Almost all online election polling is done with nonprobability samples,” Zukin opines. “These are largely unproven methodologically…It is impossible to calculate a margin of error on such surveys.”

Also problematic are the conflicting interests involved when a company that conducts the survey, in this case Sachs Media, is paid to do so by another company with an interest in the outcome.

Cyphers insisted Sach’s Internet polls are scientifically sound. For the Lauren’s Kids poll, she said invitations were randomly sent to people who were identified as living in Florida. Those who responded that they resided out-of-state were dropped from the results.

Between 2011 and 2013, Lauren’s Kids paid Sachs a total of $1.6 million for producing webinars, program materials such as brochures, palm cards and a mobile app, and a 30-minute TV program that was aired on network affiliate television stations throughout Florida, among other media services.

The poll results came out at a crucial time for Lauren’s Kids, which has received nearly $7 million in state appropriations in previous years used to fund the non-profit’s programs that train kids, teachers, and child caretakers at the Pre-K to third grade level to recognize the signs of sexual abuse and report it to authorities.

With the $3.8 million Lauren’s Kids will receive this year, it plans to expand its curriculum at the fourth grade to high school level. During the teleconference with reporters on June 4, Lauren Book, who was sexually abused when she was a teen, said the Internet poll proved the reasons why her programs must continue.

“Clearly sexual abuse can happen in any family,” Book said, adding the poll “shines a light on how much work we have to do to report sexual abuse and to recognize the signs of sexual abuse.”

The appropriation for Lauren’s Kids was tucked in a $23.8 million pot for “school and instructional enhancements” that emerged unscathed when the governor finalized the budget earlier this week. Scott obliterated funding for 24 other special interest projects on the list, including $100,000 for youth summer job programs and $30,000 for a financial literacy pilot program in Broward County.

Gray said Lauren’s Kids was not given preferential treatment.

Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, who sits on the appropriations committee, sponsored funding for Lauren’s Kids. Fresen did not respond to a request for comment, but Gray said he was required to submit the non-profit’s request before the entire committee for evaluation.

Gray said Lauren’s Kids was also vetted before the state senate appropriations committee.

“Chairman Don Gaetz [a Republican] and Vice Chairman Bill Montford [a Democrat] sent a joint letter to all organizations in the state budget who received funding in fiscal year 2014-15 and asked them to submit information for evaluation for fiscal year 2015-16,” Gray said. “We complied with the request and are pleased to have received bipartisan support from the committee upon completion of the submission and evaluation process.”

Miami Herald: Politicians send millions to charity of lobbyist’s daughter

It pays (millions) to be the daughter of convicted criminal Ron Book.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article20347971.html

 MAY 6, 2015
Politicians send millions to charity of lobbyist’s daughter

BY FRANCISCO ALVARADO
FloridaBulldog.org

Over the last four years, Lauren’s Kids, a nonprofit founded by the daughter of top Tallahassee lobbyist Ron Book, has become one of the Legislature’s favorite charities, raking in nearly $7 million in taxpayer funds. If and when legislators reconvene to pass a budget, that total is slated to rise to $10.8 million.

The mission of Lauren’s Kids is to raise awareness about child sexual abuse. At the same time, however, Lauren’s Kids has cultivated a symbiotic relationship with important political figures in the Capitol, led by Gov. Rick Scott and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera.

The politicians get feel-good publicity with photo ops. Lauren’s Kids gets state dollars, and plenty of them.

Legislative appropriation records show that of the 27 special-interest groups to be allocated funds from a $19 million pot earmarked this year for “school and instructional enhancements,” Lauren’s Kids will get the most, $3.8 million. More than two dozens youth organizations, including the Girl Scouts of Florida and the YMCA, are to receive less than $300,000 each.

Critics say Book’s political clout gives Lauren’s Kids an unfair advantage over hundreds of applicants vying for state discretionary funds.

“There are so many things this money could be used for,” said Vicky Henry, a national advocate against sexual offender registration laws. “Take some of that $3.8 million and give more to school districts or church and scout organizations.”

Lauren Book, chief executive of Lauren’s Kids, said her nonprofit is on the same playing field as others seeking state funds.

“I believe the process is highly competitive,” Book said in an email. “Projects receive intense scrutiny; first in budget subcommittees, then in full committees, on the floors of the chambers, and in joint budget conference committees. Following all of that, an appropriation is vetted by the governor’s staff, and must withstand the gubernatorial veto process.”

Book, who was sexually and physically abused by her nanny for six years starting at age 11, founded Lauren’s Kids in 2007. Her father, Ron Book — an attorney who counts the Miami Dolphins, the GEO Group prison company and dozens of cities and counties as clients — is the organization’s chairman. Last year, his firm collected $5 million in lobbying fees, state records show.

SPECIAL TREATMENT

Grants aren’t the only way government helps fund Lauren’s Kids. Miami-Dade and Broward counties facilitate individual $1 donations by including a box for people to check on their car registration renewal forms. Lauren’s Kids also has its own state-approved specialty Florida license plate, from which it collects $25 from each sale, according to its website. Lauren’s Kids tax returns show that from 2011-2013 those $1 car registration renewal donations brought in more than $700,000. How much revenue has been generated by the specialty license tags, approved by the Legislature in 2013, was not available.

Lauren Book’s most publicized annual event is “Walk In My Shoes,” a 1,500-mile trek across Florida from Key West to the steps of the old state Capitol building. It’s also a favorite of elected officials.

Book completed her sixth walk on April 22. Joining her at the Capitol were dozens of child sex-abuse victims and their families, her father and a lineup of powerful Republicans and Democrats. They included Scott, Lopez-Cantera, Senate President Andy Gardiner, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Sen. Bill Montford, a Tallahassee Democrat and vice chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education.

A PAC ALL HER OWN

Lauren Book, who has hinted at a run for office, formed a political action committee last September called Leadership For Broward that has collected $525,257, mostly from her father’s clients, including $100,000 from the Miami Dolphins.

Lauren’s Kids’ most recent tax returns show it received government grants of $486,116 in 2011, $1.6 million in 2012, and $1.1 million in 2013. Most of the combined $2.8 million was from the state.

The organization has yet to file its tax return for 2014, but Book confirmed previous media reports that Lauren’s Kids received $3.8 million from the Legislature last year.

The 29-year-old Book’s annual salary is on a similar upward trajectory, rising from nearly $68,000 in 2011 to $95,000 in 2013.

From 2011-13, Lauren’s Kids collected $1.4 million in private contributions, more than half coming from the $1 donations via car registration renewals. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in other revenue has come through special events and the sale from books, including Lauren Book’s self-published memoir, It’s Ok to Tell.

Book says the bulk of Lauren’s Kids revenue has been used to create and maintain an educational program called “Safer, Smarter Kids” that trains public school teachers and child caretakers throughout the state on how to identify signs of sexual child abuse and how to report cases to authorities.

Originally targeted to children in pre-kindergarten to third grade, the program has expanded to educate kids in fourth and fifth grades, as well as adolescents in middle and high school. To implement the program, Lauren’s Kids hired Tallahassee advertising firm Sachs Media Group, which was paid a total of $1.6 million between 2011 and 2013. Sachs produces webinars, program materials such as brochures, palm cards and a mobile app, and a 30-minute TV program that was aired on network affiliate television stations throughout Florida, among other media services.

Lauren’s Kids also paid $219,000 to the Monique Burr Foundation in Jacksonville for acting as a go-between with schools participating in the Safer, Smarter Kids program. It paid another $142,000 to the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence for staffing a crisis hotline and developing training materials and conducting training sessions for 15 school districts.

As a result of her organization’s educational program, tens of thousands of Florida children now know to report incidents of sexual abuse, Book said.

Florida Bulldog is a not-for-profit news organization created to provide investigative reporting in the public interest. Contributions are tax-deductible. www.floridabulldog.org

EXCLUSIVE: FEDS EYEING LOBBYIST RON BOOK, FORT LAUDERDALE HOUSING AUTHORITY

From 2011

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/exclusive-feds-eyeing-lobbyist-ron-book-fort-lauderdale-housing-authority-6446585

EXCLUSIVE: FEDS EYEING LOBBYIST RON BOOK, FORT LAUDERDALE HOUSING AUTHORITY

BY BOB NORMAN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011 | 5 YEARS AGO

In Broward and Tallahassee politics, influence peddling comes in countless forms. Here's one currently under investigation by the federal government:

A powerful lobbyist, seeking to curry favor with a state senator and benefit a major client, helps to secure the senator's boyfriend a job at the development firm the lobbyist represents. The boyfriend also happens to be a Housing Authority honcho who goes on to oversee two new multimillion-dollar publicly financed projects with the very developer who hired him.

This is one scenario that sources say the FBI is currently investigating as part of a major probe that involves recently convicted GOP fundraiser and lobbyist Alan Mendelsohn, who had deep ties to numerous politicians, including former Gov. Charlie Crist, former Senate President Ken Pruitt, embattled Congressman David Rivera, and state Sen. Eleanor Sobel. The same federal investigation also involves several figures from the massive Mutual Benefits Corp. Ponzi scheme, including MBC fraudster Joel Steinger, who is awaiting trial on federal charges himself.

Here are the players in the scenario:  

The lobbyist: Ron Book, who represents a host of governments, including Broward County, and private clients, including the Miami Dolphins, as perhaps the most powerful lobbyist in Florida.

The senator: Muriel "Mandy" Dawson, a controversial Democratic legislator who was term-limited from office in 2008. She has longstanding close ties to Book and was implicated in federal court records with having received $87,000 in secret payments from Mendelsohn through her former Senate aide, Veronica Blakely.

The boyfriend: Scott Strawbridge, director of development and facilities at the Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority. Strawbridge began dating Dawson in 2006, and they have since broken up.

The firm: Miami-based Carlisle Development Group, which built the $16 million Housing Authority project at Dixie Court and is slated to demolish and redevelop Dr. Kennedy Homes, the historic public housing development on the south side of Broward Boulevard. That project calls for another $21 million in federal funds. Heading Carlisle is Lloyd Boggio, the former principal of the Cornerstone Group, another major player in the government-subsidized affordable housing industry.

Inside, see what Book and Strawbridge had to say about the allegations.

When Book was asked if he helped secure Dawson's boyfriend a job with any of his clients, the mega-lobbyist immediately denied it.

"I never hired the boyfriend, that would be a misstatement of any fact," he said.

When asked if he caused a client of his to hire Strawbridge, he answered: "No not ever. There was a time at which [Strawbridge] worked in the affordable housing world. It was a long time ago and he did work for someone that I represented but not through any involvement of me in any way, shape, or form."

Book claimed he couldn't even remember the name of the client that hired Strawbridge. Another allegation that has surfaced is that Book financed a home in Tallahassee for Dawson, an accusation Book flatly denies.

His close relationship with Dawson, however, is a matter of public record. In 2005 he was one of three lobbyists (including Mendelsohn) who ponied up $2,500 to help finance a trip for Dawson to South Africa via the Florida Caucus of Black State Legislators. The Senate reprimanded Dawson -- who was also charged criminally in 2002 for prescription pill fraud as a result of addiction -- and removed her from the Ethics and Elections Committee.

"Mandy had whatever personal issues and I knew Mandy before she was in the process," said Book. "I haven't talked to her and don't know where she is."

Public records indicate Dawson is now living with her parents in Daytona Beach. I was unable to contact her for this report.  

In the course of my investigation, I learned that the Book client that had hired Strawbridge was the Carlisle Development Group, which had hired the lobbyist to help it gain multi-million dollar public housing contracts with various governmental bodies, including the Broward County Housing Authority. Currently, Book's representation of the firm is a matter of great controversy in North Miami, where Carlisle is vying for a contract to redevelop Biscayne Landing. Book has been lobbying council members on behalf of the firm despite the fact that he's also the paid lobbyist for North Miami, the Miami Herald reported earlier this week.

When Strawbridge, , a former Fort Lauderdale contractor who has fought to preserve historic city sites like the Stranahan House, was questioned yesterday about his employment with Carlisle, he denied that Book got him the job. "I never got a job from Ron Book," Strawbridge said. "The FBI knows that and now you know that too. ... I never met Ron Book, I spoke with him once on the telephone."

Strawbridge said he doesn't remember what the two discussed on the phone, but acknowledged the phone introduction was made by Dawson, his girlfriend at the time.

He describes a tangled web of employment, admitting that there were concerns about a potential conflict of interest. He said he got the job with the Housing Authority before he began dating Dawson in 2006. After he and Dawson began dating, he got the job as a consultant for Carlisle Development Group and "worked with both entities helping them form a new business venture."

While Carlisle employed Strawbridge, the firm won two bids in competition with other firms worth roughly $40 million with the Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority, at Dixie Court and Dr. Kennedy Homes. On its website, Carlisle touts its completed work at Dixie Court. The Dr. Kennedy Homes project -- which will replace 45 cottages with 132 apartment units -- has been met with controversy and has yet to break ground.

Strawbridge said that while he worked with Carlisle on Housing Authority project, he was also paid by the firm for consulting work on the Royalton Hotel renovation project in Miami. Carlisle transformed the Royalton into housing for low-income people and the recently homeless.

"It was kind of a simultaneous thing," Strawbridge said. "I was then working as an independent consultant with both [the Housing Authority and Carlisle]. I was acting as the owner's rep for the Housing Authority interfacing with Carlisle. I was acting in the interest of the Housing Authority. What happened is Carlisle needed my help and I ended up becoming engaged with them in a project called Royalton. We took a 1920s hotel and turned it into transition housing for homeless people."

He said that Housing Authority attorneys cleared him to work for Carlisle.

I went to the Housing Authority and said, 'I already pledged my allegiance, so how do we do this?'" he said. "They put together some kind of document that allowed it."

The matter was never brought to the attention of the Florida Commission on Ethics for an opinion, he said. While he alluded to communication with FBI agents, he refused to provide details. He said he and Dawson ended their romantic relationship in 2008 and that he never gave her anything of value connected to his job with Carlisle.

"I don't know what to say about these allegations except that they are astonishing to me," said Strawbridge. "All along, the reason I've been helping the Housing Authority is that I live in Fort Lauderdale and folks involved in running the agency happened to know that I was available. ... Did I make a mistake by knowing all these poeple at the same time? Yeah. But I was already engaged in that job before I ran into Mandy and she's my only connection to Ron Book."

The federal investigation, according to numerous sources, is continuing.