Venice council candidates have all spent at least $14,000 on campaign trail
VENICE – With less than a month until the Nov 9 election, each of the four candidates seeking a seat on the Venice City Council has spent at least $14,000 on the campaign, according to financial reports filed with the city clerk.
Mitzie Fiedler, the Seat 1 incumbent seeking a third term, has spent the least amount of money through Oct. 6., at $14, 672, while she has raised about $27,000, including self-loans to her campaign totaling $11,500.
Her opponent, Joan Farrell has spent $19,232, compared to $21,705 raised, including self-loans totaling $18,694.
Seat 2 candidate Ron Smith has spent $18,010 and raised $30,517, including a $5,000 self-loan.
His opponent, Dusty Feller, has spent $16,133 and raised $24,450, including a $5,000 self-loan.
Donations and expenditures made after Oct. 6 will be reflected in subsequent filings.
Win or lose, a candidate can collect on those loans from funds remaining in their campaign accounts.
Where the funds came from
Almost half of the funds raised by Fiedler came through 13 donations of $1,000.
One of those came from Firefighters & Paramedics for Public Safety, while six came from people working on or related to people in construction, including $4,000 tied to Ajax Paving.
Farrell has received $3,011 in contributions from 20 individuals or entities.
Eight donations totaling $1,315 came from people with addresses living in Northeast Venice or Nokomis, which is not far from the intersection of Laurel Road and Jacaranda Boulevard, where developer Pat Neal has proposed to build a controversial shopping center.
That project spurred the formation of the North Venice Neighborhood Alliance.
Farrell has pointed to her efforts in support of the NVNA as one of the reasons she decided to run for office.
Smith, who elevated his profile in the city by working with Venice Unites to help rewrite land development regulations adopted by the City Council, received contributions from 175 individuals or entities, including six individual contributions of $1,000.
Feller has received contributions from 34 individuals or entities, with eight individual contributions of $1,000, including one from Firefighters & Paramedics for Public Safety.
Twelve people either working in or related to people in construction and land use planning donated $7,250, with $2,750 coming from individual at or corporate entities related to the Boone Law Firm.
How the funds were spent
Fiedler’s largest expense has been a total of about $9,421 to the West Palm Beach office of the public relations firm Public Concepts LLC, for campaign mailers.
She also spent $1,409 on newspaper advertising.
Farrell’s largest expense to date has been $17,594 with Big Wave Graphics, a Venice print shop, in a package deal for graphic design, production of 6-by-11-inch flyers, postage, labeling and mailing. She has also spent $860 for her website.
Smith’s largest expense to date has been about $4,839 for newspaper advertising. He has also spent $4,057 on campaign signs, mailers, rack cards and business cards.
Feller’s largest expense to date has been $4,571 through the Jupiter office of Public Concepts.
Outside spending
On Thursday, many residents in Venice received a mailer paid for by the Republican Party of Sarasota County that criticized Farrell for running unsuccessfully for the state House in Tennessee and showed her campaigning for that seat. Though critical of the fact that Farrell is a Democrat, the most concrete claim it made was that she wants to be a politician, so she’s running for the Venice City Council..
Ruth Cordner, one of the founders of the North Venice Neighborhood Alliance, emailed Fiedler, asking whether she would denounce the ads paid for by the local Republican Party.
“I will continue to send you these to afford you an opportunity to publicly denounce these communications,” Cordner wrote.
Fielder responded by saying that the two-sided postcard was neither endorsed nor sent by her.
Fiedler told the Herald-Tribune: “I never saw that ad, I didn’t get one; I paid for two ads, the ones introducing me and one with a mailbox that said don’t forget to vote by mail.”
She then added, “I have no idea if it's true or false.
“If it's false then nobody should be doing it and if it’s true then it’s just her background.”
No similar mailers were sent about Smith, who is also a Democrat.
Both candidates were targeted earlier this month in a push-poll, paid for by an out-of-county political action committee with unnamed donors..
What’s next
People interested in seeing all four candidates can attend a forum at 7 p.m., Oct. 18 hosted by the Venice Aviation Society at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 790 S. Tamiami Trail, or at 5:30 p.m., Oct. 19, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Sarasota County and the Venice Gondolier at the Venice Community Center, 326 Nokomis Ave., S.
The Eastgate Homeowners Association will host all four candidates Oct. 21 at East Gate Pak, 1221 Poplar Ave.
Waterford recently scheduled a candidate forum open only to its residents at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 27.
Early voting will be available Oct. 30 through Nov. 4 at the Venice elections office at the Robert L. Anderson Administration Center, 4000 S. Tamiami Trail, Room 114.
Election day is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Nov. 7. Completed vote-by-mail ballots must be received in the Venice elections office by 7 p.m.For additional information concerning elections, including a precinct finder, polling locations, ballots and election offices, visit the Sarasota Supervisor of Elections website.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Latest Venice City Council campaign reports show similar spending
