A political committee formed last month in Miami has taken a close interest in one of Central Florida’s down-ballots races — for the Clearwater City Council.
Some of the money Clearwater Strong PC has received originated from groups that got big-dollar donations from members of the Church of Scientology around the same time it formed. The political committee has paid for campaign flyers supporting Jared Leone, a freelance journalist making his second bid for the council.
Could this be the latest example of political interests employing the sort of tactics in local campaigns used to obscure who is backing or working against candidates in state and national races? Leone’s opponent in the race, Bianca Latvala, who has been critical of the church, thinks so.
“Voters do want to know who’s donated to who and what does that equal,” she said. “A contribution should not equal an action, but it has become evident that’s the case in Clearwater.”
The church plays a central role in many of the most heated political debates in Clearwater, where its international headquarters is based.
Leone said he has no affiliation with Clearwater Strong. He said that a representative of the group, which says it supports Democratic candidates statewide, reached out to him to offer assistance. He said he doesn’t know of anyone who has donated to his campaign who is a Scientologist.
He said any effort to link him to the church in the waning hours before Tuesday’s primary is a political ploy.
“These are the kind of last-ditch efforts a failing campaign has to fling out there,” Leone said. “I know my reputation. I stand by it.”
The Clearwater Council race is nonpartisan, and Leone is registered without party affiliation. He worked more than a decade ago as a staff writer for the Tampa Bay Times.
Bianca Latvala, a digital marketer, is a registered Republican, part of a family with deep roots in the party. She said she started receiving flyers late last month promoting Leone that said they were paid for by Clearwater Strong.
She said she and her husband, Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala, began looking into the group after it filed its latest financial disclosure a week ago. It showed a late July donation for $50,000.
The Latvalas worked with Brooks Gibbs, a resident leading the charge to stop Clearwater officials from giving downtown roadways to the church, to identify who was behind Clearwater Strong.
They found the group’s money passed through a series of political campaign organizations, originating with donations to three other Miami-based committees. Together those committees had received about $89,000 donations from nine people with confirmed ties to the church around the time of Clearwater Strong’s formation. Gibbs used artificial intelligence to put the information into a report.
The Tampa Bay Times independently confirmed the transactions and connections to nine donors with ties to the church. Tom Cummins, a businessperson and major donor to the church, gave the most, a total of $50,000 to all three of the Miami-based committees three days before Clearwater Strong filed organizational paperwork with the state. The Times left a voicemail with a number listed for Cummins in state voting records seeking comment Friday afternoon but go no return call.
Sarah Heller, a spokesperson for Scientology, said the church is not endorsing or supporting any candidate in the election. It also did not direct, coordinate or have any involvement with parishioners’ donations, she said.
“Individual Scientologists, like every other citizen, are free to participate in the political process in their personal capacities and make their own decisions about whom or what they support,” Heller said.
Clearwater Strong has received $70,100 in donations in the last month since it was formed. State records show it has spent nearly $12,000, almost all of it on MDW Communications, a company from Delray Beach it paid for “direct mail consulting” and “MMS texting.”
All but $100 in donations to Clearwater Strong came from a political action committee called Citizens for Law Order and Ethics, out of West Palm Beach. The committee’s funding traces back to the three Miami political committees: Defend Democracy, Engaged Florida and Democracy and Freedom.
Christian Ulvert, a political strategist and consultant for Clearwater Strong, is the chair of all three of those committees, according to state records.
He said Clearwater Strong has not accepted donations from members of the church and people “can try to make claims.” He is working on Democratic elections around the state and said Tampa Bay is an emerging market.
“Political committees I chair are supported by individuals and businesses that care about the future of their communities, and ensuring strong, accountability at all levels of government exists,” he said in an email.
While the sum Clearwater Strong has disclosed spending on mailers is small by today’s political standards, it stands out in this race.
Bianca Latvala has reported nearly $60,000 in contributions since she began her campaign this year. And a political action committee supporting her has raised more than $19,000. Leone has reported nearly $13,000 in contributions to date.
Chris Latvala said from his experience working in politics, the cost of the number of mailers Clearwater Strong has sent is much higher than what it has reported spending.
He said he thinks Scientologists got involved in the race because of his and his wife’s stance on the City Council’s vote to give the church a portion of South Garden Avenue downtown.
Chris Latvala wanted the city to delay the vote because the county is requesting development proposals for more than a dozen properties in downtown Clearwater. Bianca Latvala had also said she was opposed to the city allowing the church to close the street.
This came to a head in June, when council member Mike Mannino withdrew his endorsement of Bianca Latvala. That was after a tense conversation over text message that Mannino had with her husband.
Chris Latvala said he received public records requests from the church after the text messaging incident. He also said he knows Scientologists were upset with him and his wife.
“I know enough about politics that a guy in South Florida does not care about the Clearwater City Council,” Chris Latvala said.
Times staff writer Camila Jose Gomez contributed to this report.
