Broward Pol, Who Used $386k Of His Own For First Campaign, Taking Thousands From Lobbyists For Reelection
BY BUDDY NEVINS
The day after Mark Bogen won his campaign three yers ago, the newspaper made it clear that the multi-millionaire lawyer was not the usual Broward candidate:
“Outsider Mark Bogen Wins County Commission race.”
The newspaper noted that Bogen spent an “eye-popping” $386,000 of his own money in the campaign.
Boy, have times changed for Bogen.
Mark Bogen, far left, waits to speak to a Democratic Party club during his first campaign.
The onetime outsider is now an insider. He is running a reelection campaign largely paid for by folks doing business with the county who depend on his vote.
“I won without lobbyists or anybody else. If this time anybody wants to give to me, great. I’m happy to take their donations. They know I don’t need them and I can win without them,” Bogen said.
Bogen raised $169,843 through the end of June. There is another $5,068 in kind-kind contributions such as donated food and drink at fundraisers.
His first reelection contribution was $1,000 on January 5 was from lobbyist Judy Stern.
On January 30 Bogen lent his campaign $5,000 more.
At least three fundraisers have been thrown for him by lobbyists, pols and others big business types to raise money for his campaign:
- Becker Poliakoff , a downtown Fort Lauderdale firm of lawyers and lobbyists, and former Property Appraiser Lori Parrish raised roughly $40,000 during a February fundraiser.
- Berger Singerman, another plugged-in downtown law firm, and lobbyists George Platt and his wife Anne Platt raised several thousand at an April fundraiser.
- Auto tag agency tycoon Jason Strochak and his wife Vicki Strochak at a June 8 fundraiser raised more than $31,000.
“I’ve voted against every one of these lobbyists at one time or another. They know that,” Bogen said.
He mentioned $3,000 he received in March from the Fort Lauderdale law firm of lobbyist Mike Moskowitz and trash disposal firms he represents.
“I fought Moskowitz and his client Waste Management from the start,” Bogen said. “They wanted a deep well in Broward County to inject untreated waste into the ground and we successfully stopped that.”
Bogen also noted that Platt, who threw a fundraiser for him, represented taxi industry interests and fought against allowing ride sharing companies in Broward.
“I supported Uber,” Bogen said.
“Yes, lobbyists are donating to my campaign this time,” Bogen said. “They aren’t buying anything.
Bogen has one opponent in the August, 2018 Democratic primary – Ryan Ross, a Coconut Creek resident who has put $250 of his own money in his campaign.
July 19th, 2017 at 7:19 am
I’m proud to vote for Mark Bogen. He stood up against Waste Management which was ruining his district with their smelly Mount Trashmore. Their few thousands will never buy him.
July 19th, 2017 at 11:35 am
Mark Bogen pushed for a vote to override the procurement process in order to award a no-bid contract (when there were other bids in wait) to a firm who wants to use Broward public parks for a Cricket (sport). It just so happens that Bogen received $15k in political campaign donations from the same lobbying group days later. I’m sure that’s just a coincedence.
Bogen only cares about himself. Look at his donations. Almost all of them (with the exception of a couple politicians) come from outside of his district. If he was so great of a representative, he’d have no problem finding 1,300 District 2 voters to sign a petition qualifying his candidacy. But when he takes in as much outside corporate and lobbyist money (as he does), $5,700 to just pay your way onto the ballot is more beneficial than actually getting tangible support from your constituency.
July 19th, 2017 at 11:54 am
I attend many of the County Commission meetings for my clients and I have to say that I am actually shocked that any of the lobbyist donated to Bogen after some of the verbal beatings I have seen him give over the past few years! It was actually quite fun to watch!
July 19th, 2017 at 11:59 am
I have never heard of the guy who is running against Mark Bogen, so I looked him up and the guy was a registered republican up until about a year ago! Another one of those people who try to change who they are to run for office, rather than change where they live to run as who they really are… Pathetic..
July 20th, 2017 at 10:11 am
First of all, nobody is on the ballot yet. And they won’t be until next summer when the qualifying takes place. So I don’t know why commenter #3, “Dan” would speculate about how Mark Bogen will get on the ballot. When Bogen ran in 2014 he qualified by getting petitions signed so there’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t do the same this time.
When he ran in 2014 he had the support of hundreds of community and condo leaders in his district who had known him personally for a decade or longer. He was running against several candidates, one of whom was a commissioner and the mayor in Coconut Creek. She was well known and generally well liked but didn’t have nearly the personal connections that Bogen had in the community.
Furthermore, it’s absurd to think that the only way to get elected to office is if you can personally foot the bill. Campaigns cost money to run, to communicate with voters, etc…As for his so called opponent, he may as well be a write-in candidate for the amount of support he’s going to get.
July 20th, 2017 at 2:03 pm
Isn’t kind of funny that on the facebook post about this article, Ryan Ross said the exact same thing that “Dan” is saying! Come on man, don’t be a wuss and try to hide your identity by using a fake name! You are oddly obsessed with Bogen and the cricket deal! The cricket deal was actually a great deal for the County and by the looks of the campaign reports, Bogen didn’t take a dime from this company or guy until well after the vote. So clearly he wasn’t influenced by any financial reasons to vote the way he did. So, “Dan” you are incorrect
July 20th, 2017 at 3:48 pm
Buddy – I don’t know if news is slow because of the summer recess at the County or you are just looking for a story to write, but to me this is a non-story. Dale Holness and Chip LaMarca raised 3 times the amount of money that Bogen has. Michael Udine raised like $150,000 and he didn’t even have a real opponent. Bogen has proven from his previous campaign that he doesn’t need anyone’s money to get elected. And he’s the only commissioner sitting on the dais that got elected without taking a dime from anyone! So, again to me this is a non- story.
Also, I want to agree with the previous post that spoke to the cricket deal. The cricket deal was a huge win for the County. That cricket stadium was sitting there losing money for years and now you have someone who will guarantee to bring millions of dollars and international competitions to Broward County. And just to be factual this was Dale Holness’s issue not Bogen.
July 23rd, 2017 at 10:38 am
When someone like this puts in almost 400g of his own money,which the postion pays 96g and change it makes you think what is their real motivation in seeking elected office. I mean its common sense. So this admission that Comm.Bogen spent this kind of loot makes me suspect. Like they say follow the money….
July 24th, 2017 at 12:03 pm
Well if you actually do the math, if he put about $380k of his own money in, he would make that money back in 1 four year term.. It’s probably because he has a lucrative law practice and isn’t living off the $95,000 commissioner salary.. Also, about a year ago I did a public records request for all of the commissioners use of public dollars to go on trips to DC, Oregon, Tallahassee, Austin, AFRICA, etc. and Bogen was the ONLY commissioner that had not used any taxpayer money to go on one of these taxpayer funded vacations! Not only did he not use taxpayer money for these trips, he paid for most of his office expenses, like supplies, out of his own pocket..
I find it kind of rich that you criticize him for using his own money and criticize him for taking donations! What the heck can the guy do! He can’t win with you people!
I have never met him personally, but from what I watch, he seems to be a honest, straightforward and stand-up guy.. Just my opinion..
July 24th, 2017 at 1:32 pm
Follow what money? Maybe you need to bounce the ball for me, because I’m certainly not following..