Who is funding the candidates? More than $100k flows into Seat 3 race
Justin Vermuth’s campaign is powered by business interests while Kris Cruzada taps those who have advocated for a more reserved approach to development
March 5, 2025
By Beth Kassab
The latest donors to Justin Vermuth’s City Commission campaign include $10,000 bundled by Golden Corral franchisee Eric Holm and his companies, $2,000 from the tourism industry, $1,000 from Jacqueline Siegel, known as the “Queen of Versailles” and wife of timeshare magnate David Siegel and $500 from former Mayor Steve Leary’s political committee.
Vermuth raised $86,290, according to the most recent report filed, and spent $58,933 mostly on direct mail pieces, digital ads and political consultants. Vermuth, an attorney who works as the chief lobbyist for the national association that represents timeshare builders, did not respond to questions seeking comment.
Meanwhile Cruzada, also an attorney, reported a far smaller haul at $27,891 and spent just under $13,000 with the bulk going to mail pieces.
Cruzada’s donors include $2,000 bundled from Full Sail University Co-Chairman and CEO Edward Haddock and one of his companies; $2,000 from former Mayor Phil Anderson and Jennifer Anderson; $500 from former Commissioner Carolyn Cooper and $250 from David Odahowski, president and CEO of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation.
The donors to Cruzada’s campaign are largely, but not entirely, coalesced around the idea of a more reserved approach to future development in the city.
How redevelopment looks — in terms of building height, density and architectural style — along Orange Avenue, Fairbanks Avenue and other commercial districts will continue as key policy discussions over the coming years.
Each commissioner serves a three-year term as one of five votes who will help shape policy not only on development, but also on the city’s lake water quality, roads and Sunrail, the electric utility, historic preservation and how much residents and property owners pay in taxes and fees.
The election could represent a significant shift on the Commission. Last year Commissioner Craig Russell was narrowly elected with the financial backing of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and its members.
This year Warren Lindsey, a local defense attorney and member of the chamber, was elected without opposition, an apparent testament to his ability to appeal to both enough chamber members and business interests as well as those who consider themselves watchdogs over Winter Park’s charm and future development.
The chamber, however, is funding Vermuth against Cruzada with some of the same donors who helped Russell into office.
For example, $10,000 comes from companies associated with the Holler family such as Holler Hyundai, Holler Honda, Classic Mazda, Audi North Orlando, Classic Honda and Driver’s Mart Sanford. They gave $1,000 each.
So did Frank Hamner, the longtime attorney for the Holler family. The family sued the city over changes to the Orange Avenue Overlay, a set of development rules that governs new construction in the key commercial corridor.
Cruzada said he favors the changes that the Hollers opposed because the new rules limit buildings to five stories and call for more green space.
Holm, who bundled $10,000 for Vermuth in the most recent campaign finance report, is a well-known Republican fundraiser and philanthropist in addition to his restaurants such as Golden Corral. In September, he hosted a fundraiser at his Lake Virginia home featuring now Vice President J.D. Vance that started at $5,000 per couple. Holm did not return a call seeking comment.
Cruzada, who is also a Republican, says he is hoping to show that the biggest campaign account doesn’t always win the most votes.
“For many residents and business owners in our city, they want their public officials to listen to them,” Cruzada said. “And they may not have as much money, but they vote.”
In the fall, for example, former Winter Park Mayor Steve Leary far outraised Kelly Semrad by 4 to 1 in a race to represent District 5, which includes the city, on the Orange County Commission. But Semrad, a UCF professor who also advocated for spending more tourist tax dollars on local resident needs such as transportation, won by a 14-point margin.
Leary’s political committee during that race, which largely centered on potential annexations and development in rural east Orange County, gave $500 to Vermuth.
Leary was also heavily backed by development and tourism interests, who have lobbied to keep control over Tourist Development Tax dollars for the industry. The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association has two political committees and each gave Vermuth $1,000, according to the most recent report.
WinterParkVoiceEdior@gmail.com
Prediction time-65% win for Cruzada as all those special interests out of Winter Park can’t vote. Large donor amount=small number of actual voters. Grassroots wins. But everyone must get out and vote if you haven’t already sent in your ballot. Also confirmed by my magic eight ball.
Beth, you miss the point. Cruzada has voted for policies that have wasted over $100,000,000 of Winter Park taxpayer money. I’m glad Winter Park business people support Vermuth as it indicates he has common sense and financial realism not demonstrated by Cruzada.
What were those expenditures specifically?
The city’s general fund budget for the current year is $77.7 million. The entire budget for all funds is $208.2 million. Are you asserting the city wasted more than the entire GF budget or almost half of the budget for all funds?
Exactly which budgeted amounts totaling $100 million would you eliminate as being wasteful?
What was the 100,000,000 used on?
Now, here in Winter Park, Florida, we are infected with the
“separate but equal” Universes epidemic. Beth asks for specifics, and so far, Universe B offers nothing factual in support of his allegations . Just fear and division. Are we getting tired yet? Get out and vote for your community or are we too fatigued….?
Please recall that Justin Vermuth- supporter Holm was part of the big push to allow a massive hotel on the shores of Lake Killarney, abutting existing single-family homes and replacing others, on a private lake, in Winter Park. Below is an excerpt from a 2019 edition of the Sentinel’s “Growth Spotter”:
“Golden Corral franchisee Eric Holm is honing in on his development skills and pursuing plans for a new boutique hotel on Winter Park’s Lake Killarney.
Holm, a resident of the city, said he’s teaming up with a private investment group to purchase several properties along the busy S. Orlando Avenue thoroughfare, between Fairview and Beachview avenues, just south of the Hillstone Restaurant.” (End quote.)
This push by Holm and other developers resulted in a protracted and fierce battle which saw impacted Killarney residents (and others) rise up and band together to fight the Henderson.
Ultimately, the developers’ lawyer pulled their application at the zero hour, just before the vote, when they saw the city commission was poised to vote no.
But make no mistake. There is so much money to be made in and around Winter Park’s “Golden Mile” that these players never give up. They just find new, development friendly candidates, give money, donate more $ to PAC’s, and try to flip city commission seats until they hit the jackpot- a VERY development friendly commission which will vote yes on major rezonings– like the Henderson Hotel and the Orange Ave Overlay.
Be informed. Be clear eyed. The money tells the story.
Wholesale changes to the character of Winter Park are very possible.
Mr. Cruzada is a diligent and insightful commissioner. I appeared before the commission with concerns about the scale of development of a proposed medical building. Prior to the meeting I sent an email to the commisioners outlining my concerns. At the meeting, it was evident that Mr Cruzada had read my email. HE carefully considered the points that were made as to how the building could negatively impact the quality of life for nearby residents and suggested helpful measures to lesson impact of traffic on the neighborhood. He skillfully crafted a win-win solution between commercial growth and quality of life. Mr. CRUZADA demonstrates excellent leadership for our city commission.
Thank you Beth! I am with you 100%. SO sick of PACs. Kris has been a fantastic commissioner and I am looking forward to seeing him win this election!!
I’m reminded of a Commissioner from years ago who used the phrase, “Some people view Winter Park as a community. Others view it as a commodity.” Texas has, “Remember the Alamo!” as a catch-phrase. Perhaps Winter Park voters should consider, “Remember the Carlisle!”
For those who weren’t around a few years back, that was a huge condo development project that would have loomed over Central Park. Only a serious grassroots campaign stopped it. And, of course, one of the pro-development Commissioners who championed it moved away not long after the project was stopped. And the developer committed suicide, after it turned out he’d fleeced investors big-time. True story.
Got a big mailer from Justin Vermuth stating he will “Oppose irresponsible, out-of-control overdevelopment”.
If this is true, can anyone tell me why it is that the developers and large commercial landowners are pouring money into Vermuth’s campaign?
How could you be confused? Or, surely you jest. Candidates write anything they want on their mailers. And, it is usually the ones with the most money behind who say things like they “oppose irresponsible, out-of-control over-development.”
This is how you know the Winter Park Karen’s are losing. They get the Voice to write the same old story about the campaign focusing on their narrative.
Beth drop any notion that you are objective.
“Challenger Justin Vermuth has raised over $100,000. Donors include long time Winter Park auto dealer Roger Holler, the Holms family, a successful Golden Corral franchiser, and scores of other Winter Park business owners who are also residents.”
Same facts, different language. Beth you deliberately choose the point of view of the people who pay your salary and what they want you to portray in Winter Park.
Case in point: not one story about the Historic Preservation Board. Why? Because the commission looks bad? Because Cruzada’s appointee is in the middle of this nonsense?
Beth Hall-where is the watchdog? I am waiting for the bombshell story that Justin Vermuth didn’t color in between the lines in kindergarten.
Face it guys, Vermuth is a great candidate. Cruzada is the puppet of Sally Flynn and the Andersons. It’s a shame because Cruzada has sacrificed himself and any notion of independence soley because he likes being a commissioner. The only reason you are all for him is because he literally does what you want.
Be brave Beth. Run this comment.
Nice try, but I definitely don’t do this for the money and get paid very little. I take orders from no one. Sally is one of a number of valued donors to the Voice, but she doesn’t know what stories I’m working on until she receives them in her email like everyone else. The Voice receives donations from a broad spectrum of people in the community and national groups that support local journalism. What you are doing here is creating your own narrative that fits your belief system. I report what is factual and newsworthy off the financial filings when it comes to campaign finance stories. The fact that there is significant overlap among donors from Mr. Vermuth’s campaign as well as Mr. Leary’s and Mr. Russell’s is clearly newsworthy context by any standard or test. You might want to ask yourself why you would rather that not be reported and why you think it would be better to use words like “successful.” It typically goes without saying that folks who can afford to spend thousands on a political campaign are successful. Readers aren’t stupid. I respect our readers and, truly, I work for them. As for the historic preservation board story — I’m working on one as we speak. Had to go back and watch a bunch of tape etc. Took some time. Not making excuses — but tiny news sites just don’t run as fast as you or I would like.
Beth,
I did not question your financial motivations or your pay.
I question why you choose to promote a narrative if you are an objective journalist.
You frame this race the way the donors of the Voice want you to frame it.
“President Trump’s State of the Union was interrupted by Americans expressing their First Amendment rights and speaking the truth to power.”
“President Trump’s State of the Union was interrupted by loser liberals who are angry that President Trump is winning and Making America Great Again.”
“President Trump’s State of the Union was interrupted by Democrats upset with decisions made by the President in the first 6 weeks of the new Administration.”
Some facts, some narrative. If the Voice is going to be narrative journalism, fine, but you have as much credibility as Fox News and MSNBC.
You could also point out that there is significant overlap between Kris Cruzada’s donors and Jason Johnson’s donors. Jason is a two-time losing candidate for Winter Park City Commission. That’s a fact, right?
Readers are not stupid. Thank you for confirming what many of us know to be true about the narrative. And please let’s not pretend that the backers of Cruzada are poor peasants. They are the biggest and richest donors of the Democrat Party in Central Florida. Nothing wrong with it but why not report that Cruzada donor Ed Haddock is the CEO of Full Sail University. Full Sail charges students $26,000 a year in tuition.
As for the Historic Preservation Board, the first email was sent January 3, 2025 alerting the commission about explosive accusations. That is public record. Holding the commission accountable is equally if not more important than candidate donations. When was the last time a resident accused a Board of “extortion?”
Beth you’re work is important. Journalism is hurting. I want a journalist who reports the facts and let’s readers put it together. Narrative journalism is not objective.
Here is my reply to John regarding narrative-Please find my narrative below:
I’m glad we agree that the work is important. But we need to clear a few other things up: I also agree that language matters. But the examples you site have absolutely nothing to do with the story I wrote. The story is factual and fair. If you read carefully, the story does note the occupation of Mr. Haddock. Should I also detail the costs of timeshare ownership at Westgate? Or a detailed lobbying history of CFHLA and how much TDT the group wants the industry to retain for the convention center? Something tells me you would have objected to those details. Also, Jason Johnson lost once, not twice as you state, if that matters to you. I think the actual problem here is that you don’t like the way the facts read when they are set out in plain language. So you look for problems that aren’t there to distract and deflect. I’ve worked in local journalism a long time and this is extremely common and I’ve seen it for decades. Some of you might wonder: Why bother to respond to comments like this or post them in the first place? Because I think it’s important to have the conversation. I think it’s healthy to acknowledge a difference in opinion and for people to be ok with that. I think it’s important to point out how facts matter and, when needed, reinforce what the facts are. I think too much shaking our heads and walking away from each other is how we got here — to a place where we can’t even agree on facts. So I am fine with taking a little time to explain my process and answer questions and face the criticism that I learned many years ago comes with being a journalist. Some of that criticism is earned because no one is perfect. But a lot of the criticism is mean-spirited and a dislike of the facts is projected on to me. That’s fine. I volunteered to take this job because I wanted to get back to my other love (local journalism) after my husband died. I knew walking in it would be an experiment to see if I could form the nonprofit and grow our funding so that it is no longer reliant solely on a handful of people. Those who founded the Voice and now myself want this to be a sustainable outlet to provide Winter Park news for years to come. That’s why it’s hilarious to me when people say Sally or David Strong are calling the shots. Their contributions are essential because literally every contribution we get is essential. This is a very small operation. But we now receive funding from other sources that are larger than any one individual’s. I’m proud that the Voice is in a new place in terms of our funding model. I’m doing my best here in this little experiment. It’s not perfect. I’m not perfect. I’d love to be able to hire more people. I’ve already been able to hire some freelancers, which is helping. We welcome contributions from anyone willing to support our mission of providing news that you would likely not get about your city if the Voice didn’t exist. Thanks for being part of our little community and conversation.
The Winter Park City Commission has zero, nada, nothing to do with the Orange County Convention Center. You know it, so why bring that into the conversation? Steve Leary was on the record about the TDT. It’s why I did not vote for him. I want a commissioner who is not beholden to the tourism industry and I support Anna Eskamani, Carlos Guitteriez and others who want that change in the TDT allocation. In fact, how about a story on that issue?
My point about Vermuth is that you could say the same thing about Haddock. If Rollins has to pay special taxes now, shouldn’t Full Sail? Valencia? Would Mr. Haddock seek an exemption and ask Mr. Cruzada to support that position?
It’s clear that you favor Kris Cruzada and the folks sympathetic to his views. That’s fine. It’s not mean to call you out on it. I am very sorry about your personal loss and as a lifelong paying customer of the Sentinel, I was sad to see you leave that paper. I am disappointed that you are not being objective in covering Winter Park politics. We need objective journalism and many of us were expecting that when you were hired.
You should understand that the Full Sail campus is not in the city of Winter Park. It’s in unincorporated Orange County. So the tax exemption would need to be dealt with at the county level. Rollins agreed to a “payment in lieu of taxes” on faculty housing. Not on its entire campus. I’m not defending the educational institution exemptions. There’s a lot of room for policy discussion and debate there. But the facts just aren’t the same because Winter Park doesn’t have jurisdiction. Also, the city of Winter Park has a very vested interest in the convention center and how TDT money is spent. The city helped secure multiple arts TDT grants just recently. So the argument that there’s no relevancy just doesn’t hold water. Also, you can support whoever you want. But if TDT is so important to you, you might want to reconcile your thoughts on that with Mr. Vermuth’s contributions from the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association. This group and it’s members worked very hard to defeat Selly Semrad and were unsuccessful. They gave thousands of dollars to Steve Leary. I wrote a lot about that a few months ago during that election cycle. Finally, I don’t favor anyone. If Kris had more interesting campaign reports, I’d write more about them. But he’s raised a small amount compared to Justin.
Mr. Elliott,
Be very careful with what you declare to be factual. Especially when it’s about me, when it’s flat-out wrong and when the correct information is readily available to anyone with an Internet connection.
Spreading negative falsities is defamatory. And when it’s about me, I do not take it lightly.
1. https://enr.electionsfl.org/ORA/3549/Summary/
2. https://enr.electionsfl.org/ORA/3585/Summary/
My internet connection is readily available and that information is correct.
For the record, this is ridiculous. He ran for one office. It’s a single loss. If anything, he was successful in making it to the runoff.
Mr. Elliott,
Your rationale is that because I made it to the runoff, but lost the runoff by 34 votes out of 6,000 cast, that I am a two-time loser?
Please tell me that your chosen profession is not anything that requires critical thinking skills.
By the way, why don’t you use your real name?
Since you are so interested in facts are you sure you are writing facts?
So odd the city record the meeting?
“As for the historic preservation board story — I’m working on one as we speak. Had to go back and watch a bunch of tape etc.”
If so, where can the public find it?
Yes, the city records public meetings. You can find them here: https://winterparkfl.portal.civicclerk.com/?category_id=28
Nothing is on there for the “historic preservation community meeting”.
Ok if the community meeting (I believe this was the one on Feb. 20?) isn’t on there, it may not have been recorded. That was not a commission or advisory board meeting. It was a meeting between staff and residents. I attended in person and I’m not sure if they recorded it or not. We can find out.
John Elliott,
The race is Watch Dog worthy fodder. First, a last minute candidate takes on an incumbent over pursuing an open seat. Beating an incumbent is always much harder, riskier. This tells us this race is “personal” for the Vermuth mega donors and for the Chamber folks.
Second, Vermuth has allowed a divisive former commissioner with an eternal axe to grind to be his community facing voice on all the policy details. Why didn’t the details come from Vermuth ?
Third, Vermuth makes vague platitudes his platform versus taking positions and backing them up with hard facts and data. Examples, “every family should be represented” and “school resource officers in every school”.
The commission could scarcely be more diverse and inclusive. We already have school resource officers. The issue is a scuffle with the county over how much the City should absorb of the cost vs the county.
Last, but not least, is the tsunami of development industry money behind Vermuth which Beth Kassab has detailed factually. All the usual suspects are well represented in Vermuth’s list of donors. These folks have been pushing unpopular projects and land use changes for many years. The projects change. The donors do not. Flipping the seat to a more development friendly man is the end game. The future Carlisles , the OAO’s, and the Henderson’s on a private lake depend on the seat flip.
Thank you for your nostalgia for the Watch Dog.
Beth is brave. She ran your comments just as she runs any others who try to say she is one-sided. I give a small yearly donation to The Voice but I would never presume to ask for a favor. I have never read where Beth has given favors.
A city’s personality can be a fickle affair. It doesn’t have to be. Winter Park has been nurtured and carefully crafted—for decades. And it shows. Just look at our tree canopy, our lakes, our village scale and inviting walkability. We have carefully dodged the pressures of developer-driven proposals like the 2004 whopper known as the Carlisle with positive end results. That project—a housing condominium the size of a cruise ship on Central Park —was blocked. Fast forward to the monies being injected into the current city commission race. Your vote is even more critical to our continued WP treasured brand. Vote for Trees! As Star Wars composer John Williams says,”Take the time to listen to the trees. That’s where the music is!”
Confucius say: People may lie but the money never does.
In my opinion, Jason Johnson could have easily won the last election if he disclosed what he knew prior to voting about the evolving case of his signs being removed. But he didn’t and that is one big indicator of his integrity.
Researcher, How is that sign case going? Do we have a trial date. I personally would like to see just how honest everyone has been under oath. Can wait it for March 12th – looks like those who believe they get to pick the winner aren’t feeling it. Elites seem nervous
Right- O. The elites are nervous enough to give close to $90 K to Vermuth, that is certain. Why just let your candidate do the talking when the money can do so much more talking?
It looks like there was a trial date a while ago but got canceled and I can’t find out anymore information. I wonder if case was dropped? Anyone here know?
Hi, If you are talking about the misdemeanor sign theft, the defendant agreed to a divergence program. This involves things like community service and letters of apology etc. in exchange for the charges being dropped. This is a fairly common outcome in misdemeanor cases based on my experience covering courts.
Rollins’ agreeing to ‘a payment in lieu of taxes on faculty housing’ is a cynical settlement to avoid paying taxes when the neighbors around said faculty housing are paying up to five figures apiece in taxes on their homes.
Why doesn’t Rollins pay its faculty what it deserves so professors can afford housing in Winter Park’s swishy neighborhoods. The fact that this Commission bows to Rollins on property tax exemptions hither and yon leaves this resident wondering whether to vote at all.
I get your concern here. The tax exemption for nonprofit educational institutions like Rollins is an exemption at the state level. The city can not take it away very easily or at all. The most the city can do is negotiate payments such as the one we saw last year and/or sue or challenge the exemptions. The latter scenario happened in Pittsburgh (I think around 2013) when the city sued a major hospital system over its tax exemption. There was a similar challenge of a hospital system in New Jersey as well. It’s a really interesting debate and topic.