Allegations against Van Ayres intensify Hillsborough school tax referendum campaign

State officials are investigating a trip to the Masters golf tournament taken by a Hillsborough County school principal. Van Ayres with the head of a construction firm that later awarded the county a no-bid contract, according to a Hillsborough County commissioner. Josh Wastal.

Reports of the trip rocked the county’s conservative political circles.

But some school board members say the talk is just part of an attempt by conservatives to undermine the referendum campaign on raising taxes to fund teacher salaries.

Republican District Commissioner Ken Hagan and Ayres went to the Masters in April with Jonathan GrahamHead of construction service HORUS. There are indications that the school’s deputy principal Chris Farkas I was also on the trip.

Hagan later filed a gift disclosure statement with the state Ethics Commission, saying the private flight to Augusta, lodging there and golfing amounted to a $6,500 gift from Graham.

Hagan did not return calls seeking comment.

Ayres did not apply for a gift for the trip, but told the school board at its Oct. 7 meeting that he paid for it “from his own personal funds” rather than accepting it as a gift, as Hagan did.

At that meeting, he said he wanted the public to hear his side of the story on the issue, but he did not publicly disclose how much he paid for the trip or detail the costs.

Before the Oct. 7 meeting, Ayres met individually with board members to discuss the issue, but none of the members contacted by Florida Politics knew the details of the refund.

Farkas has not spoken publicly on the matter.

School Council Member Patricia Rendon said she knew Farkas was at the Masters, but didn’t know if he went with Hagan and Ayres.

When Wastal asked the school district for public records of the trip, officials said there were none because the trip was on personal time and “paid for with their own money,” apparently referring to both Farkas and Ayres.

Neither Ayres nor Farkas responded to Florida Politics requests for an interview with the school district’s public affairs office.

At the May 7 Council meeting, a month after the trip, the Council approved Ayres and Farkas’ proposal to exchange a 1-acre parcel of land owned by the county at 50 Hannah Avenue.^th HORUS Street, in exchange for the company building a much-needed 20,000-square-foot warehouse in the area.

Ayres said the council bought the Hanna Avenue property for $1.4 million and that it was recently appraised at $1.8 million. The cost of building the warehouse, he said, was $4.2 million.

Farkas told the Board that the deal came about when “they (HORUS) came to us” with an offer.

“We need space, we need storage, and this… seems like a good deal,” commented board member Lynn Gray.

The lone vote against the deal was Rendon, who said she was not satisfied with the study presented of the warehouse’s appraised value.

But over the next few months, rumors about Masters’ trip began to spread, spurred by a longtime conservative activist. Tom Rusk at the conservative Tampa Bay Guardian blog and other opponents of the tax referendum.

Rusk called the trip “blatant bribery” and “the tip of a much larger scandalous iceberg.”

Ayres responded to the conversation at the Oct. 7 meeting by saying he came “on his own time and paid for it out of his own personal funds.”

“Some people are now saying this trip has something to do with the land swap between the school district and HORUS that the Board approved in May,” he said. “Let me be clear, this is absolutely not true.”

He said the deal did not require any bids because the county did not spend any money on the deal.

Noting that the warehouse is estimated to be worth much more than the land sold for it, he added, “My job is to always put the county’s interests first—and that’s what we did in this transaction.”

Reacting to conservative media reports, Wastal, who has opposed the school district on issues such as the tax referendum, wrote to the governor. Ron DeSantis about events.

He said DeSantis referred the matter to the state Department of Education and the department’s inspector general’s office responded and asked for information on the matter. The department did not respond to requests to confirm this by the time indicated in this story.

“Should politicians and high-ranking bureaucrats enjoy free private flights, free luxury room and board, free private golf and free tickets to the Masters golf tournament from a no-bid contractor?” Wastal asked in a Facebook post.

Following Ayres’ comments on the issue at the Council meeting, Rendon said she intends to seek legal advice on whether the Council should adopt a new policy regarding the acceptance of gifts by senior district employees.

“The bottom line is whether an ethical line was crossed,” she said. “My focus was entirely on the responsibility and legality of the situation.”

State law already requires district school officials to disclose personal financial information and gift information, but Rendon said the board may need a stricter policy for top officials — although teachers should still be able to keep small gifts they usually received from students and parents.

But other board members interpret the dispute as part of an ongoing conservative attack on the public school system.

“This is part of a plan to attack the constituency to try to influence the millage referendum,” the MP said. Nadia Combs. “I’m so sad. We have 10,000 children without teachers. There are no ethics charges here, just people trying to weaken the county.”

The Nov. 5 vote will include a Council-proposed measure to add $1 tax per $1,000 of assessed property value to the school district’s taxes, which is estimated to generate $177 million a year over four years – mostly in addition to teacher salaries. Supporters argue the district is losing teachers to neighboring districts with similar taxes, leaving students without certified teachers.

But opponents, including members of the local development industry, portray the area as corrupt and wasteful. The Realtors Political Committee sent out mailers and text messages opposing the referendum, noting that a similar proposal was defeated in 2022.

Tax campaign in schools may intensify

The Hillsborough County School District’s tax referendum campaign has generated relatively little headlines and spending given the stakes, but the agitation is picking up steam as the election approaches.

The Realtors Issue Mobilization Committee, a PAC funded almost exclusively by the trade group Florida Realtors, had spent $77,080 through Oct. 18 fighting the tax, including mailers and text message ads, and still had about $50,000 in cash on hand.

Its senders claim there will be “little accountability for how the money is spent.”

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of political and business leaders wrote a letter to the Tampa Bay Times this week in support of the idea. They included Dick Bearddeveloper and major Republican political fundraiser; Alex Sinkformer Florida finance director and Democratic fundraiser; Kathleen Shanahanprominent businesswoman and Republican Party donor; Marianne Ferencprominent restaurateur and Democratic Party donor; former president of the University of South Florida Judy Genshaft and others.

Their letter said public education “is the cornerstone of any thriving community” and that Hillsboro faces a severe teacher shortage as teachers leave for other districts and states where salaries are supported by salaries.

Could Brundage threaten Pittman?

By the most traditional standards, Republican is Republican. Karen Gonzalez Pittman looks like a good prospect for re-election, but the state GOP is campaigning as if it faces a threat from a relatively unknown, first-time Democratic candidate. Ashley Brundage.

The party has not said how much it has spent on the race, but the amount is clearly in the six figures based on the number of mailers and television and digital ads sent out by the state House GOP’s campaign arm, the Florida House Republicans. Propaganda Committee.

Over the past two weeks, the committee has sent out at least 16 pieces of mail, each likely costing five figures. The mailers praise Pittman and dismiss Brundage, with several allegations Brundage believes to be lies.

This comes even though the district from South Tampa to Westchase has a 39-30% Republican-to-Democratic registration advantage, and Pittman won it despite a strong challenge from Democrats. Jen McDonald by almost eight points in 2022.

Pittman raised more than twice as much as Brundage, $420,567 to $177,770, not including party expenses.

“The appointed speaker (rep. Danny) Perez we are committed to supporting our officials and doing everything we can to get them re-elected,” a committee spokesperson responded. Sarah Bascom when asked about the cause of the flood. She declined to provide any cost figures.

“I’m a competitor; I never take anything for granted,” Pittman said. “I want to make sure we can lower taxes; our parents can make choices for their children and make Florida livable and affordable.”

Brundage said she believes the attack proves she is a threat to Pittman: “I don’t need to do a survey – I can’t afford to – but what they’re doing tells me I’m in it.” , she said.

The emails claim that Brundage, who is transgender, “believes that biological boys should compete on the same (sports) fields as biological girls.” It’s a lie, Brundage said: “I don’t believe it. “I trust parents, school officials and boards (along with science) to make these decisions at the local level.”

Senders say this could happen in local high schools, although a 2021 state law prohibits it.

The emails say Brundage opposes parental consent for gender reassignment surgery for minors, which Brundage calls “outrageous… I’m a mom and I believe parental rights are essential.”

They also attack her financial history, including bankruptcy, foreclosure and a lien in her homeowners association.

It’s all true: Brundage publicly said she was homeless and broke after the 2008 crash, largely due to an unreasonable mortgage on a house that later sold at auction for less than half what she paid. She later became a banker and worked as a registered investment adviser, she said. She is now a diversity consultant.

“If bankruptcy disqualifies me, what about Donald Trump?” she said. “I went through a difficult period, but like many Americans, I recovered.”

Brundage said the attacks are an attempt to distract attention from the real issue in the race – property insurance costs, which she blames on Pittman as the incumbent and member of the Republican legislative majority.

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