FACT AND FICTION:
DECIPHERING THE ISSUES IN SIB’S MAYORAL CAMPAIGN
By The Sunny Isles Beach Reporter
As we sift through the various mailers from both mayoral candidates, it may be difficult to discern fact from fiction. Below is a brief comparison that may help and demonstrate why we are endorsing George “Bud” Scholl for Mayor.
FACT: 77 year old Lewis J. Thaler served on the commission for nine years, and his voting record is replete with favors to developers, which created a skyline that did not conform to our City’s Comprehensive Plan. Thaler’s campaign chest is filled with hefty donations from grateful developers and their associates.
CONCLUSION: If elected mayor, Thaler will continue to favor developers over residents.
FACT: 77 year old Lewis J. Thaler has not sent a single mailer addressing Bud Scholl’s voting record or service as a seven year commissioner. He has, however, trolled through personal information about Bud Scholl’s children using school records, classmates.com, and résumés.
CONCLUSION: Thaler has no legitimate criticism of Bud Scholl’s seven year voting record or service as a City Commissioner, which is well-reasoned, independent (he was often the dissenting vote on 4-1 decisions), and in the best interest of our City and residents. For example, in the case of the historic Temple landmarking decision, had the rest of the commission (including Lew Thaler) followed Bud Scholl’s lone vote, it would have saved taxpayers over Two Million Dollars and an unnecessary lawsuit. Thaler cannot launch credible attacks at the things that matter. As a result, he stooped to new City campaign lows by attacking his opponent’s children.
FACT: Bud Scholl’s criticism of Lew Thaler is 100% factual and documented. These facts include:
1. Thaler and the mayor violated the Sunshine Law in a developer meeting and boasted about it publicly (pre 11/12/2010 vote);
2. Thaler supported a developer for an ill-fated aquarium to the tune of millions of dollars (11/12/2010 vote);
3. Thaler sponsored a measure to award himself $6,000 a year in expenses without having to provide documentation (9/20/2012 vote);
4. Thaler supported a $650,000 contract in a questionable bid process to a company tied to a convicted felon (9/20/2012 vote);
5. Thaler heavily lobbied to rename Heritage Park, primarily dedicated to our war veterans, after himself (9/20/2012 vote);
6. Thaler billed taxpayers for personal car repairs when he was no longer in office (City Finance Records check # 007887 issued to Thaler);
7. Thaler used city staff to run his personal errands while he spends summers in his second home in Connecticut (disclosure by former city manager).
** Wait a second… summers in Connecticut?! Would that actually make Thaler the part-time commissioner he has been claiming he was not?
CONCLUSION: Lew Thaler’s record as an elected official and thereafter (not that of his family or acquaintances) is a matter of serious concern for SIB voters. In fact, there are too many embarrassing Thaler votes to mention in campaign flyers, including Thaler’s vote to stop the feral cat feeding program. Thaler thought it would be a better idea just to let the cats starve. This was his ordinance on his last day in office, the same day he failed to get Heritage Park named after himself. It was an unfortunate “let them eat cake!” note with which to end his political career.
FACT: Despite running for office several times and having been a candidate for this particular race for over a year and a half, Lew Thaler has improperly used his campaign funds, which triggered a Florida Elections Commission investigation and shows Thaler’s ignorance and/or disregard for the most sensitive of campaign rules….the one relating to dollars.
CONCLUSION: Neither Thaler nor his close advisors are familiar with or care to respect campaign rules and procedures. We should be concerned by this amateur-hour performance from a supposed seasoned politician and his team.
FACT: 77 year old Lewis J. Thaler has every intention to ignore our City Charter, the City’s constitution, as well as our Comprehensive Plan. He has campaigned promising to be a full-time mayor when our City Charter requires a full-time professional City Manager and a part-time mayor and commission. For more on this point, please refer to our article at https://sibreporter.net/2014/09/in-%e2%80%9clew%e2%80%9d-of-quality-thaler-offers-quantity/. In fact, in a debate forum on October 22, 2014 at the Trump III, Thaler stated that he would not permit the City Manager to tell him how to implement public policy, and referred to the City Manager disrespectfully as a “hired gun” that needs to be watched over every single day.
CONCLUSION: Thaler is misleading voters and/or has no idea how our city is supposed to be run.
FACT: 77 year old Lewis J. Thaler accused Bud Scholl of missing all but one City Commission Workshop. What he fails to tell you is that Bud Scholl purposely does not attend these NON-MANDATORY “agenda” meetings because he believes it compromises Sunshine laws and deprives residents of the full discourse the Sunshine laws are intended to protect.
CONCLUSION: Thaler is trying to mislead voters and/or does not understand our Sunshine laws.
So, those are the facts and our conclusions. We hope this was helpful as you prepare to vote for the future of our City. The Sunny Isles Beach Reporter is privileged to recommend residents give their vote to Commissioner George “Bud” Scholl as our next Mayor of Sunny Isles Beach.
OK, so, if I got this right, Lew Thaler likes: e-stalking other people’s kids, starving cats, honoring himself, supporting developers, ignoring rules, and misleading voters — But not necessarily in that order. Wow.
Mr. Thaler’s voting record and his campaign mailers are public record and substantiate our reports.
Lew Thaler, Carla Mast and friends are trying to position Bud Scholl as someone who is not engaged in our community. The Scholl’s have lived in Sunny Isles Beach longer than Lew Thaler. Both Mr. and Mrs. Scholl have been very active in the community in various roles. If you know Lew Thaler you know he’s ignorant, mean-spirited and has a bad temper. That’s the Lew the outside world never sees because he is a phony. This man wants to be mayor so bad he can taste it. That means he’ll do and say anything to you to get there. Please don’t vote him into office. It will not be good for the city.
What do you expect of an elderly, retired, high school graduate??? If they won’t name a park after him, he wants instead to be an inept mayor and tell our professional city manager how to do his job. A mini Edelcup without the business savy, but with the same amount of love for wealthy developers / campaign contributors! LOL. God help us! Keep walking the beaches and shopping at Publix to fill your days. Take a rest. Stick a fork in it, Lew….you’re done.
I’m disappointed that the Sunny Isles Beach Reporter has not addressed that awful campaign mailer sent out by Lew Thaler. It’s the one mocking his opponent as Dracula because he works for the blood bank. I needed a blood transfusion and if it wasn’t for the blood bank and the people that work there to protect our blood supply I would never have survived. Yes, the blood bank sells donated blood to hospitals. So does the Red Cross. It’s what they do. It takes a lot of money, time and medical research to ensure blood donations are free of dangerous contaminations such as cancer, aids or ebola. Why in the world would Lew Thaler attack the blood bank for political gain? It makes no sense and shows extremely poor judgement. He has lost all dignity with this campaign approach. I found it repulsive and it represents a new low of political campaigning in Sunny Isles Beach. Lew Thaler should be very ashamed of himself for referring to employees who work at the blood bank, including doctors, as bloodsuckers.
I could not agree more with Sylvias comments. I too have had life saving blood transfusions less than two years ago. I too have lost any respect for Lewis Thaler in the way he reached new LOWS in his muckraking mud slinging campaign fit only for the house of horrors on Halloween night. I wonder how many small children he actually frightened.
I really wonder what the students attending our K-8 School think of the maturity it took to send such a juvenile campaign add to our residents. Is this the example that a mayoral candidate of Our City should be setting for our future voters.
Shame on you Lew!
Unfortunately Lew Thaler’s fingerprints are all over this demonic mailer which states it is a “Paid electioneering communication paid for by SIB For Winners.” It also uses the same postal permit # as other Lew Thaler mailers. According to online corporate records, Lew Thaler is listed as President of this Florida non-profit corporation.
To further elaborate, the apartment number Lew recorded as his address when he filed for the non-profit, Apt. 2606, is not where he resides. Lew resides in Apt. 1707. He can’t even get that right. Lew, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Please continue to stress education during your campaign. If you’re spending a lot of time with the woman in Apt. 2606 then your mistake is understandable. If you simply forgot what apartment you live in, that’s a problem.
So he recognizes how distasteful that mailer was, but won’t put his name on it? But he uses an organization with his name on it? Why bother?! He must think SIB voters are really stupid.
Mr. Thaler’s baseless campaign attacks, consisting of twisted logic, outright lies and defamatory statements, which frankly have exceeded the limits of decency and ethics (and make Crist and Scott in comparison look more like Beaver and Wally Cleaver) – is living proof that he has zero meaningful information to promote relative to his record or the affairs of our city. I am convinced at this point that “Lew” is actually short for “Lew-zer!”
The Thaler campaign has truly scraped the bottom of the barrel in the past month all the while committing all sorts of campaign violations. And the “issues” he has tried to bring up only serve to highlight the fact that LEW DOES NOT GET IT. He does not understand (or chooses to ignore) campaign rules. He does not understand (or chooses to ignore) Sunshine laws. He does not understand (or chooses to ignore) our City Charter. And judging from the investigations he has triggered against himself, he also does not understand (though I suspect he will not be able to ignore) the consequences of his choices and/or ignorance. Oh, and by the way, I was at the “let them eat cake” meeting. Lew clearly and unequivocally favored starving cats (with no other support from the commission) . Way to stand up for what you believe in Lew!
Lew-zer… LOL! Good one RM.
A little math for your readers. If the mayor earns $14,000 per year, and it is a full time position, then that would make it $269.23 per week (divide 14000 by 52 weeks). If you take that weekly amount and divide it by 40 hours (Full time standard) it gives us an hourly wage of $6.73 per hour. The minimum wage in Florida is $7.93. Sooooo…. anybody promising a full time mayor is also promising major wage violations!
Speaking of math, Mayor Edelcup mailed a letter to voters endorsing Lew Thaler. In that letter he referred to Lew as having an extensive background in accounting. He must be referring to Lew’s 12th grade arithmetic class from over 55 years ago because Lew’s education went no further than that. He also said Lew was the voice of intelligence and reason. Naturally the mayor would say that because Lew voted 100% with the mayor for the 9 years he served. Lew lacks substance and the grit to make his own decisions. He may be full-time but he will be a full-time empty suit. Please don’t support this man who’s trying to make you believe he’s something that he isn’t.
I would like to compliment the Sunny Isles Beach Reporter. Today I received an email from Lew Thaler’s campaign that was designed as a mock newspaper entitled “Sunny Isles Beach Examiner”. It’s apparent to me that the SIB Reporter has made its mark in the community. Obviously Lew is reading it, is nervous about it and decided to counter attack with a fake newspaper headline. In the email there’s a photo of Lew from behind giving a speech at one of the condos. The camera faces the audience, showing a room full of people looking exceptionally bored. But what stands out is a quote from one of the attendees: “His accounting skills are just what we need.” I’ll say it again. Lew’s education ended at the 12th grade. How can he possibly boast to voters about his accounting skills? What was it that he said to convince them that his so-called skills are needed to run the city? I believe the city has a capable finance department. Does he think he’s going to run that department also? By the way, has anyone ever seen Lew’s professional resume? Something’s wrong with this picture. Clearly everything written in that campaign email was fabricated. Lew, if you’re going to lie to the people lie about something you can’t caught lying about!
Lew Thaler is bragging about his accounting skills? Isn’t he being investigated by the Florida Election Commission for irregularities in his campaign financial reports? And didn’t Mayor Edelcup praise Lew’s accounting skills in a letter? Why in the world would either of them put his “accounting skills” in the forefront of a campaign while he’s under investigation for financial irregularities?
Uh-oh! The only reason Lew wants you to think he has superior accounting skills is because he plans to grab control of the city’s finance department if elected. Now that’s something to worry about. Bud Scholl is 100% correct about this guy. King Lew is setting the stage for ultimate control of 2 of the most important areas, the city manager’s role and the financial department. Please don’t allow King Lew to take control of the city in this way. Don’t vote for Lew Thaler!
The FAKE ARTICLE email blast is not only clearly intended to mislead voters (The SIB Examiner is a fictional source) it is also A VIOLATION OF CAMPAIGN RULES. The practically invisible disclaimer (yes there was a disclaimer in tiny red font) that says “paid for by…..” DOES NOT COMPLY with font ratios. You literally need a magnifying glass to make it out. Once again, we see that Lew Thaler does not know (or chooses to ignore) the rules. And frankly, at this stage in the game, it’s pretty obvious that all he cares about is winning, and the rules of ethics are a non-issue.
Again, very distressing example for our children. Awful tactics. It is outright cheating (that is the definition of not following the rules for one’ s advantage).
On the other hand, kudos to the person who manipulated the photo. They did a great job air brushing away Thaler’s puppet strings.
But, but, but, Lili…none of that matters because Lew has superior accounting skills! He even knows how to save 15% on his car insurance. Oh, wait…he doesn’t need car insurance. He has the city pay for his car repairs with your tax dollars!
I have never posted on a blog. I apologize in advance if this is not in step with how things are usually done. But here goes: For the past year or so I have seen Lew Thaler campaigning his way through just about every event this City has sponsored. He seemed like a serious candidate, and I supported him up until I saw him speak at the public debate at Trump 3 last Wednesday. At this forum, more so than any other time I have seen him speak, Thaler came across uninformed and uninspiring. When asked about his stand on being a full time mayor, he became very agitated and he proceeded to call our City Manager, Chris Russo, “nothing but a hired gun” “who needed watching over” and ”who wasn’t going to tell him what to do”! He went from Mr. Limpet to Al Capone right in front of my eyes. And the crowd grunted in protest. After seeing his opponent, Bud Scholl, field the same questions, with clear and insightful explanations, and (thankfully) being able to say what he needed to say in less than the 2 minutes allotted each candidate – it was no longer a contest for me. Bud Scholl must be our next mayor.
There is one other observation that had been nudging me out of Thaler’s camp over the course of this campaign. I have been present at many of his meet and greet functions and am familiar with most of his staunch supporters. It became apparent very early that the only questions Thaler answered well are the ones that his supporters stand up and pretend to present as concerned citizens. Whenever Thaler gets a question he is not already prepared to answer, someone else answers for him – including the current Mayor Edlecup – which I witnessed at our most recent Concerned Citizens Luncheon. I have to wonder if Mayor Edelcup is running for this office again, with Lew Thaler as his beard?
I attended that forum and was shocked to hear some of the things he said publicly. It came across loud and clear that he is planning to get rid of the city manager, which is too bad since he’s the 3rd city manager in 4 years (proof the full-time mayor “watching over” idea doesn’t work). He’s not even in office yet but managed to demoralize the entire staff at city hall with the “hired gun” comment. Also, he told everyone in the room that Raanan Katz is too cheap to fix the flooding on his properties even though he made millions buying and selling distressed real estate in SIB. RK is one of his biggest political supporters. How dumb was it for Lew to say that? It’s apparent Lew does not think before he speaks. He was not good on his feet and fumbled through pretty much every question he was asked. I think it’s safe to say he lost a ton of votes that night.
I find this all so distressing. On one hand we have a 77 yr old yes man for Edelcup and on the other we have a brilliant, generation younger, independent thinking man in George Bud Scholl. In the last few days I have received 2 letters from 2 desperate Lewzer supporters. One from Norman Edelcup who for obvious reasons needs Lewzer to continue his love affair with developers. To call Lewzer a man of reason and great accounting skills is quite a reach. But Norman continues to need Lewzer as his front man so he’ll lie to do it if he must. The other from a mom who thinks Lewzer is the only one responsible for having a school built here. I’m really hoping the people of SIB are not that naive. Lewzer Thaler’s only original thoughts that I have ever seen were to starve the stray cats and name a park (already dedicated to veterans) after himself. Both failed miserably in front of the commission. He’s one vote and has no other support on the commission besides his handpicked commissioner from the north side who has no real citizen support since she was never in an election. She will easily lose when challenged considering her resume as commissoner so far. For the good of us all….Please vote for George Bud Scholl
Regarding that letter from the mom, you must be referring to the woman named Carla Mast who’s supporting Lew Thaler. She states she is a parent of a 6th grader at the SIB K-8 school and attacks Lew’s opponent, Bud Scholl, for not sending his kids to school in the area. Carla needs to be reminded that there was no K-8 school when Bud’s kids were of school age. Interestingly, Carla chose not to reveal that she is the former Pres. of the SIB K-8 PTSA and is still very active in the Association. For that Carls should be very ashamed of herself as both oa mother and an advocate for education. Where and how a child gets their education has no place for politics and is none of her business. Carla has a lot of nerve digging into children’s backgrounds and publishing statements about it. The administrators of the K-8 school need to rein her in. Then she goes on to say that Bud is telling lies about Lew Thaler. I believe Bud published the check # issued to Lew for car repairs paid by taxpayers. Lew Thaler is stuck on the school as a campaign message but there are many more critical issues that need to be address in the city. He’s never addressed any of them. His next cause is expanding the size of the school. Maybe he thinks he’ll get his name on the expansion which is why he’s pushing so hard. Just like Heritage Park, don’t count on it Lew. And Carla, please stay out of politics, stop bad mouthing other parents on how they educate their kids and tend to your own child. You’re certainly not smart enough to play the political game. And Lew will most definitely bring you down with him.
Awful, awful, awful! First there’s Trina Duluc who issued that vile flyer describing workers at the blood bank as “bloodsuckers”. Now there’s Carla Mast who thinks her child is better than candidate Scholl’s because his kids didn’t attend school in the neighborhood. Her high and mighty attitude makes Carla the worst of the two. With her it’s all about the school and a candidate is worthless (or invisible) if he’s not living up to her expectations whatever they may be. Lew Thaler can recruit all the irrational groupies he wants to. But I have yet to see him address even one problem in the city. All he has done so far is attack his opponent and talk about the school. The school is fine. It’s not a problem and it’s not going anywhere. Move on, Lew! You’re too narrow minded to be mayor. Tell us what you plan to do about the traffic, flooding or public safety. You claim you will be a full time mayor but you sound like a full time school mayor. We need Bud Scholl who has the ability to tackle various problems and will provide true leadership for our community (evident at the debate last week). Not a one-trick pony like Lew.
I received the letter from Carla Mast. It is well known in the community that she is associated with the K-8 school which makes it even more shameful that she as a mother would attack another mother’s choice regarding educating their child. Carla seems to think that she and her child are superior to the Scholl’s and needed to put it in print. Because of this the K-8 school needs to rethink their association with her. Bud Scholl will very likely be our next mayor. I wonder if Carla ever thought about that. Apparently she’s not the brightest tool in the toolbox. What was even dumber was for her to put her picture with Lew on the letter. So in case you don’t know who she is, here’s what she looks like. The caption should read “Dumb and Dumber”.
What an excellent point you make about the school not existing when Scholl’s kids went to school. I guess all of us with adult kids are horrible people for not sending our kids to a school that was not there at the time. Also, 100% agree that where I send my kids to school or raise my family is not anyone’s business. Maybe I want them to have a religious education. Maybe my kids have a particular gift suited for a particular school, state, country….. Then I will make the decisions and adjustments I can to ensure their utmost success and should not be concerned that some desperate politician will sift through my family’s personal information for his misguided campaign. Sadly this is what has happened to the Scholl family. That alone gets my vote….for Scholl of course.
Well put, Mad Mom. Carla Mast owes Mr. and Mrs. Scholl a huge apology. But surely she doesn’t have the class or the brains to do so. She should be putting her energy towards doing something productive but instead chose to advertise to the entire city how small-minded she is.
“Mom Jeans Mast” should stick to baking cupcakes and learn to keep her ignorant mouth shut. Not only did she insult parents of children who are gifted, have special needs or have religious priorities for their child, but then gives Lew Thaler all the credit for the successful K-8 school. What about the principal and all the great teachers who roll up their sleeves every day to keep it an A-rated school? Do they count for something? And Carla, how do you know who is invisible and who isn’t? You don’t have a desk up at city hall and you don’t attend commission meetings. If you did you would know that taxpayers paid for Lew’s car repairs as well as overnight packages of his personal mail delivered to his vacation home in CT. But you say you know no one with greater integrity??? The next time you write an endorsement, take a lesson from the school kids and “do your homework.”
I really didn’t know for whom to vote until I recently saw THALER at a meet/greet, and SCHOLL at another. Lew looked way past his prime, an old 77, slow, speaking from a card, disjointed, and looking frail and weak. Plus, based on what he said and what Edelcup wrote to me about him, he seems to be the outgoing Mayor’s puppet who ALWAYS voted with Edelcup to grant variances for developers for beachfront condo hotels. THALER helped Edelcup profit from powerful developers to ruin our views of the ocean. So, with all this, I don’t believe him about not doing the same to the west side of Collins, especially since I hear Dezer’s numerous corporations have contributed an immense amount of money to THALER recently, fearful of Scholl. Scholl, on the other hand, is at his prime, articulate, honest, personable and most knowledgeable. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND NOW THAT MY FAMILY, FRIENDS AND I WILL VOTE FOR BUD SCHOLL TUESDAY. He’s our hope for the future!
Thaler would be 85 at the end of 8 years as Mayor??? If he can’t hack a campaign without looking pale and OLD (I’ve seen him too lately), he couldn’t even be a “part-time mayor” like the laws of our city provide! Lew: Keep “walking the beaches” here at least 3 times a week, feed some pigeons, and get better at shuffleboard; live a productive RETIREMENT once and for all, and let THIS generation, a 55 year old Bud Scholl, run our City. I fully agree with HG.
Why is everyone finding fault with old Lew Thaler? Is it because he’s 77, (Bud Scholl is 55), and would be 85 at the end of two terms? Is it because he’s wealthy, was a registered REPUBLICAN when he owned a house in Goshen, Connecticut and now makes believe he’s something else? Is it because he has taken THOUSANDS from developers and voted for the monster buildings on the beach? Is it because he’s upset that people found out he only has a high school education and needed Edelcup to tell him how to vote all those years? Rest up Lew….its time!
I once watched a commission meeting on channel 77 and saw Lew Thaler sitting in one of those seats up front behind the podium and he fell asleep. And it was all on camera the whole time.
I today (Saturday) received a flyer from “Lew-zer” Thaler containing so many outright LIES that I felt my blood pressure going up. He calls Bud Scholl a “DEVELOPER,” when it was THALER who has accepted a boatload of money from Dezer, and Raanan Katz and J. Milton, etc. This uneducated loser is so beholden to the developers that he voted for ALL variances they put before the Commission: ALL of them! Yet, he accuses Bud in his piece today of being the one who voted the way he, Thaler, voted. This old bitter politician thinks he can get away with something like this since there’s only 3 days until the election, and the polls show he is trailing badly. I would have expected this kind of outright LYING in my former country, the former USSR, not HERE in America! Who is managing his campaign??? >>>> PUTIN????
Amazing, isn’t it? You can’t be a commissioner for as long as Lew was (9 years) without taking responsibility for the overdevelopment of this city. Unless you want 4 more years of tall buildings blocking the sunshine, do not vote for him! Throughout his campaign he avoided the overdevelopment issue by telling us how he built the school single-handedly brick by brick. And if that wasn’t enough he drags out Carla Mast who scolded the Scholl’s for educational choices they made and to cry over the fact that Lew has been victimized during this campaign. Makes me laugh out loud!
As this campaign comes to a close, it is disheartening — from someone who knows politics first hand from New York, successfully — to have seen an aged, frail 77-year old retired Lew THALER try to make a political comeback on the backs of lies, false innuendos, attacks on an opponent’s children, and his last mailer directly and unconscionably switching his voting record with Bud Scholl’s (who is a vibrant 55 years old)! It was THALER, not Scholl, who never voted against ANY variance requests by campaign donor-developers like Raanan Katz, Dezer, Milton, etc, etc. It was THALER who made our beachfront a line of hotel condos, so wide they block views of the beach, and would do so on the west side of Collins too. It was a wealthy Thaler, formerly a registered Republican (!) from his Goshen, Connecticut second home who now lives in a luxury building on the beach, making believe Bud Scholl was turning this into a partisan race. I feel for this high school educated old man who always followed the lead of his mayor on all votes in 9 years, never voting independently, while Scholl (a college graduated computer engineer and businessman), ALWAYS voted against ALL variances by the powerful developers and against the mayor and THALER. And when private polls showed he was way behind, he predictably panicked. But he didn’t act in a professional manner. No one in his family, or his gament industry in NYC, ever taught him CLASS…..you’re either born with it, or not. The truth often hurts: No one likes to find out their careers are finished, and they’re no longer in their prime or effective. No one wants to admit their life’s work is done, and their reckoning fast approaches. I feel for THALER. But his becoming mayor would harm upcoming generations for years to come. That’s why GEORGE BUD SCHOLL should be our only choice for Mayor of our wonderful City!