An unknown opposition group funded an advertising campaign urging voters to reject a proposed Miami Beach convention center hotel and then vanished. The effort, operating under the guise of "Preserve Miami Beach’s Future" sent out mailers advising residents to vote against a proposal to lease public land for an 800-room hotel connected to the Miami Beach convention center, which is on the November 6 ballot. The big gripes were traffic and the risk to taxpayer money. Proponents of the project noted that the hotel would actually be connected to the convention center would be privately funded.
The 2013 opposition campaign to a previous hotel proposal was led by then-Miami Beach Commissioner Jonah Wolfson and was partially funded by the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel, owned by Jeffrey and Jackie Soffer. The opposition campaign opposed using public subsidies to fund the convention center hotel. Jeffrey Soffer, who is not part of his sister’s hotel proposal, said he was not involved in Preserve Miami Beach’s Future or any other political committees.
Supporters of the convention center hotel have also created their own political committee, although it’s clear who is financing the effort. The committee, “Friends of Our Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel,” has raised $500,000 from Turnberry Development and Mixed MB Use Investment Holdings, companies tied to Jackie Soffer and David Martin, according to business records. The committee has so far spent more than $265,000, most of it on a
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