There is a new, mysterious player in Miami electioneering. According to Miami city Commissioner Marc Sarnoff's most recent quarterly finance report, his re-election campaign paid $23,409 between May 11 and June 29 for "promotional materials" to a company called Rodman. The firm lists its address at 201 S. Biscayne Blvd., Ste. 915, which happens to be the suite for the law offices of Solowsky Allen, which sublets space to Sarnoff for his private maritime law practice.
As reported by New Times last year, the commissioner was forced out of his home office in Coconut Grove after he was cited by Miami code enforcers for operating his business illegally from a residence.
Sarnoff, who has raised $377,000, faces four challengers this November.
Banana Republican could find no incorporation records for Rodman filed with the state. In addition, the company does not have a phone number listed in the White Pages or Yellow Pages. So we paid a visit to the address listed on Sarnoff's campaign report to see if we could track down Rodman's owner or employees.
We arrived on the ninth floor of 201 S. Biscayne Blvd. Tuesday afternoon. The only office marked 915 belonged to Solowsky Allen. There was no signage for Rodman, although the building's security guard assured us the company is located there.
However, a receptionist at Solowsky Allen had no clue what we were talking about. We tried to get an answer from the commissioner. We contacted him early yesterday morning, but he blew us off. "I'm in a meeting. I will call you back in two-and-a-half hours," Sarnoff said. He never did. The commissioner also didn't respond to two messages on his cell phone requesting comment.
The fact that a company consulting for Sarnoff's campaign is listing the same address as his private business which is located inside a law firm that has contributed to his war chest could pose a problem. For one thing, is Rodman getting free space from Solowsky Allen? If that is the case, then state campaign finance laws require Sarnoff's camp to list it as an in-kind contribution.
Does Rodman even exist?
We'll keep hounding the commissioner until he gives us an answer.
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