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Digging for ‘dirty money’: How to find out much your county commission candidates got

August 8, 2024

At VoteWater we focus on “dirty money” because politicians who take money from polluting special interests are more likely to vote for those special interests, and against clean water. There’s a direct correlation. Our “Dirty Money Project” — tracking campaign…

You get what you pay for – and that’s why developers give so much

August 1, 2024

County commissioners throughout Florida are constantly being asked by developers to change zonings or amend comprehensive plans, to leapfrog the urban services boundaries and more. As you’ve noticed as you sit in endless traffic, elected officials almost always say “yes”…

VoteWater endorses Levine Cava, Lerner in Miami-Dade

July 29, 2024

VoteWater, a South Florida clean-water group, has issued its first endorsements of the 2024 election cycle, backing Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Cindy Lerner, candidate for the District 7 seat on the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners. VoteWater…

Who’s getting Big Sugar money this election cycle? Here’s the list

July 25, 2024

**UPDATED** We goofed! There’s even more Big Sugar campaign cash out there than we thought! Due to a glitch in the search process, we underreported — by more than $1 million! — the amount of money given by Florida Crystals…

Deep Dive: Seagrass shows signs of life in the Indian River Lagoon

July 18, 2024

Boy, we could use some good news about Florida’s environment. So here it is: Seagrass appears to be making a comeback — at least for now, at least to a limited degree and at least in some areas — in…

Meet VoteWater’s Gil Smart: “I didn’t come to paradise to watch it be destroyed”

July 11, 2024

Welcome to “Meet VoteWater,” an occasional feature spotlighting the people behind the advocacy. VoteWater Executive Director Gil Smart always wanted to live at the beach. But when the Pennsylvania native moved his family to Martin County during the algae-clogged “Lost…

Another attempt to solve our algae problems with ‘innovative tech’

June 27, 2024

When it comes to solving Florida’s water pollution problems, we’re always looking for the silver bullet, the easy way, the shortcut. And these shortcuts almost always involve “technology.” So we were unsurprised to see a bill filed earlier this month…

“Ghost” candidates? We call bullsugar!

June 27, 2024

It’s election time, and you know what that means: Lots of bullsugar going on. Specifically, we’re getting reports of potential “ghost candidates” popping up around the region, including in Martin County, where long-time commissioner Doug Smith will benefit from a…

Big Sugar gives big bucks to Rick Scott

June 20, 2024

“Red Tide Rick” Scott was no friend to the clean-water cause as Florida’s governor. Then he moved on to the U.S. Senate by barely beating incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson in 2018. Now he’s in a tight race for re-election;…

When lobbyists write the legislation, the people get more problems

June 13, 2024

If you missed the latest installment from “Seeking Rents” reporter Jason Garcia on how a big Florida homebuilder effectively wrote a new law to build subdivisions faster and cheaper, check it out here. It’s key to understanding how the “sprawl”…

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