Text Messages Reveal Entanglement of Grow Tallahassee and City Commissioners

The Origin of Grow Tallahassee

We discovered text messages between Curtis Richardson’s Aide and Bugra Demirel. We discovered that Richardson and his aide were confidants and possibly collaborators in the founding of Grow Tallahassee. They have been in correspondence with each other since the founding of Grow Tallahassee back to May 2020.

Due to who Grow Tallahassee backs, who they target, and now the information that Demirel was in close communication with Richardson and his aide raises concerns around many of the development votes that have been made. Albeit we never know a persons intentions, we are still able to look at their actions and the impact of this PAC since it’s inception.

Demirel supported Richardson’s re-election this year. However, in May of 2020 he was also involved in his Campaign:

“How’s fundraising going?” Demirel asked. 

“It’s about time we cut out populist commissioners out the game and focus on what benefits the community and job growth,” Demirel continued his text to Richardson’s aide.

“Please text my personal” replied Akhenaton.

While it is not an uncommon practice for a politician to have a PAC or be apart of founding a PAC, we find Bugra’s comments to be of concern. “It’s about time we cut out populist commissioners out of the game…”

When Google is used correctly, we can define the word “populist” as “a person, especially a politician, who strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.”

Bugra Demirel’s stated himself that he is uninterested in a commissioner that appeal to ordinary people who are feeling disregarded. He is only interested in the established elite groups, one can only assume so is his PAC, Grow Tallahassee, and the candidates that he endorses.

Bugra Demirel Enmeshed With Other Candidates

Demirel is also running Rudy Ferguson’s campaign. Metadata from Demirel’s press release shows Bugra Demirel as the author of Ferguson’s campaign announcement.

Ferguson was recently captured on his phone at city hall, and a photo reveals that Ferguson has a pinned group chat with Demirel and 2022 city commission candidate David Bellamy, who was criticized for supporting Ron DeSantis and other Republicans in a losing effort. We recall that David Bellamy attempted to unseat Jeremy Matlow.

Both Jack Porter and Jeremy Matlow are considered elected officials that appeal to the every day working people- the Populist candidates which Bugra Demirel, and Curtis Richardson’s aide have expressed they want out.

Concerns are raised regarding the enmeshment between a developer and a local elected. We are concerned about his disgust with candidates that represent ordinary Tallahassee people who feel disregarded by the elite groups.

After stumbling across some text messages between Bulgra Demirel and Curtis Richardson’s Aide we decided that we needed to take a deeper dive into Grow Tallahassee.

We hear so much about PACs (political action committees) and various political groups in our neighborhoods. However, what are PACs? Political Action Committees are Tax-exempt organizations that collect money from donors with similar interests and then donates that money to fund campaigns or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation.

The Federal Election Commission regulates the PACs and PACs can be established by political leaders or by other non-connected committees. Depending on who is establishing the committee, will determine the type of PAC it is.

Grow Tallahassee

While individual candidate campaigns have a limit of $1,000, PACs do not have that limit. Grow Tallahassee has seen contributions just this year of up to $20,000. Many donors are developers and developer owned businesses.

Who is Grow Tallahassee and who do they represent? We begin our search by looking at their own webpage and how they describe themselves.

Grow Tallahassee describes themselves an organization that researches, selects, and supports the election of politicians who “recognize the importance of growth and economic vitality, as well as the business community.”

Which businesses are deemed important enough to garner support? Evaluating the votes from the candidates they have backed could shed some light on this claim.

City Commission

For this post we looked into the City commissioners which Grow Tallahassee backs. Bugra Demirel is the Chairperson and Treasurer of Grow Tallahassee.

City Commissioner Jack Porter is not endorsed by Grow Tallahassee and makes up her Campaign funding through small donations averaging $60 each. Porter voted “No” on Somo Walls (owned by Bugra Demirel). Meanwhile Richardson voted “Yes” on that project. Richardson is raising larger amounts with fewer donors. Many of Richardson’s donors are developers and the businesses they control.

Recently we have seen an increase in small business owners closing the doors on their livelihoods and dreams. This raises the question: Which business community is included in the economic and business growth?

Proof Brewing asked Curtis Richardson for funding assistance and according to the Tallahassee Democrat his response was:

“This is an aesthetic improvement to a private business that they should finance if that is what they want,’ Richardson said. CRA money ‘should be invested where there are not sidewalks for mothers pushing baby carriages,’ Richardson said. ‘We should invest money in those areas of town that have been neglected and overlooked over the years. I am insisting those dollars the CRA is receiving be put into those areas.”

However Curtis’s response to the Tallahassee Democrat for Somo Walls distillery ( across the street) was:

“He [Richardson] said it’s ‘hypocritical’ to question the funding amount for this project when other large funding requests have been approved by the board in the past.

‘We don’t have a restaurant that I feel good about taking my wife to on the south side of town. We don’t have a fitness center in that area … But, we want to question (this) and I really believe it’s all due to political antics.”

At a NEBA debate a two weeks ago, Richardson thanked Bugra Demirel from the dais for helping development on the Southside