FOR THE SECOND consecutive year, factions trying to influence Lake Worth Beach’s nonpartisan City Commission races have formed state-registered political action committees with help from a prominent Republican campaign finance operative.
Last year, PAC Financial Management in Tallahassee managed money for Prosper Lake Worth Beach, a political action committee that raised nearly $38,000 and supported two winning candidates, newcomer Mimi May and incumbent Sarah Malega.
Now, the firm is managing money for two PACs that registered with the state elections office in mid-February, roughly one month before the March 11 elections for the City Commission seats held by Reinaldo Diaz and Chris McVoy.
Under state law, the deadline for PACs to file campaign finance reports is April 10. That means the two PACs — Residents for a Brighter Lake Worth Beach and Facts Are Important — won’t have to reveal their donors or expenditures until a month after the election.
Had Brighter and Facts registered with the city, they would have been required to file finance reports before election day, which would have given voters a layer of transparency into who is donating to the PACs and how the PACs are spending their money.
Brighter Lake Worth Beach is chaired by Martha Wright, a long-time city resident who lives south of downtown. In state records, Brighter lists its address as PAC Financial Management’s Tallahassee address.
Brighter’s registered agent is Noreen Fenner, who is listed in state records as a treasurer for dozens of active and former political committees, including Friends of Sara Baxter, a conservative Republican who was elected in 2022 to the Palm Beach County Commission.
Fenner “has managed campaign funds for numerous Republican legislators and at least one (Gov. Ron) DeSantis-backed school board candidate who won a Flagler County seat in 2022 in an election marked by dirty politics,’’ according to a Tampa Times article in 2023.
Facts Are Important is chaired by Peggy Fisher, a Lake Worth Beach resident who was treasurer for Prosper Lake Worth Beach. Fisher is among a faction of residents and businesses that have been critical of McVoy, Diaz and Stokes.
In state records, Facts Are Important lists its address as a post office box at the main West Palm Beach postal center on Summit Boulevard. The Facts treasurer is PAC Financial Management’s Kim Bailes, who was deputy treasurer of Prosper Lake Worth Beach.
Residents for a Brighter Lake Worth Beach has put out mailers supporting Greg Richter and Carla Blockson, both of whom are challenging Diaz and McVoy, respectively. Anthony Segrich is also challenging Diaz but has not been backed yet by a PAC.
The Brighter mailers offer praise for Richter and Blockson and don’t mention Diaz or McVoy. So far, the PAC has not sent any attack mailers.
Facts Are Important recently sent out a mailer and created a website attacking Diaz over his failure to submit financial disclosure Form 1 in 2022 and 2023 in violation of state ethics laws. Diaz said he filed the forms late because of an oversight.
Diaz said he wouldn't be surprised to see more attack mailers in the final days before the March 11 election, just as Prosper Lake Worth Beach did in 2024 against Stokes, who lost to May, and Melvin Pinkney, who lost to Malega.
“Fenner and Bailes are famous in Florida for pulling these sort of political antics. They are proud of their ability to game the system by pushing ethics and law to their shady limits,”
Diaz said.
“It’s unfortunate that they are becoming a prevalent presence in our city, they are partnering with our local gadflies and risk tarnishing our city’s reputation,” he said.
“Most people in our community are over this type of negative dirty politics, I hope this inspires them to show up at the polls to prove to those involved in these PACs that their behavior does not represent our city.”
Fenner did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2024, Prosper raised nearly $38,000 from donors in eight states, including a former Missouri legislator who has advised Donald Trump. It paid nearly $19,200 to Public Concepts, a heavy-hitting political consulting firm in Jupiter known for using attack mailers against opponents and for supporting Republican candidates and conservative causes. An anti-Stokes Prosper mailer sparked outrage in the community last year for showing photos of drug addicts passed out on city sidewalks.
Prosper, originally formed as a grassroots community group, is still listed as an active PAC but apparently has not been involved in the 2025 city elections.
McVoy is not backed by a PAC. But his campaign sent an attack mailer late last month criticizing Blockson, who chairs the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board, for her support of a mixed-use project anchored by the Wiener Museum of Decorative Arts. McVoy has been a vocal critic of the project.
Diaz, McVoy and Stokes had forged a commission majority before May defeated Stokes last year, tilting the balance of power. I
Diaz was first elected in 2022 in the last election in which voters citywide cast ballots. On March 11, only voters who live within District 4 or District 2 can vote.
Segrich has raised $33,480, by far the largest war chest of candidates in both races, according to the latest campaign finance reports. He said he hired Cornerstone Solutions as a campaign consultant but hasn’t been billed yet.
Richter has raised $18,530 and Diaz $985. Blockson has raised $12,467, McVoy $5,297.
Click below to watch candidate interviews by the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board, which later endorsed Diaz and Blockson.
District 2 endorsement interviews
District 4 endorsement interviews
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About the author
Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, the birth of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. View all posts by Joe Capozzi.