During a four-year period ending September 30, 2015, the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce received $74,500 in government grants from the city and the county. The chamber’s cash balance rose by about the same amount ($70,000) during that same time period. The chamber is a private corporation, not a government agency, yet it receives money from the city without a contract specifying what the money is to be used for. In this investigative article, we will focus on four topics: Public funds provided by the City of Dunedin to the chamber Public funds provided by Pinellas County to the chamber The chamber’s high cash balance and apparent accounting irregularities The close relationship between chambers … Continue reading The Dunedin Chamber of Commerce: its cozy relationship with government and its odd finances

The Downtown Dunedin Merchants Association (DDMA) hosted a city commission candidate forum at the Bon Appétit restaurant on Wednesday evening. All six candidates attended. The candidates present were: mayor Julie Bujalski and her opponent commissioner Bruce Livingston vying for mayor, also Moe Freaney and Mike Jones vying for seat 1, and Heather Gracy  (incumbent) and Reuben Hepburn vying for seat 3. Click on their names to see their respective campaign websites. Audio of most of the candidate forum (67 minutes worth) is available here on Youtube. Superficially, it may appear that the candidates spoke to issues, but none of them mentioned sewers or the recent sewer overflows, … Continue reading Political pageantry at a Dunedin candidate forum

As first reported by the Tampa Bay Times, Dunedin mayor Julie Bujalski and her husband Tom were chronically delinquent in paying for their boat slip at the Dunedin city marina. They received lenient treatment by the City of Dunedin, treatment which no other boat slip renter received. Turns out that there’s more to the story. Through a public records request, the Guardian found that the mayor’s husband, Tom Bujalski, signed a “6-month amortization” document on July 19, 2016. According to Investopedia, “amortization is the paying off of debt with a fixed repayment schedule.” Even though a debt was owed, no interest was specified in the amortization … Continue reading Dunedin mayor received interest-free loan from city, clams up when questioned