Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faces criticism about vaccination clinics in upscale communities

A prominent developer in two communities donated to the DeSantis campaign – in amounts of $ 25,000 and $ 50,000 between 2018 and 2019 for a total of $ 125,000, according to campaign funding records.

Exclusive vaccine clinics have allowed some 6,000 people to skip tens of thousands of elderly people on waiting lists in Manatee and Charlotte counties, where the trips took place.

“I’m an active Republican, so I’m a fan of the governor, but I think it could have been done better,” said Harvey Goldstein, a staunch Republican in Charlotte County.

DeSantis declined CNN’s request for a camera interview for this story. Meredith Beatrice, the governor’s director of strategic initiatives, sent an email to CNN saying, in part, “The hint that the policy contributes to the distribution of vaccines in Florida is baseless and ridiculous.”

Florida, where vaccination demand has exceeded supply since the state began administering it in late December, is facing challenges in delivering vaccines across the state.

3 million received vaccines

Seniors await vaccination for Covid-19 at a vaccination site in Manatee County, Florida.
So far, more than 3 million Floridians have received one or both doses of the vaccine, according to state records. The overwhelming majority of recipients, about 76%, were elderly people aged 65 and over.
DeSantis has defended himself from criticism of pop-up sites, even threatening to change a clinic his state has set up in a wealthy, mostly white community in Manatee County, after he was confronted with allegations of political favoritism.
Vanessa Baugh, chairman of the Manatee County Commissioners Council, revealed the origins of the vaccination campaign in the Rancho Lakewood community after his emails, obtained by CNN and other media through a request for information, showed Baugh asked county officials to pull a list of potential recipients of the vaccine from just two CEPs who would then participate in a state-sponsored vaccination campaign.
The county commissioner limited the vaccination campaign to rich postal codes

Baugh said at a public meeting with county commissioners that DeSantis called Rex Jensen, the CEO of the Lakewood Ranch community-controlled company, about creating a vaccine campaign – and that Jensen called her asking for help with setting it up. A press release on the Manatee County website said the goal was to vaccinate 3,000 people in three days.

Jensen’s spokeswoman, Lisa Barnott, told CNN that her involvement in the vaccination campaign was just “to help identify a location that could accommodate 1,000 people a day.”

Some residents in Manatee County said they were outraged by Baugh’s actions.

“The whole thing struck me as politics, favoritism, elitism and racism,” Ken Schultz, a resident of Manatee County, told CNN.

Baugh apologized after intense criticism of the vaccination site, but said at another public meeting of county commissioners on February 18 that if he had the chance again, “I will do exactly what I did this time.”

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation last week after Michael Barfield, a self-proclaimed vigilant citizen, filed a complaint alleging that Baugh may have broken the law by misusing his public position to benefit himself and others .

CNN asked Baugh to comment on the investigation, but received no response.

Harvey Goldstein says the handling of vaccination sites was wrong.
At the time, DeSantis dismissed the criticism, saying at a press conference on February 17: “It was a choice about where there is a high concentration of elderly people where you could make communities provide the capacity for them to continue (to be vaccinated) . “

It turns out that a similar clinic was organized in a gated community aged 55 or older called Kings Gate in Charlotte County, which also invited residents of another resort-style community called Grand Palm to get vaccinated.

But some seniors on the county waiting list, like Harvey Goldstein, were not invited, although he says he lives just a few minutes’ drive from Kings Gate, where the pop-up clinic was held last month. Appointments for the unit were completed through the Kings Gate community, according to a press release issued by the DeSantis office.

“When we are delivering vaccines, the mechanism must be as fair as possible and we cannot choose favorites,” said Goldstein. “I think it was a mistake.”

Vaccines and political ties

Kings Gate and Grand Palm have something more in common.

They were developed by one of DeSantis donors, Patrick Neal, a real estate developer and former Florida legislator. Neal is also a prominent developer at Rancho Lakewood. According to the Neal Community website, Neal also serves on the DeSantis Judicial Nominating Committee.
Florida officer under investigation, sheriff's office says

Neal Communities spokeswoman Leisa Weintraub told CNN via email that the company was not involved in the Lakewood Ranch vaccination site and said it would not comment further.

In a press release dated February 15 and issued by Neal Communities, Neal said that DeSantis asked for help with the vaccination event in Kings Gate.

“Neal Communities, the leading private construction company in southwest Florida, was invited by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to assist with a community vaccination event in Charlotte County,” the press release said.

Between 2018 and 2019, Neal donated $ 125,000 to PAC Friends of Ron DeSantis, according to the campaign’s financial records. Records also show that conservative donor Richard Uihlein, who has family ties to Rancho Lakewood, donated $ 900,000 to PAC over the same period.

CNN contacted Uihlein and received no response.

The Uihlein family has owned the Schroeder-Manatee Ranch (SMR) since the early 1900s and developed Lakewood Ranch on the SMR property, according to the Lakewood Ranch website. SMR, once a functioning ranch, made the transition to community development in 1994. According to the website, Lakewood Ranch is the fastest-selling multi-generational and planned community in the United States.

Call federal investigation

US Democratic Representative Charlie Crist sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Monty Wilkinson on February 21, asking the Justice Department to investigate DeSantis and whether the vaccine benefits DeSantis’ political allies and donors.

“The parent company of Lakewood Ranch belongs to one of the country’s largest Republican donors, who has contributed more than $ 900,000 to the governor,” Crist wrote in the letter.

The congressman told CNN: “If you are Hispanic, black or (a) brown person, you are not getting those instant vaccines that the governor is giving to people who are wealthier, whiter and more Republican Florida.”

Asked about the matter, a Justice Department spokesman did not say whether he was investigating and declined to comment further.

Mayor challenges governor in vaccine clinics

In a statement to CNN, the governor’s strategic initiatives director, Meredith Beatrice, said that nearly half of the community’s vaccine distribution points in Florida are in Broward and Palm Beach counties, “which are not known to be Republican strongholds” .

Beatrice also said the state partnered with places of worship earlier this year and with historically black colleges and universities, pharmacy stores Navarro and CVS y Mas to help reach underserved communities.

But Carlos Hernandez, the mayor of Hialeah, a predominantly Hispanic and working-class city, said he did not believe the governor’s explanation of the pop-up sites.

Hernandez fell at a news conference DeSantis gave in his city last week, the day the governor announced his partnership with Navarro and CVS y Mas, and said he has been trying to speak to DeSantis since the pandemic began.

“Governor, the mayor of Hialeah. How are you, sir?” Hernandez shouted after DeSantis finished his press conference.

As soon as DeSantis left, Hernandez went to the governor’s pulpit and said he did not believe that the policy is not involved in the distribution of the vaccine in Florida.

“I need help for my people in the city of Hialeah. I’ve been saying this since it started,” said Hernandez. “It’s sad that he (DeSantis) talks about politics not being involved. Come on. You know what? Give me the vaccines.”

CNN’s Christina Carrega contributed to this report.

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