Congressman Tom Reed of New York has a number of district offices upstate. He pays between $472.50 and $1,500 a month of taxpayer money to rent each of these various offices to meet his constituents. Congresswoman Marcia Fudge of Ohio pays more than $5,666 a month for her district offices.
But Congressman Bill Posey, who represents Brevard and portions of Indian River County, pays a mere $1 for one district office in Brevard and nothing for the second. And that includes water and electricity. That’s $1 a year, thanks to the generosity of Brevard County’s Board of Commissioners, which last week renewed the deal with Posey through Jan. 2, 2020.
Posey, unlike Reed and Fudge, rents from a government agency as opposed to a private landlord, thus saving federal dollars.
But that savings comes at the expense of the county.
Posey Communications Director George M. Cecala said the House Ethics Committee ruled members may accept free office space in their districts when it is provided by a local government.
The Space Coast Association of Realtors pays $9 per square foot for their office on Sarno Road in Melbourne. But they looked at places as high as $12 a square foot. At 2,200 square feet for the county office Posey uses in Viera, an equivalent commercial space at $9 a square foot would run $1,650 a month.
“From our point of view, we look for the best way to spend our budget,” Cecala said. “If rent is not a consideration, we spend that money elsewhere or it goes back to the treasury.”
Though Cecala could not pinpoint any specific service or benefit that Posey can afford to provide for Brevard constituents with the money saved by not paying office rent, he noted that the congressman each year returns a portion of the $1.34 million he’s budgeted for district and capitol operations back to the U.S. Treasury unspent. Before recent budget cuts, when there was even more cash to fund office overhead, Cecala said Posey would routinely return more than $100,000 annually.
Posey gets a better deal than state Sen. Debbie Mayfield, who pays $150 a month to rent an office in Melbourne City Hall. Like Posey, her deal includes utilities but not phone service.
“We looked at the county, but they had no space. The City of Melbourne is more centrally located,” Mayfield said. Mayfield also has an office in Indian River County where she pays no rent.
“I am all for giving people the free space as it guarantees easier access,” said Scott Ellis, Brevard County Clerk of the Court. Cecala agreed. “As I understand it, the county thought it would be beneficial for residents and county officials to have the congressman’s office located in the county complex to increase access.”
Equally important, Cecala said, the complex has ample meeting space as well as law enforcement protection.
The location has forged a positive working relationship.
“There are many issues in which the congressman and the county work closely together on, like the Indian River Lagoon, beach re-nourishment and transportation issues,” Cecala said.
According to Teresa Camarata, county central services director, Brevard has extended similar deals to Dave Weldon, Tom Goodson, Randy Ball and Ralph Poppell.