For over 30 years the Publisher of the Sarasota Phoenix has covered how the Manatee/Sarasoa arae has become Paradist Lvost
THE POLITICAL OPERATIVES RETURN TO MANATEE COUNTY— AND THEY CREATED ANOTHER SHIT SHOW
The Anthony Pedicini–Peter Schorsch–Jennings DePriest traveling roadshow has rolled back into Manatee County like it never left — same circus tent, same tricks, same stale popcorn. The only upgrade? A new ringmaster, Max Goodman, smiling at the center ring while the consultant troupe cashes developer checks faster than a slot machine on a lucky streak.
Together, they’ve engineered the five‑member Goodman‑approved Manatee County Commission Shit Show, a sleeker, tighter sequel to the old seven‑member Pedicini‑era Shit Show — same plot, same choreography, just fewer cast members and a more polished consultant script.
What’s happening is a retake over, a deliberate re‑installation of the same Tallahassee‑to‑Tampa consultant machine that previously turned the Manatee County Commission into a donor‑driven Shit Show.
A Sarasota‑based Buchanan political machine is now attempting to annex a district that historically leaned toward Manatee‑rooted leadership — and the consultant class is treating it like a corporate takeover.
Pedicini? Goodman shoved him into the shadows — tucked away in his Ybor closet like a retired carnival puppet — still muttering strategy notes from the dark, still running his hit‑mail factory, still clinging to relevance like a consultant barnacle.
Pedicini with Democrat Mayor of Tampa Jane Castor
The same Pedicini who drifts between political universes like a man with a VIP pass to every faction — spending his downtime cozying up with Tampa’s Democratic Mayor Jane Castor, her Ballard Partners lobbyist orbit, and Tampa’s First Lady Anne Cruz — all while somehow remaining their “favorite Republican political consultant.” He’s so endlessly flexible he could run campaigns for two rival camps on the same afternoon and still convince each one he’s their loyal strategist. It’s political shape‑shifting as a professional service — the consultant chameleon routine perfected.
Schorsch is the narrative laundromat for Goodman — Florida Politics takes Pedicini’s developer‑funded sludge, runs it through a spin cycle, and spits out “respectable coverage” for Goodman's candidates and they get rebranded as “conservative reformers,” enemies get tagged as “corrupt, woke, anti‑growth,” and every dark‑money hit job is quickly normalized, so it looks like “everyone knows” the target is radioactive. It’s not journalism; it’s a story‑control service dressed up as a news outlet for Goodman's clients.
Pedicini’s socially‑repellent, boundary‑ignoring nuisance sidekick DePriest was splitting up the the once united ground‑game of the activists, encourging factional disputes among the activists, and making sure the local environment didn’t contradict the consultant‑manufactured storyline.
And Carlos Beruff? For years he charged around politics like a bull in a China shop — a one‑man missile crisis from Miami — until Pat Neal finally stepped in, grabbed the steering wheel, and teamed up with Goodman to restore “order” and consolidate the million‑dollar developer control over Manatee County.
GOODMAN: THE NEW MAC STEVENSON — BUT WITH A LOUDER MEGAPHONE AND A FULL DEVELOPER LOYALTY PROGRAM
Goodman has slid into Mac Stevenson’s old role — Pat Neal’s quiet back‑room operator who could smooth egos while developers rearranged Manatee County like showroom furniture. But here’s the twist: Stevenson did it silently, without the ego, without the spotlight. Goodman? He’s out-front strutting, taking credit for the Buchanan‑Neal Manatee County takeover like he’s leading a parade. It’s the same job, just now performed by a guy who needs everyone to know he’s the mastermind behind the machine.
Now the whole operation runs like a developer‑owned franchise, with Goodman smiling at the front counter, Pedicini rattling around in the stockroom, and Neal/Beruff counting the receipts
The new takeover isn’t some polite “shift in influence.” It’s a full‑scale restoration project — the old Tallahassee‑to‑Tampa consultant pipeline stitching Manatee County back together exactly the way it liked it before voters tore the curtain down.
GOODMAN: NOW THE OFFICIAL KOOL‑AID DISTRIBUTOR OF THE MANATEE COUNTY TAKEOVER.
The Goodman "good government" donor developer machine
Goodman has now styled himself as the public face of the takeover — the grinning Kool‑Aid vendor ladling out political sugar water to Manatee County’s most gullible corners, assuring them that the Buchanan‑Neal‑Beruff developer machine is really just “good government.”
Goodman did not just joined the takeover. He franchised it, branded it, and started offering loyalty points.
Goodman has become the public face of the takeover — the smiling Kool‑Aid salesman handing out political sugar water to the politically naïve of Manatee County, convincing them that the Buchanan‑Neal‑Beruff developer machine is actually “good government” and that the Pedicini, Schorsch and DePriest fellow traveler Goodman "is a class act."
Goodman is the new storefront; Pedicini is the back‑room inventory, and the Buchanan/Neal/Beruff machine is the corporate owner.
Together, they’re turning the Manatee County Commission into Paradise Lost: Developer Edition, complete with bulldozers, rubber‑stamp votes, and a governing body that functions more like a zoning‑approval conveyor belt than a Commission.
THE PEDICINI/BERUFF GANG OF SEVEN: NOW THE GOODMAN‑APPROVED REBOOT
THE GANG OF SEVEN REUNION TOUR — NOW WITH A NEW BACKUP SINGER
The old Gang of Seven — the same crew that previously turned the Commission into a full‑blown shit show — has now been rebooted under Goodman’s leadership, polished up, re‑packaged, and marched back into Manatee County like a returning colonial administration.
Their mission this time? Take back control of the Commission and make absolutely sure the “colony” doesn’t get any ideas about independence.
Goodman’s reboot promises one thing above all: No more unrest. No more surprises. No more grassroots interference.
Just a smooth, consultant‑managed operation where every vote is predictable, every decision is preapproved, and every commissioner knows exactly which developer machine signs the checks.
The old Gang of Seven — the crew that previously turned the Commission into a shit show — has now been rebooted under Goodman’s leadership to take back control of the Commission and rest assured there will be no more unrest in the colony..
Four of the original cast members are back:
Amanda Ballard — returning star of “I Vote How the Consultants Tell Me” and now running around with a K-47.
Mike Rahn — the former U,S marine marching to Goodman directives and still playing the “Guy Who Thinks He’s in Charge.”
Tal Siddique—the perennial “Who Exactly Is This Again?” character.
George Kruse — the Commissioner, once bounced by Pedicini/Beruff for getting drunk and running into a tree now back in good graces with Goodman approval.
And now they’ve added:
Tara Poulton — former Buchanan aide, now the courier between Sarasota’s donor machine and Manatee’s consultant cartel.
GRASSROOTS CANDIDATES: VAPORIZED 70% TO 30%
Ballard and Rahn didn’t just win — they steamrolled grassroots challengers by 70% to 30%, the kind of numbers you get when the consultant machine is running at full wattage, and the developer’s checks are clearing on time.
Grassroots candidates didn’t lose. They were politically vaporized.
Message delivered: “Thanks for playing — now please exit through the gift shop.”
THE $2.5 MILLION SYDNEY GRUTERS SPECIAL: SARASOTA’S ANNEX OF FL‑16
Then there is the Sarasota Buchanan machine U.S Congressional candidate who launched her congressional campaign with $2.5 million, the political equivalent of dropping a cruise‑ship anchor on FL‑16 and declaring it a private marina.
This wasn’t a campaign. It was a hostile takeover with yard signs.
FL‑16 didn’t get a candidate — it got a developer‑funded land grab dressed up as a congressional race.
Greg Steube, once the gravitational center of FL‑16, is now basically a decorative throw pillow — present, technically, but not holding anything up.
His preferred Florida State Rep. candidate Milton Little got flattened by Goodman’s pick Jordan Vornadore.
He didn’t endorse Sydney Gruters — his former aide. Steube’s refusal to endorse his own former aide signals that Sydney Gruters was never his pick, never part of his faction, and endorsing her would contradict his political loyalties.
Into that vacuum marched the Sarasota Buchanan machine, waving developer checks like parade flags.
Steube didn’t lose power. He misplaced it, and Goodman picked it up off the floor. With Steube weakened, the Sarasota‑based Buchanan network is now asserting dominance over the 16th Congressional District, using the Sydney Gruters campaign as its flagship vessel.
AND NOW, THE FINAL PROOF OF THE TAKEOVER: BILL CONNERLY JOINS THE SHOW
As if the takeover needed more comedic evidence, along comes Bill Connerly, joining Vornadorn in the Legislature — a move so on‑brand it might as well have been scripted by Goodman himself.
If the take-over needed more comedic evidence, along comes Connerly, joining Vornadorn in the Legislature — a move so on‑brand it might as well have been scripted by Goodman himself. ’s takeover of Manatee County politics has become not mentioning State Senate President Jim Boyd as part of the Buchanan machine.
James Buchanan
BTW, the Goodman led Buchanan machine has eyes on going statewide with State Senator James Buchhan, who was a complete failure in the private sector, but being the son of the billionaire U.S Congressman Vern Buchanan, Goodman's plans are for him to follow Boyd as the President of the Florida with daddy Buhanan’s $ millions and daddy’s donor list. That is not a fairy tale; that is how the “Great State of Florida” is totally corrupted
THE LAST SPEED BUMPS IN THE BUCHANAN MACHINE TAKEOVER OF COUNTY COMMISSION
Standing in the way of the full‑scale Buchanan‑Neal‑Beruff–Goodman takeover expedition into Manatee County are two inconvenient obstacles: sitting Commissioner Bob McCann and newly elected Commissioner Liz Arnold, who somehow slipped through the consultant‑controlled net.
Liz Arnold
Arnold’ mere existence is treated like a glitch in the system, an unexpected software error in the developer‑run operating model. The machine wanted a clean sweep. Instead, it got a Arnold who wasn’t preapproved by the consultant cartel.
How many 5 - 2 votes Neal/Beruff/Jensen projects wil be getting as the Goodman Shit Show Commissioners bulldoze Bob McCann and Liz Arnold into political oblivion. Not just defeat — erase.
WHAT VOTERS ARE TOLD VS. WHAT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING
Publicly, the Buchanan Machine sales pitch is all about “stability,” “professionalism,” and “experience.” The consultant machine loves those words — they sound clean, polished, and reassuring. They’re the political equivalent of hotel lobby music: bland enough to calm you, vague enough to hide what’s really going on.
Internally, though, the reality looks more like a developer‑run puppet theater:
Same consultants — just with fresher headshots
Same developer agenda — now with even fewer speed bumps
Same Gang of Seven core — resurrected, repackaged, and consultant‑approved
Same Sarasota donor pipeline — still pumping money like an IV drip
Same Tallahassee blessing — the “I’m not stopping you” grin from the balcony.
Now supercharged with $2.5 million for Sydney Gruters, a weakened Steube, and a Legislature duo managed by Goodman
What voters are told is a bedtime story. What’s happening is a machine reboot with better lighting and worse acting — a sequel nobody asked for, starring in the same cast, the same script, and the same developers.
The machine doesn’t just run the show. It owns the tent, the popcorn stand, the ticket booth, and the parking lot.
NEXT
DID ERIC ROBINSON ASSIT IN TAKING OUT JOE NEUNDER
Jon Susce
The Sarasota Phoenix team is the last media guardian in the Sarasota/Manatee area and beyond laying bare for all to see how the Sarasota/ Manatee area and beyond is controlled by a UNI Party financed by millionaires and billionaires turning Florida into Paradise Lost.
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