Drew Wilson
The lobbying division at Dean Mead earned nearly $600,000 in state-level lobbying fees last quarter.
New compensation reports show the eight-person team reeled in $285,000 lobbying the Legislature and another $305,000 lobbying the executive branch, for an overall total of $590,000.
Lobbyists and lobbying firms report the pay they receive from each client in ranges, each covering $10,000 increments. Florida Politics uses the middle number of those ranges to estimate pay.
The firm’s legislative compensation report shows Angela Bonds, French Brown, Marc Dunbar, Peter Dunbar, Martha Edenfield, Chris Moya, Daniel Russell and Jennifer Ungru represented nearly 60 clients last quarter.
The most lucrative of the bunch were the American Rental Association, Charter Schools USA, Scientific Games International, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and A. Duda & Sons, one of the largest landowners in the state.
Each paid Dean Mead $15,000 for legislative lobbying work last quarter. The rest of the clients on the report showed up in the up-to-$10,000 range.
Several statewide associations showed up in that set, such as the Florida Realtors, Florida Retail Federation and the Florida Ambulance Association.
Dean Mead’s executive branch compensation report showed the same clients, with the same set of $15,000 clients repeating in that bracket, though a couple additional clients joined them — Deloitte Consulting and Willow Lakes.
Among the dozens of $5,000 clients signed by Dean Mead are some household names, such as ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Marriott, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
The firm also handled the needs of numerous local governments, including Charlotte, Lee, Manatee and Palm Beach counties as well as the cities of Clearwater, Holmes Beach, Indian Harbor Beach and Panama City.
In addition to per-client ranges, lobbying firms must disclose a broad range for their overall income. Dean Mead reported receiving $250,000 to $500,000 on each report, meaning the firm earned no less than $500,000.
If each of the firm’s clients paid the top dollar in their reported ranges, the firm could have hit $1 million for the quarter.
Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms faced a Nov. 14 deadline to file compensation reports for the period covering July 1 through Sept. 30. Compensation reports for the fourth quarter of 2020 are due to the state in mid-February.
