Muscle car museum owner's big PAC contribution raises suspicions in Melbourne mayor's race

Jim Waymer and Dave Berman, Florida Today
·6 min read

American Muscle Car Museum owner Mark Pieloch is flexing some political muscle with a $100,000 contribution to a new political action committee in Brevard County.

Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey said he thinks the PAC, named Honesty & Integrity for Brevard, may be targeting him and his support of Providence Place, a 120-unit affordable-housing project proposed across Sarno Road from Pieloch's American Muscle Car Museum Inc.

Daily Bread, which provides food and other services to homeless persons in Brevard County, is the developer of Providence Place. The Melbourne City Council voted in November to donate the 3-acre site to the organization.

Pieloch says it's not about Providence Place, but other issues he has with the mayor.

Alfrey in reelection battle

To date, Pieloch's is the only contribution to the PAC.

Alfrey is running for reelection this year against former Mayor Kathy Meehan. Both are registered Republicans, although the election is nonpartisan, with no political designations listed on the ballot.

In a Facebook post, Alfrey said he and most other members of the Melbourne City Council "approved the affordable-housing project called Providence Place, in compliance with the Live Local Act. This affordable housing would help address the increasing housing issue, with an emphasis on homeless veterans on our streets. Daily Bread would close, and merely focus on affordable housing. However, Mark Pieloch disapproved of the plan, as it would be near his private car collection, the American Muscle Car Museum."

Pieloch, reached by phone Wednesday, said he was traveling and declined comment, but responded via email, regarding the Facebook post from Alfrey relating to Providence Place, emphasizing that his American Muscle Car Museum Inc. is a nonprofit that often hosts fundraisers for local charities.

Paul Alfrey
Paul Alfrey

"The current mayor continues to write with 'half-truths,' or as my Native American descendants would state — Melbourne mayor speaks with 'forked tongue,' No mention of the American Muscle Car Museum was ever mentioned in his Facebook post or the millions of dollars we raise to help local Brevard charities since 2016."

Pieloch said his donation to the Honesty & Integrity PAC is one of numerous PACs and political candidates — both Democratic and Republican — that he has supported over the years.

"I believe, along with numerous others, that the current Melbourne mayor definitely lacks Honesty & Integrity from the various lies, half-truths and unethical behaviors that he has exhibited in public office," Pieloch wrote in an email Thursday in response to FLORIDA TODAY's questions.

"My political support to this PAC and other local political candidates is based on supporting candidates that practice honesty, integrity and ethical behavior on a daily basis," Pieloch added. "This support has nothing to do with Providence Place or the homeless issue in Brevard County. When I see political candidates become 'corrupted' by the public office they were elected to, it is time to support change."

Pieloch offered to buy land

Pieloch had submitted an offer to buy the city-owned parcel for $250,000 in cash to build a dog park, but the City Council selected the Providence Place proposal instead. Pieloch's previous donations helped finance construction of dog parks in Melbourne and Viera.

"The owners of Melbourne's Club 52 (formerly Melbourne Greyhound Park) have already verbally committed to supporting personally and financially this project, along with other local Melbourne business owners," Pieloch said in a Nov. 7 email to City Manager Jenni Lamb regarding the proposed dog park.

But, later that month, the Melbourne City Council voted to give Daily Bread the three acres of land off Sarno Road, allowing the organization to move ahead with plans to build Providence Place.

Daily Bread challenged before

This is not the first time Daily Bread has faced pushback over plans to build affordable housing.

In September 2021, Daily Bread officials withdrew a proposal to build a four-story, 126-unit affordable-housing complex with homelessness social-support services on a vacant Malabar Road parcel in Palm Bay. That proposal drew opposition from the nearby Coral Key neighborhood.

Then, last spring, Daily Bread proposed to build more than 60 affordable-housing units and more than 60 emergency-shelter beds at the Sarno Road site. That plan incorporating shelter beds was later dropped.

Organizers of Providence Place hope to break ground on the complex by early next year. It would take 18 months to two years to build, at a cost of $15 million to $18 million, Daily Bread Executive Director Jeffrey Njus said.

"Because of the Live Local Act, we won't go through planning and zoning," Njus added.

State law pushes affordable housing

That legislation, championed last year by Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, more than doubled funding for housing and rental programs. It also provided some major incentives for builders of affordable housing, including increased tax credits and tax exemptions. The law also supersedes local authority by prohibiting rent-control ordinances, and preempting local government rules on zoning, density and building heights in some circumstances.

"We have the green light from the city and wide support from the community, and we're moving forward," Njus said. "For most people, we could kind of talk through and mitigate their concerns."

Alfrey said Melbourne "has unique challenges on complying with the new state requirements" for affordable housing, "and we will continue to work on solving these problems, despite political action committees that linger to serve personal interests over our community needs as a whole. As mayor of the city of Melbourne, I am appalled that a private car collection would come first, over addressing the issues of affordable housing and homelessness in our community."

The Honesty & Integrity for Brevard political committee is chaired by Michael Thomas, who is the elected Republican state committeeman for Brevard County.

Brevard Republican Executive Committee Chair Rick Lacey said he was unaware of the political committee before he was told about it this week.

He said GOP officials like Thomas are allowed to endorse Republican candidates who are running against other Republicans. But they can do so only as individuals, and cannot mention their Republican Party titles if they do so, unless the Republican Party has officially endorsed that candidate.

Thomas could not be reached for comment.

Campaign contribution reports filed with the city indicate that Pieloch on Nov. 20 donated $1,000 to Meehan's campaign, which is the maximum allowed for an individual direct donation.

Njus gave kudos to Alfrey for his support on a controversial issue.

"It was a bit of a roller coaster last year," Njus said, "and we didn't know if our community would be able to accomplish this. It's easy to say 'no' to a proposal and very challenging to say 'yes.' "

Contact Environmental Reporter Jim Waymer at jwaymer@floridatoday.com.

Mark and Tetiana Pieloch at the 2022 grand opening of a Viera playground that they helped fund. Pieloch has been at odds with Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey, standing in the rear, over the city's decision to allow an affordable-housing project across the street from Pieloch's American Muscle Car Museum.
Mark and Tetiana Pieloch at the 2022 grand opening of a Viera playground that they helped fund. Pieloch has been at odds with Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey, standing in the rear, over the city's decision to allow an affordable-housing project across the street from Pieloch's American Muscle Car Museum.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Muscle car museum owner flexes political muscle with new Brevard PAC