Congressman Tom Feeney: An Appreciation

By Ken Silverstein

A few years back, university researchers found that during the 1990 stock market boom U.S. senators beat the market by 12 percentage points a year on average. “By comparison, corporate insiders beat the market by 5 percent, and typical households underperformed by 1.4 percent,” the Christian Science Monitor said of the research. “Financial experts . . . say the senators' collective achievement is a statistical stunner, too big to be a mere coincidence.”

Some House members are also astute investors. Consider Congressman Tom Feeney, a Florida Republican first elected in 2002. A former real estate lawyer, Feeney previously served in the Florida House of Representatives, including a two-year stint as Speaker.

Feeney, a close ally of the religious right and of Florida Governor Jeb Bush, is known as an eccentric lawmaker. He once sought to ban children from studying the dangerous art of yoga unless they first obtained parental approval, and he has called for Florida to secede from the Union if the federal debt topped $6 million. He's also one of the most corrupt members of Congress according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, in part because he went on a golfing trip to Scotland in 2003 that was paid for by Jack Abramoff.

In May of this year, Feeney reported on his personal financial disclosure form that he was the joint owner of unit 2308 at 8600 Ridgewood Avenue in Cape Canaveral, Florida. That's the address for a condominium at Royal Mansions resort, where (according to the resort's website) “beachfront dreams come true” and where, for lucky residents, “morning sunbeams stream into your spacious vacation condo, completely equipped.”

Feeney listed the purchase date as January of 2005, though the online records of the Brevard County Appraiser's office show that the sale actually took place in late 2003. Feeney's name does not appear on the record, and the only name that does appear is that of James A. Fowler, identified as the property's trustee.

Fowler, known as “Skip,” is Feeney's former law partner, and his law firm, Fowler & O'Quinn, offers counsel on zoning, planning and development to city governments in Feeney's district. Fowler and other people associated with his firm have contributed $9,650 to Feeney since he ran for Congress. When Feeney was House speaker in Florida, he appointed Fowler to the board of the Florida High Speed Rail Authority.

Feeney's spokeswoman, Pepper Pennington, referred my inquiry about the property to Fowler, who graciously took my phone call even though he was vacationing in Paris. Fowler told me that Peter Gianelli, a local real estate developer and old friend, owned a number of properties at Royal Mansions and had offered to sell unit 2308 to Fowler in 2003. “I told Tom [Feeney] I wanted to buy it,” said Fowler, “and asked him if he wanted to come in. He did and we went in 50-50.” Fowler said that he and Feeney rent the property out to vacationers and also use it for their families. “Tom uses it more than I do, as he's got two kids,” he said. (Incidentally, Gianelli and his wife donated $4,000 to Feeney's first campaign for Congress in 2002.)

Fowler said that he and Feeney purchased the condo as an investment. They paid a total of $175,000 for the property, which Fowler said is now worth at least $300,000 and probably more. (In fact, two identically sized units at Royal Mansions sold earlier this year for $450,000 and $420,000.) “Real estate there has enjoyed a hell of a run-up the past few years,” Fowler said, “especially beachfront property.”

I'm not suggesting that there's anything illegal here. Fowler and Feeney are longtime acquaintances and they have every right to purchase a quickly appreciating investment property together. That said, Fowler seems to have cut Congressman Feeney in on a great deal, and Feeney's failure to report the purchase at the time he bought it is a violation of House rules. (Pepper Pennington told me that Feeney didn't report the purchase because his name was not on the deed and was only recently added to the trust agreement. When I asked why his name had been omitted, she told me she'd get right back to me; I'm still waiting as we go to press.)

Whatever the case, Feeney appears to be a man who has a fine eye for the real estate market—and the ability to generate a return on his investments that would make a senator green with envy.

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