Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm with close White House ties, is lobbying on hurricane cleanup, but for a Florida company that was the subject of a newspaper investigation into shoddy hurricane-proofing work.
Ken Cashin, a Florida mobile-home lobbyist and businessman, founded Windstorm Mitigation Inc. after helping to design the state's mobile-home windproofing program in 1999, according to the Tampa Bay Times investigation. Through an exclusive contract with the Florida government, Windstorm Mitigation has since made millions for its work retrofitting mobile homes with windproofing anchors that the newspaper said were not up to the state's safety standards.
Weeks after Hurricane Irma's devastation in Florida, Ballard Partners disclosed that it is lobbying the federal government on Windstorm Mitigation's behalf. Ballard did not specify lobbying work's exact nature but disclosed that it would relate to government, disaster and housing issues.
Ballard, which is known for its access to President Donald Trump's administration, represented the Trump Organization from 2013 until 2016 in Florida. Firm founder Brian Ballard, who name is listed on the lobbying filing, helped Trump during the presidential campaign in Florida.
