Jackie Toledo sued for $17K in unpaid debt

Former Rep. Jackie Toledo, who is now running for Hillsborough County Commission, is facing a lawsuit over more than $17,000 in unpaid debt related to her engineering business. Toledo is named in a lawsuit filed by Preferred Materials, Inc., a company that provides asphalt, concrete, concrete products, and paving services throughout the Southeast U.S. The lawsuit alleges Toledo’s business, Florida Engineering and Consulting LLC, purchased building materials using credit from Preferred Materials, totaling $17,156, but never repaid the balance. The lawsuit said payment was sought but not received. Toledo is named in the lawsuit as an individual, not just her business, because she personally signed a guaranty of her business account. “The Plaintiff has previously made demand for payment of the delinquent balance, but payment has been refused,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that Preferred Materials is seeking full payment of the debt owed, as well as “reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs.” Preferred Materials is also seeking to foreclose construction liens on two Pinellas County homes where Toledo’s company was the general contractor, according to the Oct. 2 complaint, naming the homeowners as defendants. The complaint does not accuse the homeowners of wrongdoing. Kathryn McDougal Davis and Neil Gawthrop are the property owners at 1619 23rd Ave. N. in St. Pete, where Preferred Materials allegedly supplied concrete, block, rebar and other building materials totaling more than $4,000 in value. Ivy and Marcus Barnes own property at 17616 Lee Ave. in Redington Shores, where similar building materials totaling nearly $2,000 were supplied. Toledo has not been accused of fraud or misappropriating funds; rather, the lawsuit seeks the unpaid balance of supplies purchased through credit from Preferred Materials. Asked about the lawsuit, Toledo pointed out that “the allegations in a civil complaint are not judicial findings.” She said the issue “arises from a commercial construction arrangement involving third-party contractors and materials supplied to their projects.” Toledo said she hadn’t seen the complain so she could “respond to the actual pleadings rather than assumptions. She did not provide further comment before deadline; this post will be updated if Toledo comments further. Toledo, a Republican, is running for the District 1 seat on the Hillsborough County Commission currently held by Democrat Harry Cohen, who is seeking re-election. Cohen is largely considered the race front-runner. He has raised more money than Toledo — nearly $186,000 to her nearly $128,000, according to the most recent campaign finance records. But Democrats have a voter registration disadvantage in the district, with about 9,300 more GOP voters than Democrats. Cohen is one of only two Democrats on the Hillsborough County Commission. He was first elected to the Commission in 2020, replacing former Commissioner Sandy Murman, a Republican. Prior to his service on the Commission, Cohen served two terms on the Tampa City Council. He ran for Tampa Mayor in 2019, finishing third before now-Mayor Jane Castor went on to overwhelmingly defeat the late David Straz in a runoff election. The post Jackie Toledo sued for $17K in unpaid debt appeared first on Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..