An (expensive) election season Kodak moment

Want your picture taken with Mitt Romney?

Then get your smile, and your wallet, ready.

The Presidential candidate is scheduled to attend a fundraising reception at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, Sept. 20. A photo-op with the former Massachusetts governor will cost $25,000 per person. Entrance to the general reception, meanwhile, is a bargain by comparison: That will cost a mere $2,500 per person.

Several well-known Gulf Coast business leaders are co-hosting or helping organize the reception. The list includes Sarasota entrepreneur Jesse Biter, whose business holdings range from prime commercial real estate space in downtown Sarasota to a startup business incubator to an auto dealership buying group.

Others connected to the event: Bill Isaac, onetime chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., who previously held a Romney fundraising event at his Lido Shores home; homebuilder and former State Sen. Pat Neal; and Carlos Beruff, a leader in local Republican politics and founder of Bradenton-based Medallion Homes.