Dear Readers: Waking up alive (glory to God and all that) made me more charitable – I am not serving the mystery food to my guests (see last night’s post). I am writing to tell you not to miss Scott Hiaasen’s article in Today’s Herald. He is uncovering a lot here in Miami...good reporting Scott.
WEST KENDALL
Nonprofit files ethics complaint against lawmaker
First don't count on the useless Ethics Committee to do anything. Filing an ethics complaint is like blowing air on a problem.
I don’t quite understand the article and never heard of the charity -- the Zapata/CASA Charity -- but here is what I don’t like.
These crappy politicians getting involved with non profits. That stinks. Whether it is Commissioner Rolle getting paid with County Funds by Jesca -- the non-profit he heads or any other — there is something wrong when the politicians doling out the money are involved getting salaries or whatever. I noticed the second or third worst Miami Dade County Commissioner (depending on how your rate Souto and Rolle): Martinez was mentioned in the article. Martinez is a little bully with a big head who gave the Miami “Checkers Speech” (his own version of Nixon’s I am not a crook speech) a few months back. You can watch the clip of him on Jim Defede’s channel 4 website. Very funny but I digress. Here is a quote from the article:
“Attempts to reconcile fell apart this summer. Zapata then asked the state Department of Children and Families for a ''rigorous audit'' of CASA, and asked Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez to cut CASA's county funding.
The commission slashed CASA's funding by $75,000 -- and it also gave $75,000 to a new nonprofit Zapata started.”
Stinky isn’t it? NOW WE HAVE A NEW NON-PROFIT!
Anyway, you Miami politicians trying to milk the people: don’t disguise yourself as non-profits or use your clout to get money for your favored non-profits you are a part of. Let the independent non-profits fairly get the money, let’s not let favoritism dictate where those dollars go. There are so many non-profits that really need money and they don’t have a Zapata to give and taketh at their whim.
3 comments:
Why hasn't the Herald done a full investigative series on the range of non-profits used by county commissioners as little piggy banks, noted by Zapata?
Because the Herald executives are part of the entire political machinery.
Turning public money into a fountain of private profit has been framed by Republicans as "privitization" of public services.
And, of course, Republicans dominate the Miami power structure.
And because the money gets spread around, so you have churches in the African American community that keep their place in line, or, charter schools that divert resources from public schools, or fraud non-profits that serve as patronage tools for politicians.
It stinks, and you have not read about it in the Miami Herald.
The Herald allows excellent reporters to report the bits and pieces... but don't connect the dots!
And by bits and pieces Miami has turned into a place that fewer want to live in, except for the rich and for immigrants. That's what Time Magazine concludes.
That is what we have become: a place for hi-end rollers and immigrants who think Miami is paradise compared to their home lands.
With all the fancy construction downtown and crap housing in the hinterlands, Miami is one big hurricane from New Orleans.
Anonymous said:
'The Herald allows excellent reporters to report the bits and pieces... but don't connect the dots!"
Bravo anonymous. You hit the nail on the head on what is most wrong with the Miami Herald. There will be no followup of the Hiaasen story or the one I commented on Nov. 14th by Tania deLuzuriaga (State attorney's office investigating charter-school deal). Big stories but the Herald reports like an oil slick. They need to go quite deeper. They need to uncover the whole putrid, rotting truth. You can't fix it if it is not exposed to the light.
I am sure that there are other commissioners that have them too or just happen to be exec directors. I suppose they do that so they can flex the hours they work.
Just go look up on the state web site, if you are bored.
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