(Hit on above to increase size)Free speech is under attack in South Florida, here are five instances:
First Assault: Was Local Newspaper Intimidated to Drop a "Hot Potato" Story?
I never saw an article and didn’t know about the issue until Miami Lakes people invaded my last post. I tried to look at the story but it is already off-line at the Herald. According to the not-reliable Fox news, Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Nancy Simon is accusing Gus Abella of stalking her and Gus is accusing her of practicing Real Estate without a license:
According to Simon's petition (for protection), her daughter was taking pictures of Abella's car outside of Publix. He believes she did it because he had a sign on his car that read "Vice Mayor Nancy Simon should resign."
Then, according to the report, he got out of the car and shook his arms at her or something, long story short: She got a 25 foot order against him.
First why does everything in Miami Lakes happen outside of Publix? Petition gatherers for the recall of Natacha Seijas got booted from Publix by police. Second, why is Abella wanting Simon to resign? I guess I would want her to resign as she is a boot licker of Natacha. However, there are alleged abuses of Simon practicing Real Estate without a license that Abella uncovered. Nancy Simon, FREC does not take kindly to practicing Real Estate without a license, you had better hope it ain’t true. In the crosshairs, the local rag covering the mess, the Miami Laker, got leaned on and the Editor said:
"We don't believe our role as a community newspaper is compatible with the extensive coverage expectations of local politicians."
Is he out of his mind or was he leaned on? I am guessing leaned on.
Let’s talk more about free speech abuses: (you had better hit read more – it get’s better)
Second Assault, Free Speech gets a Slapp Suit:
Developer Tibor Hollo has filed a lawsuit against a blogger.See Gimleteye's post January 29th.
Third Assault, Public Speakers are discouraged to speak out, often intimidated and belittled at public meetings. Here is a specific example:
A speaker making public comment at the Charter Review Task Force was intimidated by evil Natacha Seijas' appointee, Miguel DeGrandy. According to SunPost’s Rebecca Wakefield said, a Citizen, Mario Artecona made this statement and she describes what followed:
“I personally feel the group was manipulated by one of your members. Writing an op-ed piece and speaking about the greatness of parochialism, [he was] basically casting a shadow on anyone who wants to have a debate of regionalism versus district, [that they’re] somehow trying to take something away from minorities.”
Artecona didn’t mention him by name. But De Grandy, watching a tape of the meeting later (he’s a member, but wasn’t at the meeting), was incensed. De Grandy had, after all, written the op-ed piece in the Miami Herald a couple of days after the group had agreed that its members would funnel all its opinions through the task force’s chairman, Victor Diaz. I mentioned the squabble over this in a previous column.
So the next day, the task force had another meeting. De Grandy attended and let loose on Artecona and Diaz for some 30 minutes for impugning his reputation. Impugning may seem hard to do to a guy who is, arguably, the most successful lobbyist running the County Commission. But apparently it is still possible. “It ticked me off,” De Grandy told me. “The word manipulation involves some sort of underhanded behavior. Artecona insulted every member of this board as well as me. This is the second time someone took a pot shot at me. And because Victor Diaz, the chair, disagrees with me philosophically, he lets it happen.”
Diaz shot back. “While it’s my responsibility to make sure the debate remains respectful and high-level, I do not view my role as being the speech police,” he responded. “When you invite the public to speak, you have to be careful not to stifle it.”
Fourth Assault, Citizen Petitions To Ammend Charter Go Uncounted:
Valid Citizen Petitions, with a deadline of February 1st, may not be counted. The Elections Department had an election to contend with and by the end of today, they still have thousands of 3 petitions to verify.
Fifth Assault, State Tries to Censor Handouts at South Florida Meeting:
The South Florida Regional Planning Council is the local arm of the State Department of Community Affairs. It is where 3 counties' representatives decide policy issues of Regional Importance. The head of SFRPC staff took the handouts of a citizen speaker and would not hand them out until Council members insisted on seeing them. Head honcho, Carolyn Dekle finally distributed the hand-outs but would not change policy, saying that her staff should review all hand-outs. I ask: "What for, to censor them?"
Where is the ACLU in Florida, asleep at the wheel?
8 comments:
Check out what happened when Commissioner Gimenez tried to pass an ordinance that would require those in the procurement process to take an oath prior to testifying before the Board (exactly like in the zoning and land use process)":
Miami-Dade County commissioner miffed after manager snuffs procurement oaths proposal
By Lou Ortiz
Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess lobbied to kill a procurement reform ordinance proposed by Commissioner Carlos A. Gimenez, a move the commissioner says usurped the committee process where matters are aired and discussed.
The action by Mr. Burgess, a county employee who works for Mayor Carlos Alvarez, effectively quashed debate Jan. 22 on the proposal by Mr. Gimenez for vendors and county staff to be under oath when making presentations to the commission on bid awards.
The proposal by Mr. Gimenez would have required anyone, including county employees, to take an oath when the award of county contracts comes up for discussion before committees or the 13-member commission.
But the proposed ordinance didn't make it to committee or commission debate. Commissioners rejected it by a 4-6 vote on first reading. Under commission rules, no debate is allowed in the first reading of proposed ordinances. And the state's Sunshine Law bars elected officials from coming together privately to discuss government business.
The proposal was intended to ensure that persons who seek county contracts, sometimes in the tens of millions of dollars, along with the administration staff who promote their approval, tell the truth in the procurement of those pacts.
"This is the public's money. This is the public's trust," Mr. Gimenez said in an interview. "For me, it's truth in procurement."
Mr. Burgess lobbied some commissioners personally and issued a memo to all commission members to defeat the proposal before the item was called to a vote at last week's meeting.
When Mr. Burgess was called for comment after the meeting, a spokesperson for him, Suzy Trutie, said: "He felt it was a bad idea."
Ms. Trutie said that the last paragraph in Mr. Burgess' memo summed up his stand on the ordinance:
"Approval of this legislation is certain to send a harmful message to the organization, its frontline staff, management and leadership; the vendors we transact business with, and most importantly the members of the public we serve. Requiring that an oath or affirmation be made prior to responding to questions or presenting information in regard to a contract will serve to diminish the public's confidence in the integrity of our purchasing processes and in our professional staff."
Mr. Burgess also wrote in his memo to the commission that past breaches in the public's trust by individuals were "dealt with through appropriate disciplinary action and referred to investigative authorities, where appropriate."
He insisted that "county staff exercises sound professional judgment consistent with the highest standards of professionalism, excellence and integrity."
Commissioner Joe A. Martinez, who voted no, said the proposed ordinance was "not an item I believe in."
Also voting no were commissioners Jose "Pepe" Diaz, Natacha Seijas, Dennis C. Moss, Dorrin D. Rolle and Audrey M. Edmonson.
Mr. Martinez said he works closely with administration staff and department directors and supporting the ordinance would be counterproductive.
"It would be a slap in the face to a lot of people we work with and count on day in and day out," Mr. Martinez said. "It would be detrimental."
Commissioner Sally A. Heyman, who voted for the proposed ordinance, said the matter should have gone to committee. She was joined by commissioners Katy Sorenson, Javier D. Souto and Mr. Gimenez.
"I don't find it offensive," she said, adding that zoning hearings employ an oath. "He [Mr. Burgess] actively opposed it instead of letting it go through the committee process, so we could dialog on it."
She added that she was surprised County Mayor Carlos Alvarez didn't support the ordinance because he campaigned on procurement reform.
"I thought this [ordinance] was a positive direction," she said. "I was hoping it would pass on first reading."
Mr. Gimenez said that under commission rules he cannot revive the ordinance for at least six months.
"I may revive it," he said. "We'll see what happens."
I hope this isn't true but I heard that a group of Nancy Simon supporters, and possibly her, are pressuring the Graham Companies to fire David Snelling, the reporter for the Miami Laker, who only reported what Channel 7 had uncovered in their investigation of Simon's alleged real estate deals without a license. It better not happen or there's going to be a bunch of us raising hell over Communism taking over Miami Lakes.
It's past time for Burgess to go. I am disappointed in Alvarez for keeping him as County manager.
Why would anyone object to being sworn in if they intend to be truthful? When will we wake up to the abuse the government heaps on the residents daily? Wake up people, your rights are being diluted.
I know Nancy Simon, she is a shill for Seijas and apparently not too honest. How can we have decent government when our elected officials are corrupt? Gus did us a favor for reporting her illegal real estate activities and he is being punished. The question is, will Seijas pull rank with Fernendez-Rundle to make the investigation go away? Fernendez-Rundle sure helped Seijas with the recall by announcing she was "investigating" the signature collectors. This gave Seijas PR to discredit the petitioners, which she did on every Spanish language radio/TV station that would give her free air time.
Time for Fernendez-Rundell to go too.
Alvarez has disappointed us. He ran on change, but he left Burgess the most incompetent County Manager in the history of Dade County, although there have been others that came close to the honor. Some former Managers were stupid and therefore incompetent, but Burgess has refined the art of being intelligent but acting stupid when it suits him. Why is Alvarez still maintaining Burgess in his job despite all the scandals amply reported in The Miami Herald, which discredit him as a professional and competent manager? Is he waiting to learn the ropes and then hire one of his political allies? I agree, Burgess must go -his departure is long overdue.
I thank you for reporting about some of these free speech issues. I recently had the good fortune of meeting Victor Diaz and I must say he is oe sharp attorney. Extremely funny too, but I think he knows extremely well what kind of people he's dealing with.
The Simon issue has been turned over to the State Attorney's office and in a time of mortgage fraud task forces, I think we will see the ouster of this rogue politician. While it has been rumored that Seijas and Simon have a cozy relationship, I doubt Seijas will stick her neck out to protect this woman. On a funnier note, it's ironic that Simon fought tooth and nail to allow for political signs in front yards during elections, (something that for years was prohibited because of deed restrictions and strict codes)something she felt was American and a violation of her rights to prevent her from doing, yet she has done a tremendous job of prohibiting what gets reported about her in The Miami Laker. I think the Laker owners are assisitng in getting a lot of her negative publicity out there and will not fold to firing David Snelling.
Re: Alvarez and Burgess.
Who has the professional staff that was trained and educated in management?
Who has the staff that was hired because they campaigned and was "loyal"?
Who do you think runs the county?
Who couldn't run the county?
Even Burgess had to get with the program to keep his job. People are afraid upstairs. Alvarez (or his personal staff) wants things done his way, even if they do not give good results. He wants what he wants.
He wants what he wants.
What exactly does he want?
Re-election and what else? I can't figure the guy out.
If they had to testify under oath, maybe we would know who is pulling the strings.
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