June was a big month for Florida Power & Light lobbyist registration. Lobbyists must register to lobby County Commissioners. You have to wonder, if their need is so righteous, why do they need so many lobbyists? And, you might ask: Why raise rates by 16% when you can save a bundle by getting rid of this roster of expensive Lobbyists. Here is the list (get your scrolling finger ready):
JEFFREY BERCOW
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 3 & 4 6/9/2008
Open
RAMON FERRER
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 3 & 4 6/9/2008
Open
MICHAEL A GIL
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 3 & 4 6/9/2008
Open
BARBARA P LINKIEWICZ
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 3 & 4 6/9/2008
Open
MICHAEL RADELL
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 3 & 4 6/9/2008
Open
PAMELA RAUCH
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 3 & 4 6/9/2008
Open
MANNY RODRIGUEZ, JR.
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 3 & 4 6/9/2008
Open
STEVEN SCROGGS
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 3 & 4 6/9/2008
Open
MICHAEL TAMMARO
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 3 & 4 6/9/2008
Open
JEFFREY BERCOW
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
RAMON FERRER
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
MICHAEL A GIL
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
BARBARA P LINKIEWICZ
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
MICHAEL RADELL
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
PAMELA RAUCH
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
MANNY RODRIGUEZ, JR.
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
STEVEN SCROGGS
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
MICHAEL TAMMARO
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
MELISSA TAPANES LLAHUES
MISCELLANEOUS PERMITTING AND ZONING MATTERS TURKEY POINT UNITS 6 & 7 6/9/2008
Open
And here is a list of Lobbyists who registered earlier, but their contracts are still in play:
GUILLERMO OLMEDILLO
NONE 10/10/2006
Open
ALBERT DOTSON, JR.
TURKEY POINT ZONING ISSUES 3/13/2007
Open
CARTER N MCDOWELL
TURKEY POINT ZONING ISSUES 3/13/2007
Open
STANLEY PRICE
TURKEY POINT ZONING ISSUES 3/13/2007
Open
JEFFREY BERCOW
ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATOR 3/14/2007
Open
MANUEL J ECHEZARRETA
ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATOR 3/14/2007
Open
MICHAEL A GIL
ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATOR 3/14/2007
Open
MICHAEL RADELL
ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATOR 3/14/2007
Open
MELISSA TAPANES LLAHUES
ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATOR 3/14/2007
Open
ROB CURTIS
ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATOR 3/15/2007
Open
STEPHEN W CARNEY
ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATOR 3/16/2007
Open
JEFFREY BERCOW
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/17/2007
Open
STEPHEN W CARNEY
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/17/2007
Open
ROB CURTIS
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/17/2007
Open
MANUEL J ECHEZARRETA
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/17/2007
Open
RAMON FERRER
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/17/2007
Open
MICHAEL A GIL
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/17/2007
Open
MICHAEL RADELL
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/17/2007
Open
MANNY RODRIGUEZ, JR.
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/17/2007
Open
MELISSA TAPANES LLAHUES
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/17/2007
Open
JOAQUIN E VARGAS
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/23/2007
Open
PAMELA RAUCH
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/31/2007
Open
STEVEN SCROGGS
TURKEY POINT UNUSUAL USE APPLICATION 5/31/2007
Open
9 comments:
With all the money FPL spends on lobbyists they could easily lower the tariff that they charge their customers by eliminating them. Anyway the PSC ALWAYS approves any rate increase that FPL brings to the table.
Most, if not all the people listed are either land use attorneys, not traditional lobbyists, or FPL External Affairs staff. Bercow and Redall Law Firm and Bilzin Sumberg were co-counseling on the Turkey Point matter.
On another note, here is a very interesting article I found on the County Budget from Investigation Miami, and trust me, you will be sick after reading it:
The County Budget Shell Game - They Win, You Lose
Mayor Carlos Alvarez announced his proposed budget on Tuesday – and it was the shell game I expected to see. You may read some things here that you don’t see in the Herald, because they just don’t get it and don’t seem to care. And if you live in Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables or Hialeah, you may just want to let your commissioner know just how unhappy you are about it because the citizens of those cities are getting fleeced to the tune of about $27,000,000!
How does the shell game work? It’s a simple one that has been employed by George Burgess for years. Property taxes are assessed on the tax rolls. Burgess increases the tax rates on the larger tax rolls and reduces them on the lower tax rolls, netting the county big bucks so it can continue its inefficient operations rather than find real cost reductions.
Step by step. The largest tax roll is, of course, the countywide roll, standing at about $245 billion. Mr. Burgess and Mayor Alvarez have proposed we pay a countywide tax rate – which all property owners pay to the county whether they live in a city or in unincorporated Dade – of .312 mills higher than the maximum rate allowed under law. That doesn’t sound like much, but when you apply it to a $245 billion tax roll, it results in a $78 million windfall to the county.
The next step is to show lower taxes on the smaller tax rolls so that county can say “we did not increase taxes for people living in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.” That phrase is dutifully repeated and heralded (pun intended) in the news media. No one ever looks further to see what’s happening to the majority of us who live in incorporated cities. Whenever those words are used, the people in Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables and Hialeah are paying for it.
So what rates are lower than they should be? Unincorporated Miami Dade county residents are getting a break to the tune of $6 million and those of us who pay the library fee get a $5 million break. But, the big break is for those residents (who don’t live in Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables or Hialeah, by the way) who use the county Fire-Rescue service. They are getting a $22 million tax break.
How can the county be cutting its Fire-Rescue services by $22 million? Easy answer - it’s not. You see, part of the $78 million from the higher countywide tax will be used to give to Fire Rescue, so it doesn’t have a shortfall. The countywide general fund contribution to Fire Rescue is going up by almost $20 million (nearly the same amount that the Fire-Rescue millage is dropping!!!) and the general fund is going to absorb the $11 million cost of the Fire-Rescue communications division. So you see, if you live in Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables or Hialeah, you get to pay for the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department even though you don’t use it and you have to pay for your own city’s fire-rescue services through your city taxes!!!
In the end, the county is netting an additional $44 million. And who is paying for it? First come residents of the city of Miami who are chipping in $12 million. Miami Beach residents are donating $8 million. Coral Gables residents are forking over $4 million and from the folks in Hialeah the county is picking up $3 million. All told, just from these four cities, the George Burgess shell game is netting the county $27 million at the expense of the residents.
I hope this time around people will contact their county commissioners and tell them they are not going to stand for it any more. Taxes should be assessed in accordance with the delivery of services, and the obvious trading of Fire Rescue tax dollars for a countywide tax contribution proves the county is just playing a game. We need to stop the county budget shell game – where they win and the citizens in the four largest cities lose. We could use the $27 million for much better things than funding the inept county bureaucracy. Tell your commissioner you will not stand for an increase in the countywide millage rate!
Two points:
1. Many of the lobbyists listed actually work for FPL, they are not contracted lobbyists.
2. The last anon, who wrote this article?
On your No. 1: They still cost money...a salary is money.
Investigation Miami wrote the article regarding the budget shell game. Very insightful, and looking at the budget this morning, I think he/she is 100% correct.
They truly deserve the correct name as "Florida plunder and loot"
Do you suppose the list looks so long because you repeated some names over and over again? How many times do you have to list Jeff Bercow? Are you his publicist, fer gawd's sake?
And...as others noted....a lawyer who presents technical issues is VERY different from a lobbyist who greases the skids via "relationships"
I wouldnt consider Ramon anything more than a person who has to do his job.
The rest, well unless they have FPL paying their workers comp are lobbyists one way or another. FPL has an in house legal team.
The county budget has always been a shell game. If you read the budget memo, you would see that the Mayors budget cuts were to social services, mostly the elderly and the kids, the people who need it most.
Well, the commissioners are not about to let that happen... so the Mayor and George must have another plan to look like they are saving them and then come up at the last minute save the county. And when you all mention the commissioners slush funds to help with the budget issue remember the mayor has them too.
Post a Comment