Check out my post yesterday if you haven’t read it. This is a continuation. What we have is such a broken system at the county it cannot be fixed. Don’t believe me, read the Miami Herald today. There is a giant article on the front page about the two guys who owned Pharmed, Jorge and Carlos de Cespedes, facing fraud charges. Tucked in that article it says:“2006 – Commissioner Pepe Diaz co-sponsors ordinance requiring Jackson Memorial Hospital to give preference to local suppliers, a category that includes Pharmed. For the four previous years, he (PEPE) received at least $475,000 in salaries, loans and bonuses from companies controlled by the brothers.”
Do you have any idea how much money Jackson spends? This is a big giant windfall he voted on and nothing happened to anybody except it appears, Pepe got quite a bit of money. Dorrin Rolle was the co-sponsor and he is now on Jackson's PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST BOARD, leaving the CEO position at JESCA (after a number of misseteps and lost funding from the School Board).
With a weak Ethics Department (kept weak by the Commission) nothing ever happens. And worse, the Ethics Department gives them cover. They ask for their opinion and they never get a “Don’t do it” from them.
This County shit collects in an enormous bucket and it has been over-flowing for years. And we fund it all. It is as if we are supporting junkies. We have been looking into the belly of the beast for far too long. We need to do something drastic. Take the summer to mull this over, while the Commissioners are on vacation, and let’s get our act together citizens. If you don’t remember what the Commission has done to offend us read our Boondoggle and Corruption folders in the index (right side of page).
A reader just mentioned starting a PAC to collect money. I was thinking we could call it the Drastic Action PAC but PAC's usually have "feel good" names. Any suggestions readers?
P.S. By the way, Natacha’s favorite, Miguel DeGrandy, lobbied for Pharmed.
27 comments:
I read yesterday's and today's post.
Drastic action is the answer. But what drastic action?
I am pulling out my hair trying to figure it out. If someone can figure it out, I can give $100 towards a PAC. Who is brave enough to put their name on the PAC?
Feel Good Pac Name:
Help Seijas, Diaz, Souto, Jordan, Rolle, Edmonson, Martinez
Retire
The Lobbyist Liberation PAC.
File Number: 060508 File Type: Ordinance Status: Adopted
Version: 0 Reference: 06-61 Control: County Commission
File Name: PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST - LOCAL PREFERENCE IN CONTRACTS Introduced: 2/22/2006
Requester: NONE Cost: Final Action: 5/9/2006
Agenda Date: 5/9/2006 Agenda Item Number: 7C
Notes: Title: ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 2-8.5 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY TO MAKE LOCAL PREFERENCE THEREOF APPLICABLE TO CONTRACTING OF COUNTY AGENCIES AND INSTRUMENTALITIES, INCLUDING THE PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN CODE AND EFFECTIVE DATE
Indexes: LOCAL PREFERENCE
PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST
Sponsors: Dorrin D. Rolle
Jose "Pepe" Diaz
(8) [[Application to Public Health Trust contracts]] >>Implementation by certain County agencies<<. [[The provisions of this Section shall be interpreted to apply to the Public Health Trust's purchases of medical and surgical supplies and purchases of medical billing service.]] >>Miami-Dade County agencies and instrumentalities with the independent power to contract, such as the Public Health Trust, shall adopt rules and procedures implementing this Section. For the purposes of such rules and procedures, where this section provides the Board of County Commissioners with implementing authority, the Board of Trustees shall exercise such authority, and where this section provides the County Manager with authority, the President or Executive Director shall exercise such authority.<<
David Freer.
I'd like to be part of this!
Lobbyist Liberation PAC works for me.
Or Lobbyist Elimination PAC
No Bananas In Our Republic PAC.
Just a suggestion, identifying goals of the overall mission must be focused and uncomplicated for any petition process to succeed. PAC founders getting signatures and especially the voters need it to be kept as simple as possible.
This is another big story that needs to be discussed a lot more. What Burgess and the Mayor, along with currently a majority of the BCC want to do to those of us that live in Cities is unconscionable.
Hialeah, Gables 'biggest losers' under tax plan, leaders say
BY ELAINE DE VALLE
Coral Gables Commissioners say the preliminary budget passed by their Miami-Dade counterparts last week puts an unfair burden on homeowners in the City Beautiful -- and they vowed last week to fight it at county hall before the final vote in September.
Taxpayers in Coral Gables, who also pay county taxes, could see a higher amount due next year on that part of their tax bill, officials said.
That's because Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez juggled the four county taxes that make up the total rate to reclaim $50 million from a $200 million shortfall that resulted from the double Homestead exemption passed by voters in January.
While the one rate paid by all property owners, the countywide rate, rises slightly under the proposed $7.4-billion budget, three others -- which apply to properties that use county fire, library and other municipal services -- will fall slightly.
Residents in Coral Gables -- as well as four other cities with their own fire departments -- will carry all the burden of the higher countywide rate under the plan, but only some of the benefit of the other rates' decline because not all those rates apply.
Miami-Dade Commissioner Carlos Gimenez warned Gables commissioners about it last week.
''The irony of it is that the cities that use the least amount of county services will actually get impacted the greatest,'' Gimenez told commissioners at the July 15 meeting.
He said the biggest loser was Hialeah because it has both an independent fire department and its own library system. Coral Gables, Miami, Miami Beach and Key Biscayne will also be affected because they have their own fire departments.
''Most of the people in Coral Gables will have an increase in county taxes,'' Gimenez said. ``I think it's unfair. I will fight this.
``It's a shell game and I don't think it's right.''
Gimenez voted against the budget last week. But it passed 7-6.
City leaders passed a resolution that opposed the shift in tax rates and said last week they would contact county commissioners to sway them against the measure.
City Manager David Brown said city lobbyist Fausto Gomez was working county hall to defeat the measure.
Gables Mayor Don Slesnick agreed that the ''shell game'' played by stealing from one tax rate to give to another was unfair to Gables residents.
''We, the city of Coral Gables, will start picking up the tab for other people's fire service even though we have our own fire department,'' he said.
The mayor also lauded the county commissioner for being on the cities' side.
''You have a county commissioner here willing to stand up and say what he thinks and I appreciate that, Carlos, from the bottom of my heart,'' Slesnick said.
No Bananas...funny.
How about "Take Miami-Dade back PAC"?
Genius, I am disappointed that you would support the racialy divisive tactic being employed above.
Look, for you anglos out there that think we don't get it, everytime you utter the term "Banana Republic", we know exaclty what you are talking about, and I don't care if Dario Moreno was the first to utter that phrase locally. The term "Banana Republic" clearly attacks the ethnicity and national origin of a certain segment of this community. It is crude, low-brow, and, incidently, it does nothing to solve any problem, it just leads to further seperation and discontent.
Keep it constructive, and I think you might find that you will find a broader base of community support.
Genius, I enjoy reading and participating on this blog. I know (or hope) what was said by the "No Bananas" comment, and your response, was out of a geniun belief that the comment was humerous. Maybe you are not aware of the racial implications, because you are not close enough to it. But, speaking from experience, of being close enough to it, facing discrimination on the streets, I think you should reject that divisive comment in the future.
No malice intended, collectively speaking they are almost all lemons but I apologize for inferring any racial or ethnic divide. Can I get a second on No Lemons Law PAC?
Citizens for Change PAC
Facing discrimination on the streets of MIAMI? You must be anglo...
I don't think of banana republic that way at all -- but if you do then I am sorry that I thought it funny. I guess I don't equate bananas with Hispanics. Did you ever catch Francisco Alvarado's Banana Republcan column? I never thought it insulting to Hispanics because I never thought of Hispanics when I saw his column. I always thought "banana republic" was an emerging/inferior government in a tropical place.
I was on a website the other day where they called the commissioners poopy heads and they put poop on top of the heads of the commissioners. It was pretty funny...anyway I am off track. Sorry for the yuk at the expense of my buds in the community, the connection just never entered my mind.
MiamiOutrage.org
MiamiPolitics.org
both are available.
Plant Man
we need a PAC name first that sounds nice so when you go on the corner to get signatures people will be happy to sign...Most pac's say
Citizens for......(something happy/good sounding)
Here are some examples of PAC names (NOTE: citizens rarely form pacs they are usually special interests trying to appear to be citizens):
Citizens for A safer Community
Citizens for Continued Equality
Citizens for Cutler Ridge Area Incorporation
Citizens for Open Democratic Government
Citizens for Open Government Inc.
Citizens for Positive Change
Citizens For Reform
Citizens for Unity and Common Rights
Citizens of West Miami Dade for Better Municipal
AND THIS IS MY FAVORITE:
Committee Against Useless Self-serving Efforts
Citizens who support not supporting the County Commissioners.
I had no idea Banana Republic had racial/ethnic anything, and I'm Puerto Rican.
As for names:
Citizens against Cronyism
Citizens against Corruption
Critical Miami(?)
Eye on Miami(?)
South Florida Bloggers for Change
Citizens for Accountability
South Floridians for Accountability
Citizen for Ethics
Citizen for Ethics and Accountability
Federation of Bloggers
Brotherhood of Bloggers
Pissed off citizens
Keyboards for change
Citizens Association
United Citizens for Accountability
People for common sense
Citizen's Group of Miami-Dade
Pissed off citizens would be my pick but I am not so sure everyone else would like it.
People for common sense....if we had common sense we wouldn't be doing this.
Ethics is an empty word in this county...or else that would be good.
We are getting some really good suggestions, however, I wish we could go with Pissed off citizens...
I like the idea of organizing against the current county commissioners, but a PAC really wont achieve anything..Even if you were to raise a ton of dough, you could only give one $500 check towards any candidate, hardly a war chest...
I wonder how long it will take the "Ethics Commission" to decide that Pepe did nothing wrong...I like Robert Meyers and all, but frankly, that office is the boggest joke since the "International Trade Consortium" aka, the Natasha travel agency....
What about "Fed Up Angry Citizens"?
I like POC; short, sweet, and says it all. BTW, Citizens Against Useless Self-serving Efforts (CAUSE) was the brainchild of Ken Forbes a South Dade supporter of all development. Forbes has been fined tens of thousands of dollars by the Florida Elections Commission for his less than stellar accounting of his PACs. His CAUSE PAC was for the purpose of recalling one of South Dade best Council members, Pat Wade. Although he collected money, he did not collect the first signature for that Useless Self-serving Effort. A major donor to Forbes' PAC was none other than Seijas henchman, Miguel De Grandy. Seijas does not like Wade because she was on the Seijas recall committee. Seijas made it clear from the dais that the recall leaders would pay for trying to recall her. Was Forbes' recall of Wade payback? Maybe, but Forbes is not talking.
Reader anon 3 up: POC the PAC is not for financing campaigns it is for financing a drastic measure, a clip their wings measure. You can give any amount, thousands, millions to our PAC called POC. (really hasn't been named but that is catchy.
Last reader...I thought the name was funny, knew what the PAC did was not.
The People's Lobby PAC
Sounds too communist. The point of this is to attract people who would normally not be into this sort of thing. I doubt sounding like a communist organization would help.
Anagram time. OVERCUM PAC
Our Votes Equal Reform of the County Unreformable Majority.
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