Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Miami Children's Trust: Political Action Committee by Geniusofdespair

(excuse the repost trying to cleanse this blog)

This is the PAC that is spending money trying to get you to approve the Children's Trust Referendum on the ballot August 26th. Their mandate is due to expire, they want to be renewed: Thus the PAC.

Some big donors: Lennar has given them $50,000 and Stuart Miller (Lennar CEO) has also given the Children's Trust Miami PAC $50,000. AT&T has given them $50,000 as well. David Lawrence also gave his baby a bundle. A host of good people have given to this PAC (Katy Sorenson, Donna Shalala, State Rep. Julio Robaina, Betsy Kaplan, Joe Natoli, Carlos Gimenez, etc.) to the tune of over a million dollars.

What I would like to know: Where were all these people and corporations (663 of them) when they cut the education budget? Why didn't they step in to help public schools with the bully pulpit? Why didn't they scream like hell? And, secondly, why should we foot the bill twice for education, these programs could be added to the Miami Dade education umbrella and they could get the money from the referendum. Why have two large staffs? I would rather money go directly to the school budget. This PAC, it irks me big-time, hell, they spent about $200,000 just on polling to find out how they can sell us on this. They even polled us to see what the ballot language should look like.

Since we have given The Children's Trust about $85,000,000 a year (2007-08 $99.3 million based on a 0.4223 mill property tax) I thought we should look at them a little closer.

Here is a link to The Children's Trust budget information (you can also hit on image on right for a brief summary from a 2007 audit) and following is the language that will be on the ballot (that we voters chose in two polls costing $25,000) and, finally, is the Staff list of the Children's Trust:

Shall The Children’s Trust, the independent special
district for children’s services, be renewed to fund
improvements to children’s health, development and
safety including:
• programs to reduce violence and keep children safe,
• after-school and summer programs,
• programs to improve the educational quality of
child care, and
• health care teams for public schools; and promote
parental and community responsibility for children;
and continue the annual ad valorem tax levy not to
exceed one-half (½) mill?

Staff by Department
ADMINISTRATION
Staff Member Title Extension/Phone
Modesto E. Abety President / CEO 244
Susan Marian Senior Executive Assistant 325
Charles M. Auslander Chief Programs and Operations Officer 236
Lissette E. Martinez Executive Assistant 291
Muriel Jeanty Clerk of the Board 292
Yurena Driggs Receptionist 301

FINANCE & ACCOUNTING
Jolie Jerry Chief Financial Officer 322
Andrea Roberts Executive Assistant 315
Wendy Duncombe Controller 320
Maria Elena Cadavid Fiscal Analyst III 307
Alberoni Dorvilus Fiscal Analyst 309
Brenda L. Galarza Senior Accountant 330
Fred Torres Senior Accountant 316
Goran Omerhodzic Staff Accountant II 304
Jay Mayer Staff Accountant II 303
Kenneth Freimark Staff Accountant II 268
Perla Zepeda-Young Staff Accountant II 312
Chareka Hawes Staff Accountant 321
Kesha (Tarquisha) Davis Accounting Clerk II 311
Yoanka Cobas Accounting Clerk II 312
Juana Lartitegui Accounting Clerk 314
Mariela Carrodeguas Accounting Clerk 241

EARLY CHILDHOOD (0-5) AND MATERNAL HEALTH DEVELOPMENT
Bevone Ritchie Contract Administrator 318
Countess Chapman-Balogun Contract Manager 265
Hudelaine R. Deus Contract Manager 287
Kathleen Dexter Contract Manager 286
Sara Espinoza Contract Manager 266
Viviana Moncada Administrative Assistant II 267

HEALTHCONNECT
Dr. Andrew L. Brickman Executive Director, Health Programs 240
Shaleen Fagundo Senior Program Manager 239
Helen Matos-Alvarez Contract Manager II 308
Dannielle M. Hart Contract Manager 294
Juliette Fabien Contract Manager 293
Michele Jubilee Administrative Assistant II 290

SERVICE PARTNERSHIPS / RESOURCE NETWORKS / VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Donovan Lee-Sin Sr. Manager for Community & Neighborhood Services 231
Glory Coley Contract Administrator 319
John Ise Contract Manager 253
Lorraine Gary Contract Manager 246
Rachel Spector Contract Manager 248
Safiyé González Administrative Assistant II 295

OUT OF SCHOOL (OOS) 1
Ana D. Sanchez Contract Administrator 257
Armando H. Corbelle Contract Manager 254
Danny Roman-Gloro Contract Manager 247
Josefina Gallardo Contract Manager 259
Marisela De D'Windt Contract Manager 256

OUT OF SCHOOL (OOS) 2
Kathleen Gent Contract Administrator 245
Garnet Esters Contract Manager 310
Gilberto Gonzalez Contract Manager 255
Ive Vintimilla Contract Manager 260
Patricia Leal Contract Manager 306

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT / TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD / ADVOCACY
Samuel McKinnon Contract Administrator 262
Allen Sells Contract Manager 285
Aundray Adams Contract Manager 252
Rick Hernandez Contract Manager 310
Robert Feiler Contract Manager 264
Jenny Bode Administrative Assistant 242

QUALITY RATING IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM (QRIS) & QUALITY COUNTS
Dr. Jesse Leinfelder Administrator 238
Jessica Grinovero Program Assistant 289

CAPACITY BUILDING
Blanch (Theresa) Johnson Contract Manager 225
Cravel Holmes Contract Manager 263
Meredith Sofka Contract Manager 298
Sabine Edmond Program Assistant 268

TRAINING
Dr. Tisa McGhee Professional and Organizational Development Manager 233
Emilio de la Cruz Capacity Training Specialist 227

INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Dr. Debra Davis Chief Information Officer 517
Erik Pinzon IS Manager 525
Yilin Xiao Systems Analyst / Computer Services Specialist 521
Pablo Delgado Systems Analyst 522
Alfonso Arias-Mendoza Database Administrator 526
Robert Bethke IT Documentation and Training Specialist 523
Darrin Buffkin Community Indicators & GIS Analyst 225
Margo Brownlee Administrative Assistant 519

PUBLIC POLICY & COMMUNICATIONS
Diana Ragbeer Director of Public Policy & Communications 511
Emily Cardenas Senior Communications Manager 516
Sandra Camacho Media Liaison 508
Persephone Gary Public Policy & Outreach Coordinator 515
Michael Malone Writer/Editor 510
Felix Becerra Web Content Manager 509
Ernie Lyman Administrative Assistant II 507
Laura Costanzo Executive Assistant / Public Policy 527

CONTRACT PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
Deborah Robinson Sr. Program Services Manager
(TEAMS: Sanchez, Gent, McKinnon) 237
Loretta Duvall Sr. Program Services Manager
(TEAMS: Ritchie, Wimes, McGhee) 317
Ernesto Perez Contract Manager II 247
Joanna Revelo Contract Manager II 249
Lisete Yero Office Manager 288

RESEARCH & EVALUATION
Dr. K. Lori Hanson Director of Research and Evaluation 224
Dr. Lisa Pittman Sr. Research and Evaluation Analyst 317
Dalia Garcia Sr. Research and Evaluation Analyst 232
Stephanie Scott Resource Development Manager 506
Sharon DeJoy Research & Evaluation Manager 228
Sandra Alvear Research & Evaluation Analyst 241
Sandra Williams Research & Evaluation Analyst 228
Marden F. Muñoz Data Integrity Analyst 223
Johana Cure Research Assistant 226
Teresa Cobb Administrative Assistant I 288

HUMAN RESOURCES & LEGAL
Bob Bromberg HR Consultant - Fax: 305-358-9615 305-373-7700
Maria Arista-Volsky Assistant County Attorney 305-375-2209

BOARD CHAIR
David Lawrence Jr. The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation
3250 SW Third Avenue
Miami, FL 33129