In case you didn't have the patience to read through my concerns about corruption in the application of a trillion dollar fiscal stimulus to local governments ("Hurry stimulus, the end is near", below), you may be interested to learn that Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty resigned Tuesday and plans to plead guilty to fraud. Here is what McCarty told the Sun Sentinel in 2002: To County Commissioner Mary McCarty, it's not only respect but someone's ability to tap the shoulder, and the resources, of the people who count that can make all the difference in a powerbroker's effect. "It's a person who has a very large network of resources, who gets his calls not only returned but taken immediately, who knows who to go to to get things done and who has been accorded respect because of both professional accomplishments and contributions to the community." Click, read more.
Sun Sentinel, Jan 8, 2009, PALM BEACH COUNTY — County Commissioner Mary McCarty resigned Thursday and plans to plead guilty to honest services fraud.
McCarty, 54, becomes the third county commissioner in recent years to resign as a result of corruption charges.
In her resignation letter, McCarty said she accepted free and discounted hotel rooms and services. She also said she failed to recuse herself from bond issues that benefited her husband's employers and "through them both my husband and me."
"I am disgusted with myself for, once again, placing the commission that I respect so much in an untenable situation."
The resignation takes effect at 5 p.m. Thursday.
McCarty said federal prosecutors have indicated she will serve "a significant term" in prison.
McCarty, who was elected to the commission in 1990, is known as a blunt-talking leader who has kept control of south county Republican Party politics. She was chairwoman of the county Republican Party during the 2000 presidential recount. And she has built an impressive network of friends and enemies.
Her husband, Kevin McCarty, is an executive in public finance and served on the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Board before becoming chairman of the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District.
He has handled city bond underwriting for Delray Beach and Boynton Beach, which are within his wife's commission district.
In a news release and a letter to fellow county commissioners, McCarty said she failed to recuse myself on bond issues that would have benefited the company that employed her husband.
She also, on multiple occasions, failed to disclose free and discounted hotel rooms she received from a company that had business with Palm Beach County, she said.
"I rationalized these actions by interpreting their impact in a manner most favorable to me and not that most favorable to the community I was elected to serve," she wrote. "These were inexcusable and, in fact, criminal acts — something for which I should be prosecuted and for which I bear full responsibility."
McCarty said she was "sickened" that her violations will bring more scrutiny to the County Commission, especially in light of similar prosecutions of County Commissioners Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell and West Palm Beach City Commissioners Ray Liberti and Jim Exline.
"It is my sincere hope that by accepting responsibility for my actions and not making excuses, I will minimize the damage that my prosecution will inflict upon Palm Beach County."
The law makes it a crime to engage in behavior that denies taxpayers their honest services and uncompromised judgment of their elected officials. The failure to disclose a conflict of interest is often the basis for an honest services fraud charge.
Federal prosecutors have brought similar charges against Masilotti and Newell, both of whom pleaded guilty and received five-year prison terms.
In her letter, she said there were "a few things that I can do to make amends to this community," but did not elaborate.
"It is my sincere desire to ultimately receive the forgiveness of each County Commissioner and the community from which I was elected to serve. I realize that this forgiveness will be earned, by deed and not word. Please keep both me and my family in your thoughts as we work through the challenges I have brought down upon our heads."
McCarty has, in recent years, been a go-to person when it comes to getting things done in Delray Beach.
"The answer is always Mary," Andre Fladell, a Delray Beach chiropractor and activist, said recently.
McCarty served on the Delray Beach City Commission from 1987 to 1990, the year she was elected to the County Commission.
Her career in politics started in 1974 as an intern for a famous Democrat: the late Tip O'Neill, the former U.S. House speaker who is famously known for his motto: "All politics is local."Financial disclosure reports show McCarty is a millionaire.
READ the 2002 Sun Sentinel on McCarty:
"People have to have respect for you, they have to believe what you're saying is not only true but have confidence that it makes sense," Ecclestone said. "When you do something that's serving the community well, people respect you."
"To County Commissioner Mary McCarty, it's not only respect but someone's ability to tap the shoulder, and the resources, of the people who count that can make all the difference in a powerbroker's effect.
"It's a person who has a very large network of resources, who gets his calls not only returned but taken immediately, who knows who to go to to get things done and who has been accorded respect" because of both professional accomplishments and contributions to the community, she said.
One of only a few women on the list, McCarty has come a long way since waiting tables, mixing drinks and managing a Delray Beach bar in the mid-1980s. She first got a taste of power in October 1986 when she co-chaired Delray Beach's 75th birthday celebration, helping to put on 50 events in a month.
Intoxicated by the politics she witnessed on a small scale, five months later she successfully ran for her first elected position, city commissioner, beginning a 15-year reign on the political scene.
It was a natural transition for McCarty, whose family already had formed wide-ranging political connections. One brother is an influential lawyer/lobbyist in Tallahassee, another serves as a top official in state government, her mother manages the county property appraiser's office and her husband served for years as the state Republican Party committeeman from Palm Beach County." ('Although power is dispersed, many have broad influence', Sun Sentinel, June 30, 2002)
5 comments:
She should go back to waiting tables if she doesn't get arrested first!
We have federal prosecutors, don't we? I guess all is well. The stimulus post was very good and funds that are not accountable will be placed into the hands of the lobbyists to disperse, like it is now, Mr. Acosta!
This woman's story sounds a lot like Alex Daoud's story: "Sins of South Beach." They get addicted to power.
I'm a slow reader, only did another 50 pages. Actually the book has me really depressed so it is hard to read it, I have to take breaks to puke, when reading of Lucia Doherty and Alex in bed together.
Her brother, Brian Ballard, is a top GOP lobbyist/fundraiser in Tally. One of the elite few to attend Crispy's wedding. The whole state is rotten top to bottom.
Brian Ballard, the national finance co-chair and Florida co-chair for Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) presidential campaign [1], as well as a top McCain bundler [2], is one of Florida's best-known lobbyists, having represented such local institutions as the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team and Florida Power & Light. His firm, Smith, Ballard & Logan, was well-known before he joined it, as his partner, Jim Smith, is not only Ballard's father-in-law but also a former Florida secretary of state and attorney general.[3] His lobbying victories are said to include a 2000 effort to persuade Gov. Jeb Bush to transfer the contract for the statewide police radio network to his client Com-Net Ericsson [4], a 2003 campaign to deliver the state lottery contract to his client GTECH [5], and a last-minute effort in 2006 to gut a law requiring detailed tracking of prescription drug shipments.[6]
Ballard's success is due to his close ties to the Florida Republican Party, beginning with his service as chief of staff for former Gov. Bob Martinez.[7] Yet his close ties have also raised eyebrows over the years. As co-chair of Crist's 2007 inauguration, he was forced to cancel plans seeking donations as large as $500,000 after public criticism that the scheme made an end-run around campaign finance laws.[8] In an earlier 2006 episode, Crist, who was at the time attorney general, was berated by a judge as a "non-party interloper" for inserting himself into a case improperly on behalf of a client of Ballard's that was facing charges of having failed to guard the state's payroll data.[9] In a third unfortunate case, Ballard unsuccessfully attempted to sneak language into a tax bill that was solely designed to prevent his own property from being declared a protected cemetery (some old graves had been found after he had purchased the home.)[10] And in a fourth episode, in 2004, Ballard was forced to give up his fees from a state-backed Alzheimer's research institute after it was reported that Florida law prohibits the use of public money to hire lobbyists who are not full-time employees. Ballard agreed to do the work pro bono.[11] As a bundler, he has raised at least $500,000 for McCain's presidential campaign, according to information released by the campaign.[12]
[1] "Senator McCain Announces Florida Finance Team," John McCain press release, February 5, 2007.
[2] Chris Cillizza, "McCain's Innovators And Trailblazers," The Washington Post, April 18, 2008.
[3] Bill Cotterell, "Meet Crist's Celebration Planners," Tallahassee Democrat, January 1, 2007.
[4] Steve Bousquet, "Crist Tie Powers Lobbyist to Top," St. Petersburg Times, February 4, 2008.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Lucy Morgan and Steve Bousquet, "Crist: Inaugural Plan Was Mistake," St. Petersburg Times, December 10, 2006.
[9] Steve Bousquet, "Judge: Crist Meddled in Case," St. Petersburg Times, April 13, 2006.
[10] Marcia Gelbart, "Lobbyist Persuades Lawmaker to Amend Bill for Own Benefit," Palm Beach Post, May 5, 2000.
[11] Steve Bousquet, "Byrd Cause Gets Free Lobbying," St. Petersburg Times, February 12, 2004.
[12] McCain campaign Web site, accessed July 16, 2008.
BY GARY FINEOUT
September 11, 2007
TALLAHASSEE --
Two Wall Street giants, who could stand to earn millions if chosen to help Florida, have been pushing for months the privatization of Florida's 20-year-old Lottery.
What Gov. Charlie Crist last week called an ''idea'' worth exploring has been under consideration since June. A review of public records shows that two prominent financial services companies -- Lehman Brothers and J.P. Morgan -- had already pitched the idea to top aides in the Crist administration, including the head of the Lottery Department.
A top official in Lehman Brothers even gave advice to Crist's office in June about how to ''roll out'' the concept, sell it to the Legislature and avoid the negative publicity that has dogged similar proposals in such states as Indiana and Illinois.
Both companies contend that even though voters approved starting the Lottery in 1986, nothing in the state Constitution prohibits legislators from leasing the $4 billion-a-year enterprise to outside investors.
The main thrust of their pitch is this: At a time when Florida's budget is tightening, the state could reap billions from privatization, enough to pay off class-size requirements or to make up money for schools that could be lost because of property tax cuts. Depending on how the deal was put together, it could reap Florida anywhere from $18 billion to $31 billion.
''The plan gets Florida out of the gambling business and allows the state to focus on its core responsibilities like educating children, reducing property taxes and insurance premiums, providing healthcare to those who need it, creating jobs and keeping people safe,'' states a seven-page memo prepared by Lehman Brothers and sent to Crist's office by Bradley Tusk, a Lehman senior vice president and former deputy governor of Illinois.
.....
Lehman Brothers has strong ties to the Bush family and announced that former Gov. Jeb Bush had joined the company's private equity board. Crist's chief of staff, George LeMieux, said Bush has not been involved in any of the discussions about privatizing Florida's Lottery.
J.P. Morgan's chief lobbyist in Tallahassee is Jason Unger, a lawyer with the GrayRobinson law firm whose wife, Karen Unger, was Bush's 2002 campaign manager and supported Crist's run for governor.
Neither Tusk nor Unger would answer questions about the Lottery proposal, referring them to other company officials. A spokeswoman with J.P. Morgan refused to answer any questions, while a spokeswoman with Lehman Brothers would only confirm that the company is interested in serving as a financial advisor to Florida if it moves ahead with privatization.
.....
The proposals also make it clear that the investors would likely turn over day-to-day control of the Lottery to either GTECH Corp. or Scientific Games International, the two companies that now provide games to the Florida Lottery.
.....
One of GTECH's main lobbyists in Tallahassee is Brian Ballard, one of the most successful lobbyists in the Capitol and a top advisor to Crist's campaign last year.
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