Miami-Dade County Commissioner Natacha Seijas: echoes of former House Speaker Ray Sansom ... by gimleteye

What do disgraced former House Speaker Ray Sansom and still powerful county commissioner Natacha Seijas have in common? Click, 'read more', to find out.

Frank Alvarado, for the New Times blog, Riptide 2.0, reports on the political influence peddling of Odebrecht Construction, likely the largest recipient of county construction contract awards over the past decade. Since Miami-Dade grand jury investigations have proven so ineffective in stopping corruption, closer scrutiny is warranted by federal law enforcement.

The comparison to the recent ethical scandal that forced the resignation of state representative Ray Sansom (R-Destin) from House Speaker is instructive. Sansom took a job for $110,000 from Northwest Florida State College after steering more than $30 million in construction funds to the school in the past two years. Sansom also faced withering criticism for allocating $6 million to a top Republican contributor and friend for the purposes of an aircraft hanger.

In consideration of contract values originating from the Miami-Dade county commission, the $36 million that forced Sansom from his House speakership is chump change.

For Odebrecht, the construction firm that supervised much of the work at Miami International Airport and other big ticket projects like the Performing Arsht Center, $36 million is nearly a rounding error or a cost overrun. Its projects in Miami-Dade total hundreds of millions, if not more than a billion.

New Times reports, between 2003 and 2008 Odebrecht gave $130,000 to the YMCA; that's the charity employing the most powerful county commissioner in Miami-Dade in a no-show job. According to a court deposition: "(Seijas) said she goes to the YMCA as "frequently as I'm needed." Seijas could not recall if that meant more than once a month. She affirmed that her salary is unrelated to time spent at work. She said she does not keep a calendar of her appointments or meetings related to the YMCA."

In addition, "Since 1996, the YMCA has received $1,706,028 through the county's federally funded community-based grant program... The YMCA also relies on the generosity of some of Miami-Dade's most prominent citizens. Among them: real estate moguls Masoud Shojaee and Pedro Adrian. The pair gave $40,000 to the YMCA for its 2006 annual gala. The builders also gave $19,000 to Seijas-sponsored political action committees. Neither man returned calls seeking comment. Developer Sergio Pino put up $26,000 for two pro-Seijas PACs and contributed $15,000 to the YMCA in 2005. He also didn't return New Times's calls seeking comment." All are connected to the Latin Builders Association and the heavily influence of its lobbying for platted subdivisions that have caused such carnage in the foreclosure crisis.

Only Odebrecht Construction CEO Gilberto Neves defended his personal and professional contributions to Seijas and her employer. Neves was chairman of the 2006 gala and has twice donated $500 to Seijas's re-election campaigns. In 2005 and 2006, his firm — which built the overbudget Carnival Center for the Performing Arts and has contributed to problematic airport construction — donated $80,000 for the galas.

Sansom resigned from his powerful Speaker role, under pressure of disclosure of unethical transactions on behalf of his employer. Apparently in Miami-Dade, county commissioners can get away with just about anything. Recall, too, that Dade Aviation Consultants received more than $250 million to "manage" construction activity of airport contractors, including Odebrecht. "The firm's contract has been fraught with questions regarding political maneuvering, high costs and minority participation by partners whose contributions were murky." (Dade Aviation Consultants' job nears an end, Miami Herald, November 17, 2008) Lobbyists who held the key to Seijas' favor, like Chris Korge and Rodney Barreto, were well compensated through airport contracts like DAC.

New Times reported, "Dade Aviation Consultants, a consortium of engineering firms overseeing Miami International Airport's maligned and oft-delayed $6.2-billion expansion, paid Korge, Barreto, and a third lobbyist each $16,000 a month. A 2002 investigation by the OIG claimed the trio received $1.3 million over nine years whether they worked or not. The OIG report terms the county relationship with Dade Aviation "unhealthy for the long term." Though a county study in 1994 showed airport passengers would spend millions more if gift shops offered better merchandise, two years later Korge persuaded airport officials to block opening a Disney retail store that would compete with Sirgany's gift shops. But perhaps most controversial was the airport's $40-million food and beverage concessions contract, which county commissioners in 1998 awarded to Host Marriott Services Corp. and a minority joint venture known as World Wide Concessions, which were represented by Korge and Barreto, respectively. Four years later a federal grand jury began to probe allegations the deal was rigged to circumvent minority participation rules. County and federal public corruption investigators discovered both Host Marriott and the minority firm had privately agreed to give Korge and Barreto 10 percent of their profits, according to grand jury information reported by the Miami Herald and New Times in 2004. In addition, World Wide Concessions received $33,225 per month to do virtually nothing."

Doing virtually nothing described the serial grand jury investigations of corruption in Miami-Dade. On the other hand, the US Attorney in Miami recently showed in Palm Beach County, there is a limit to what is tolerated. Today, the number of Palm Beach county commissioners who are in jail or headed there could form a quorum.

It's time for federal law enforcement to apply the same scrutiny in Miami-Dade.



Odebrecht is Portuguese for "Big Money Donor"
By Francisco Alvarado in Banana Republican

Wednesday, Feb. 18 2009 @ 2:55PM

For more than 10 years, Brazilian-based construction firm Odebrecht has made tons of money from Miami-Dade County public works projects. If anything, the company is consistent...at completing jobs behind schedule and charging the county more money to finish.

For example, Odebrecht accepted responsibility for having to repair 96 massive concrete beams that cracked during construction of a parking garage in the late Nineties. The project came in $4 million over budget.

In a joint venture with two other contractors, Odebrecht was awarded the task of building the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in 2001. Two years into construction, the project was saddled with problems that resulted in disputes between the county, the architect and the construction firms.

The cultural facility opened in 2006, more than 800 days behind schedule and nearly $100 million over the original construction estimate. Odebrecht collected an additional $4.2 million on its original contract.

Then there was the south terminal fiasco at Miami International Airport. Odebrecht partnered with another firm, Parsons Corp., to build the new terminal which ended up hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and was delivered two years behind schedule. Odebrecht and Parsons sought to collect an additional $65 million.

Yet Odebrecht has continued to get more work from the county. The partnership with Parsons is building the $2.8 billion, 48-gate North Terminal project, as well as a $259 million, automated people mover system to run between Miami International Airport and the Miami Intermodal Center, a consolidated rental car facility and transportation hub. So far, according to Aviation Department spokesman Greg Chin, those projects are on schedule.

Chin also noted that airport construction projects are paid with airport revenues and landing fees generated at Miami International Airport. "The only time a taxpayer contributes to construction at the airport is when they fly here, pay for parking or buy merchandise," he said.

In other words, property taxes are not used to finance airport boondoggles. So taxpayer, the next time the Aviation Department comes to the County Commission requesting millions of dollars more to pay for Odebrect's construction screw-ups, quit your bellyachin'.

Tomorrow, we dissect how Odebrecht's man in Miami showers county commissioners with campaign contributions and more.

Thursday, Feb. 19 2009 @ 12:42PM

For the past two days, I've noted all the work Miami-Dade County awards Brazilian engineering and construction firm Odebrecht. Despite a history of completing jobs behind schedule and over budget, the company continues to get the nod to build county funded projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Part of the firm's success has hinged on the ability of Odebrecht's man in Miami to navigate the county's political heirarchy, which usually means ponying up for campaign contributions every election cycle. And Chief Executive Gilberto Neves does it well. During the 2008 primary election, Neves donated $500 a piece to incumbent commissioners Carlos Gimenez, Barbara Jordan, Joe Martinez, Dennis Moss and Natacha Seijas. He also gave $250 to Audrey Edmonson.

What's more, Neves is a big supporter of the YMCA of Greater Miami, which coincidently employs Seijas as a vice-president. Odebrecht's top exec is the Y board's chairman and has also chaired the committee in charge of the non-profit's annual fundraising gala. Neves' company has donated more than $130,000 to the YMCA between 2005 and 2008. On previous occcassions, Neves has told New Times and the Miami Herald that his support of the Y has nothing to do with Seijas. Nevertheless, his involvement creates the perception that he is currying favor with his favorite commissioner.