Whether it is the Miami City Mayor's race (Sanchez and Regalado) or the County Mayor's race (Maybe Gimenez, Martinez and Sosa) there are disturbing connections for all of them. For example, this Lobbyist in the photo, recognized for excellence by the Latin Builder's Association, is Carlos' Gimenez's son. Carlos is also distantly related to the Vile one. How do connections factor in? Both City of Miami Mayor hopefuls are getting campaign contributions from many of the people/corporations that I believe contribute to or encourage the ills in our community. Connections -- especially in campaign contributions -- are most troubling but everyone has them (and you can bet the future County reports will be chock full of them like Regalado's and Sanchez's reports). The problem is, you can't conduct a viable campaign without a lot of funds. And, even more disheartening, you can't raise funds against an incumbent (contributors are afraid of backlash if the incumbent wins so they stay with the "known").
That is why the contributions on these two Mayors' races are so interesting: No incumbents. You can see what sector is giving the most dollars to whom. Doing a collective analysis, you can guess the candidate a sector wants and vote for the opposite. However with lag time on publication of campaign reports and with most smart (tainted) power-brokers holding their contributions till the end, you will not know for sure until it is too late. Warning: The acceptance of contributions doesn't mean the candidate will vote favorably towards the sector giving. County Commissioner Sally Heyman, for example, does not always vote her contributions. Similarly, Carlos Gimenez doesn't always vote for what his son is lobbying for.
I don't think we can ever sever the ties that we don't like in people running for office. We did make a start when the County had public financing which helped rid the evil connections. The demise of public dollars for campaigns is a twisted, sad chapter in County history perpetrated by S.O.B.'s on the County Commission -- Read Beskin Op Ed for the story.
9 comments:
Campaign Financing is what it is. The test isn't who, as an elected official, you received contributions from, it is what you do as an elected official, in the form of votes on issues, and whether the votes are based on the best interests of the County, or the best interests of some special interest. So what if Carlos' son is a government attorney, and is a member of the LBA? Carlos Senior hasn't exactly been the best commissioner as far as the LBA special interests go, voting time and again against moving the UDB. And I would suspect that he would not charaterize his relationship with his son as a "tainted connection."
The better analysis is then to go through the list, and track decisions made by Sanchez, Regalado, etc. in the past in their roles as Commissioners, to determine if the fundraising led to votes. I think you have established that nexus between Joe Sanchez and the Marlins Stadium proponents.
This article makes no sense.
It is not an article.
Gimenez voted in favor of Krome Gold for their 100 Acre lake (rock mining operation) - outside the UDB. He won't get my support any time soon for any office. Now seeing the LBA and the people involved in Krome Gold - connect the dots.
The person who thinks this blog makes no sense is not thinking.
I totally agree with the blog. Yes, there are ties that bind, does that make the candidate unelectable? Genius thinks it can, and cannot depending on the candidate. If we look at Barbara Jordan, her family ties guaranteed her vote on Florida City Commons (her brother was mayor and her sister a lobbyist for the applicant). This is important to examine and not shut one's eyes. Motivation is not to be ignored. Just because Gimenez voted for one application and didn't vote for others have to be weighed. When you have a Commissioner like Pepe Diaz that votes on everything you can make valid conclusions. Campaign contributions are not a black and white issue.
you hit the nail on the head last reader: A few specific Campaign contributions on their own are not a good indicator of the candidate's viability -- they must be looked at with their votes if they are in office already. If not, I look at the full report and try to gauge what is going on, i.e., by the contributions, UDB developers want this guy or don't want this guy.
I am not happy about friendships i.e. Pepe and Sergio's fishing trip, or relatives on opposite sides (Jordan), or seeing Commissioner at lunch with Lobbyists (all the time).
Sometimes it is a matter of the lesser of two evils. If you look at the unreformable's majority reports you will see a who's who of everyone that you don't want to see on a campaign report.
Maybe my writing isn't clear enough for some of you. Write a response that is informative so we all can learn. This is a dialogue.
Sorry to continue the Regalado love fest. But the reason I started to support him was for his voting record. No on the big votes yes, on parks and community involvement.
I think right now his back to the basics plan is what we need
Carlos Jr. reports to Miguel D.L.P.
"the jolly antichrist"? I love this name.
Gimenez is good people, I think.
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