Dear Miami Herald, thanks for your coverage of the corruption scandals at the City of Miami. Here is what you missed: an analysis of business interests and their financial contribution to the campaigns of the fallen. In all cases, they are contributors tied one way or another to the Growth Machine. At the county commission, the public records of campaign contributions tell a clear story of the quid pro quo's allowing candidates and public officials to believe they have a free pass when they are elected: just vote for the zoning and permitting changes we (big development interests want) and you can remain an incumbent. How is an ethics training class going to remedy that?
And by the way, I'm not sure it is fair to lump Art Teele in this category: Art was no angel and no hero but here is where he was different: he went mad trying to drive his own deals and not the boss'. He never wanted to just "fit in" like James Burke, Dorin Rolle, Audrey Edmunson, Barbara Jordan, and Barbara Carey-Shuler. For that, they might have called him crazy. Spence-Jones, like Rolle et al, is only guilty of gaming the system harder than it could be gamed. The prevailing attitude of the political elite in our African American, single-member districts: the system exists to be gamed.
And one more thing: a fine editorial by Michael Putney, who certainly knows as much as anyone about the line-up and scorecard of local politics. What is missing, though: in addition to his critical comments on the timing of the state attorney's action against Spence-Jones, he should have also questioned whether the Marlin's new stadium could have passed if the state attorney, Kathy Fernandez-Rundle, had acted sooner. It is a question that many, many citizens are asking, too.
6 comments:
Growth must come from within. I am not a fan of moving the line, must the growth/improvements must be within the city of Miami and up north to the county line, NOT down south or out west.
We need the stadium, tunnel and any other positive change/project for our near future.
Thank you KFR if you had anything to do with a delay. Now keep MSJ out of our hair for good.
Congratulations to Francis Suarez on his election. Now, make things happen!!!
You are right about Teele, he set his own course, and lead himself down the path of destruction. He was no lackey.
The problem with all of them is no vision, no concern, no progress in the communities they represent. They view their roles quiet differently than the people who they purport to serve. In that way, they are quite the same as those elected from multi-member distircts. But the concept of single-member districts is valid, we just have not had the kind of leaders that the community needs. The people who emerge, are those looking for financial gain with little interest in helping people. I am not sure what the answer is, but I know multi-member districts and voting at-large is not it. We will have to grow, train and nurture a more responsive group of leaders.
We have to begin to think of a way to address the culture of corrupt politicians in So. FL. I go back to my analogy of a continuum with the white area on one end representing the absence of unethical behavior, to black on the other end representing criminal behavior. I noted that many officials operate in the dark-gray area, crossing back and forth in the black areas hoping not to get caught.
Presently, the ethical line is where dary-grey ends, and black begins, that is, black being criminal behavior. What if our Commissions in recognition of their ethical problems and lack of confidence of the people, drew their own eithical lines, say in the light-grey area, as the white area many be too much in the beginning? They could establish their own ethical rules, monitor and investigate each other, and censor each other when there are violations. Some state legislatures, and Congress have their own ethical rules that are above the level of criminal behavior. While it won't stop some from breaking the law, it will put everyone on notice, that behavior below this line will not be accepted, and may keep some people from venturing all the way into the dark grey area and eventually into the criminal zone.
Ya'll care more about how someone voted on the Marlins than whether justice is being served.
Pathetic!
Spence-Jones and her staff were the enablers of her criminal enterprise. Business owners and developers were always told that to get her vote they had to pay. Pay to her campaign or hire her "friends".
Anyone investigating the disbared lawyer who works for Spence-Jones? She demanded he gets paid by the City? Stealing from clients?
How many criminals surround Spence-Jones?
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