Thursday, February 25, 2010

Now here is a novel idea for Steve Shiver and Ghost Town at Maggie Valley ... by gimleteye

As if the county audit of the Homestead Community Redevelopment Agency did lay bare the passage of former mayor and county manager Steve Shiver, ("Among other things, the audit found that the Homestead Community Redevelopment Agency paid $1.9 million for 44 dilapidated "shotgun houses" from a company affiliated with former Homestead mayor, and later Miami-Dade County Manager, Steve Shiver. The price was above market value; the houses were demolished and the land remains vacant.") there's the recent mudslide at the bankrupt tourist attraction Shiver now manages at Maggie Valley in North Carolina. Shiver, as mayor, lead the development rampage in south Dade farmland and wetlands. He spearheaded for the Latin Builders Association the costly attempt to convert the former Homestead Air Force Base into a major commercial airport to the benefit of past LBA directors incorporated as HABDI. No similar county audit has ever been conducted for that fiasco, including the diversion of county resources. For his service to campaign contributors, former county mayor Alex Penelas rewarded Shiver with the county manager job. Only intervention by environmentalists-- who Shiver derided as "terrorists" at public meetings-- stopped the plan from wrecking nearby national parks. Every two-bit politician in South Florida lined up with Penelas and his lobbyists. I can't help noting the remark made in a local North Carolina newspaper a few days ago, of the disaster at Shiver's Ghost Town, “If they had only kept Mother Nature in mind, then maybe some of those mudslides could have been prevented." Ah, Mother Nature.


5 comments:

Geniusofdespair said...

I reported the same thing Sunday, before the Miami Herald Gimleteye:
My report.....
His (Shiver) company bought a housing development with 44 dilapidated homes and evicted all the families in anticipation of redevelopment. To be fair, however, Gary Eager of Hollywood was the only office at the time of the 2004 purchase. The property was never redeveloped but 44 families lost their homes (sounds like the Hope project in Commissioner Rolle's District doesn't it?). Then the CRA paid Shiver's Company rent to keep the houses vacant, at $400 a pop on all the units, it gave him $310,000 for which he provided no services to tenants, since there were no tenants. Then Shiver's Company sold the land to the CRA for what the audit says was an inflated price: $1.9 million. Steve's company made about $710,000 on this deal at our expense and the expense of up to 44 disadvantaged families.

Anonymous said...

Your favorite dirtbag may have lots of 'splaining to do over the Homestead CRA audit. I bet he wishes he had not pished it all away in ghostown. Hey, east Homestead is becoming a ghostown....

Anonymous said...

I'll donate whatever it costs to put him in and keep him jail until he pays back every cent to the taxpayers!

Anonymous said...

All that is left when Shiver moves on are ruins. He promotes the barbaric decay of everything he gets his hands on. He has accomplished very little in Florida, and now he is looked at as a corrupt parasite. The liar within him fools people for some time, then he shows the nature of his being and slithers out of town or county hall or city hall or North Carolina. Complete waste of resources even talking about him, he is so over but I'll bet he thinks this blog is good publicity for him.

Anonymous said...

Tuesday is bankruptcy day/ judgment day for Steve in NC. I hear your tax dollars are going to help him get his little failed amusement park back on track after the landslide.