A Miami Dade police commander, with close ties to Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Frank Vecin had a second job, at his Company Oak Tree, where he was a permit expediter. He was paid by developers to help influence county officials - he got $165,000 from one developer. He was informed in 2005, by Ethics Commissioner Robert Meyers, that he could not conduct this kind of business as a county employee - lobbying and influencing county officials, representing 3rd party clients. He chose to ignore that warning. See the DeFede report. Worse, he was working for the Police section investigating the work of developers like the ones he was helping.This is the SAME GUY who misused County environmental "Green" funds that were meant to fight environmental crimes. He used the funds for sun glasses, GPS units, cell phones, Black Berry and IPhone accounts, semi-automatic weapons and weren't there SUV purchases too? What a low life this guy is. He is being investigated by the Inspector General and State Attorney's office.
15 comments:
That's just wrong. Alvarez is such a disappointment.
Is Fernandez Rundle going to actually do her damn job? Half of the BCC should be in jail, in my opinion.
I remember in Alvarez's last campaign when he took so much special interest money and said he needed it to get elected, which I understood, but then the Marlin's debacle and the Port deals.
He did so much financial damage, along with Burgess, and they all have golden parachutes waiting for them, while we pick up the tab!
Ms. Fernandez Rundle - DO YOUR JOB! If you can't because you need to keep getting re elected, appoint a special prosecutor!
I'm sick of this crap down here with every with authority to do something turning a blind eye.
First Lorenzo hiring a guy who was "unhirable" by the County and now this.
This officer turned "Chief" also cost Homestead's mayor Baitman a charge from ethics. Something about an endorsement from Alvarez. Like this Vecin had authorization to give the mayor's blessing.
Dig deeper on this man and his many connections.
Miami Herald 4/18/10---At the time, Alvarez told investigators that Bateman had not asked him for an endorsement in the 2009 race. Bateman said he had gotten permission from Frank Vecin, a division chief in the Miami-Dade Police Department, to use the old flier in 2009.
``There is no evidence, however, that Alvarez or anyone on his staff authorized him to use the 2007 flier in the current campaign,'' Ramos wrote in her memo.
Lets be fair here, Vecin was also helping Alvarez on his campaign, so it doesn't seem too far fetched that Vecin had the authority to tell Bateman to go ahead.
Frank Vecin, Denis Morales and Jose "Pepe" Riesco all were the hand holders of the candidate Alvarez.
The big question in the Homestead race is how could Alvarez support Bell?
Why?
Because he knew Bateman was not an honest politician and knew he would be getting kickbacks and freebies from developers and that would reflect back to him. So now we know why Vecin did it, because Alvarez would not.
Vecin gave hundreds to Alvarez and Batemen. SUVs and sunglasses are the tip of the iceberg.
Those who live in Homestead know what the score is. The Bateman administration just gave away the baseball stadium and 125 acres for $35. now they are kicking the Chamber of Commerce out from a city building two years after the Chamber brought it up to code and poured in a lot of money.
I have a question. I have heard that Miami-Dade County has to pay a fine to the federal government every year because the Miami-Dade Police Department is not exactly legal (no Sheriff's Department and no Sheriff in the county.
The Director of the MDPD is ostensibly the county Sheriff, but I would bet he does not possess all the powers of a legally elected Sheriff. While the legislature (in this case the County Commission) may place additional duties upon a sheriff (usually statutory in nature), they may not by statute restrict or impede a Sheriff's common law functions. Because of the authority a Sheriff possesses at common law, it can be one of the most powerful political and law enforcement offices in the county.
Our MDPD Director is appointed by the Mayor. A county Sheriff is elected, making him accountable not to the Mayor and county Manager, but to the body politic.
Does anyone have any insight on this?
The Dade County Sheriff's Office was created in 1836 to serve the newly created County of Dade, which originally consisted of the area comprised by the present-day counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin. In the early years, the entire area was policed by as few as three deputies on horseback, and Dade’s sheriffs were appointed by the Governor. In 1899, the office of the sheriff became an elected position. By 1950, the jurisdiction area had been reduced to its present size of approximately 2,139 square miles.[2]
In 1957, the metropolitan form of government was established, and the Dade County Sheriff's' Office was subsequently renamed the Public Safety Department. The Public Safety Department’s organizational structure, as determined by the Metropolitan Charter, included responsibility for police and fire protection, the jail and stockade, civil defense, animal control, and motor vehicle inspection. In 1960, the Public Safety Department also assumed responsibility for police operations at the Port of Miami and Miami International Airport.[2] By 1966, the Public Safety Department had approximately 850 sworn officers in its ranks. That year a long-standing controversy over the selection/election procedure for choosing a county sheriff was resolved by voter mandate. Subsequently, non-elected sheriffs were appointed by the County Manager as "Director of the Public Safety Department and Sheriff of Metropolitan Dade County."
Let's get it on the ballot.
maybe Lynda should run for mayor instead of commissioner
Lynda should run for National Chairman of the Right to Life group.
This guy is as close to Alvarez as you can get. He was with Alvarez during each and every high profile campaign event. Same thing with Morales, and some here still question whether Alvarez is an upstanding character???
If you think that Frank was doing this behind Alvarez's back, I have a bridge to sell you!!
Do you believe that RK Associates and Raanan Katz would be ever investigated on suspicion of economical crime if they had paid to Miami Dade Police Chief.
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