US Century Bank: the insider piggy bank...? by gimleteye

"No", is how County Commissioner Katy Sorenson answered our interview question: "Do you think the economic crisis has changed the county commission at all?" The reason that business as usual persists at all levels of government is because there is no penalty for taking outsized risks. You can destroy the Gulf of Mexico and not even go to jail. For elected officials, like the county commission, a routine aspect of risk has been allowing insider special interests to dominate zoning councils and decisions related to construction and development. Exhibit A: the board of directors of US Century Bank, including Ramon Rasco, Sergio Pino, Rodney Barreto, Jose Cancela, Armando Guerra, Augustin Herran and other speculators whose business model was based on suburban sprawl by forcing zoning changes in farmland and wetlands edging to the Everglades beyond the Urban Development Boundary.

Today, the bank rating agency, Bauer Financial, based in Coral Gables gives US Century Bank its lowest rating above zero. Among indicators in which US Century raises alarm in comparison to its peers: loans to insiders, noted above by Bauer. County commissioners like Natacha Seijas, Bruno Barreiro, Javier Souto, Joe Martinez and Pepe Diaz-- the group we call the unreformable majority-- have been and continue to be enthusiastic cheerleaders for whatever US Century Bank insiders need. The Bauer flashing red lights indicate this bank is one of the riskiest in its peer group.

This level of insider dealing represents the kind of transactional behavior for which there is no penalty-- not for the land speculators, not for the county commissioners who support them. US Century Bank will continue to take out full page ads in The Miami Herald, ensuring that the speculators are treated with deference. If this bank fails, whose principals argued for suburban sprawl right alongside the LBA, it will be absorbed by a more healthy vulture backed by US taxpayer guarantees. Commissioner Sorenson, for whom the insiders at US Century have little respect, is right: this economic crisis has changed nothing. When the speculators fail at suburban sprawl or growing sugar in the Everglades, they can always become rock miners.