The Palm Beach Post reports on a suspected South Florida cancer cluster. According to the article, in 2006 and 2007, Southern Florida had more than twice as many childhood brain tumors and cancers as would be expected in that size population: 52 cases instead of 24. Miami Dade County is included in the analysis.
The study is scheduled for publication next month in the journal Pediatric Blood & Cancer.
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Tracking Marco Rubio: New Committee Filed With the FEC. By Geniusofdespair
I found this on the Federal Election Committee website: On February 22, 2010 the Secretary of the Senate stamped the Friends of DeMint & Rubio Organization. Two peas in a pod. Do they have any friends? The designated agent is Keith Davis. Lisa Lisker is the Treasurer. It is a joint fund raising committee.
President Obama recently said - quoting DeMint on healthcare reform:
“Just the other day, one Republican senator said – and I'm quoting him now – ‘If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him'". DeMint and Rubio belong together.
President Obama recently said - quoting DeMint on healthcare reform:
“Just the other day, one Republican senator said – and I'm quoting him now – ‘If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him'". DeMint and Rubio belong together.
Live the Lie with a Spokesjerk on Health Care. By Geniusofdespair
Private health insurance rocks...or does it, the myth dispelled by a paid health insurance spokesman.
Money in Campaigns for House District 116 and 117. By Geniusofdespair
This was all I could find on the FEC website, through Sept. 30th. Carlos Manrique is leading the pack of 7 candidates in District 116. He collected $49,445. In District 117, Michael Bileca is leading 7 candidates with $46,950. Lisa Lesperance is not that far behind. I am not counting loans to their campaigns, just what they raised.
Note, this is through September (old). Will have to look at State records.
Looked at State records through the end of year, Manrique collected $70,475.00 and Bileca raised $131,415. Michael is overloaded with dental interests. He collected $55,000 from himself. Lesparance collected $50,000 through the end of the year. The State records are awful. I can't be bothered wasting my time.
Friday, March 05, 2010
Fairchild Garden: More on Term Limits for Trustees and Turmoil... by gimleteye
Our blog has written about the turmoil at Fairchild Garden in Coral Gables. At the end of last year, I joined a group of members whose efforts to introduce term limits to the By-Laws of the organization are being stiffly opposed by long-time trustees.
The group of members had coalesced around the firing of the head of education at the Garden, Caroline Lewis. Ms. Lewis was dismissed without cause by Bruce Greer, the president of the Garden. Greer worked around a chain of command to remove her for reasons that do not add up. The contortions that ensued to protect Garden management from criticism have wrapped up the Garden board, demoralized staff and volunteers, and shaken a Miami institution.
After Ms. Lewis was fired (she had innovated and built an environmental education program called the Fairchild Challenge that served, last year, more than 50,000 students in Miami-Dade and provided a model for an important national purpose. She was fired on a pretext-- see our archive for more), the members tried to organize a Special Meeting, provided by the institution's By-Laws, to support Ms. Lewis and to recommend term limits for directors. A protest demonstration was held outside the Garden walls. The board, shocked that opposition had developed for the first time and that members would actually resort to requiring compliance with the Garden's By-Laws, rejected the members' request. Protests continued, including a banner plane flying, "Term Limits for Fairchild". The members also proposed to introduce term limits to the organization at a forthcoming annual meeting. The board refused this request, too, rescheduling the annual meeting. At a board meeting last week, the Fairchild trustees passed a hastily organized, paranoid response: they voted to change the By-Laws to require that any further amendment (ie. term limits) must be approved by a supermajority vote of the board.
In its reaction to criticism, the Garden's politburo-style management-- defending a $20 million endowment-- proves the point of the term limit proposal. The more Garden management papers over divisions it alone created, the more clearly it makes the case itself for change. But Garden managers, with access and use of Garden financial resources, are gambling that the opposition will dissipate over time; to that end, the Garden refused to provide access to the membership mailing list by members as also provided by By-Laws.
Fairchild leadership is convinced that they deserve nothing but praise for dedicated service to the garden and the community. These contortions have been described more fully in the blog, "Term Limits for Fairchild".
The group of members had coalesced around the firing of the head of education at the Garden, Caroline Lewis. Ms. Lewis was dismissed without cause by Bruce Greer, the president of the Garden. Greer worked around a chain of command to remove her for reasons that do not add up. The contortions that ensued to protect Garden management from criticism have wrapped up the Garden board, demoralized staff and volunteers, and shaken a Miami institution.
After Ms. Lewis was fired (she had innovated and built an environmental education program called the Fairchild Challenge that served, last year, more than 50,000 students in Miami-Dade and provided a model for an important national purpose. She was fired on a pretext-- see our archive for more), the members tried to organize a Special Meeting, provided by the institution's By-Laws, to support Ms. Lewis and to recommend term limits for directors. A protest demonstration was held outside the Garden walls. The board, shocked that opposition had developed for the first time and that members would actually resort to requiring compliance with the Garden's By-Laws, rejected the members' request. Protests continued, including a banner plane flying, "Term Limits for Fairchild". The members also proposed to introduce term limits to the organization at a forthcoming annual meeting. The board refused this request, too, rescheduling the annual meeting. At a board meeting last week, the Fairchild trustees passed a hastily organized, paranoid response: they voted to change the By-Laws to require that any further amendment (ie. term limits) must be approved by a supermajority vote of the board.
In its reaction to criticism, the Garden's politburo-style management-- defending a $20 million endowment-- proves the point of the term limit proposal. The more Garden management papers over divisions it alone created, the more clearly it makes the case itself for change. But Garden managers, with access and use of Garden financial resources, are gambling that the opposition will dissipate over time; to that end, the Garden refused to provide access to the membership mailing list by members as also provided by By-Laws.
Fairchild leadership is convinced that they deserve nothing but praise for dedicated service to the garden and the community. These contortions have been described more fully in the blog, "Term Limits for Fairchild".
Wood Stork Resting. By Geniusofdespair
I always wondered how wading bird sat down with those long legs they need for standing in shallow water to catch fish. Well, I guess this photo I took in the Everglades last week has answered my question...they bend them. You can tell I had a lot to write about today -- read my column below from last night...pretty big news.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
White Guy is Running for the Meek Seat in Congress. By Geniusofdespair
Here is a shocker for you: North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin told Eyeonmiami that he is running for Congress - in the 17th District. He said: "I know I can continue the tradition of public service and leadership we deserve in Washington and that partisan bickering has blocked real progress in Washington. The result is a government that is over-committed overseas and under-serves us here at home." You will remember that Scott was Eyeonmiami's first 'Elected Official Beauty Contest Winner' in 2007.
Scott is running as a Democrat in Florida's 17th District, the Kendrick Meek seat. You might argue that this seat can only be won by a black/African American/Haitian American. But I checked the demographics (Washington Post 2006):
White: 32.9%, Hispanic/Latino (of any race): 21.2%, Black of African American: 56.9%, There are about 5% of other races, mixed.
If Scott can pull together the Whites and Hispanics, he has a chance.
Also running in this race: One Republican, Corey Poitier (R) a Teacher. There are 11 Black Democratic candidates, which gives Scott Galvin a big edge as the Black numbers will be diluted. To see the district map and the other Democratic candidates running hit 'read more':
* Leroy Adam (D)
Realtor
* Marleine Bastien (D)
Non-Profit Group Executive & Haitian-American Community Activist
* Phillip Brutus (D)
State Rep. & Attorney
* James Bush III (D)
State Rep. & Teacher
* Shirley Gibson (D)
Miami Gardens Mayor, Minister, Retired Police Officer & Ex-Businesswoman
* Joe Kelley (D)
Opa Locka Mayor, Ex-City Parks Supervisor & Baptist Pastor
* Rudy Moise (D)
Physician, Radio Station Owner & Community Activist
* Yolly Roberson (D)
State Rep. & Attorney
* Roderick Vereen (D)
Attorney
* André Williams (D)
Miami Gardens City Commissioner, Attorney & Real Estate Investor
* Frederica Wilson (D)
State Sen., Ex-State Rep. & Non-Profit Group Executive Director
Some of you had better drop out if you want to win this thing.
Bilked: another story from South Florida ... by gimleteye
"Miami's little Madoff" is how one Cuban American investor described a prominent businessman and his wife, Gaston and Teresita Cantens (Trust turns to crisis for older investors, Miami Herald, March 4, 2010) . The Cantenses, a politically influential family, were charged with a $135 million real estate related investment fraud, or, Ponzi scheme.
It is inevitable the housing boom and crash, whose political origins were in Miami, would reach into the ranks of elderly Cuban and Latin American investors. This one is particularly redolent: "The Cantenses, said SEC officials, told investors that Jesuit priests and other well-known leaders in the Cuban American community had invested with Royal West. They 'targeted' investors at charitable and religious gatherings and at parties at their Miami home." According to the Herald, the Cantenses also exploited their relationship with members of the prominent Cuban American bastion and feeder of political leadership, Belen Jesuit Prep.
Of the master-strokes facilitating the housing boom, one was a new law passed by the Florida legislature in 2002. It was sponsored by then state representative Gaston I. Cantens, a rising star in the Growth Machine. The measure, called the Everglades Bill or HB 813, helped also to divide and conquer the environmental community. The bill provided $100 million for the Everglades at the same time as eroding citizen rights to protest ill-advised developments, such as those promoted in West Dade suburbs. (Audubon supported the bill, and many other environmental groups blasted it, leading to mistrust in Florida that continues to this day.)
The Cantens bill helped along the process of so much crappy, fetid overdevelopment that fit the needs of Wall Street finance -- and continuous pressure by big, special interests. Today's sad news about "Miami's Little Madoff" is just another blip on a radar screen filled with the static of trillion dollar bailouts by taxpayers and concessions to the flattened homebuilders. In the 2002, the bill Cantens, the son, pushed through raised the threshold for community groups to challenge changes to growth plans. It was a delightful resume builder: eventually Cantens left to the legislature to take on the job as vice president for public relations for Fanjul family sugar barons.) The Herald notes that the son is not named in the SEC complaint.
In 2002, the St. Pete Times editorial board, along with every editorial board in the state, weighed in against the Cantens measure, calling it an "unwarranted assault" against citizen standing: "Now, if a developer seeks a permit on a project that threatens to degrade the environment, Florida residents have a reasonable opportunity to oppose the permit. There is no indication that the right is being abused or that developers are thwarted if their projects are responsible. Yet a fair hearing for the environment is too much to ask of some legislators." (April 3, 2002)
The housing boom in West Dade farmland and wetlands minted South Florida millionaires by the barrel full. The SEC charges that the Cantenses used "$20 million from investors to pay themselves exorbitant salaries, to invest in other projects and to divert some $1 million to their children and grandchildren in the form of alleged 'consulting fees'. The website, Condo Vultures, paints the background of crashed real estate empires: "Delinquent real estate loans at Florida-based banks spiked by 47 percent in 2009 compared to a year earlier as the number of financial institutions in the state decreased by 21, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com."
The Miami Herald doesn't specify what investments, exactly, comprise the failed Cantenses' portfolio called Royal West Properties, but Condo Vultures provides context to the overall market for suburban sprawl that was triggered by the housing boom and its political origins in West Dade suburbs: ""Residential real estate prices have tumbled significantly since the peak of the market in the fourth quarter of 2005," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC. "The challenge for many buyers is the under-$250,000 properties are increasingly located west of Interstate 95 in the suburban areas of South Florida."
Those ghost suburbs aren't filling with happy and gullible new buyers any time soon. Still the stories of personal devastation, of families ripped apart, and dreams dashed are only just beginning to be told. How it all ties back to "The Ownership Society" and its political origins in Miami is still nowhere to be found in the mainstream media.
It is inevitable the housing boom and crash, whose political origins were in Miami, would reach into the ranks of elderly Cuban and Latin American investors. This one is particularly redolent: "The Cantenses, said SEC officials, told investors that Jesuit priests and other well-known leaders in the Cuban American community had invested with Royal West. They 'targeted' investors at charitable and religious gatherings and at parties at their Miami home." According to the Herald, the Cantenses also exploited their relationship with members of the prominent Cuban American bastion and feeder of political leadership, Belen Jesuit Prep.
Of the master-strokes facilitating the housing boom, one was a new law passed by the Florida legislature in 2002. It was sponsored by then state representative Gaston I. Cantens, a rising star in the Growth Machine. The measure, called the Everglades Bill or HB 813, helped also to divide and conquer the environmental community. The bill provided $100 million for the Everglades at the same time as eroding citizen rights to protest ill-advised developments, such as those promoted in West Dade suburbs. (Audubon supported the bill, and many other environmental groups blasted it, leading to mistrust in Florida that continues to this day.)
The Cantens bill helped along the process of so much crappy, fetid overdevelopment that fit the needs of Wall Street finance -- and continuous pressure by big, special interests. Today's sad news about "Miami's Little Madoff" is just another blip on a radar screen filled with the static of trillion dollar bailouts by taxpayers and concessions to the flattened homebuilders. In the 2002, the bill Cantens, the son, pushed through raised the threshold for community groups to challenge changes to growth plans. It was a delightful resume builder: eventually Cantens left to the legislature to take on the job as vice president for public relations for Fanjul family sugar barons.) The Herald notes that the son is not named in the SEC complaint.
In 2002, the St. Pete Times editorial board, along with every editorial board in the state, weighed in against the Cantens measure, calling it an "unwarranted assault" against citizen standing: "Now, if a developer seeks a permit on a project that threatens to degrade the environment, Florida residents have a reasonable opportunity to oppose the permit. There is no indication that the right is being abused or that developers are thwarted if their projects are responsible. Yet a fair hearing for the environment is too much to ask of some legislators." (April 3, 2002)
The housing boom in West Dade farmland and wetlands minted South Florida millionaires by the barrel full. The SEC charges that the Cantenses used "$20 million from investors to pay themselves exorbitant salaries, to invest in other projects and to divert some $1 million to their children and grandchildren in the form of alleged 'consulting fees'. The website, Condo Vultures, paints the background of crashed real estate empires: "Delinquent real estate loans at Florida-based banks spiked by 47 percent in 2009 compared to a year earlier as the number of financial institutions in the state decreased by 21, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com."
The Miami Herald doesn't specify what investments, exactly, comprise the failed Cantenses' portfolio called Royal West Properties, but Condo Vultures provides context to the overall market for suburban sprawl that was triggered by the housing boom and its political origins in West Dade suburbs: ""Residential real estate prices have tumbled significantly since the peak of the market in the fourth quarter of 2005," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC. "The challenge for many buyers is the under-$250,000 properties are increasingly located west of Interstate 95 in the suburban areas of South Florida."
Those ghost suburbs aren't filling with happy and gullible new buyers any time soon. Still the stories of personal devastation, of families ripped apart, and dreams dashed are only just beginning to be told. How it all ties back to "The Ownership Society" and its political origins in Miami is still nowhere to be found in the mainstream media.
Should there be an Oversight Board Over the Public Health Trust? By Geniusofdespair
The current Board of Trustees of the Public Health Trust consists of the following members:Chairperson John H. Copeland III (pictured), Vice Chairperson Angel Medina, Jr., Secretary Georgena D. Ford, R.N., Treasurer Marcos Jose Lapciuc. Trustees: Stanley H. Arkin, Jorge L. Arrizurieta, Gladys Ayala, Esq., Rosy Cancela, Ernesto A. de la Fè, Joaquin del Cueto, Abraham A. Galbut, Saif Y. Ishoof, Esq., Dorrin D. Rolle, County Commissioner, Judy Rosenbaum, Ed.D., Sen. Javier D. Souto, County Commissioner, Martin Zilber, Esq.
Did I care if the County Commission replaced or put an oversight board over these men and women yesterday? Nope, I didn't care one iota. A new bad board to replace an old bad board is a neutral move. I wrote about Jackson in June 2008 raising some yellow flags. The Commission rejected the idea put forth by the Vile Natacha and the Mayor to appoint a new Board probably in a vote of confidence to Rolle and Souto. The Herald said. The Commissioners rejected it mostly because they saw it as a power grab by the Mayor, who would have made the appointments.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
The Winner of My Ethically Challenged Beauty Contest is Charged...Again! By Geniusofdespair
Michelle Spence-Jones has some new charges against her, bribery of a developer -- Armando Codina of all people. She was indicted today by a grand jury. She was recently the winner of a beauty contest on this blog for public officials that have been arrested. Grand theft and now bribery, she is a two time winner. The Miami Herald said of the most current charge:"At a March 23, 2006 commission meeting, project supporters asked elected officials to extend the designation for "Brickell Avenue" north across the Miami River -- a prominent address that would provide a potential boon in marketing the complex, now almost complete. The hotly debated item was delayed until April's commission meeting. But in between the meetings, prosecutors allege, Spence-Jones or a representative solicited $25,000 from Miami developer Armando Codina, whose company was handling the leasing of the project.
Codina agreed and paid $12,500 to a nonprofit organization later created by Spence-Jones, prosecutors say. He asked Ricardo Glas, of MDM Hotel Group, the project's chief builder, to pay another $12,500."
Since Codina didn't report it right away (if at all), the paper said prosecutors "stumbled upon it", you could surmise that political bribes are business as usual to a developer. Or, was it just a case of a developer giving to a 'worthy' cause, writing a check to a non-profit not yet established. The whole thing sucks.
Update: 3/6 -According to the Miami Herald, Armando Codina said he did not pay a bribe. He said he was donating to a gala for Carey Shuler and expected nothing in return. Former Broward Prosecutor John Hanlon said "the crime is the solicitation" and he said the bribe would be hard to prove since the developer didn't get anything for the money.
Harry Emilio Gottlieb is the City of Miami Film Czar. By Geniusofdespair
Harry Emilio Gottlieb, a contributor to Eye on Miami, has taken over the City of Miami film office. Robert Parente, his predecessor, was known to be in Joe Sanchez's camp. Harry's official title is: Director-Mayor's Office of Film, Arts, Culture & Entertainment.
We here at Eyeonmiami are fond of the personable Harry, we wish him a lot of luck in his new job.
The real state of the economy: Jackson Health System's bottom line ... by gimleteye
The unanticipated $224 million shortfall in the Jackson Health System budget has triggered a reaction by county government: we'll take you over. Jackson spends $85 million a month on salaries and could run out of money by this spring. The sponsor of the proposal is queen of unreality; YMCA no-show employee and county commissioner Natacha Seijas. I don't have much kind to say about the fiscal responsibility of the Public Health Trust. In The Herald the trustees expressed "shock" at the county proposal. Shock? On the other hand, replacing them with seven political appointees whose own appointments depend on the unreal world of county commissioners?
The real world problem did emerge in today's front page story. A trustee, Angel Medina Jr. (area president of Region Bank in South Florida) described the problem as "a lack of funding for a growing community need exacerbated by the current economic environment in our community." Let's try to shine that up a little bit: we are in the midst of a Depression only alleviated by the time-release capsules of trillions of dollars in federal taxpayer bailouts. The Depression, triggered by the fraudulent underpinnings of the housing boom-- that wrapped up lowly county commissioners, their campaign contributors, the banks like the one Medina ran for Regions, the Engineering Cartel and Growth Machine supply chain feeding into Wall Street financial derivatives-- means that tax receipts from real estate transactions are massively reduced at the same time that the shadow unemployment rate in one of the nation's poorest counties is pushing over 20 percent.
The sick hospital that cares for Miami's disadvantaged is an accurate reflection of a sick economy. The Miami Herald needs to write that story. The elected officials who know the extent of the sickness-- ie., enormous deficits that will, at some point, have to be funded by increased taxes-- have been wishing, praying and hoping that demand for all those platted subdivisions and condos will be filled with eager and happy buyers leaning on home equity lines of credit to finance the pool furniture. Ain't gonna happen. No Hail Mary passes. The frickinn chickens have come home to roost.
The real world problem did emerge in today's front page story. A trustee, Angel Medina Jr. (area president of Region Bank in South Florida) described the problem as "a lack of funding for a growing community need exacerbated by the current economic environment in our community." Let's try to shine that up a little bit: we are in the midst of a Depression only alleviated by the time-release capsules of trillions of dollars in federal taxpayer bailouts. The Depression, triggered by the fraudulent underpinnings of the housing boom-- that wrapped up lowly county commissioners, their campaign contributors, the banks like the one Medina ran for Regions, the Engineering Cartel and Growth Machine supply chain feeding into Wall Street financial derivatives-- means that tax receipts from real estate transactions are massively reduced at the same time that the shadow unemployment rate in one of the nation's poorest counties is pushing over 20 percent.
The sick hospital that cares for Miami's disadvantaged is an accurate reflection of a sick economy. The Miami Herald needs to write that story. The elected officials who know the extent of the sickness-- ie., enormous deficits that will, at some point, have to be funded by increased taxes-- have been wishing, praying and hoping that demand for all those platted subdivisions and condos will be filled with eager and happy buyers leaning on home equity lines of credit to finance the pool furniture. Ain't gonna happen. No Hail Mary passes. The frickinn chickens have come home to roost.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
The Tea Party has stiff competition: The Keg Party ... by gimleteye
The Tea Party has competition. The New York Times has noted the emergence of The Coffee Party. I'm hoping The Coffee Party isn't planning to persuade disaffected conservatives with vente lattes and croissants. Still, a slow drip is better than a limp tea bag. But I'm not volunteering for The Coffee Party. I'm affiliating with The Keg Party, Bud Weiser, its chairman, and Sam Adams, party secretary. The Keg Party is a place Joe Six-Pack can call home. The Coffee Party has a tag line: "Stand up and wake up". The Keg Party: "Drink beer, not tea". I'm feeling better already. Keggers United!
County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz is a Good Little Soldier. By Geniusofdespair
You can tell Pepe Diaz is a good soldier by his campaign report. He makes a lot of people and corporations happy, too bad hardly any of his contributors are regular people in his district...or voters.An average Joe would give $100 or under to a campaign. In total he got about 27 donations $100 (or less) out of the 227 donations totaling $87,990. There were 5 $100 donations from lawyers out of his district. There was one from a consultant living on Old Cutler, an engineer from Ft. Lauderdale and another from a doctor in Coconut Grove (he got about 22 $100 donations). An Engineer in Ft. Lauderdale gave him $50 (he got 4 $50 donations total). Finally, he got one $35 donation from a woman in Hollywood.
Out of the 227 total donations I would estimate that no more than 20 came from regular voters within his district. I was quite generous with the 10 zip codes I searched, giving him the benefit of the doubt. I didn't count the Michael Adler or Shoma Homes multiple donations as they obviously are not 'regular' people who can vote in his district. Pepe had 20 donations from Coral Gables, 8 from Homestead and 10 from Miami Beach Beach. There were about 20 donations from Broward County (probably as many from Broward County as from his own district voters). Then there were the donations from out of State: Alabama (2), Colorado, Virginia and Los Angeles (5). Finally there were a bunch out of the South Florida area: Lutz, West Palm Beach (4), Palm Beach Gardens, St. Augustine, Jupiter, Lakeland, Tampa, Deerfield, Tallahassee, Port St. Lucie, Crystal River and Jacksonville. The majority of the donations were for $500 -- not exactly the amount of choice for us common folks. So exactly who is contributing to Pepe Diaz's campaign? Not voters from District 12, that is for certain.
My Stop-O Marco Campaign is back in full gear. By Geniusofdespair
I had been advocating for Democrats and Independents to switch to the Republican party for the primary. I briefly stopped when I thought that Crist might himself switch parties, but it looks like that is not going to happen, according to the Miami Herald, Crist said:"I'm not leaving GOP"
And the Herald sub-head:
"Rumors of Gov. Charlie Crist leaving running as an independent persist but are untrue, the governor and his allies said." Bummer. So I am again asking you to register as a Republican. also See a TV 4 video on the Rubio double-billing and Crist talking tough.
On another note, isn't it is good to see the Miami Herald prominently reporting on the TV show the Bachelor? They have their priorities straight, I had to use the search window to find the Crist announcement.
A reader asks about Related Group's Jorge Perez and subsidies... by gimleteye
A reader asks: "Am i the only one who thinks this is a blatant misuse of public funds? Scary! $154,000 per UNIT! to finish units that are 80% done in a neighborhood with 50-75K condos all around. Still, the developers are neing taken care of! disgusting!"
Miami-Dade County funnels $9.8 million to Jorge Perez venture
By Yudislaidy Fernandez
Globally famed for luxury condo towers, Miami developer Jorge Perez, partnering with an affordable housing developer under a new entity, is getting almost $10 million from Miami-Dade County to finish half-built rental buildings in Little Havana.
Commissioners last week approved Bruno Barreiro's use of $10.5 million — an amount allocated to each of the 13 commissioners for capital improvements in their districts — to finish affordable housing projects. (click, read more)
...
Most of the money is going to RUDG LLC, a company formed more than six months ago by The Urban Development Group's Albert Milo and The Related Group's Mr. Perez, who before building nationally touted high-priced waterfront towers built homes for low-income families.
When requesting the funds' approval, Mr. Barreiro told other commissioners this was a way to leverage general obligation bond funds because it would help finish struggling projects and create more affordable housing.
Mr. Perez enjoyed success during the building boom with condos in South Florida, Fort Myers, Las Vegas and elsewhere and was labeled the "Donald Trump of the Tropics." But he was badly hit by the bust, running into trouble with lenders after his company couldn't make debt payments. Lenders now control Related's three-tower Icon Brickell and are trying to sell its 1,600 remaining condos.
In late December, Related got a $6.3 million sales tax refund after a county enterprise zone was expanded to include Icon Brickell. The refund comes from sales taxes the group paid for construction materials to build the complex.
The developer duo is getting $3.7 million for construction on 24-unit Porto Allegre at 574 SW First St. and $6.1 million to finish 49-unit Toscana at 126 SW Eighth Ave., Little Havana rental buildings. Porto Allegre is about 80% complete, Toscana 65%.
The original developer of both was Miami-based mFm Construction, which built several projects in the area.
Mr. Perez's office said he was traveling and unavailable.
Mr. Perez and Mr. Milo are to take over the two foreclosed-upon developments planned during the boom as condos, said Mr. Milo, RUDG's vice president.
Taking over a half-built project is "certainly more challenging than a project we start from the beginning," he said. This type of project, he added, requires more due diligence to know how previous owners handled it.
The group is considering hiring the original developer on a consulting basis, Mr. Milo said, "to give us the background on what transpired before us getting control of the project."
Slated as affordable apartments for the elderly, the properties are to be run long-term by a local housing agency.
Mr. Milo says he expects to start construction within three months, with the company soliciting to hire added contractors for the job.
Once construction begins, each project should take about six months, Mr. Milo said. The county is to monitor process and make monthly site inspections, he said, to ensure the projects stay on track.
Miami-Dade County funnels $9.8 million to Jorge Perez venture
By Yudislaidy Fernandez
Globally famed for luxury condo towers, Miami developer Jorge Perez, partnering with an affordable housing developer under a new entity, is getting almost $10 million from Miami-Dade County to finish half-built rental buildings in Little Havana.
Commissioners last week approved Bruno Barreiro's use of $10.5 million — an amount allocated to each of the 13 commissioners for capital improvements in their districts — to finish affordable housing projects. (click, read more)
...
Most of the money is going to RUDG LLC, a company formed more than six months ago by The Urban Development Group's Albert Milo and The Related Group's Mr. Perez, who before building nationally touted high-priced waterfront towers built homes for low-income families.
When requesting the funds' approval, Mr. Barreiro told other commissioners this was a way to leverage general obligation bond funds because it would help finish struggling projects and create more affordable housing.
Mr. Perez enjoyed success during the building boom with condos in South Florida, Fort Myers, Las Vegas and elsewhere and was labeled the "Donald Trump of the Tropics." But he was badly hit by the bust, running into trouble with lenders after his company couldn't make debt payments. Lenders now control Related's three-tower Icon Brickell and are trying to sell its 1,600 remaining condos.
In late December, Related got a $6.3 million sales tax refund after a county enterprise zone was expanded to include Icon Brickell. The refund comes from sales taxes the group paid for construction materials to build the complex.
The developer duo is getting $3.7 million for construction on 24-unit Porto Allegre at 574 SW First St. and $6.1 million to finish 49-unit Toscana at 126 SW Eighth Ave., Little Havana rental buildings. Porto Allegre is about 80% complete, Toscana 65%.
The original developer of both was Miami-based mFm Construction, which built several projects in the area.
Mr. Perez's office said he was traveling and unavailable.
Mr. Perez and Mr. Milo are to take over the two foreclosed-upon developments planned during the boom as condos, said Mr. Milo, RUDG's vice president.
Taking over a half-built project is "certainly more challenging than a project we start from the beginning," he said. This type of project, he added, requires more due diligence to know how previous owners handled it.
The group is considering hiring the original developer on a consulting basis, Mr. Milo said, "to give us the background on what transpired before us getting control of the project."
Slated as affordable apartments for the elderly, the properties are to be run long-term by a local housing agency.
Mr. Milo says he expects to start construction within three months, with the company soliciting to hire added contractors for the job.
Once construction begins, each project should take about six months, Mr. Milo said. The county is to monitor process and make monthly site inspections, he said, to ensure the projects stay on track.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Get well and speedy recovery, Dan Ricker! by gimleteye
Ace civic journalist, Dan Ricker, is recovering from major surgery at home we just learned. Ricker, an intrepid observer of the local scene, is publisher and editor and writer of the Watchdog Report. Among his invaluable contributions: the mysteries of Jackson Hospital and the Public Health Trust. Dan was alone in calling early warnings and attention to this keystone institution's impending financial disaster. In a conversation today, Dan noted his illness and first-hand experiences with our health care system's failures. It is shameful that a first-world nation, with first-world medical care, can save uninsured patients and kill them with costs. Maybe Dan will tell his story once he has recovered. Meanwhile, the Ricker Report is on hold. Wish Dan well at: watchdogreport1@earthlink.netThe Heir to Joe Martinez's District 11 Seat. By Geniusofdespair
Alternating Chairman of the Florida Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations Rep. Juan Zapata is the heir apparent to Joe Martinez's seat. He has been crowned by Uber Lobbyist Ron Book with campaign donations a sure sign that Zapata will be the golden boy, the recipient of massive campaign donations from the usual suspects.I think this signals that Joe Martinez is definitely seeking higher office. You heard it here first. Joe would have to vacate his seat if he runs for Mayor. I don't think Book would have given to the Zapata campaign, nor would Zapata have registered for the seat, if there was any doubt that Martinez had higher aspirations. Although, a reader has said, if he runs for the Congress he would not have to vacate. The Diaz-Balart seat in the House was not open when Zapata registered for Martinez's district. This adds another wrinkle, we might not get rid of Joe in the County if he runs for the U.S. House and loses. Ick.
Juan has already collected $10,000 for the election in 2012. He has Sugar money, Citrus and PAC money from medical interests. Most notable is the $1,500 from Book and wife. He has local experience having served on the Miami-Dade County Equal Opportunity Board, Miami-Dade Planning Advisory Board and West Kendall Community Council as Chairman. And, yes, he is better than Joe. Just about anybody is...
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Outside the box: a surtax on utilities to restore journalism ... by gimleteye
Our blog has taken plenty of pot shots at The Miami Herald over the years, but we've also recognized that high quality investigative reporting can accomplish what unpaid bloggers rarely do: break important stories that require the investment of time and research and are important, one way or another, to the public interest. Journalism is not an air plant: it needs a profit model. There has been an endless amount of ink spilled on this issue. I think the answer is simple: treat the consumer base and news as an extension of regulated utilities. Anyone who gets an electric utility or water bill, gets a surcharge to support paid journalism.
That the Great Recession/Depression has put newspapers under unprecedented pressure is not news. It takes blogs like ours to point out that the pressure of profits from advertisers constrained most if not all daily newspapers from tracking and reporting out the housing market bubble as it was rising; there was no criticism of these sacred cows and, as a result, no public pressure where it might have built in defense of reasonable measures to protect the nation's financial, insurance and banking systems. (The print journalism sources who did the best job, like Harpers Magazine, or -- in Florida-- The St. Pete Times, are not hooked up to the Wall Street quarterly profit squeeze.)
A reasonable people would conclude that being asleep at the switch-- as the mainstream press was, leading up to our economic crisis-- is a matter of national defense, not just a matter of talk and hand-wringing at Congressional committees.
Our own, only daily newspaper-- The Miami Herald-- so carefully balanced income and expenses that it missed reporting the political origins of the housing boom and bust, right in South Florida, completely. I've written this before: our democracy cannot survive the withering of independent journalism. It is a death by degrees. In 2009, Congressional hearings on "The Future of Journalism" took a close look at these issues. They were explored in detail. There, David Simon, former journalist with The Baltimore Sun and writer of the acclaimed series, The Wire, testified, " In short, my industry butchered itself and we did so at the behest of Wall Street and the same unfettered, free-market logic that has proved so disastrous for so many American industries. And the original sin of American newspapering lies, indeed, in going to Wall Street in the first place. When locally-based, family-owned newspapers like the Sun were consolidated into publicly-owned newspaper chains, an essential dynamic, an essential trust between journalism and the communities served by that journalism was betrayed."
But if journalism doesn't go to Wall Street or to Rupert Murdoch and the Fox News Circles of Hell, where does it go? I think it has to go on our electric or water utility bills. We need independent journalism the same way we need water and light. Of course, as we well know and report on our blog, there is a whole other set of difficulties with regulating the purveyors of electricity and water. Florida's dismal politics have allowed utilities to act in ways that are often contrary to the public interest in order to prioritize the 20 year investment schedules of the Engineering Cartel and Growth Machine. The mechanics of allocating income from a surtax on utilities, in order to insulate and firewall journalism and its beneficiaries from exactly the rat's nest of problems that afflict the relationship of consumers to utilities today, needs to be carefully sorted out.
There are all sorts of problems with this out-of-the-box idea to save journalism, but none are greater or more looming than the demise of American democracy.
That the Great Recession/Depression has put newspapers under unprecedented pressure is not news. It takes blogs like ours to point out that the pressure of profits from advertisers constrained most if not all daily newspapers from tracking and reporting out the housing market bubble as it was rising; there was no criticism of these sacred cows and, as a result, no public pressure where it might have built in defense of reasonable measures to protect the nation's financial, insurance and banking systems. (The print journalism sources who did the best job, like Harpers Magazine, or -- in Florida-- The St. Pete Times, are not hooked up to the Wall Street quarterly profit squeeze.)
A reasonable people would conclude that being asleep at the switch-- as the mainstream press was, leading up to our economic crisis-- is a matter of national defense, not just a matter of talk and hand-wringing at Congressional committees.
Our own, only daily newspaper-- The Miami Herald-- so carefully balanced income and expenses that it missed reporting the political origins of the housing boom and bust, right in South Florida, completely. I've written this before: our democracy cannot survive the withering of independent journalism. It is a death by degrees. In 2009, Congressional hearings on "The Future of Journalism" took a close look at these issues. They were explored in detail. There, David Simon, former journalist with The Baltimore Sun and writer of the acclaimed series, The Wire, testified, " In short, my industry butchered itself and we did so at the behest of Wall Street and the same unfettered, free-market logic that has proved so disastrous for so many American industries. And the original sin of American newspapering lies, indeed, in going to Wall Street in the first place. When locally-based, family-owned newspapers like the Sun were consolidated into publicly-owned newspaper chains, an essential dynamic, an essential trust between journalism and the communities served by that journalism was betrayed."
But if journalism doesn't go to Wall Street or to Rupert Murdoch and the Fox News Circles of Hell, where does it go? I think it has to go on our electric or water utility bills. We need independent journalism the same way we need water and light. Of course, as we well know and report on our blog, there is a whole other set of difficulties with regulating the purveyors of electricity and water. Florida's dismal politics have allowed utilities to act in ways that are often contrary to the public interest in order to prioritize the 20 year investment schedules of the Engineering Cartel and Growth Machine. The mechanics of allocating income from a surtax on utilities, in order to insulate and firewall journalism and its beneficiaries from exactly the rat's nest of problems that afflict the relationship of consumers to utilities today, needs to be carefully sorted out.
There are all sorts of problems with this out-of-the-box idea to save journalism, but none are greater or more looming than the demise of American democracy.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
A Serious Candidate is Already Running for Miami Dade Mayor in 2012. By Geniusofdespair
House Rep. Marcelo Llorente is quietly amassing a bankroll to run for the Mayor of Miami Dade County. He has already collected almost $200,000 in a a fund-raising frenzy. Llorente went to Tulane as an undergrad and graduated from Florida State University College of Law. He was elected to the Florida House in 2002 and is Chair of two committees, Full Appropriations Council on General Government & Health Care and Policy Council.His campaign has as contributors, parimutuals, real estate investment firms, medical supply firms and healthcare firms (no surprises if you look at his committee appointment) and, of course, a barrage of law firms and attorneys.
Marin & Sons and Lobbyist Ronald 'Ron' Book have also given and Book's family as well. Is Marcelo already being represented by Steve Marin, the rainmaker in City of Miami politics?
Jose Pepe Riesco is getting professional fees, he is Mayor Alvarez's guy - he orchestrated the Strong Mayor Campaign.
Other candidates, here is some advice: Get off your asses. This race is well underway.
A Potemkin Village economy: how gridlock defines politics ... by gimleteye
US politics are in gridlock because elected officials, Democrats and Republicans, are fighting to revive an economic model based on land speculation, production homebuilding and construction of infrastructure related to sprawl. Instead of breaking with leap-frog, car-centric development molded to fit financial derivatives-- admitting that trillions of taxpayer handouts have been given to banks to shore up a failed economic model-- elected officials in the US are maintaining a steadfast silence to paper over their ruined circular logic.
In the New York Times, "New-Home Sales Plunged To Record Low in January", the chief economist of Metrostudy outlined that logic with crystalline clarity, "You're not going to have a robust housing market until you have more jobs, and you're not going to add jobs fast enough to bring down the unemployment rate until you have robust housing market."
In "Florida struggles to carve out new jobs: spurred by state unemployment soon expected to top 12 percent," (St. Pete Times) Mark Wilson, head of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, says, "There is no silver bullet." The Chamber, this year, will be using all its bullets to shoot down the citizens' petition to amend the Florida constitution, Florida Hometown Democracy, providing for local elections on changes to growth plans. The measure was born from the public revulsion with rampant overdevelopment that created temporary jobs in construction but permanently scarred the Florida landscape, wrecking Floridians' quality of life, the environment, and undermined the potential for "jobs" that legislators are desperate to create.
The core of the problem is not just Florida's. An economy so dependent on housing is, by definition, a Potemkin Village. Potemkin Villages in 18th century Russia were "fake settlements" built to impress the political upper class. Imperial Russia's delusions of grandeur have much in common with ours.
Along this line, as the housing bubble was inflating in 2004 to historic dimensions, raining billions in compensation, fees, and bonuses through the supply chain of Wall Street finance connected to the Potemkin Village economy, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan delivered a speech, "The critical role of education in the nation's economy." It is haunting to read, today. Greenspan lays out two points. The first is strange in the context of a speech on education, yet central to Greenspan's thinking: "... economic regulation, by its nature, impinges on the exercise of a property right. Continuous changes in regulations and, hence, in the consistency of property protection create a less certain environment, which undermines incentives to long-term investment and prevents the most productive use of our resources." In one breath, Greenspan points like a weather vane to the fraudulent underpinnings of The Ownership Society. Although it was only six years ago, under the pressure of the economic collapse it seems a lifetime.
"I'm one of you," Greenspan seemed to be saying as he unwound. First, the good news: that development (property rights) free of government regulation (ie. derivative debt unweighted by government oversight and regulations) is not only good and productive, it is why the US economy is the paragon of democracies. (Tell that to Greece and Spain, today.) These also comprised the cinder blocks, in Florida, of a triumphant GOP majority based on the idiotic theory that the self-interest of free markets and industry can self-police to protect the public interest better than regulations. It was the point where Grover Norquist (shrinking government to fit in the size of a bathtub... to drown there), Ayn Rand and Greenspan met Florida builders pushing anti-science, anti-environment, and anti-public health agendas in Tallahassee and Washington forward.
Taken as a whole, the 2004 Greenspan speech seems to lay out an optimistic roadmap transitioning a housing based economy to value-added through knowledge and skills. That Greenspan badly misread the economy, both on the point of the dot.com bust and the housing bubble and bust, is an error of gargantuan, historic proportions. But on his main point, Greenspan was both right and prescient of the Potemkin Village economy: "The second critical aspect of wealth creation in the United States, and doubtless globally, is the level of knowledge and skill of the population. Today, the knowledge required to run the economy, which is far more complex than in our past, is both deeper and broader than ever before. We need to ensure that education in the United States, formal or otherwise, is supplying skills adequate for the effective functioning of our economy. The recent exceptional trends in U.S. productivity suggest that we are coping, but this observation should not lead to complacency."
Greenspan's speech hinted at our current straits. Where finance, to support and enhance "property rights", moves with lightning speed, the development of an educated workforce capable of producing new jobs -- outside the Potemkin Village-- takes a long time. How poorly the United States managed these countervailing forces is etched across the American landscape and today covers Greenspan with gloom (only mitigated by speaking fees). In a Brookings Institute speech on Tuesday, the CEO of the world's largest chip maker, Intel, Paul S. Otellini said, "Unfortunately, long-term investment in education, research, digital technology and human capital have been steadily declining in the US... So, too, has the commitment to policies that made us such an entrepreneurial powerhouse for more than a century." (New York Times, Feb. 24, 2010)
The political gridlock in Washington, red ink in state budgets and scattered through municipalities across the nation, is an expression of disbelief, fear, and an impoverished imagination. While China rises, our domestic politics are polarized and that polarization manifests in a state of suspension. So far, the American voter has utterly failed to connect the churning discontent of Tea Party agitators with a Walmart culture that feeds the essentials of prosperity on the cheap. So long as Dollar Tree, TJ Maxx, and other upmarket discount retailers satisfy demands of the Potemkin Village economy, all is apparently well. In The Financial Times, the CEO of Dollar Tree spoke of his company's prospects, "We believe that as the economy recovers we're going to have stickiness." (Booming Sales Spur TJX into Expansion, Feb 25, 2010) The Times writes of a Booz & Co. survey, "The recession has shaped consumption patterns 'in ways that will persist even as the economy rebounds'".
The lack of bipartisanship in Congress is of hollow men and women who are either uneducated themselves or have simply decided to wait out the crisis and be the last man standing, or woman as the case may be. What worked in the past, will work in the future. Fly that American flag. The US is now pushed and pulled by a small but increasingly radicalized and volatile demographic. They don't trust government of any kind, they don't read newspapers and certainly not the internet. They do watch Fox News whose faith in distrust of government is unshakeable.
An educated public might break the chain, but corporations under stress are too frightened to support that. They invest their ad dollars and political cents in squeezing every last drop of profit from what worked yesterday. Let's make as much as fast as we can, corporate America seems to be saying, before the public wakes up to the fact that taxpayers have rewarded failure with billions in direct and indirect subsidies. In our state capitols and Washington, the Potemkin Village economy looks as good as the $150 aspirational haircut paid for on a political party credit card. Gridlock is good for business.
In the New York Times, "New-Home Sales Plunged To Record Low in January", the chief economist of Metrostudy outlined that logic with crystalline clarity, "You're not going to have a robust housing market until you have more jobs, and you're not going to add jobs fast enough to bring down the unemployment rate until you have robust housing market."
In "Florida struggles to carve out new jobs: spurred by state unemployment soon expected to top 12 percent," (St. Pete Times) Mark Wilson, head of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, says, "There is no silver bullet." The Chamber, this year, will be using all its bullets to shoot down the citizens' petition to amend the Florida constitution, Florida Hometown Democracy, providing for local elections on changes to growth plans. The measure was born from the public revulsion with rampant overdevelopment that created temporary jobs in construction but permanently scarred the Florida landscape, wrecking Floridians' quality of life, the environment, and undermined the potential for "jobs" that legislators are desperate to create.
The core of the problem is not just Florida's. An economy so dependent on housing is, by definition, a Potemkin Village. Potemkin Villages in 18th century Russia were "fake settlements" built to impress the political upper class. Imperial Russia's delusions of grandeur have much in common with ours.
Along this line, as the housing bubble was inflating in 2004 to historic dimensions, raining billions in compensation, fees, and bonuses through the supply chain of Wall Street finance connected to the Potemkin Village economy, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan delivered a speech, "The critical role of education in the nation's economy." It is haunting to read, today. Greenspan lays out two points. The first is strange in the context of a speech on education, yet central to Greenspan's thinking: "... economic regulation, by its nature, impinges on the exercise of a property right. Continuous changes in regulations and, hence, in the consistency of property protection create a less certain environment, which undermines incentives to long-term investment and prevents the most productive use of our resources." In one breath, Greenspan points like a weather vane to the fraudulent underpinnings of The Ownership Society. Although it was only six years ago, under the pressure of the economic collapse it seems a lifetime.
"I'm one of you," Greenspan seemed to be saying as he unwound. First, the good news: that development (property rights) free of government regulation (ie. derivative debt unweighted by government oversight and regulations) is not only good and productive, it is why the US economy is the paragon of democracies. (Tell that to Greece and Spain, today.) These also comprised the cinder blocks, in Florida, of a triumphant GOP majority based on the idiotic theory that the self-interest of free markets and industry can self-police to protect the public interest better than regulations. It was the point where Grover Norquist (shrinking government to fit in the size of a bathtub... to drown there), Ayn Rand and Greenspan met Florida builders pushing anti-science, anti-environment, and anti-public health agendas in Tallahassee and Washington forward.
Taken as a whole, the 2004 Greenspan speech seems to lay out an optimistic roadmap transitioning a housing based economy to value-added through knowledge and skills. That Greenspan badly misread the economy, both on the point of the dot.com bust and the housing bubble and bust, is an error of gargantuan, historic proportions. But on his main point, Greenspan was both right and prescient of the Potemkin Village economy: "The second critical aspect of wealth creation in the United States, and doubtless globally, is the level of knowledge and skill of the population. Today, the knowledge required to run the economy, which is far more complex than in our past, is both deeper and broader than ever before. We need to ensure that education in the United States, formal or otherwise, is supplying skills adequate for the effective functioning of our economy. The recent exceptional trends in U.S. productivity suggest that we are coping, but this observation should not lead to complacency."
Greenspan's speech hinted at our current straits. Where finance, to support and enhance "property rights", moves with lightning speed, the development of an educated workforce capable of producing new jobs -- outside the Potemkin Village-- takes a long time. How poorly the United States managed these countervailing forces is etched across the American landscape and today covers Greenspan with gloom (only mitigated by speaking fees). In a Brookings Institute speech on Tuesday, the CEO of the world's largest chip maker, Intel, Paul S. Otellini said, "Unfortunately, long-term investment in education, research, digital technology and human capital have been steadily declining in the US... So, too, has the commitment to policies that made us such an entrepreneurial powerhouse for more than a century." (New York Times, Feb. 24, 2010)
The political gridlock in Washington, red ink in state budgets and scattered through municipalities across the nation, is an expression of disbelief, fear, and an impoverished imagination. While China rises, our domestic politics are polarized and that polarization manifests in a state of suspension. So far, the American voter has utterly failed to connect the churning discontent of Tea Party agitators with a Walmart culture that feeds the essentials of prosperity on the cheap. So long as Dollar Tree, TJ Maxx, and other upmarket discount retailers satisfy demands of the Potemkin Village economy, all is apparently well. In The Financial Times, the CEO of Dollar Tree spoke of his company's prospects, "We believe that as the economy recovers we're going to have stickiness." (Booming Sales Spur TJX into Expansion, Feb 25, 2010) The Times writes of a Booz & Co. survey, "The recession has shaped consumption patterns 'in ways that will persist even as the economy rebounds'".
The lack of bipartisanship in Congress is of hollow men and women who are either uneducated themselves or have simply decided to wait out the crisis and be the last man standing, or woman as the case may be. What worked in the past, will work in the future. Fly that American flag. The US is now pushed and pulled by a small but increasingly radicalized and volatile demographic. They don't trust government of any kind, they don't read newspapers and certainly not the internet. They do watch Fox News whose faith in distrust of government is unshakeable.
An educated public might break the chain, but corporations under stress are too frightened to support that. They invest their ad dollars and political cents in squeezing every last drop of profit from what worked yesterday. Let's make as much as fast as we can, corporate America seems to be saying, before the public wakes up to the fact that taxpayers have rewarded failure with billions in direct and indirect subsidies. In our state capitols and Washington, the Potemkin Village economy looks as good as the $150 aspirational haircut paid for on a political party credit card. Gridlock is good for business.
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