Saturday, August 07, 2010
On vacation. By Geniusofdespair
On vacation-- will be off for a week. hold down the fort! If you are bored might I suggest you read Genius Favorites.
Friday, August 06, 2010
To the troglodytes who read this blog: on global warming and climate chaos ... by gimleteye
Since global warming has been a real and present danger, the conservative right-- embodied by the Fox News methane machine and Rush Limbaugh-- has promoted a counter-argument: that even if the planet warms, we'll just shift crop production north. Instead of growing corn in Texas or Missouri, we'll grow it in Minnesota, Michigan or Canada, "tributary" of the United States. "You're just all crybabies," the right-wing spin machine responds to the idea that climate chaos will rearrange the deck chairs. Republicans stopped a climate change bill-- even the watered down, awful one-- from getting to the floor of Congress before the August recess. Today's New York Times front page story caps the grand folly: "Russia, Crippled by Drought, Bans Grain Exports". Yesterday, the price per bushel of wheat was up 39.9 percent. The report ends with a quote from a Russian investment analyst, "Grain is an emotive issue, you want to make sure you have sufficient supplies." Our own troglodytes have an answer: America is different. We will be no different by the time we have a crop failure like Russia's.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Is their Ad misleading as some County Commission District 8 Campaigns are claiming? By Geniusofdespair
The two women are cutting a ribbion together no big deal. But the ad is in Lynda Bell's campaign flyer and it does say they are working together on quality of life issues. That is not exactly depicted in the photo. Did they really ever work together? Since Katy Sorenson has not endorsed this candidate is it okay to imply anything from this photo? What do you think readers?BTW, I called Katy Sorenson's office yesterday. They said Commissioner Sorenson is NOT endorsing any candidate at this time. Some of the candidates are saying things like Katy wanted me in the race, etc. She supported every candidate who entered the race, but she is not endorsing ANYONE at this time, so stop with the crap candidates, don't mislead voters. Stand on your own two feet.
Why did Florida's top environmental officer resign? by gimleteye
Mike Sole, the Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, resigned this week. But "to pursue other unspecified opportunities" is not the main reason he took the opportunity to resign now. Florida has done such a bad job regulating and enforcing against water pollution, a responsibility delegated by the federal government to the state under the Clean Water Act, that if the work were being done in a charter school, the school would be shut down for malfeasance. The cozy relationship between state and federal regulators has been challenged in federal court, and after years of litigation, results are on the horizon. The arrangements could dramatically change, and whoever sits in the top state regulator's seat is going to be lashed to the bull.
The Florida legislature naturally represents polluters. Members of the Florida Congressional delegation are attempting an end-run of federal law. Think, fertilizer pouring from lawns in cities, dairy farms and sugar fields into Florida waters. Along those lines, it is interesting that the Interim DEP Secretary Mimi Drew has been deputy secretary for regulatory programs. She also spent nearly a decade as director of the division of water resource management. I got to know of Ms. Drew when, as a Sierra Club volunteer in the early 2000's, I wrote a report pulling back the veil covering the state's irresponsible program injecting treated wastewater into underground aquifers. Ms. Drew and her then-boss, David Struhs, ignored that work, resisted public disclosure of the scope and scale of the state's "injection control well program" and instead pushed hard, with EPA's acquiescence, to legalize serious flaws in the state program that permitted, nevertheless, violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act. That story, too, was never reported in the mainstream press. Interesting days to come.
The Florida legislature naturally represents polluters. Members of the Florida Congressional delegation are attempting an end-run of federal law. Think, fertilizer pouring from lawns in cities, dairy farms and sugar fields into Florida waters. Along those lines, it is interesting that the Interim DEP Secretary Mimi Drew has been deputy secretary for regulatory programs. She also spent nearly a decade as director of the division of water resource management. I got to know of Ms. Drew when, as a Sierra Club volunteer in the early 2000's, I wrote a report pulling back the veil covering the state's irresponsible program injecting treated wastewater into underground aquifers. Ms. Drew and her then-boss, David Struhs, ignored that work, resisted public disclosure of the scope and scale of the state's "injection control well program" and instead pushed hard, with EPA's acquiescence, to legalize serious flaws in the state program that permitted, nevertheless, violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act. That story, too, was never reported in the mainstream press. Interesting days to come.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
African American politics in Miami-Dade: Vote for Bastein ... by gimleteye
Miller Dawkin's obituary in the Herald was very troubling; disgraced and honored, convicted and upheld. Former Congresswoman Carrie Meek called Dawkins' federal corruption conviction, "one little blip on the screen". On this Meek is plain wrong. I disagree, and I also disagree with power brokers who see nothing wrong with African American public officials and lobbyists kicking and scrambling inside and outside the law for their piece of the pie. See, Miami International Airport contracts. Maybe Miami-Dade is no different than any other large metropolitan area, but the ethnic edges of political corruption are depressing, and no summation of Miller Dawkins would be complete without expressing it. Without endorsing law-breaking, there is a double-entendre in T. Willard Fair's comment praising Dawkins: "He believed that black folks needed to have every chance to be equal, and he spent all of his time articulating that." Along the line of public integrity, I disagree with the Herald's endorsement of Miami Garden's Mayor Shirley Gibson, to fill the congressional seat occupied by Kendrick Meek. I would vote for Haitian American activist Marlene Bastein. On behalf of the Haitian community in District 17, Bastein is solid gold and not the kind that is exchanged for political influence. Too bad the Herald didn't take note.
Posted on Mon, Aug. 02, 2010
Obituary: Miller Dawkins, 85, former Miami city commissioner
BY ELINOR J. BRECHER
ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com
MIAMI HERALD FILE
This 1983 file photo shows former Miami city commissioner Miller J. Dawkins. Dawkins, the four-term Miami city commissioner whose federal corruption conviction tarnished his legacy as a champion of the black community, died Monday at the University of Miami Hospital.
Miller J. Dawkins, the four-term Miami city commissioner whose federal corruption conviction tarnished his legacy as a champion of the black community, died Monday at the University of Miami Hospital.
Dawkins, born March 10, 1925, in Tampa, was 85.
Dawkins was first elected to the commission in 1981, before the city was divided into districts. He resigned in 1996, ensnared in the FBI's Operation Greenpalm sting, which also ended the careers of Miami's finance director, its city manager and a high-powered lobbyist.
He pleaded guilty to accepting bribes for influencing a city contract, and in June 1997 began serving a 27-month sentence at the Miami-Dade County Federal Correctional Institution in West Kendall.
Even so, ``he is still recognized as somewhat of an icon,'' said Charles Wellons, a retired Miami police detective. ``He offered a lot and did a lot.''
Wellons was among the loved ones and close friends at Dawkins' bedside in his final hours, as was T. Willard Fair, president of the Greater Miami Urban League.
Fair said Dawkins suffered from leukemia and diabetes, the same disease that took the life of his and his wife Nancy's only child, Myron Dawkins, in 2003.
Friends hoped that Dawkins' legal troubles would not overshadow his contributions to the inner-city neighborhoods he represented, where facilities like parks and swimming pools bear his name.
``Miller Dawkins was my friend of 50-plus years,'' said a tearful former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, who was also at his bedside hours before his death.
``He was outspoken, fearless [and] was very rooted in his pride as a strong black man -- a focused man who celebrated his people. This community has suffered a great loss.''
Dawkins pushed for an Olympic-size swimming pool in Liberty City's Charles Hadley Park, for the Carrie Meek Senior and Cultural Center at the park, and for the Tacolcy Economic Development Center, created after the 1980 riots to kick-start business development.
He ``fed a lot of hungry people,'' Meek said. ``He would be sort of blustery at times, but he had a heart of gold.''
She called his legal problems ``one little blip on the screen.''
Dawkins, a U.S. Merchant Marine veteran, earned degrees from Florida Memorial College and the University of North Colorado.
Before entering politics, he worked as a community organizer with the Model Cities program in Miami, and was director of special programs for Miami-Dade Community College.
``This community owes a debt of gratitude to the service of Miller Dawkins and his family,'' said the Rev. Richard P. Dunn II, a friend and Omega Psi Phi fraternity brother appointed to fill Dawkins' seat after his resignation -- and reappointed in January to the same seat after Gov. Charlie Crist suspended Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones.
``Miller was the first among the first,'' Dunn said. ``He was instrumental in the city getting its first African-American police chief, in Clarence Dickson. The first African-American city attorney in George Knox. The first African-American city manager in [the late] Howard Gary. Personnel director, Angela Bellamy. City clerk, Walter Foeman.''
``I wanted him in my foxhole,'' said Fair, the Urban League leader who, like Dawkins, ``didn't worry about being politically correct . . . He believed that black folks needed to have every chance to be equal, and he spent all of his time articulating that.
``Miller had a low tolerance for folks who did not want to push the envelope for black people,'' and, said Fair, who managed some of his campaigns, ``didn't give a damn about being reelected. He was a voice that people understood, recognized and respected.''
But Dawkins fell hard, due to what Fair called ``bad judgment'' -- and an informant wearing a wire: former city Finance Director Manohar Surana.
Caught soliciting a kickback from a city vendor, Surana cut a deal with investigators to stay out of prison.
He taped Dawkins asking for $100,000 from the computer firm Unisys, and accepting $30,000 at a Denny's restaurant. Busted, Dawkins immediately pleaded guilty and refused to cooperate with the FBI and Miami corruption detectives.
The tapes also sent then-City Manager Cesar Odio and lobbyist Jorge de Cardenas to prison.
Meek said that his decision to take the plea "would be the less egregious [choice] for the black community. He sacrificed himself for this community.''
Added Richard Dunn: ``He was a real man because he owned up to it. He didn't make it a black-white issue, and he didn't pull the community into it.''
Still influential behind the scenes after serving 24 months -- ``You could see him walking around, listening to people's problems,'' said Wellons -- Dawkins turned much of his attention to the AARP's Northwest Miami chapter, based at the Meek cultural center.
In addition to his wife, a retired teacher, Dawkins is survived by a sister and two grandchildren.
For information on public memorial services Aug. 8 and 9, call the Poitier Funeral Home at 305-638-5030.
A Going Home service will follow at noon Aug. 10 at New Birth Baptist Church, 2300 NW 135th St.
Posted on Mon, Aug. 02, 2010
Obituary: Miller Dawkins, 85, former Miami city commissioner
BY ELINOR J. BRECHER
ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com
MIAMI HERALD FILE
This 1983 file photo shows former Miami city commissioner Miller J. Dawkins. Dawkins, the four-term Miami city commissioner whose federal corruption conviction tarnished his legacy as a champion of the black community, died Monday at the University of Miami Hospital.
Miller J. Dawkins, the four-term Miami city commissioner whose federal corruption conviction tarnished his legacy as a champion of the black community, died Monday at the University of Miami Hospital.
Dawkins, born March 10, 1925, in Tampa, was 85.
Dawkins was first elected to the commission in 1981, before the city was divided into districts. He resigned in 1996, ensnared in the FBI's Operation Greenpalm sting, which also ended the careers of Miami's finance director, its city manager and a high-powered lobbyist.
He pleaded guilty to accepting bribes for influencing a city contract, and in June 1997 began serving a 27-month sentence at the Miami-Dade County Federal Correctional Institution in West Kendall.
Even so, ``he is still recognized as somewhat of an icon,'' said Charles Wellons, a retired Miami police detective. ``He offered a lot and did a lot.''
Wellons was among the loved ones and close friends at Dawkins' bedside in his final hours, as was T. Willard Fair, president of the Greater Miami Urban League.
Fair said Dawkins suffered from leukemia and diabetes, the same disease that took the life of his and his wife Nancy's only child, Myron Dawkins, in 2003.
Friends hoped that Dawkins' legal troubles would not overshadow his contributions to the inner-city neighborhoods he represented, where facilities like parks and swimming pools bear his name.
``Miller Dawkins was my friend of 50-plus years,'' said a tearful former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, who was also at his bedside hours before his death.
``He was outspoken, fearless [and] was very rooted in his pride as a strong black man -- a focused man who celebrated his people. This community has suffered a great loss.''
Dawkins pushed for an Olympic-size swimming pool in Liberty City's Charles Hadley Park, for the Carrie Meek Senior and Cultural Center at the park, and for the Tacolcy Economic Development Center, created after the 1980 riots to kick-start business development.
He ``fed a lot of hungry people,'' Meek said. ``He would be sort of blustery at times, but he had a heart of gold.''
She called his legal problems ``one little blip on the screen.''
Dawkins, a U.S. Merchant Marine veteran, earned degrees from Florida Memorial College and the University of North Colorado.
Before entering politics, he worked as a community organizer with the Model Cities program in Miami, and was director of special programs for Miami-Dade Community College.
``This community owes a debt of gratitude to the service of Miller Dawkins and his family,'' said the Rev. Richard P. Dunn II, a friend and Omega Psi Phi fraternity brother appointed to fill Dawkins' seat after his resignation -- and reappointed in January to the same seat after Gov. Charlie Crist suspended Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones.
``Miller was the first among the first,'' Dunn said. ``He was instrumental in the city getting its first African-American police chief, in Clarence Dickson. The first African-American city attorney in George Knox. The first African-American city manager in [the late] Howard Gary. Personnel director, Angela Bellamy. City clerk, Walter Foeman.''
``I wanted him in my foxhole,'' said Fair, the Urban League leader who, like Dawkins, ``didn't worry about being politically correct . . . He believed that black folks needed to have every chance to be equal, and he spent all of his time articulating that.
``Miller had a low tolerance for folks who did not want to push the envelope for black people,'' and, said Fair, who managed some of his campaigns, ``didn't give a damn about being reelected. He was a voice that people understood, recognized and respected.''
But Dawkins fell hard, due to what Fair called ``bad judgment'' -- and an informant wearing a wire: former city Finance Director Manohar Surana.
Caught soliciting a kickback from a city vendor, Surana cut a deal with investigators to stay out of prison.
He taped Dawkins asking for $100,000 from the computer firm Unisys, and accepting $30,000 at a Denny's restaurant. Busted, Dawkins immediately pleaded guilty and refused to cooperate with the FBI and Miami corruption detectives.
The tapes also sent then-City Manager Cesar Odio and lobbyist Jorge de Cardenas to prison.
Meek said that his decision to take the plea "would be the less egregious [choice] for the black community. He sacrificed himself for this community.''
Added Richard Dunn: ``He was a real man because he owned up to it. He didn't make it a black-white issue, and he didn't pull the community into it.''
Still influential behind the scenes after serving 24 months -- ``You could see him walking around, listening to people's problems,'' said Wellons -- Dawkins turned much of his attention to the AARP's Northwest Miami chapter, based at the Meek cultural center.
In addition to his wife, a retired teacher, Dawkins is survived by a sister and two grandchildren.
For information on public memorial services Aug. 8 and 9, call the Poitier Funeral Home at 305-638-5030.
A Going Home service will follow at noon Aug. 10 at New Birth Baptist Church, 2300 NW 135th St.
Candidate Obdulio Piedra's Employer In Trouble and Lynda Bell's Campaign Report. By Geniusofdespair
Yes, Candidate for County Commission District 8 Obdulio Piedra's Bank is in trouble according to the South Florida Daily Buisness Review with second quarter losses of $8.2 million dollars. "On April 13, state and federal regulators hit Great Florida Bank with an enforcement order that gave it 120 days to reach heightened capital ratios." That deadline is Mid-August. Obdulio is the Market President for Miami Dade County for Great Florida Bank. He has been an officer, according to Forbes.com, since January 2007. Great Florida has been a "0" bank on BauerFinancial since June.
I wouldn't care about this except Obdulio has repeated at Candidate's Forums that Government should run more like a business. Hmmm. Not the Banking business I hope.
Lynda Bell collected $40,459.21 of which $16,000 were loans to herself. She got $4,000 from Torcise interests. Torcise's Company Atlantic Civil had an option to buy agreement with Lennar to build mega-development Florida City Commons a few years back on the wrong side of the UDB line. He is now rock mining that land. Bell also got $2,000 from Miguel DeGrandy and family, Vile Natacha's favorite lobbyist. There were 4 donors common to Natacha on Lynda's report: Zuni Transportation, SDI Quarries, Allied Trucking and Jorge Azor.
I wouldn't care about this except Obdulio has repeated at Candidate's Forums that Government should run more like a business. Hmmm. Not the Banking business I hope.
Lynda Bell collected $40,459.21 of which $16,000 were loans to herself. She got $4,000 from Torcise interests. Torcise's Company Atlantic Civil had an option to buy agreement with Lennar to build mega-development Florida City Commons a few years back on the wrong side of the UDB line. He is now rock mining that land. Bell also got $2,000 from Miguel DeGrandy and family, Vile Natacha's favorite lobbyist. There were 4 donors common to Natacha on Lynda's report: Zuni Transportation, SDI Quarries, Allied Trucking and Jorge Azor.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Charlie Crist wins, Fanjuls lose ... by gimleteye
The Fanjuls are sugar barons whose lands in the historic Everglades are pivotal to control of Florida politics. The influence of campaign contributions is so strong--touching all parts of the political spectrum and all levels of Florida government-- that the possibility a US Senator could emerge in Florida who has not received their blessings is remarkable. The election of Gov. Charlie Crist to the US Senate in November would be a stunning exception to the rule. (please click, 'read more')
The profitability of growing sugar in the Everglades Agricultural Area is such, that campaign cash is as easily available as phosphorous in the Everglades. The money machine fueled by federal guarantees in the Farm Bill cement political order in Florida. Not even the Wall Street Journal editorial page can budge the corporate welfare that keeps Big Sugar in firm control of its legislative priorities.
But power is perception. Gov. Charlie Crist, the sunny optimist, triggered a plan by the State of Florida to add sugar lands to Everglades treatment marshes and storage by purchasing more than 100,000 acres owned by the Fanjuls' biggest competitor, US Sugar. He did this, apparently, without consulting the Fanjuls and, for that, the Fanjuls are applying their muscle to Marco Rubio, the Jeb Bush stand-in on the Republican side. The Society Page of the Palm Beach Daily News, reports that Pepe and Emilia Fanjul hosted a mega fundraiser last week for Rubio at their fab spread in Southampton, NY, with tickets costing $42,200 per person or $90,400 per couple. The Society Page may have had its facts wrong on how much money can go directly to Rubio's campaign (as opposed to another campaign entity controlled by the Rubio camp and allowed by the US Supreme Court), but the point is clear. For his independent streak, the Fanjuls cannot abide Charlie Crist. (On the Democratic side, the Fanjuls have long supported Congressman Kendrick Meek who is engaged in a primary brawl with billionaire newcomer Jeff Greene.)
The goal of Big Sugar with government efforts to restore the Everglades is delay. On every regulatory issue, over a long period of time, sugar growers from large to small have walked in lockstep. Where Charlie Crist offended the Fanjuls was his temerity to engage in secret negotiations with US Sugar principals who for one reason or another, had decided it was time to get the best price they could for their sugar acreage. The US sugar deal is about adding more land to the inventory of acreage that can be used for treatment marshes and water storage for the Everglades, dying from phosphorous pollution. While continuing to grow their sweet profits, the Fanjuls have also pursued-- at the local zoning level-- approvals to convert land to other business purposes: rock mines, suburban sprawl, and power plants. The more the Fanjuls harden their footprint in the EAA, the higher the eventual cost to the public to buy them out.
Democrats line up, too, with the Fanjuls; from former Governor and US Senator Bob Graham, to current US senator Bill Nelson, and of course Bill Clinton. Fanjul contributions have curried favor with African American politicians like Jesse Jackson, Alcee Hastings, Frederica Wilson and Kendrick Meek. On the Republican side, Jeb Bush had the Fanjuls' interests in mind when he led the legislative effort to change the Everglades Forever Act in 2003, dubbed by environmentalists, "The Everglades Whenever Act". A federal judge threw out the Bush changes in an acidic, 2008 ruling.
For Charlie Crist to be elected the next US Senator from Florida--against the wishes of the Fanjuls-- would be rare as finding a blue lobster. It takes a lot of $500 contributions to make up for a $90,000 ticket; and that is apparently the point this hotly contested summer.
The profitability of growing sugar in the Everglades Agricultural Area is such, that campaign cash is as easily available as phosphorous in the Everglades. The money machine fueled by federal guarantees in the Farm Bill cement political order in Florida. Not even the Wall Street Journal editorial page can budge the corporate welfare that keeps Big Sugar in firm control of its legislative priorities.
But power is perception. Gov. Charlie Crist, the sunny optimist, triggered a plan by the State of Florida to add sugar lands to Everglades treatment marshes and storage by purchasing more than 100,000 acres owned by the Fanjuls' biggest competitor, US Sugar. He did this, apparently, without consulting the Fanjuls and, for that, the Fanjuls are applying their muscle to Marco Rubio, the Jeb Bush stand-in on the Republican side. The Society Page of the Palm Beach Daily News, reports that Pepe and Emilia Fanjul hosted a mega fundraiser last week for Rubio at their fab spread in Southampton, NY, with tickets costing $42,200 per person or $90,400 per couple. The Society Page may have had its facts wrong on how much money can go directly to Rubio's campaign (as opposed to another campaign entity controlled by the Rubio camp and allowed by the US Supreme Court), but the point is clear. For his independent streak, the Fanjuls cannot abide Charlie Crist. (On the Democratic side, the Fanjuls have long supported Congressman Kendrick Meek who is engaged in a primary brawl with billionaire newcomer Jeff Greene.)
The goal of Big Sugar with government efforts to restore the Everglades is delay. On every regulatory issue, over a long period of time, sugar growers from large to small have walked in lockstep. Where Charlie Crist offended the Fanjuls was his temerity to engage in secret negotiations with US Sugar principals who for one reason or another, had decided it was time to get the best price they could for their sugar acreage. The US sugar deal is about adding more land to the inventory of acreage that can be used for treatment marshes and water storage for the Everglades, dying from phosphorous pollution. While continuing to grow their sweet profits, the Fanjuls have also pursued-- at the local zoning level-- approvals to convert land to other business purposes: rock mines, suburban sprawl, and power plants. The more the Fanjuls harden their footprint in the EAA, the higher the eventual cost to the public to buy them out.
Democrats line up, too, with the Fanjuls; from former Governor and US Senator Bob Graham, to current US senator Bill Nelson, and of course Bill Clinton. Fanjul contributions have curried favor with African American politicians like Jesse Jackson, Alcee Hastings, Frederica Wilson and Kendrick Meek. On the Republican side, Jeb Bush had the Fanjuls' interests in mind when he led the legislative effort to change the Everglades Forever Act in 2003, dubbed by environmentalists, "The Everglades Whenever Act". A federal judge threw out the Bush changes in an acidic, 2008 ruling.
For Charlie Crist to be elected the next US Senator from Florida--against the wishes of the Fanjuls-- would be rare as finding a blue lobster. It takes a lot of $500 contributions to make up for a $90,000 ticket; and that is apparently the point this hotly contested summer.
Genius vs. The Miami Herald in the year 2000. By Geniusofdespair
Yes, ten years ago I sent the Miami Herald a love letter...well maybe not brimming with love. My relationship with the Herald didn't start with this blog in 2007. I found this blast from my past I had written to the paper in October of 2000. You will get a kick out of some of the old names, Lunetta, Bianchino, I did throw in every beef I had at the time in this one email:
Hey Joe Natoli: (CC sent to Alberto Ibarguen)
I thought about the "Mushy News" tag you didn't agree with me on, and since you didn't call me back I thought I would share my reflections on my assertion so you wouldn't think it an idle put down. I have actually given it a lot of thought.
The press is supposed to act as the Fourth Estate, overseeing the activities of government and telling people what they need to know. Without such information democracy can't function properly. Also the newspaper should consider itself as guardian of the public trust. The paper's duty is to shed light on issues for us. Except for the sharp, incredible Oct. 17, 1999, Herald: Miami's Wheel of Fortune Airport story, this cutting edge, sharpness is lacking most of the time. Stories are passed over or given superficial coverage. The Herald, to me, is fuzzy and mushy on issues a lot of the time -- oil slick reporting. The details are there but there is no effort to get below the surface on stories, all the usual suspects are quoted. For instance:
The reporting on the eight billion dollar Everglades restoration plan has been incomplete and basically shallow. The Herald needs to put a reporter on this full-time. The Herald has failed dreadfully in reporting the great rip-off of the taxpayer and public resources by the sugar industry. It has not explained adequately why the natural Everglades is so important. The paper has not fought damaging incursions into the Everglades. The Everglades is one of the top environmental issues in the Nation. The Herald could be a leader on this reporting.
There seems to be very little investigative reporting (I will forward you an expose on the Army Corps. by the Washington Post - they gave 14,000 words to this issue). Tom Bayles an investigative, environmental reporter from the Herald Trib. in Sarasota (owned by the New York Times) is writing 4 part articles on dredging and the folly of beach renourishment. They have a second (yes, two) environmental reporter who covers the Everglades, Victor Hull. The St. Pete paper gives terrific coverage to growth management and environment as well. The Herald coverage is very sparse on environmental issues and is sometimes hostile towards the issues.
The port of Miami operates on a different plane -- where mitigation for misdeeds is part of the cost of doing business. Port expansion and dredging is bullying its way down the pike for more than a year, without hardly a peep from the Herald. There was no follow-up on your 4/8/99 story on the destruction of 5 acres of sea grass by the port. Towsley blames it on Lunetta. Now there is a sleazy maneuver being proposed by the port. Derm should drop much of the illegal issue, in return, the port will call "mitigation" "restoration" thereby allowing the Army Corps to give matching funds (mitigation cannot garner matching funds). This is a ploy to strong-arm DERM into relenting which will work. Illegal, probably not, but it is a symptom of the sleaze factor which is the order of business in Miami.
About two weeks ago an activist from Miami Beach asked me how the port expansion on Watson Island would effect Miami Beach. They wanted to know how they could find out more about the expansion (negotiations in a sunshine state being conducted for over a year behind closed door on public park land - and deed restrictions on public land being bandied about as bargaining chips -- I did a public records request to find that out). I had to send the Miami Beach Activist to New Times because there aren't any public records nor any Herald Stories.
I am told that if someone should audit the Community Block Grants of the City of Miami, there is some very creative finances going on. Who really cares about this? Certainly the Herald won't look into it. Some staff at the City are being asked to sign off on illegal documents. They are soon gone.
There are shadowy conflicts of interest going on, never reported:
- Dena Biachino, The Miami One/City of Miami (baywalk in jeopardy). And what about Dena? The paper makes her seem like the savior of the City. I see her as the enemy of public access and publically owned assets.
- A Chamber of commerce representative pushing for the Marlin Stadium, is being paid by the Marlins.
- Your Bill Losner/Homestead National Bank ad. He was a candidate and is Katy Sorenson's biggest foe. His bank ad crosses the line between political statement. He is pushing for the 8 1/2 square mile deflooding plan - where people are living in the Everglades. The ad makes it seem like places like Sweetwater would benefit, however, Losner is just focusing on the 8 1/2 square mile area, hoping to use the uninformed
other flood victims to get his own agenda met.
Curtis Morgan doing stories on Stiltsville (which impacts 7 well connected homeowners), yet there are no stories on the port expansion, no stories on the injection wells, no stories on Bicentennial Park - all of which impact many citizens.
In fact, the EPA thought the injection well problem important enough to hold a hearing in Palm Beach on it. No Herald reporter was at the meeting. And, channel 10 did a 5 minute report on the Sierra Club financed Geological report on injection well problems. The New Times did a cover story and Rundle's office is looking into it. But the Herald hasn't covered it even though approached. But we have had 3 stories on Stiltsville. Bicentennial Park is dropped like a hot potato unless the Marlins are involved. There are meetings going on every week regarding this park and never a reporter to shed light on the issue.
The Herald doesn't have enough reporters doing the job on the county and the City. The business reporters are reporting on Cruise ship discharges. Finefrock is reporting on sediments (an environmental story) and Morgan is reporting on Cars (the gas saving Honda which was really a business story).
I don't mind Morgan reporting on what he is reporting on if he would give equal weight to the important issues facing us here in Miami.
The Herald has been reporting on Alaska cruise ship dumping. Well, I hate to inform you that Florida has a similar problem which isn't even delved into. There was an incident in Biscayne Bay caught by DERM involving Royal Caribbean -- and they lied (surprise). And, the Memo of Understanding (MOU) that the State signed, the Herald did not address it. Does anyone know that our State signed an MOU with the Cruise ship industry? Does anyone know that no one had an opportunity to comment on this, the environmental groups didn't know about it? Cruise ships are a Miami issue because the cruise ship are here - Why are we only reading reports on Alaska issues with cruise ships? Our ports up and down the coast are all in competition for the cargo and cruise business and thus forced to dredge to 50 feet for these 1/4 mile long ships. The ports and Army Corps are in a dredging frenzy in Port Everglades, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, etc.
The Virginia Key story was presented by me to the Herald numerous times. It was picked up by the New York Times - On the front page of the National Section on Sunday. The Herald anemically picked up the story after the New York report and got many of the facts wrong. It was also in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sun Sentinel and three issues of New Times. I remember Jim Mullin saying: "This story has legs." And the Herald was given the story first but passed on it.
I gave the Joe Celestin Story to the Herald. He lied on his Mayor registration form for the Dept. of Elections. He gave his occupation as an Engineer. A call to the Dept. of State determined he had no license to practice engineering. He was ordered to cease and desist from using this title. He mentioned finances from a car rental company that, according to the Dept. of Motor Vehicle, didn't have a license to operate because there was no bond posted. This story made the front page of New Times.
I broke the story of Gwen Margolis not running again for County Commissioner through Larry Olmstead. Why am I breaking news stories? Because the reporters don't have a relationship within the community or within the realm they are reporting on. If they had, they would be CAPTURING THE NUANCES of the stories they are reporting on. The problem is the reporters don't leave offices as much as they used to and the moles
within the system have changed. A simple search on the internet (like sunbiz. org where you can look up corporate connections, and Opensecrets. org where you can look up campaign contributions) the reporters can get information to ask more pointed
questions. For example, the Herald endorses a guy as County Commissioner linked on Corporate web pages to people that he voted on their issues when he was on the head of the community council. He would have made a fine commissioner. Good work with that endorsement, glad he lost.
And, the Herald stoops down to the lowest level of readers. That is why we are deluged with murky stories that don't delve below the surface - that oil slick reporting. Although Cy Zaneski could get the edge, one of his last columns on The Biscayne Bay Partnership Initiative exposed the anxiety of the environmental community
a lesser reporter would have missed completely. Cy knew us well enough to know something was afoot.
You might profit from reading Martha Musgrove's editorial comment on the salmon. She was really talking about cumulative impact of environmental onslaught (to the Everglades) and how we have to spend billions after-the-fact to clean up the mess. Why doesn't the paper, instead, stop the cumulative impact or at least shine a light on it while it is happening so that we will be saved millions or billions in the future? I think Martha was on to something big.
The paper can shed light on incestuous business relationships, corruption and greed so it can become less prevalent in the future. Further, it is your duty to do this as the fourth estate.
So, that is why I find your paper mushy. I know you disagree, but, if I didn't feel there was hope, I wouldn't be writing to you.
There you have it, my 2000 opus to the Miami Herald and here I am still waiting and hoping the Miami Herald will get better. In the meantime, I am still writing but now with actual readers. What a turn of events. Did you know that they are saying Blogs are the Fifth Estate? I find that fascinating.
Hey Joe Natoli: (CC sent to Alberto Ibarguen)
I thought about the "Mushy News" tag you didn't agree with me on, and since you didn't call me back I thought I would share my reflections on my assertion so you wouldn't think it an idle put down. I have actually given it a lot of thought.
The press is supposed to act as the Fourth Estate, overseeing the activities of government and telling people what they need to know. Without such information democracy can't function properly. Also the newspaper should consider itself as guardian of the public trust. The paper's duty is to shed light on issues for us. Except for the sharp, incredible Oct. 17, 1999, Herald: Miami's Wheel of Fortune Airport story, this cutting edge, sharpness is lacking most of the time. Stories are passed over or given superficial coverage. The Herald, to me, is fuzzy and mushy on issues a lot of the time -- oil slick reporting. The details are there but there is no effort to get below the surface on stories, all the usual suspects are quoted. For instance:
The reporting on the eight billion dollar Everglades restoration plan has been incomplete and basically shallow. The Herald needs to put a reporter on this full-time. The Herald has failed dreadfully in reporting the great rip-off of the taxpayer and public resources by the sugar industry. It has not explained adequately why the natural Everglades is so important. The paper has not fought damaging incursions into the Everglades. The Everglades is one of the top environmental issues in the Nation. The Herald could be a leader on this reporting.
There seems to be very little investigative reporting (I will forward you an expose on the Army Corps. by the Washington Post - they gave 14,000 words to this issue). Tom Bayles an investigative, environmental reporter from the Herald Trib. in Sarasota (owned by the New York Times) is writing 4 part articles on dredging and the folly of beach renourishment. They have a second (yes, two) environmental reporter who covers the Everglades, Victor Hull. The St. Pete paper gives terrific coverage to growth management and environment as well. The Herald coverage is very sparse on environmental issues and is sometimes hostile towards the issues.
The port of Miami operates on a different plane -- where mitigation for misdeeds is part of the cost of doing business. Port expansion and dredging is bullying its way down the pike for more than a year, without hardly a peep from the Herald. There was no follow-up on your 4/8/99 story on the destruction of 5 acres of sea grass by the port. Towsley blames it on Lunetta. Now there is a sleazy maneuver being proposed by the port. Derm should drop much of the illegal issue, in return, the port will call "mitigation" "restoration" thereby allowing the Army Corps to give matching funds (mitigation cannot garner matching funds). This is a ploy to strong-arm DERM into relenting which will work. Illegal, probably not, but it is a symptom of the sleaze factor which is the order of business in Miami.
About two weeks ago an activist from Miami Beach asked me how the port expansion on Watson Island would effect Miami Beach. They wanted to know how they could find out more about the expansion (negotiations in a sunshine state being conducted for over a year behind closed door on public park land - and deed restrictions on public land being bandied about as bargaining chips -- I did a public records request to find that out). I had to send the Miami Beach Activist to New Times because there aren't any public records nor any Herald Stories.
I am told that if someone should audit the Community Block Grants of the City of Miami, there is some very creative finances going on. Who really cares about this? Certainly the Herald won't look into it. Some staff at the City are being asked to sign off on illegal documents. They are soon gone.
There are shadowy conflicts of interest going on, never reported:
- Dena Biachino, The Miami One/City of Miami (baywalk in jeopardy). And what about Dena? The paper makes her seem like the savior of the City. I see her as the enemy of public access and publically owned assets.
- A Chamber of commerce representative pushing for the Marlin Stadium, is being paid by the Marlins.
- Your Bill Losner/Homestead National Bank ad. He was a candidate and is Katy Sorenson's biggest foe. His bank ad crosses the line between political statement. He is pushing for the 8 1/2 square mile deflooding plan - where people are living in the Everglades. The ad makes it seem like places like Sweetwater would benefit, however, Losner is just focusing on the 8 1/2 square mile area, hoping to use the uninformed
other flood victims to get his own agenda met.
Curtis Morgan doing stories on Stiltsville (which impacts 7 well connected homeowners), yet there are no stories on the port expansion, no stories on the injection wells, no stories on Bicentennial Park - all of which impact many citizens.
In fact, the EPA thought the injection well problem important enough to hold a hearing in Palm Beach on it. No Herald reporter was at the meeting. And, channel 10 did a 5 minute report on the Sierra Club financed Geological report on injection well problems. The New Times did a cover story and Rundle's office is looking into it. But the Herald hasn't covered it even though approached. But we have had 3 stories on Stiltsville. Bicentennial Park is dropped like a hot potato unless the Marlins are involved. There are meetings going on every week regarding this park and never a reporter to shed light on the issue.
The Herald doesn't have enough reporters doing the job on the county and the City. The business reporters are reporting on Cruise ship discharges. Finefrock is reporting on sediments (an environmental story) and Morgan is reporting on Cars (the gas saving Honda which was really a business story).
I don't mind Morgan reporting on what he is reporting on if he would give equal weight to the important issues facing us here in Miami.
The Herald has been reporting on Alaska cruise ship dumping. Well, I hate to inform you that Florida has a similar problem which isn't even delved into. There was an incident in Biscayne Bay caught by DERM involving Royal Caribbean -- and they lied (surprise). And, the Memo of Understanding (MOU) that the State signed, the Herald did not address it. Does anyone know that our State signed an MOU with the Cruise ship industry? Does anyone know that no one had an opportunity to comment on this, the environmental groups didn't know about it? Cruise ships are a Miami issue because the cruise ship are here - Why are we only reading reports on Alaska issues with cruise ships? Our ports up and down the coast are all in competition for the cargo and cruise business and thus forced to dredge to 50 feet for these 1/4 mile long ships. The ports and Army Corps are in a dredging frenzy in Port Everglades, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, etc.
The Virginia Key story was presented by me to the Herald numerous times. It was picked up by the New York Times - On the front page of the National Section on Sunday. The Herald anemically picked up the story after the New York report and got many of the facts wrong. It was also in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sun Sentinel and three issues of New Times. I remember Jim Mullin saying: "This story has legs." And the Herald was given the story first but passed on it.
I gave the Joe Celestin Story to the Herald. He lied on his Mayor registration form for the Dept. of Elections. He gave his occupation as an Engineer. A call to the Dept. of State determined he had no license to practice engineering. He was ordered to cease and desist from using this title. He mentioned finances from a car rental company that, according to the Dept. of Motor Vehicle, didn't have a license to operate because there was no bond posted. This story made the front page of New Times.
I broke the story of Gwen Margolis not running again for County Commissioner through Larry Olmstead. Why am I breaking news stories? Because the reporters don't have a relationship within the community or within the realm they are reporting on. If they had, they would be CAPTURING THE NUANCES of the stories they are reporting on. The problem is the reporters don't leave offices as much as they used to and the moles
within the system have changed. A simple search on the internet (like sunbiz. org where you can look up corporate connections, and Opensecrets. org where you can look up campaign contributions) the reporters can get information to ask more pointed
questions. For example, the Herald endorses a guy as County Commissioner linked on Corporate web pages to people that he voted on their issues when he was on the head of the community council. He would have made a fine commissioner. Good work with that endorsement, glad he lost.
And, the Herald stoops down to the lowest level of readers. That is why we are deluged with murky stories that don't delve below the surface - that oil slick reporting. Although Cy Zaneski could get the edge, one of his last columns on The Biscayne Bay Partnership Initiative exposed the anxiety of the environmental community
a lesser reporter would have missed completely. Cy knew us well enough to know something was afoot.
You might profit from reading Martha Musgrove's editorial comment on the salmon. She was really talking about cumulative impact of environmental onslaught (to the Everglades) and how we have to spend billions after-the-fact to clean up the mess. Why doesn't the paper, instead, stop the cumulative impact or at least shine a light on it while it is happening so that we will be saved millions or billions in the future? I think Martha was on to something big.
The paper can shed light on incestuous business relationships, corruption and greed so it can become less prevalent in the future. Further, it is your duty to do this as the fourth estate.
So, that is why I find your paper mushy. I know you disagree, but, if I didn't feel there was hope, I wouldn't be writing to you.
There you have it, my 2000 opus to the Miami Herald and here I am still waiting and hoping the Miami Herald will get better. In the meantime, I am still writing but now with actual readers. What a turn of events. Did you know that they are saying Blogs are the Fifth Estate? I find that fascinating.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Bill McCollum -- Mr. Moderate?? -- will get my primary vote for Governor. By Geniusofdespair
When presented with brussels sprouts and cauliflower what do you choose? As a Republican I am going to vote for the more moderate in the primary...I never thought I would EVER say this in a million years...Bill McCollum. Yes McCollum as a moderate is a stretch but the Republicans have moved so far to the right he actually is the best choice for Governor on the Republican ticket. Rick Scott is even to the right of Rubio -- they both are down-right bad to the core for Florida.
God forbid that Alex Sink should lose in the General Election, I can live with McCollum for the reasons outlined in the Miami Herald Recommendation this morning -- all issues extremely important to me:
"Contrary to the GOP majority in the Legislature, Mr. McCollum wants to reauthorize the Department of Community Affairs and even strengthen its ability to prevent more sprawl. This is a welcome commitment from a Republican gubernatorial candidate. Mr. McCollum also wants to make water conservation a hallmark of his administration, something that gets little attention from other statewide candidates.
Mr. McCollum pledges his full support for continuing Everglades restoration. He's long opposed drilling off the coast of Florida, while Mr. Scott supports it."
You sold me Miami Herald. I am not endorsing him, just voting for him. If they don't reauthorize the DCA - All hell will break lose in Florida, we need a governor to veto the evil legislature trying to dismantle the Department of Community Affairs. He also cast a cabinet vote over a year ago against the Lowe's Big Box Store on the wrong side of the UDB Line near the Everglades. That was a very good thing.
McCollum is the Cauliflower BTW, I will just hold me nose and be done with it.
Dear County: did you check cancer rates, too? by gimleteye
In The Miami Herald, opinion writer Fred Grimm points out the super-millionaires running for state-wide office in Florida. He attributes their success to "mass stupidity". There is another case reported in the Herald that proves the dismal point: a few dozen homes near The Falls in West Kendall have been banned from using their own wells, for drinking water, because of dangerous pesticide pollution.
"County officials didn't want to take any chances and County Commissioners approved the $700,000 water main project, which is expected to be completed within three months." To believe that county officials "didn't want to take any chances" is part of the mass stupidity. Here is the bright fact about polluted sources of drinking water:
if county officials really cared about your health, they would have long ago assessed rock miners in West Dade the full cost of violating the wellfield protection zone. 2.2 million people who get their drinking water from the West Dade wellfields have to trust the same county officials who won't hold rock miners-- the state's most secretive and wealthy industrialists-- responsible for exposing our aquifer to pollution including carcinogens.
The bottom line is that it is good business to keep voters stupid: how else to account for the fact that neither the county nor the state will provide residents with information about cancer-rates in areas, like the Falls, where residents are still drinking water from their own drilled wells? (click 'read more', for full story.) I'll end with a question that our caring public officials might want to explore: can high rates of cancer be pegged to with certain areas of Miami-Dade County? Or is this just part of "don't ask, don't tell"?
I've tried getting answers to these questions; calling both the county and the state. Both get a failing grade "F" for obfuscating and hedging. "Mass stupidity" has many mothers and fathers.
County to hook up The Falls homeowners with clean water
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BY CBS4.COM FOR
WEST KENDALL TODAY
The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department broke ground Thursday on an eight-inch water main in The Falls area in Kendall that will allow 34 homes with contaminated well water to connect to the county's water services, according to CBS4.com.
Those homeowners are currently served by private wells that were tested by the Department of Health and found to be contaminated by Dieldrin, a pesticide. An additional eight homeowners without contaminated wells will also be able to connect to County service.
The affected area is bounded by Southwest 136th Street and 132nd Street between Southwest 99th Place and 99th Court. Homes with contaminated wells were told to avoid drinking, bathing and swimming in the water.
Dieldrin was used on farms until 1974, when it was banned in agriculture. It remained in use for termite infestations until 1987.
Unlike more recent pesticides, dieldrin remains in the environment for a long time, which was once seen as a plus for farmers, said Dennis Howard, chief of the Bureau of Pesticides for the Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services.
Studies have shown that when rats are fed dieldrin over a long period of time, they suffer from liver disease and their immune system weakens, according to the Health Department. But two University of Florida experts said the low concentrations of dieldrin found in these cases probably pose little or no risk to people.
County officials didn't want to take any chances and County Commissioners approved the $700,000 water main project, which is expected to be completed within three months.
Commissioner Katy Sorenson represents the affected area and notes the collaborative effort between numerous agencies and residents working together to resolve the issue.
"I had a meeting with the neighbors affected by the discovery of this long-banned insecticide in their water wells and we're moving on a fix," said Commissioner Sorenson. "Everyone involved in this effort - the Health Department, Water & Sewer, DERM, our Capital Improvement Office, and of course the neighbors, have really pulled together on this."
In addition to receiving County water, which meets or exceeds all local, state and federal guidelines, the community also will benefit from increased fire protection access.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/30/1753544/county-to-hook-up-the-falls-homeowners.html#ixzz0vLpL953N
"County officials didn't want to take any chances and County Commissioners approved the $700,000 water main project, which is expected to be completed within three months." To believe that county officials "didn't want to take any chances" is part of the mass stupidity. Here is the bright fact about polluted sources of drinking water:
if county officials really cared about your health, they would have long ago assessed rock miners in West Dade the full cost of violating the wellfield protection zone. 2.2 million people who get their drinking water from the West Dade wellfields have to trust the same county officials who won't hold rock miners-- the state's most secretive and wealthy industrialists-- responsible for exposing our aquifer to pollution including carcinogens.
The bottom line is that it is good business to keep voters stupid: how else to account for the fact that neither the county nor the state will provide residents with information about cancer-rates in areas, like the Falls, where residents are still drinking water from their own drilled wells? (click 'read more', for full story.) I'll end with a question that our caring public officials might want to explore: can high rates of cancer be pegged to with certain areas of Miami-Dade County? Or is this just part of "don't ask, don't tell"?
I've tried getting answers to these questions; calling both the county and the state. Both get a failing grade "F" for obfuscating and hedging. "Mass stupidity" has many mothers and fathers.
County to hook up The Falls homeowners with clean water
Upload and share your own.
You can share related videos and photos.
Submit: Video Pictures
BY CBS4.COM FOR
WEST KENDALL TODAY
The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department broke ground Thursday on an eight-inch water main in The Falls area in Kendall that will allow 34 homes with contaminated well water to connect to the county's water services, according to CBS4.com.
Those homeowners are currently served by private wells that were tested by the Department of Health and found to be contaminated by Dieldrin, a pesticide. An additional eight homeowners without contaminated wells will also be able to connect to County service.
The affected area is bounded by Southwest 136th Street and 132nd Street between Southwest 99th Place and 99th Court. Homes with contaminated wells were told to avoid drinking, bathing and swimming in the water.
Dieldrin was used on farms until 1974, when it was banned in agriculture. It remained in use for termite infestations until 1987.
Unlike more recent pesticides, dieldrin remains in the environment for a long time, which was once seen as a plus for farmers, said Dennis Howard, chief of the Bureau of Pesticides for the Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services.
Studies have shown that when rats are fed dieldrin over a long period of time, they suffer from liver disease and their immune system weakens, according to the Health Department. But two University of Florida experts said the low concentrations of dieldrin found in these cases probably pose little or no risk to people.
County officials didn't want to take any chances and County Commissioners approved the $700,000 water main project, which is expected to be completed within three months.
Commissioner Katy Sorenson represents the affected area and notes the collaborative effort between numerous agencies and residents working together to resolve the issue.
"I had a meeting with the neighbors affected by the discovery of this long-banned insecticide in their water wells and we're moving on a fix," said Commissioner Sorenson. "Everyone involved in this effort - the Health Department, Water & Sewer, DERM, our Capital Improvement Office, and of course the neighbors, have really pulled together on this."
In addition to receiving County water, which meets or exceeds all local, state and federal guidelines, the community also will benefit from increased fire protection access.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/30/1753544/county-to-hook-up-the-falls-homeowners.html#ixzz0vLpL953N
Amendment 4 Guest Column in Stuart News. By Geniusofdespair
Yankeetown protects itself with a similar charter amendment
BY ED CANDELA -Guest columnist
If people could rely on elected officials to actually represent their constituents instead of special interests, there would be no need for Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment 4.
Our local version of Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment 4, in the Levy County community of Yankeetown, has been a success, and I want to caution readers not to buy the scare tactics now being used to try to trick people to vote against Amendment 4. You should definitely vote yes on Amendment 4 on the statewide ballot Nov. 2. You will be glad you did.
Here’s why: Several years ago, our quiet fishing community was targeted for massive development. Yankeetown officials conducted secret meetings with real estate speculators. One of the officials had a secret land sale contract with the developers. Their proposal was so massive it would have destroyed our beautiful Gulf Coast community’s character.
At the time, residents packed town council meetings trying to protect our way of life. But the council was listening to the real estate speculators —— not to us. In 2007, voters overwhelmingly passed a charter amendment and took back commonsense control. Today in Yankeetown, when politicians propose major land-use changes to the comprehensive land use plan, voters get the final say to approve or veto the plan. Yankeetown shows what Hometown Democracy Amendment 4 would help accomplish on a statewide scale if Floridians pass it Nov. 2.
Our process hasn’t been contentious – all proposed changes have been approved by voters since the charter amendment passed. One speculator did file lawsuits to try to intimidate us, but the courts threw them out.
It’s up to us to protect our communities, especially with a New York Times analysis finding Florida as the No. 1 state for public corruption. Officials from Levy and Dixie counties recently were convicted of taking bribes from a “developer” who really was an undercover FBI agent.
Yankeetown voters can now vote to protect our community – regardless of who is running our local government at the time.
Under Amendment 4, local city or county commissions will study, conduct public hearings, and vote on proposed changes to the local comprehensive land-use plan just like they do now. Here’s the new Amendment 4 step: Voters will veto or approve their decision on the next regularly scheduled election day. No special elections are required.
Before Yankeetown’s version of Amendment 4 passed, residents felt helpless. Now we’re empowered. Our community is too important to leave in the hands of politicians and lobbyists.
Who knows who will be in office in the future? It’s really all about trust. Whom do you trust more, you and your fellow Floridians or special-interest-loving politicians, lobbyists and real estate speculators?
I urge everyone to vote yes to Amendment 4 on Nov. 2. You can learnmore at You will be glad you took a stand. We sure are in Yankeetown!
Ed Candela is a former Yankeetown City Council member. Online video: tinyurl.com/27vv2nz
BY ED CANDELA -Guest columnist
If people could rely on elected officials to actually represent their constituents instead of special interests, there would be no need for Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment 4.
Our local version of Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment 4, in the Levy County community of Yankeetown, has been a success, and I want to caution readers not to buy the scare tactics now being used to try to trick people to vote against Amendment 4. You should definitely vote yes on Amendment 4 on the statewide ballot Nov. 2. You will be glad you did.
Here’s why: Several years ago, our quiet fishing community was targeted for massive development. Yankeetown officials conducted secret meetings with real estate speculators. One of the officials had a secret land sale contract with the developers. Their proposal was so massive it would have destroyed our beautiful Gulf Coast community’s character.
At the time, residents packed town council meetings trying to protect our way of life. But the council was listening to the real estate speculators —— not to us. In 2007, voters overwhelmingly passed a charter amendment and took back commonsense control. Today in Yankeetown, when politicians propose major land-use changes to the comprehensive land use plan, voters get the final say to approve or veto the plan. Yankeetown shows what Hometown Democracy Amendment 4 would help accomplish on a statewide scale if Floridians pass it Nov. 2.
Our process hasn’t been contentious – all proposed changes have been approved by voters since the charter amendment passed. One speculator did file lawsuits to try to intimidate us, but the courts threw them out.
It’s up to us to protect our communities, especially with a New York Times analysis finding Florida as the No. 1 state for public corruption. Officials from Levy and Dixie counties recently were convicted of taking bribes from a “developer” who really was an undercover FBI agent.
Yankeetown voters can now vote to protect our community – regardless of who is running our local government at the time.
Under Amendment 4, local city or county commissions will study, conduct public hearings, and vote on proposed changes to the local comprehensive land-use plan just like they do now. Here’s the new Amendment 4 step: Voters will veto or approve their decision on the next regularly scheduled election day. No special elections are required.
Before Yankeetown’s version of Amendment 4 passed, residents felt helpless. Now we’re empowered. Our community is too important to leave in the hands of politicians and lobbyists.
Who knows who will be in office in the future? It’s really all about trust. Whom do you trust more, you and your fellow Floridians or special-interest-loving politicians, lobbyists and real estate speculators?
I urge everyone to vote yes to Amendment 4 on Nov. 2. You can learnmore at You will be glad you took a stand. We sure are in Yankeetown!
Ed Candela is a former Yankeetown City Council member. Online video: tinyurl.com/27vv2nz
Sunday, August 01, 2010
More methane coming out of the butts of Fox News than the Siberian permafrost ... by gimleteye
The US Congress can't get climate change legislation to the floor. What is being discussed is far from steps needed to put the brakes on the speeding, driverless train. Yes it is true, none of the world's polluters are closer to reversing C02 emissions, but the failure of US leadership and primarily the GOP that continues to defend prerogatives of the oil, gas and coal industries, is revolting. Then, there are the charlatans at Fox News who spread stupidity; morons like Glenn Beck who spin paranoid, infectious diseased logic to rally some sort of Tea Party to embrace GOP "values". Russian wilderness is on fire. The idiots who drove and filmed through this video remind me of the melting Siberian permafrost that could tripwire climate haywire. For the time being, the gas coming out of Fox News is more lethal.
Amendment 4: Covers LAND USE, not zoning. Guest Blog By weRwatching
Zoning is NOT land-use. Here is the difference:
For example, if someone wants to build a subdivision on land designated agriculture, they must first change the land-use from agriculture to residential. At a later hearing, the land will be zoned for specific residential, such as apartments. Each land-use category can encompass many zoning types, changing the land use does not change the zoning. The zoning application is usually associated with a site plan and more details of the project. This does not go to Department of Community Affairs. There would NOT be a vote on zoning with Amendment 4.
Only people living in a municipality will vote on that municipal's plan. An application in unincorporated county will be voted on by the whole county as the unincorporated area is considered part of the county. That is a downside for unincorporated people, especially for a county as big as Miami Dade. Yes people in unincorporated North Dade would be voting on a land-use change in unincorporated South Dade (Like the UDB applications) but neither would vote on land-use changes in Pinecrest (which is incorporated -- Oh the joys of being incorporated). Pinecrest would not vote on a land use change in Palmetto Bay.
There are certain functions over which the county maintains jurisdiction, DERM, airports, waste, roads, water/sewer etc. Mostly these are issues that effect the whole county and have public safety/welfare components. I assume a land-use change in one of these would go to a county-wide vote even if it is located in a municipality. I doubt this would be a huge number of applications.
To put it in perspective: How many CDMP applications make it to DCA from unincorporated Dade in a year? 8 or 10? How many will go to DCA if they have to face a vote of the people? Maybe half that? Not that much to vote on to be sure!
Don't believe the hype from the folks against Amendment 4, the developers, the chamber and offending government officials. They want you to believe you will be voting on everything. Won't happen.
For example, if someone wants to build a subdivision on land designated agriculture, they must first change the land-use from agriculture to residential. At a later hearing, the land will be zoned for specific residential, such as apartments. Each land-use category can encompass many zoning types, changing the land use does not change the zoning. The zoning application is usually associated with a site plan and more details of the project. This does not go to Department of Community Affairs. There would NOT be a vote on zoning with Amendment 4.
Only people living in a municipality will vote on that municipal's plan. An application in unincorporated county will be voted on by the whole county as the unincorporated area is considered part of the county. That is a downside for unincorporated people, especially for a county as big as Miami Dade. Yes people in unincorporated North Dade would be voting on a land-use change in unincorporated South Dade (Like the UDB applications) but neither would vote on land-use changes in Pinecrest (which is incorporated -- Oh the joys of being incorporated). Pinecrest would not vote on a land use change in Palmetto Bay.
There are certain functions over which the county maintains jurisdiction, DERM, airports, waste, roads, water/sewer etc. Mostly these are issues that effect the whole county and have public safety/welfare components. I assume a land-use change in one of these would go to a county-wide vote even if it is located in a municipality. I doubt this would be a huge number of applications.
To put it in perspective: How many CDMP applications make it to DCA from unincorporated Dade in a year? 8 or 10? How many will go to DCA if they have to face a vote of the people? Maybe half that? Not that much to vote on to be sure!
Don't believe the hype from the folks against Amendment 4, the developers, the chamber and offending government officials. They want you to believe you will be voting on everything. Won't happen.
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