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| Dividing up Beacon Council Funds by 13 is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. |
Today in the Miami Herald, Frank Nero, the CEO of the Beacon Council, said:
"Efforts to divert the Beacon Council’s resources to be divided equally between the 13 commission districts to other programs is clearly in violation of the law that created funding for the council. It will have a net effect, if approved, to severely restrict the organization’s ability to carry out its work."The Beacon Council's funds are for a "comprehensive countywide strategic plan" to attract businesses to the County. Don't really care about the violation (read the article people) Frank Nero, but I do care that dividing up the funds by 13 is a SUPER BAD IDEA. Whenever you see the number 13 and funds in the same sentence, it is SUPER BAD. It puts the Commissioner in power of where the funds go. Even if they only get to 'recommend' it is bad. They have to keep their greedy hands off of money.
To elaborate (must I?), to divide up the funds between the 13 County Commission Districts would be a disaster. We have enough cronyism going on in each County Commission District. We don't need County Commissioners to take charge of one penny more to give to their campaign supporters, favorite charity and their BFF (they have plenty of those). Having a semi-independent group like the Beacon Council is far and away a better thing for the County. Maybe the Beacon Council needs a new leader, if Nero is getting on people's nerves, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Change the use of the money if you want but do a BIG FAT NO to 13.
Mayor Gimenez, I implore you, don't let any of the 13 be in charge of doling out any more funds. That is how we get stuck with Commissioners for life. They use public funds to curry favor in their district for their reelection campaigns. Most of the the County Commissioners -- I am sorry to say -- have reelection as their number 1 goal, not the good of the people of the County. You can't build businesses one district at a time. I only took one economics course in college and even I know that (Remember Stackhouse's $1,000,000 Liberty City fraud as just one example). As Frank Nero said:
"We promote the entire county. We do not direct companies to locate in specific areas, although we do advocate for areas in need of investment. Companies make their final location or expansion decision based on where the facilities, infrastructure, access to market, labor force and their clients are located."
30 comments:
Where does the Beacon Council get its numbers from? If any company asks them any basic question, and then move to Miami, do they count that as there benefit numbers?
The BCC is worse with doling out funding, and taking credit for everything.
Perhaps, the use of tax dollars should have more restrictions and oversight for both the Beacon Council and BCC.
It will happen. Bell wants it and she is in charge of the commission now. Rebecca get off your duff and lead or that woman will trample over you. You have to put her in her place.
Frank Nero can read the writing on the wall just as you have Genius. The train has left the station. The commissioners have that money dancing in their heads now and the Mayor won't stop them from getting it. He is a pussy on commission issues. He lets them dictate policy.
That will teach Frank Nero for being rude to vindictive Bell. He should kiss her feet and those in the black districts where legitimate businesses don't see a trained workforce and won't relocate.
Maybe it is time for Nero to go. But you are correct we need to keep the consolidated approach so that it can have the national and global impacts we need. The within district strategy works when the focus is on trying to baby-sit and grow local mom-and-pop businesses. The Commission has other funds at their disposal for this. The consolidated approach aims at reaching outside the community to bring in mega financial interests, investments and jobs to the area. For example on a national basis, I was disappointed that we did not effectively capitalize on the recent bizzards and snow storms in various parts of the country. Commercials, direct sales pitches, and area visitations could have major economic impacts. If the money is divided up it won't have buying power or critical impacts needed to be effective at the national and global levels. But we have to see it. Sometimes new eyes, new strategies, and new energies are needed. We cannot devolve into a tribal economy, and abandon our efforts in the larger arena. Increasingly, cities have to fend for themselves in the gobal marketplace and we cannot ignore this survival imperative of the 21st century. If we do, tragedgy awaits us.
When I saw "mistake" in the headline I knew it had something to do with Hiney Boo Boo Bell.
Bell is so hungry for that money to lavish on Peter England's South Dade business group.
Chairman of this business group is Thomas, vice chairman was England but his name is gone. What happened?
If they want to reduce funding to the Beacon Council, either reduce the business taxes which fund it and/or put whatever other funds are used back in to the general fund. Government doesn't create business as Bell said in a recent speech to Palmetto Bay Business owners - I think we can all agree with Bell on this one as it relates to free money from tax payers & existing business owners and take it one step further, neither do County Commissioner with their slush funds under the guise of mom & pop grants!
If there's a bad idea, Bell has to be the one promoting it, and she is.
So, if she really, really meant what she said to the business owners of Palmetto Bay, then she's going to have to eat her words with this resolution or with the voters.
Nice corner she put herself into or foot in mouth, or should I say something else which would be a bit too "visual"!
Well. If they took the Beacon Council and divided it thirteen ways... Are dividing it equally or are they dividing up by under developed regions or by population?
Really, we would be in effect recreating the commission slush fund or making a mega small business loan program for NANA to get paid to oversee. Mom and pop loans and small business owners need in bathrooms in their garage businesses need to go away.
Government can ATTRACT business. They don't create it. They aren't Shark Tank. They shouldn't be funding ideas people come up with. Galata all over again.
I am wondering if we are doing proper in-service training for new Commissioners. They are mostly everyday people who want to lead, but know little about governance. The universities could help here as they need a much larger view. They need to be fully briefed on all of the issues before they begin acting like a "bull in a china shop". Maybe we assume too much. Perhaps some unit of government should develop issue papers on these items, so the Commission does not make silly and costly mistakes simply because of a lack of knowledge. EOM is catching many items that should never make it to the Commission. What about the ones you are not catching?
Katy Sorenson does have a short training program but Barbara Jordan was an assistant county manager for many years before becoming a commissioner and she came up with the Nigerian museum free-land idea and she is the biggest supporter of the Dolphin funding.
The Beacon Council works for three to five commission districts in reality, so the vote is a predictable 8-5 in favor of splitting the funding.
So lets eliminate the funding. The commission already has mom and pop grants. I would like to see an audit of some of those.
Why don't you get a mom and pop grant to expand? You could hire an auditor and investigator and a twitter public relations consultant.
Audits need to done. Thank you Genius for another heads up on the BCC and their antics.
Frank Nero needs to go back to New Jersey. Miami-Dade County taxpayers have been taken advantage of for too long.
Nero takes $400,000 per year from us, plus benefits! No more. Terminate the useless Beacon Council.
Be careful what you wish for.
When every politician was jumping on the Genting Bandwagon, Nero was the only one with the cojones to call them out and lay out the calamity that large-scale gambling would have on attacting businesses to the area. Apparently, he pissed off too many Genting shills in the process.
With the caliber of people on the commission, leaders who get funded must keep in touch so they know and understand what is going on.
They are going backwards instead of forward. We need to increase our effort to bring new businesses and jobs into the community. It is the only way we are going to stop the brain-drain of talent we train at the universities. It is our only hope of ever becoming a world class community. Someone has got to look at the forest. But it seems we are limited to looking at the ground cover.
To understand why this is happening, one must understand Lynda Bell. Bell sets out to damage people only to prove that she has the power to do so.
Bell vehemently dislikes anyone who is obviously more intelligent or experienced than she is. And, all humor aside, that is a great number of people.
In Homestead, many fine people were humiliated by her because they were smarter or disagreed with her nutball governance. In the end, she created so much animosity against herself that she in turn was humiliated at the polls and forcibly ejected as mayor.
There are no policy or financial considerations here. Only the attempt to prove that she has the power to remove Frank Nero and to destroy the Beacon Council. Bell is myopic and does not see the consequences of her deeply misguided actions. Her focus is intensely personal and never professional. She will propagate rumors and lies and will develop what appears to be a rational basis for her actions. But in the end, it is all about her power and little else.
She will use the machinery of county government against her opponents and detractors. One citizen is enmeshed in a ridiculous dispute with Tax Assessor.
Finally, Bell's primary motivation is not to serve her District 8 constituents. It is to meddle and to retaliate. She sought public office after Homestead to lick her wounds and to retaliate against her opponents from a larger and higher vantage point. Her secondary motivation is to extend the crackpot and moribund Tea Party agenda in Dade County.
The Beacon Council issue is important and portentous. It is vintage Bell. Ignore it at your own risk.
Isn't this really about the gambling interests trying to oust Nero because he dared question the Genting project?
If Genting and other gambling interests get their way with the Florida legislature and change the state laws to allow their enterprises, get ready for a complete takeover of the city by these special interests - from schools to parks - it's Pottersville in Miami -
Gambling interest are a given. They have been waiting on the sidelines for the last 40 years. Removing Nero won't help them. It seems we have a small-minded personality trying to exert power at the cost of hurting the larger community. The commission must put her in check, not follow her.
I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Gimenez, Mrs. Sosa, County Commissioners, and County Staff is afraid of Lynda Bell. This is exactly what Homestead did at first. They were cowards. They finally came to the conclusion Lynda was not in their best interest. Lynda is a powerful woman and maintains her ability to run things like she sees it. Mrs. Sosa she is going to make you look weak and non productive.
The Beacon Council and the agencies receiving money are scared to even challenge Lynda on anything.
My opinion she is the most powerful commissioner we have on the BCC,
I would say MOST dangerous and the power they are giving her is helping in that regard.
Nothing like a stupid person in power.
In all honesty, the Beacon Council was a great idea that never came to realize its potential.
Frank Nero brought this on himself. Regardless of the Genting issue, Nero walks around like his crap don't stink. Rubbing everybody the wrong way. The Beacon Council throws out bloated numbers, taking credit for everything. All the while, paying their people ridiculous salaries, and flying them around on junkets that never materialize in any business.
The directors over at the Beacon Council would have done well to bring in another Director 3 or 4 years ago, and maybe they could have avoided this move. But alas, they didn't
M
years ago, Commissioner Moss' staff found a mom n pop grantee in her bathrobe instead of running the business she was funded for.
We are the laughing stock of the State regarding Economic Development. Every municipality has one ED Department, the Mayor has an ED Department and we have the Beacon Council.
We need one voice, one ED department to help recruit businesses.
As an example, The beacon council actually advertised the recent Center of Excellence developed by Verizon Business within Orlando.
So based on all the comments I read, is Lynda Bell as venomous as VNS?
That's not good!!!
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