The Miami Herald has Lost Its Saturday Editorial Mojo
HIGHWAY ROBBERY
Did anyone ever imagine that these lanes would be robbing the people blind? I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw $10.50. They treat the citizens well don't you think? Traffic is so bad that people are willing to pay about $50 a week to get home from work? What do they pay to get to work? Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would come to this.
CAMPAIGNS
In Raquel Regalado's campaign for Mayor, contributions have dropped off. She raised $4,455 in September for a total take of $208,565. Meanwhile, Carlos Gimenez's Pac has amassed $103,055 in September in his PAC (called Stupid People for Gimenez) for a total of $1,599,632. Lobbyist Al Maloof gave $2,000. Manny Medina gave $10,000. Those horrible lobbyists in Tallahassee (Ballard Partners gave $5,000).
The Miami Beach and City of Miami elections are quickly approaching. I would not vote for Philip Levine based on that PAC he and Wolfson concocted to pervert the campaign laws of the city.
COUNTY's FAULTY CALCULATIONS ARE WASTING OUR MONEY
According to a report by NBC 6 this week:
"For the second time this year, Miami-Dade County was forced to adjust payments to a vendor after NBC 6 Investigators revealed county employees failed to properly calculate cost-of-living adjustments under public contracts.
While the companies are different, they are both headed by the same man: Ray Gonzalez, the head of several transportation companies that, with their associates, donate more money to county commissioners' campaigns and political committees than almost any other entity in the county."
PALMETTO BAY VICE MAYOR....hmmm
Mayor Eugene Flinn said:
"I was served this notice at Village Hall by Vice Mayor John Dubois' personal attorney just prior to the start of the State of the Village Address. I certainly will maintain anything in my possession, but I am at a loss to understand what information I could possibly offer John DuBois or his attorney. Can anyone assist me with understanding why the Palmetto Bay Vice Mayor wants to involve me in his personal litigation against Miami-Dade County? This appears to be his ongoing fight, not mine."
See letter about Jack Osterholt and Lee Hefty on Mayor Flinn's blog
DIVERSE GROUPS GATHERED AT THE GOVERNMENT CENTER OCTOBER 14TH TO SUPPORT CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION BY OFFICIALS
About 800 to 1,000 people gathered at Government Center with one goal, bring to the forefront Climate Change. It was a multi-city march. Here is my photo Gallery of the event:
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| Lowland Mayor Talks to Highland Mayor. Surfside Mayor Daniel Dietch speaks to South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard. |
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| Candidate for Florida Senate Andrew Korge takes Climate Change very seriously and believes the Legislature in Tallahassee should too. |
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| The people in this taxi were handicapped but they still marched in the parade. No one left behind. |
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| Don't know them, but they were there. |
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| Former County Commissioner Katy Sorenson, Mayor of Pinecrest Cindy Lerner, Jim Murley - the Mayor's pick for Chief of Resiliency (stupid title) and Daniella Levine Cava, County Commissioner for District 8. |
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| Fanm Haitian Women of Miami Stands up for Climate Change |
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| County Commission Chair Jean Monestime posed with Suzanne Ferreira a concerned citizen from Southwest Miami. |
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| I walked a bit with the parade. |
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| State Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez was tardy and so was Sonia his new bride. |
Watch out! There are two competing solar petitions going around. Make sure you sign the right one. That means you have to read it.
23 comments:
It was good to see young and old alike gather for a common cause.
John Dubois is fishing. He wants to go through the mayors emails and cell phone records because he is sneaky.
John the vice mayor is sneaky not the Mayor.
Most of mayor Stoddard's city is on the Coastal Ridge.
Hasn't Vice Mayor Dubois sued half a dozen residents in slapp suits? Rich people in office like him are dangerous to free speech.
Here's how to remember which solar amendment is which: Choice is good (the real one). Smart is dumb. (FPL one.)
I'm so happy to see such a great turnout at a downtown event. Getting there during rush hour and parking are such burdens but 1000 people cared and made quite a show of it! Congratulations for keeping up the momentum.
As for the tolls...it is sheer audacity and spin. "You only pay for the amount you drive" was MDX's promo when they mega tolled segments of MIami-Dade Highways. Going from Red Road to the 826 which is two exits cost .75 cents. Miami-Dade follows other major municipalities in making the commute harsher for the majority while increasing the status of the wealthy as they speed passed the unwashed masses.
The Tides can't rise soon enough!
I say damn the climate change a full speed ahead with CO2 emissions.
1% Wanna be lane. It is the new form of American dream.
Not Lexus Lanes. Those are getting to be Maserati Lanes.
Those lanes are for those who piss money. 15 miles for $10.50 each way. The state turnpike folks should advertise how cheaply they are giving away access to their pavement.
You cannot build your way out of traffic jams. Thus you need to price it, studies show. Market forces determine the pricing to reduce traffic. Why do you think drivers have a 'God Given Right' to have cheap polluting excessive driving anywhere anytime at cheap prices that do not reflect the costs to build roads and other negative externalities? Get out of your suburban thinking-read Suburban Nation.
Dubois is a sad little man who uses his attorney to bully and intimidate others. How pathetic.
I once had a cold an sneezed near DuBois. I later received a 'cease and desist' order form his attorney
Studies say....
Yeah yeah we all know about studies. It depends on who is doing them smart ass. Studies show that my readers read stupid books. The world isn't designed just for rich people...religion says that and that trumps studies any day. And Andres Duany? Really? How is Celebration working out?
Consider that the variable cost toll lane is priced by demand, just like Uber & Lyft. Usually the cost of these lanes is lower, but there are times when when saving 10-20 minutes is worth $10 to an ordinary person. Wouldn't anyone pay extra to be on time for a job interview? Not a bad amount to pay to keep one's job after oversleeping and leaving late for work. If all lanes were priced the same, no amount of money would let us recover from a scheduling error or a traffic surprise.
HIGHWAY ROBBERY
The Florida Turnpike has over charged drivers for years to build up the funds to install new Lexus lanes, so after you and I have been paying for the new lanes you will have to pay more to drive on them ( that's like paying to buy the car and then paying the dealer each time you want to drive the car )and the over charging of the regular lanes will not go back down. The Question is where will the state be funneling all of this extra money $$$ to ? There Big Corporate donor friends?
The pricing for exclusivity is blatant. The puny arguments allow the rich to entitlements from resources that had previously been paid for by taxed to all. Now access is only for those who can toss away money.
The example of the person needing to be on time for a job interview...to expect an unemployed person to be happy to toss away their lunch money? Yeah, right.
This is punishment to the middle class and poor for living far from where they work. This is punishment to everyone - because there are enough rich people to even clog up the toll lanes.
And what's with all the damaged polls? Seems like this system is broken and the poor are taking back the lanes by force.
I can not comment about the other expressways, but the middle finger lanes , as I call them on I-95, where created to enable a true commuter bus lane that has a predictable rate of speed. The paying Maserati drivers are just the icing on the cake. At least this was the goal for the section from down town to clover leave interchange.
The thing I'm upset about is that now we have a very dangerous I-95, no emergency lane in the middle, crowded lanes over all, and right side emergency lane inadequate in many places.
This was a cheap cope out to a rigorous public transportation system. Those that visit Europe know what I'm talking about.
is it just me or it is crazy someone would complain about the traffic and parking getting to a global warming demonstration downtown which takes place at the intersection of the people mover, metrorail and bus systems????
which is almost as hypocritical as politicians who claim Uber's surge pricing as discriminatory and predatory while they impose the same business model on our public roads..
There are no trains to the north. Everything goes South.
I took public transit to the demonstration. Govt Ctr was the perfect place for it. But I figure that the Lexus Lanes help us by hastening the driving of our attorneys who charge clients by the hour. Suppose (purely hypothetical) I am getting sued by Miami Beach Mayor Levine or Palmetto Bay Vice Mayor Dubois for suggesting they did something they appear to have actually done, then I surely want my attorney who is driving the cute Porche to my hearing and charging me $200/hour for transit time to minimize that time by paying the $10.
The State created the lexus lanes. owned and operated by FDOT. The only good that comes from them is the little bit of funding for the express buses.
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