Most interesting of the PAC's donations is from Protect Florida's Eco Freedom out of Tampa. They gave $25,000. Folks when it sounds like it is good -- IT ISN'T! Genting gave $25,000 to this PAC 10/31/2011. That's funny, same amount!
Protect Florida also gave $37,000 to Citizen Action, Inc. in Coral Gables. That is Keith Donner. Wow, this gets stranger and stranger, he worked against Gimenez in the last election. Citizens Action, Inc. Got lots of money from The Democracy Project, Inc. and that is again, Keith Donner. That PAC got money from Century Home Builders (Sergio Pino) and Genting but more importantly, $80,000 from CGC Financial, LLC out of Delaware. Why are they giving Keith Donner's PAC money? But I digress. Leon Advertising & PR gave Common Sense $30,000. The president of that Corporation is Julio Mendez.
Joe Martinez's PAC, Get it Done, raised $213,750 this cycle for a total of $271,500. This cycle his campaign raised $111,774.50, almost half as much. The PAC helping Joe got a lot of money from Century Home Builders, i.e. Sergio Pino (I thought he was broke). This PAC also got a $100,000 donation from Citizens for a Better Miami Dade. I believe this is Eduardo Rivero. There is a Citizens for a Better Miami Dade County, Inc. This one is formed by Stephen Cody, Natacha's Seijas' boy. Pedro Diaz and Federico Garcia are the officers. The address of the Corporation is a small single family home owned by Manuel Rivero. Police dummy Corp.? They did have a dummy set up the Corp. It is a non-profit, can they give all that money legally? Something is not kosher here.
Friends of Law Enforcement gave $10,000 to Get it Done and Cemex gave $8,500. Here we have that Leon Advertising & PR showing up again giving $15,000 to Joe's PAC. Covering the bases?
Another Pac gave $10,000 to Get it Done: Community Leadership PAC out of Virginia. NCL America and Holland America are the only 2 contributors to them in 2012. Krome Grove Investors gave $5,000. That is Ed Easton who owns a big hunk of land outside the UDB.
29 comments:
Obama can't focus on everything, but he -- like many Democratic presidents and presidential hopefuls -- will rue the day they failed to clamp down on corruption in Miami-Dade.
Don't like that Genting $25,000.
I love the names these guys make up for their PAC's. It's always been 180 degrees the other direction from what they sound like. "Protect Florida's Eco Freedom"? Are you freaking kidding me? The point is pretty sad and yet an accurate reflection of our democracy. These guys are LAUGHING at the campaign finance system. At least in NY, some big donors are rebelling. When PAC entrepreneurs start thumbing their noses at the system they've supported and that supports them, something is seriously, seriously amiss. Even a right-wing billionaire has to see that.
If Martinez says he will get rid of Alina Hudak and the Burgess/Alvarez cronies that Gimenez kept, he will receive my vote.
You need to do better research on "Citizens for a Better Miami-Dade". There is two of them.
If you know there are two with the same name...why don't you post it? Why are you ASKING ME TO DO MORE RESEARCH when it appears that you already did it.
Cause it's not my blog.
Anyone but Gimenez will get my vote.
He has been deceitful since the day he became mayor - 5 Deputy Mayors? Give me a break! No one has been fired. The directors of the departments he "combined" with others, are still there, earning salaries and benefits.
Please do some research into WASD. Check out how many employees are in charge of public and/or governmental affairs. It is a disgrace!
The reason that the corporations formed are not-for-profit is so that they can qualify for tax status under Section 501(c)(4). That allows these entities to collect monies, which is not counted as income and taxed as such.
To the "anyone but Gimenez" person above -- be really careful what you wish for. We don't get to vote for "none of the above" and do have to settle for less than perfect. Martinez would be a disaster for the County -- a developer's dream - and look at what their dreaming got us so far.
Speaking of disasters, a vote for Gimenez is a vote for the lobbying/consultant industry. It is easy to balance a budget on the backs of menial employees while safeguarding the sacred cows. The department mergers imposed by Gimenez are nothing more than a shell game to protect his interests. If he is reelected he will move to privatize Solid Waste, Corrections, etc. What do you think will happen to our already shaken local economy? As far as "developer friendly", take a look at Gimenez's campaign treasurer's report, every lobbyist, contractor and hidden interest group is listed there.
You are dreaming last anonymous ... Martinez has proven himself over many years to be a developer 's puppet. Gimenez - no matter what is on his campaign report, has held the UDB line pretty well. Not perfect (Lawrence Percival????, too many Vice Mayors at too high salaries), but light years ahead of Martinez.
Gimenez could solve his problem by firing all those unqualified political hacks left over from the Alverez administration. So why won't he do it? Is there someone else who is really running the show?
( i removed your remark calling someone a racist, and i think Penny is doing a fine job at elections - and i certainly don't agree this is a disaster, God.)
He promotes not one but five deputy directors at $225k each. He names Kathleen Woods Richardson as director of Public Works and Penelope Townsley to Elections without having any experience for the task. Woods Richardson is not even a professional engineer! Sacred cows Hudak, Glazer Moon, Wendy Norris, Mary Lou Rizzo continue to earn over $200k while protecting Gimenez's interests and mismanaging millions. Is that leadership. No, that is a disaster.
You can tell it is the same person writing a few of these negative remarks against Gimenez.
I just reviewed Carlos Gimenez's campaign and PAC accounts and everyone of the contractors and lobbyists that got us into this mess in the first place is contributing in a huge way to his accounts. There is also a lot of money from the mining industry, garbage collection and outdoor media advertising. The assocition to these elements will definitely hurt his reelection chances.
Nothing can hurt Gimenez's reelection campaign, there is no viable candidate running against him. Joe Martinez has already proved he can't be trusted.
The intent of Carlos Gimenez is to replace county employees with private consultant companies. The hourly rate of private consultants comes at a markup of 300 to 400%. Read about the Internal Services Data Industries scandal on the front page of the Herald. Gimenez is a bad administrator. Martinez is a visionary.
What great choices we have to lead Miami-Dade
County and to shape its future. As I recall the
last Charter Review Committee had a broad base
of experienced elected officials and public servants.
Cannot be said for the way it is shaping up. What
of value could they possible produce that the voters
would approve. But then, in this County, any measure
can be foisted on our un-informed, follow the leader
over the cliff electorate.
Who would not vote for Chicago style Ward-Boss
Joe Martinez; they would love him there. The ultimate machine politician. Just what we need
as Mayor; Lord help us. His buddies built him
a mansion. Is he angling for a castle?
And Gimenez, once in power, has revealed his true
colors; a croney based empire builder with little or
no input from the community. He does have some good instincts but his methods and governance
are questiionalble. And paying his henchmen, and
hencladies, top dollar and then, needlessly, cutting
taxes, is nutty. Who said our taxes are too high. We
have no state income tax and this community always was willing to tax itself to get needed services and
facilitiies. County government is supposed to be non-partisan so why is Gimenez invoking Republican thinking into it? By imposing an
artifical tax cut and cutting services, he has crippled
and maimed our County government.
Isn't there someone else out there who can run
for Mayor and break us from the County Commission legacy that has made us a Banana
Republic entity? Can we never break loose from
the decendants of Swamp Land Salesman, now
known as developers, who control this government?
Is it something in the water which is fast turning to
salt. Sodom and Gehmora? Are we being punished?
Will we just be inundated with water befroe we
become a viable municipality. Looks like that
is the only thing which will end the connivance
and corruption. Maybe Mr. Berkow will agrue
our case before Lord, if he makes it to that part
of the afterlife. Doubtful.
Martinez a visionary... Wait...wait, okay I stopped laughing. Martinez has about as much vision As Javier Souto...that amounts to none.
Carlos Gimenez is taking money from the sleazy billboard companies. Maybe that is why he refuses to enforce the County Sign Code.
Every department director, deputy director, assistant director, and deputy mayor hired by Gimenez has been hired without a competitive selection process. That is known in the business world as a “worst practice.”
Is Martinez committed to requiring an open and transparent competitive recruitment process for every county position, especially those in the executive ranks? That's what I would like to see him commit to.
We deserve the best possible government services and that means having the best qualified people. Everyone should have a fair opportunity to compete for county jobs. They shouldn't be reserved for cronies of Carlos 1.0 and 2.0.
I don't know how Martinez would behave as mayor, but I have already seen Gimenez's behavior. Here is a career long bureaucrat with already two public service retirements and currently working on his third, telling us how terrible public servants are. This " blue blooded" blue collared worker, more interested in appearing in the social pages than in attracting private industry to this county, is simply a puppet of well-to-do lobbyists whose intent is to control every county contract and turn county government into a tyranny. Gimenez is not just a bad choice for mayor, he is a threat to our democratic system of government. If you think Raul Martinez had an iron grip on Hialeah, wait and see if Gimenez is reelected. We will all be living in Broward Countty.
Geniousofdespair, you mock Javier Souto and you dismiss him without regard. I can tell you that there isn't one Commissioner in this county who listens more to his constituents than Souto. One call to his office will solve the pothole in front of your house or the broken streetlight down the corner. Maybe the fact that he is a senior citizen and speaks with a heavy accent bothers you, but I sincerely doubt any other commissioner cares more about this county than Souto.
Re: Souto - you made my point for me: fixing potholes is not vision. Fixing street lights - also it is not about having vision. It is more like being a handyman, anyone can get a street light fixed if they are a county commissioner. The fact that he does this sort of thing is a strong argument for incorporating the ENTIRE county. His accent has never been an issue but his use of euphemisms when referring to his fellow Americans who are not Hispanic is insulting.
The Gimenez haters are a laugh in these comments. They are muy loco!
Genious, you have missed the whole point. Souto caters to the people in his district because those are the constituents who elected him to office. That is the job of a commissioner. Being a representative of Westchester, those citizens happen to be hispanic. Trust me, to those citizens, Linda Bell and Sally Heyman sound just as foreign and disconnected.
Incorporating the entire county is a senseless idea that would lead to a massive financial depression in this county. For example, once every piece of the county is incorporated, you will no longer need a 3000 plus county sheriff's police department because most cities like to have their own departments to control thejr citizens. That being said, the county sheriff's office would be reduced to about 150 officers- that means you would probably put 2800 in unemploment. The same could be said for every other county department. The result of those layoffs would filter down throughout this community and would affect every business inf the county. Incorporation leads to higher taxes and more bureaucracy. It is a bad idea.
The last poll published by the Miami Herald earlier this year showed Carlos Gimenez at a 28% approval rate. This number, from an incumbent with plenty of money, following an unpopular mayor into office. An analysis of those numbers reveals the bare truth. The citizens of this county voted for Gimenez because he was the least of both evils. Gimenez won by 4000 votes over Robainas, a man that according to The Herald, was headed to prison. People do not like Gimenez. He is perceived as stuffy and out of touch. His policies only continue to demonstrate he is ot the right man for the job. He will not get a vote from a county employee, from an African American or from most of the latin community. Gimenez's base is a small group of Coconut Grove wealthies whose intent is to take this county back to the 1950s. On August 14th, like it or not, Joe Martinez will become mayor of Dade County.
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