If federal charges stick, both former mayors Manny Marono, Sweetwater, and Michael Pizzi, Miami Lakes, will serve time in federal prison. In political circles, Pizzi was an outsider. Marono, on the other hand, was especially close to the heart of the beast.
The challenge for law enforcement has been to get its targets to flip. There is a long track record, at least the public one, to the contrary. Former county commissioners Pedro Reboredo, James Burke, and Dorrin Rolle: all could have assisted in flushing out public corruption in Miami Dade. Art Teele, who killed himself in the lobby of the Miami Herald and lost the most, could have ratted out a system that is known to flourish through the network of lobbyists "close" to powerful elected officials.
How many millions disappeared into the pockets of elected officials through contracts awarded at Miami International Airport or the Port of Miami? Natacha Seijas knows. Three years ago, the engineering firm, Post Buckley Jernigan, briefly made the news for organized, systemic campaign finance violations over a multi decades period.
The US Department of Justice made successful cases in Palm Beach County against some former county commissioners who bled out taxpayers through favorable land transactions involving one big rock mine whose controversial history involved facilitation by the Jeb! Bush administration in Tallahassee.
There is redemption for former officials, top aides, and lobbyists who know where corruption flourishes. Whether the statute of limitations has run out or not, my message to lobbyists and insiders: only telling the truth will set you free.
The challenge for law enforcement has been to get its targets to flip. There is a long track record, at least the public one, to the contrary. Former county commissioners Pedro Reboredo, James Burke, and Dorrin Rolle: all could have assisted in flushing out public corruption in Miami Dade. Art Teele, who killed himself in the lobby of the Miami Herald and lost the most, could have ratted out a system that is known to flourish through the network of lobbyists "close" to powerful elected officials.
How many millions disappeared into the pockets of elected officials through contracts awarded at Miami International Airport or the Port of Miami? Natacha Seijas knows. Three years ago, the engineering firm, Post Buckley Jernigan, briefly made the news for organized, systemic campaign finance violations over a multi decades period.
The US Department of Justice made successful cases in Palm Beach County against some former county commissioners who bled out taxpayers through favorable land transactions involving one big rock mine whose controversial history involved facilitation by the Jeb! Bush administration in Tallahassee.
There is redemption for former officials, top aides, and lobbyists who know where corruption flourishes. Whether the statute of limitations has run out or not, my message to lobbyists and insiders: only telling the truth will set you free.
11 comments:
How do we know that Forte was not selling himself/Marona as the gatekeeper to the Governor just as Forte represented himself as the go-to guy for Marono ? Not saying it was known or condoned by Gov. Weird Eyes but isn't there the potential for a very profitable enterprise if you can convince folks to pay you to make the wheels of state government move faster ? How about this angle, if the dynamic duo had the ear of the Gov. and you did not retain them, maybe, just maybe, your project/ request/ idea got the thumbs down from these guys to the Gov.
In the last legislative session, at least three Miami-Dade communities -- Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay and Miami Lakes -- got their water projects included in the budget. Miami Lakes' project was the only one of the three to escape the governor's veto pen. Forte represented Miami Lakes.
"Seijas knows?" Got any facts to back that up? It was EOM favorite Michael Pizzi who got popped for corruption, not Natacha Seijas. It was Pizzi who was taped taking bribes for doing official business. "Small fry?" I'm waiting to see how many counts of violating the Hobbs Act that the feds charge Pizzi with. Each transaction (the $750 campaign checks, and the three cash payments totaling $6,000) can support a separate charge if the feds want to roll that way. Add conspiracy for each town's scheme (Miami Lakes and Medley) and you're looking at a potential century in prison. Who do you think got Pizzi a job as a town attorney, a position he had no experience for? Answer that question and you'll see that he has a lot of people he could rat out.
Tie all this together. While Bell was Homestead Mayor, a towing company with no history in Homestead was awarded a contract over the long time vendor. The new towing company was always rumored to have ties to a Sweetwater politician or politicians. Later when Bells daughter was fired as a reserve officer from the Homestead Police Dept., she promptly landed a full time K-9 officers job in Sweetwater, with a take home vehicle. Im sure the folks in Sweetwater dont mind her burning their gas to go back and forth to Homestead.
A lot of local cities got water projects approved by the legislature this year, but only Forte's clients survived the Governor's veto. There's a project for some enterprising investigative journalist.
On the Homestead towing contract: I heard the rumor that the contract which was held by the same individual for more than thirty years was split 50/50 by Bell and given to Marono and the previous contractor; who was extremely unhappy.
Shortly thereafter, Lynda Bell's daughter was hired by the Sweetwater police.
Wow, the best thing anon can say about Seijas is that she didnt get caught! LOLZ.
"The challenge for law enforcement has been to get its targets to flip. There is a long track record, at least the public one, to the contrary."
When the sentence is probation or a short hiatus at "Club Fed', why flip?
If convicted, if a stiff sentence...then the birds sing.
Correct. That's part of the Grand Jury recommendations that Gov. Scott rejected.
Miami Lakes Resident is right. The Feds hardly ever lose a case and I too have noticed that EOM has a hard-on for Pizzi. He got caught and there a plenty of rumors where he uses his famous, "Do you know who I am?" to get himself out of tickets, DUI traffic stops and paying for his bill at restaurants. Again, this is all hearsay, but now, he was caught, there are several witnesses and recordings to prove his wrongdoing and unjust enrichment AND he even lied to agents posing as auditors about fake feasibility studies that never took place, that never sent any grant employees or staff members to conduct any business whatsoever to secure grant money for the Town (cough, cough). But somehow we should believe that he's going to turn on Someone else? Marono turning on Pizzi would be hysterical.
These pathetic scumball wannabee politicians think are above the law. ~Mainly because the local authorities i.e., Miami-Dade Ethics (which everyone knows to be a joke), Katherine Fernandez Rundle's, and Miami Dade Police Department have looked the other way for years. These sad excuses for non-enforcement gives these local politicians a false sense of security. This is not the first time these officials have been outed on corruption charges and taking money under the table, along with many other violations. It's just the first time they played outside of their Miami-Dade comfort zone, where they were protected. These local authorities should be embarrassed that the FBI had to clean up behind them. FYI- It is Katherine Fernandez Rundles' office that is supposed to be enforcing the local charters and protecting the residents from this type of scum sucking politicians. Why stop at the obvious, We can only hope Rundle's office steps up to the plate now and follows through with all the charges on these politicians and their puppets for the blatant violations that the Miami Herald has so readily and easily exposed for them...
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