Monday, August 26, 2013

Beacon Council's New Leader. By Geniusofdespair

Beacon Council chose a new leader: Larry K. Williams.  Balsera Communications made the announcement.  Guess who works at Balsera: Carlos Gimenez, Jr. He is the Vice President and General Counsel. Curiously it says in the announcement:
Balsera Communications professionals understand the needs of expanding and/or relocating businesses within Miami-Dade County, and have experience working with the Beacon Council, Enterprise Florida and other private and public entities. 

Depending on the type of business, the proposed location, and the current state of the surrounding area, Balsera Communications can help identify incentives for development, expansion and relocation of businesses to our beautiful community.  Please contact us should you have any questions.


BTW, It was just announced Francis Suarez isn't running for Mayor of Miami anymore.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Balsera Communications? Is that outfit owned by Freddy Balsera who was one of Penelas' aides with Brian May?

Alex said...

The issue is would a new CEO of the Beacon Council drive a hard bargain when presented with a proposal from the Mayors son?

And will the chair of the economic development committee (Lynda Bell) cast a Critical eye when the mayors son asks for public incentives for a company?

Anonymous said...

Freddy. Hmmm.

Anonymous said...

Bell is no longer chair of the Finance Committee.

Anonymous said...

It seems strange that these politicians would want their children involved in obvious conflicts of interests instead of flying on their own and making a life based on their own hard work and merit. We have so many people in county government who are there because they are family members not because of their skill sets or competence. And these kind of people are very difficult to manage because they think they don't have to work to get paid. And worse of all, there is no room for the talent that we need. At some point the system will just collapse on itself. Now the mayor sets up a side deal for his son.

Anonymous said...

The Beacon Council is totally useless. Just a waste of the taxpayers money.

Anonymous said...

Francis Suarez quit the Mayors race because he did polling and it showed him losing to the old war horse Regalado. More importantly Francis Suarez did not want to give up his $105,000 per year salary from the City of Miami for his part-time gig being a commissioner. $105,000 per year PLUS benefits. Who walks away from that without a guarantee?

Anonymous said...

It is so sickening to me that these organizations only exist via public funds, which end up back in to campaign contributions so they can live off of the taxpyers. The cycle can and only will be broken by the voters who refuse to vote for candidates funded by major special interests or exist via means of some type of taxpayer funding.

The BCC gives away our money like it's candy and needs to stop. The State does the same. This needs to sopt, but it won't since corporations are people too and the taxpayers fund them!!! I'd laugh but it's not funny. Just think about the US Century $50 Million in fed funds we'll never see again but where supposed to be happy because of a private investor groups, subsidized by the taxpyers at a different level, are buying them? Are you kidding?

The real welfare recipients in Miami Dade county aren't the poor migrant with a food stamp card, they're the one's in expensive suits, paid for with YOUR tax money, doled out by politicians, paid for by those people!

Too bad this Mayor is so busy making sure we have to wait as long as possible to vote or stripping away the public corruption unit so as no one is prosecuted for AB fraud. The State is even worse because they won't make literally stealing elections a felony!

Vote them all out, tell your friends to do the same.

Anonymous said...

The issue is this town is so corrupted by influence peddlers there seems to be no hope. Can citizens trust that any government policy is driven by public interest or private profys? That's why you get absurd decisions like dismantling a library system that is well run and serves the public well. Why is it targeted for destruction? Does some lobbyist want to distribute the funding to clients' projects? Do public officials want to award private contracts for "library services" like "technology centers" to financial backers to run as private enterprises? Will the library funds that used to pay the salaries of 169 professional staff to be fired now go to "non-profits" that are favored by politicians. That's how they play.

Anonymous said...

So will Commissioner Zapata's 501.3c Read 2 Succeed be fit into one of the crippled libraries? Or is there a plan to have them overlay operations into the 11 new technology centers in the parks. http://www.r2succeed.org/. From his bio: "Following his passion for education and understanding that reading is the basis for learning, Zapata also founded the non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization Read 2 Succeed, which filled a void in the West Miami-Dade community for free tutoring services and provided children with books and supplies." Follow the money trail...

Ana Acle-Menendez said...

Good morning,

Thank you for your coverage of The Beacon Council on your blog, however, we need to clarify a misstatement. The announcement of our new President & CEO was made by The Beacon Council directly to an estimated 10,000 readers, and we did not use a public relations agency. While we appreciate others forwarding our information to a broader audience, please note that we do not use Balsera Communications. (Here is a link to the Aug. 16 release: http://www.beaconcouncil.com/Web/NewsArticle.aspx?Page=newsArticle&id=583)

Please note that we do not have a public relations agency that currently represents The Beacon Council and so there is no connection to any other organization as stated on the blog. We would appreciate it if you please correct this information on your site, and inform your readers.

Thank you,
Ana Acle-Menendez
The Beacon Council

Geniusofdespair said...

So noted... I did not get press releases. Only Basera sent one. Remember the blogs next time

Anonymous said...

Hey Beacon Council - how about giving a grant to the Miami Dade Library System - same as you do to businesses creating jobs in Miami. The money can pay the salaries of the 169 employees the Mayor is firing. The Beacon Council can then claim it created 169 jobs!

Anonymous said...

Better yet, the Beacon Council can give a grant to the library system to help pay for the computers residents use to write up resumes and apply for jobs. And the money can help keep the doors open full time, too. That's economic development! And Balsera and Carlos Gimenez, Jr. can even send out a press release touting it was their idea. We don't mind. Signed- all the librarians who help job seekers everyday and are now getting fired.

Anonymous said...

To the Anon above who feels the Beacon Council is useless, I beg to differ. From a global perspective, we have no choice. We are going through a period of great economic change, and there is lots of uncertainty. Communities that survive, will be those who are out front and can adapt to changes as they are occur. We need to have someone at the global table. MIT professors in looking at our future are predicting that soon most people will be unemployed as we are being rapidly replaced by computers and robots. The implications are staggering. Whatever the future holds, we are going to need the Beacon Council as a tool for our economic survival.

Anonymous said...

LOLZ.

Anonymous said...

Who says the Beacon Council is useless? I'm just coming up with ways it can be even more USEFUL with the secured funding it receives from occupational license fees.

Anonymous said...

The Beacon Council is totally useless and it has been useless for years. The former CEO of the Beacon Council was from New Jersey and he managed to con the Council out of $2,000 per day. What did he accomplish? Nada. Zilch. South Florida has great weather. We are close to Latin America. We just need a better educated workforce and much more urban infill development. Neither goal can be accomplished by the Beacon Council. Another reason taxpayers hate Miami-Dade County.