Jose Luis Castillo is Managing Peggy Bell and Karen Cunningham's Campaigns. By Geniusofdespair

Cutler Bay Candidate  for Mayor Peggy Bell. I think they need a write in candidate.

Peggy Bell and Karen Cunningham have hired Lynda Bell's Campaign Manager Castillo who is an absentee ballot....I don't know what to call him here but the SAO office is still investigating Mark Bell's absentee ballots.

For that reason alone...I would not vote for either of them although I think Karen is very personable and would have voted for her otherwise.  

Peggy Bell, when I suggested she run against Lynda Bell about a year ago, said she liked Lynda Bell.  Well, how far is that going to get her now?

Do as you may, but I know how I would vote.

And Castillo Lobbies for items in front of people he works for.  They should recuse themselves...they don't.

Not worth the bad karma gals.

A Call To EOM Readers: Send Us Your Photos Of The King Tide! … by gimleteye

For years (can't count that high!) we have been posting on the super fall tidal event known as King Tides.

Global warming skeptics/deniers -- including some famous Miami Herald reporters -- have poo-poo'd King Tides: we've always had 'em, they say.

Well folks, we've never had them like this!
We don't get the King Tides until next week, but if this week's tides are any indication, fasten yer lifejackets! Pass the word: send your photos for publication to: afarago@bellsouth.net

AND BTW, love Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales (former county commissioner) hedging his bets in a local CBS News report that the $400 million newly installed pumps might not work. From the reporters, not a word about climate change. In other words, a blameless affair of nature. Not political. Not any one's fault.

Climate change adaption means never having to say you're sorry.

Control the tide?


2012 South Beach:

Amendment 1: Vote Yes … by gimleteye

One of Florida's most respected newspapers, the Tampa Bay Times, is recommending a "no" vote for a constitutional amendment before voters in November. The proposal, put forward by conservationists, would allocate 1/3 of the documentary stamp tax required of real estate transactions to be applied to acquisition of conservation lands. In 2016, the newspaper notes, more than $600 million could be allocated to this important purpose.

Florida used to have a model land acquisition program, Forever Florida, but it was first gutted then politicized out of existence by Gov. Rick Scott and the GOP legislature.

The Times makes two principal arguments; first, that referendum-by-ballot should not be used for legislating the budget and second, along the lines that what politics giveth (the documentary stamp tax), politics can taketh away.

I agree with the Times that the legislature is responsible for the budget. Did Gov. Rick Scott and the majority of the Florida legislature reflect the will of the people when they radically cut Forever Florida -- the state's land acquisition program and model for the nation? No.

What they did was to solidify the lock hold of big campaign contributors, like Big Sugar, to thwart and delay and increase the price to the public of the only reasonable chance for restoring fading natural treasures like the Everglades: land acquisition.

Example 1: in 2008, then Governor Charlie Crist announced a bold plan to acquire the sugar lands owned by US Sugar Corporation. His opponents killed the plan for two main reasons; some said it was too expensive and others said it was not expensive enough! Gov. Rick Scott, who knew zilch about land conservation or the history of bipartisan struggle to secure land protection through Forever Florida, proved a willing accomplice after buying his way to the Governor's Mansion in 2010.

Instead of buying the US Sugar land, now Floridians are being forced to watch the same US Sugar roll out its demand for state approval for new development rights involving 18,000 acres it owns in Hendry County, lubricated no doubt by entertainments the corporation provided to top GOP legislators including Gov. Scott at the King Ranch in Texas. There, if gullible Florida voters are to believe it, they only discussed hunting not bid'ness.

Floridians penchant for gullibility is continuously reinforced by a legislature that bows to big money interests like Big Sugar. The ballot box should be a place of affirmation and not an arena for retribution, but in Florida there is no other way for people to express themselves.

Floridians are swarming around state ballot referendums because the power of special interest money deformed our democracy. The Tampa Bay Times does not like using the ballot box to legislate. And, yes, what politics giveth, politics may taketh away: this is truly what happened when Gov. Scott and the GOP legislature decapitated growth management and the Florida Department of Community Affairs, after frustrated environmentalists and civic activists attempted to use a state-wide ballot referendum, Florida Hometown Democracy, to put the power of community growth in the hands of voters and not land speculators and developers. It is also what happened with Fair Districts, a state-wide ballot referendum that passed with more than 60 percent of Floridian voters' approval, and then devolved into years of intransigence by the Florida GOP and Gov. Rick Scott.

Remember: it takes a village to raise a child. It takes an army of voters to protect the village. The majority of Floridians have no other way to demonstration their displeasure with an extremist legislature than at the ballot box. Vote "for" Amendment One. Let Floridians act to save what the extreme right, won't.

A Kinder County Commission: Have We Turned a Corner? By Geniusofdespair

County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson receiving an Orchid Award from the Urban Environment League for "Dedication to downtown open space and waterfront access"

I listened to Daniella Levine Cava speak at the Urban Environment League's Orchids and Onions affair (She was the featured speaker). I was inspired. Not just by Levine-Cava's words but by her speaking ability. She is so damn smart. I thought she was really amazing. It was not a stump speech, finally, it was one from the heart. She said: “Miami is an iconic place, and let's make sure we continue to lift up not only its amazing diversity of culture and design, but also its natural beauty, making it accessible to residents as well as visitors."

 I really think we will be seeing changes at the County Commission.

County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, who received an award seems to 'get it' now. Maybe other County Commissioners will too. By December things will start changing. Even the Mayor has softened that disrespectful "I know it all attitude". Is there hope for better government at the County without a mean spirited commissioner leading the pack. I am hoping for a more moderate efficient body, or am I being overly optimistic?

Bruce Matheson also received an award for "Defending the integrity of County parks and open spaces" I really admire Bruce. He is dedicated to the park  and property that his family sold or traded to the county (per Dusty Melton). You would think the County would respect him more.

Big Sugar on the march before the November election … by gimleteye

Remember how in 2008 then Governor Charlie Crist announced the most ambitious land purchase in Florida history, to convert sugar lands into water storage and cleansing marshes to repair America's Everglades? The land in question belongs to U.S. Sugar, the duopoly that includes neighbors/competitor Florida Crystals.

It is not clear that the deal was anything more than a political trap for Crist, who instantly ran into a buzz-saw of criticism at the time.

Big Sugar is out to get the highest possible price for its property, now that it has effectively mined out most of the topsoil in the Everglades Agricultural Area. It is attempting to forecast a business model growing sugarcane on limestone cap rock, or, converting its lands to suburban sprawl.

In the meantime, with hundreds of millions of taxpayer subsidies lining its shareholders' pockets, Big Sugar executives have plenty of time to plot new schemes to pressurize the legislature and executive branch (ie. Gov. Rick Scott) while the grass grows tall.

One of the reasons Big Sugar was so eager to dismantle community planning and growth management in Florida -- achieved under Gov. Rick Scott's reign of cluelessness -- was exactly to speed through "sector plans" like the 18,000 acre travesty proposed for Hendry County.

There used to be a legal process for community activists and environmentalists to follow, but the extremist right put an end to that.

Voters have a chance to redress the imbalances in November, if they vote.

For immediate release:
Contact: Cris Costello, 941-914-0421 cris.costello@sierraclub.org (Ft. Myers)
Julia Hathaway, 202-315-8211 julia.hathaway@sierraclub.org (Ft. Pierce)


Coastal community leaders demand rejection of Big Sugar City

Ft. Myers and Ft. Pierce, FL – Oct. 1, 2014 - Environmentalists, community activists, elected officials, chamber of commerce officials, realtors and business owners held simultaneous press conferences/rallies outside of Florida Department of Environmental Protection offices in Ft. Myers and Ft. Pierce today to demand that U.S. Sugar’s city walling off the Everglades from Lake Okeechobee be rejected.

The speakers warned that the massive city planned south of Lake Okeechobee could sabotage efforts to protect the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries and to restore the Everglades. It would ensure continued environmental and financial devastation for coastal communities as water from the Lake continues to be released east and west during the rainy season instead of being sent south the Everglades.

“The proposed Sugar Hill Sector Plan would impact the State’s ability and contract right to purchase these lands to be used for moving water south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades and stopping the destructive discharges to the coastal estuaries,” said Mark Perry, Executive Director of the Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart.

U.S. Sugar and Hilliard Brother's "Sugar Hill" would create a massive, sprawling city between the Everglades and its water source, Lake Okeechobee. The 67-square-mile project would bring 18,000 new residential units and 25 million square feet of commercial, industrial, office and retail buildings directly into the Everglades Agricultural Area.

Mark Anderson, Ft. Myers business and property owner, and representative of the Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce said: “Endless studies have confirmed the importance of restoring the connection from Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades to create a southward flow of water between the two. The studies are conclusive: it is now action that is needed to acquire the land needed for restoration and not development.”

"The Florida Department of Environmental Protection should formally advise the Department of Economic Opportunity to reject the Sector Plan because of its adverse effect on the Florida Everglades and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, and the flood control, water supply and economic functions they provide to nearly 8 million Floridians,” said Julia Hathaway, organizer for the Sierra Club in West Palm Beach.

Dave Kirwan, Board Member of Reef Relief and a Cape Coral resident stated: “The Sugar Hill Sector Plan is a very bad idea for water quality and the environment of South Florida. Everglades restoration and improving the water quality of Florida Bay is critical to protecting and preserving Florida’s Barrier Reef; the only living coral reef in North America and the third largest in the World.”

A statement by Paton White, President of the Audubon Society of the Everglades said: “Clearly, the fast-tracking of such an ambitious and unprecedented development plan needs to slow down. We call on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District to strongly oppose this short-sighted and inadequately researched plan when they make their comments this week to the Department of Economic Opportunity.”

Organizations involved in today’s events in Ft. Myers and Ft. Pierce included: Sierra Club, Indian River Keeper, Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce, Rivers Coalition, Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, Reef Relief, Treasure Coast Progressive Alliance, Martin County Chapter of the Native Plant Society, River Kidz, Responsible Growth Management Coalition, Inc., and Audubon Society of the Everglades.

###


Sugar Hill Myth vs. Fact Sheet: https://docs.google.com/a/sierraclub.org/file/d/0Byjb07VUznvMSEhiNmo3cnFuSVU/edit


Comments to SFWMD/DEP Sept 10: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byjb07VUznvMNnR0WmtIWVdTNkk/edit?usp=sharing

Comments to SFWMD/DEP Sept 26: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byjb07VUznvMcDRYTU1CNGNWbkk/edit?usp=sharing

ALL option lands map: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byjb07VUznvMeDBPd0xvN2NKbjg/edit?usp=sharing

2015 Option lands map: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byjb07VUznvMck5wV3AxOFdyMjA/edit?usp=sharing

--
Jonathan Ullman
South Florida/Everglades Senior Field Organizer
Sierra Club
300 Aragon Ave., Ste. 360
Coral Gables, FL 33134

Urban Envrionment League's Onion Awards. By Geniusofdespair

2014 Onion Awards were not announced previously. Orchids were.

The Urban Environment League held its annual Orchids and Onions awards event Tuesday evening September 30, 2014 at the Coral Gables Museum.

The featured speaker was newly elected County Commissioner Daniella Levina Cava. In her remarks Cava noted that “Miami is an iconic place, and let's make sure we continue to lift up not only its amazing diversity of culture and design, but also its natural beauty, making it accessible to residents as well as visitors.”

Guests heard a list of those who were awarded Orchids for their role in preserving Miami’s waterfront, its public spaces, more open public processes, and trying to retain historic and archaeological places. Several Onions were also awarded for questionable actions by public officials, a developer and by the University of Miami for its sale of environmentally sensitive land in South Dade.

UEL Vice President Gregory Bush noted the many struggles that the organization has been involved in over the past eighteen years. It was founded trying to stop the American Airlines Arena from being built on the public waterfront land. Involved in the design process for Bicentennial Park (now Museum Park) and Virginia Key, the UEL has also been one of the leading organizations calling for more well planned park systems as we as the preservation of the Urban Development Boundary Line.

Denialism, November elections and Florida's future … by gimleteye

How do you make a post-partisan appeal to vote against Rick Scott?

Daniel Tilson, for Context Florida, tries: what you need to find is your "fire in the belly" to change "the current course of history in Florida." Tilson takes a curious, soft course in "Here's why you should vote in the Florida election on Nov. 4th". He refrains from laying rubber on the road like Jeb Lund in Rolling Stone and his recent, devastating, "The Florida Farce: Rick Scott v. Charlie Crist".

"Look to a Ponzi state running eternally on the next out-of-town sucker, administered by a gerrymandered GOP hammerlock and overseen by a man who the president of Public Policy Polling once said could be trounced by "a ham sandwich." That man is Florida Governor Rick Scott, who bought one election and feels like having another, who — depending on your point of view — makes the Sunshine State either more of a national punchline than it already is, or a paradise where every political malignancy can sizzle and bloat before coming home to fuck up wherever it is you live."

That's not Tilson's game. He takes another course. Tilson aims at a post-partisan appeal. He tenderizes his readers, prefacing that he won't scold. He won't whine. He even holds an olive branch while reaching for the complainers, perhaps the libertarians or even Tea Party faithful who initially flocked to vote for a governor precisely because he had never held an elected office and was worth a fortune. "This isn’t about fire in the belly to rock the vote. This is about fire in the belly to rock the boat."

But gently. Tilson's audience is also Fox News viewers who read. (Context Florida OPEDs are picked up and distributed to other Florida newspapers.) That is a small subset but large enough to swing an election. There are in fact more Fox News viewers than Rolling Stone could dream of and more than all the network news combined.

"Forget partisan politics," Tilson writes, trying to land a punch against Scott in a velvet glove. "Remember your family’s future."

Some of us, though, have been fighting for our family's future in Florida for decades with bubkas to show for it.

Thinking about this sad state and why one would need to treat the Fox News viewer sector with kid gloves turned me back to an email I had just received from a friend in China.

It landed in my inbox stuffed with unhelpful campaign fundraising appeals just before the final, crucial reporting period before the November election; a hail storm of dire warnings if we don't contribute this minute to upsetting the apple cart. Yes, that apple cart that won't tip.

My friend had just crossed over from Hong Kong to the mainland. If you haven't been watching the news, Hong Kong is in the grip of the most intense civil disobedience in decades. The protests have been peaceful, non-violent, and moved the needle of world financial markets -- more than its progenitor, Occupy Wall Street, ever did.

Here is what my friend wrote from China: "Greetings. This morning in Guangdong, we were able to see the protests on CNN International in our hotel room. By this afternoon CNN announces, "Next up, Hong Kong protests". Then the channel goes dark for ten minutes. That being said most business people are aware of the Hong Kong protests through the web. They do not agree with the sentiments of the protestors. They are quite up to speed on the difference between democracy and central control of government. They express concern at how messy and stressful democracy is for us in the United States. So I've come to think of it as if everyone in China gets their news as though from Fox TV. China is more like being inside a nation of Fox TV viewers than any place I've ever been."

Then my friend makes a worthy imaginative leap. "Would Fox News viewers in the United States really care if they were restricted from CNN? The very same CNN that both conservative Chinese and conservative Americans mutually dislike or are indifferent to. Fox TV viewers in the US have often said to me that they despise CNN and its viewers. Most American conservatives are as content without CNN as loyal Chinese citizens are content without news from a restive Hong Kong. An entire country without CNN is a Fox News viewer's dream come true."

But we are not in China. We are in Florida, the sunshine state of inertia. We know the path we are on, with Gov. Rick Scott. Sadly, it reminds me of a political statement I clipped from the magazine Adbusters in the mid-1990s long before 9/11 brought down the towers misted in background fog.

"… it seems most of us are crossing our fingers and simply hoping for the best"

That photo and its lament were published before the dot.com boom and bust, before the housing boom and bust, and even before Jeb Bush slipped into the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee. Fox News, Gov. Rick Scott, and the extremist right are selling a version of the future that deploys the background misted in the fog of fear, inertia, a TV commercial looping with such hypnotic force that nearly half of all voters are unwilling to budge their positions; either at the ballot box or from their barcaloungers.

Without delivering the hard truth, how do you get people to vote?


Daniel Tilson: Here’s why you should vote in the Florida election on Nov. 4
Context Florida

If you or folks you know are tuning out Florida’s 2014 midterm elections and don’t plan to vote, we need to talk.

No worries, there’ll be no scolding.

No finger wagging or whining about your civic duty.

No repetition of the “If you don’t vote, don’t complain!” line.

Far as I’m concerned, you never lose your right to complain.

I’m not about to lecture anyone about how our American ancestors fought and died to gain and protect our voting rights, or about how many other people worldwide have fought the same fights in their homelands.

This isn’t about knowing or honoring history.

This isn’t about fire in the belly to rock the vote.

This is about fire in the belly to rock the boat.

911: Miami Dade Police Department has problems with a failing Radio System. Guest Post

Failing Radio System MDPD  as of -2014 over $200 Million Spent.  Xavier Suarez knows what is going on, I sure don't!!! I hope comments help us understand this.

This is a memo without an author - Whistleblower...

Former Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman Is All Tears as he Awaits Sentencing. By Geniusofdespair

Former Homestead mayor speaks about conviction on corruption charges If you don't see video try this link


Meanwhile, Attorney Ben Kuehne's other client, Michael Pizzi, is trying to get the Miami Lakes position of Mayor back...armed with a harshly worded opinion to Rick Scott from the Florida Supreme Court.

Flights to and from Ebola stricken nations? not so much … by gimleteye

The state of the world in a map: this morning's real time flight data. (courtesy of FlightRadar24)

Picture of the day: County Commissioner Javier Souto Alert Guy. By Geniusofdespair

No that is not County Commissioner Javier Souto sitting up in his coffin. It is him sleeping on the dais in September. He is waaay past his prime and pretty much an embarrassment.  But he was on the right side of the ban on fences in front yards, the ordinance Lynda Bell got repealed. That should be revisited.

  Good to know how alert the guy is. The public must have been speaking, he is all ears for developers.

Law Enforcement Discussion Group Targets Miami-Dade County. By Geniusofdespair

Leo Affairs.Com is a National blog/website/message board that identifies itself as the voice of Law Enforcement Online. They had a thread about Miami that I think you would all find worth reading, not surprising most were anonymous postings, so take what is said in that spirit. There is usually some truth in what is posted anonymously but don't take it as gospel. Their mission statement:

LEOAFFAIRS.COM™ got its start as an Officer Rights website, but soon became aware of the need for LEOs to talk candidly about law enforcement related topics without the fear of repercussion.  Thus, our Message Board area was born.

LEOAFFAIRS.COM™ basically consists of a Website and a Message Board area.  

Here is a post from 9/29/2014 with 2 comments:

38 transfers at Narcotics and ECU-the latest bureaus to be decimated by Mayor Gimenez

Once again the transfer grim reaper has gotten hold of our department. Late today, members of the Narcotics and ECU bureaus were scrambling to "find new homes" after being told they will be transferred in the immediate future. Of course for the most part these selective transfers are surgical in nature and target senior members of this department who are either on the drop or near their 25 year retirement date. The way Old Toothless sees it, when those guys opt for retirement he can employ three rookies off the street for what it costs to pay a senior member of this department. Sad thing is the experience loss in irreplaceable and it inevitably leads to a much younger department built on the image of our infamous deputy director. I truly hope that after putting in a full career in this department those young men and women who now come into this job are not cast aside as we currently are by some future mayor and forced to retire by an equally obtuse group of administrators.


Isn't there a drug-gang turf war going? Why the hell would you transfer all of the cops outta narcotics and gangs.

Because Gimenez does not give a damn about the turf-drug war going on in Black neighborhoods. Gimenez' interests lie with the "beautiful People" from Brickell and other affluent areas. Appointing J. D. Patterson MDPD director was an astute political move. Would the Black community criticize one of their own for being utterly inept? Hardly! For Gimenez, Patterson is and will continue to be an insurance policy. This is one of the many reasons why Gimenez must be RECALLED!

Is your in-box stuffed with campaign money appeals? … by gimleteye

The 2014 election cycle will go down in history.

One reason this election cycle is exceptional has to do with email.

If you ever gave political contributions over the web, this is the election cycle where the parties mastered algorithms to trigger a merciless assault of your in-box based on your giving history on the web.

If there was an appeal to fear that could be made in a word or two, to get your money on the web, it was used.

If there was an appeal to catastrophe that could be made in a word or two, to authorize your credit card or Paypal account, it was used.

If there was an appeal that you hadn't given yet, or had given lightly, or had ignored prior urgent emails from the Pope to the Emperor, it was used.

By the time the clock struck One, I was convinced this blatant, perverse assault on privacy was designed by an infiltrator from the opposition. A double agent tasked to suppress voters as cheaply as possible.

We always sigh, 'enough is enough!', but when it comes to money in American politics it is evident that enough is never enough.

The upcoming mid-term election is the most important in a generation. The flood of dark corporate money to the extremist right is driving a massive push for small donations.

Some of the email solicitations read like extortion. This feeling of violation competes with anger that one has to tamp down one's fury because the result of the upcoming elections could bring even worse to our nation.

I, for one, cannot wait for the election to be over. My in-box can't take it anymore.

Reminder Orchids and Onions Meeting is TONIGHT! By Geniusofdespair

Please try to attend to honor these worthy people who get an orchid and see who gets the onion for being a general pain in the ass.  All are welcome to this event.

Friends of Ludlam Trail Ask You to Please Attend Ludlam Trail Meetings! Guest Post

Reminder: Meetings to Decide Fate of Ludlam Trail:

September 30, 6:30 p.m. Westchester Community Council (10); Ruben Dario Middle School, 350 NW 97 Avenue

October 20, 2 p.m. Planning Advisory Board; County Commission Chamber, 111 NW 1 Street
Email Commissioner Suarez, Commissioner Sosa, and Mayor Gimenez, and let them know we want a linear park and trail!

First Community Council Voted to Transmit with Recommendation of DENIAL! Two more to go!

Friends of the Ludlam Trail urges you to attend one of the upcoming Community Council meetings (listed to the left) where the future of the Ludlam Trail may be in question. FECI is seeking an amendment to the Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP) that will upzone the land and allow over 2,300 residential units to be built directly on the corridor. If this actually gets built it will have substantial impacts on traffic, community services, and the environment.

Despite seeking a significant bonus to their development capacity, there has been NO public planning process, nor has any plan been presented publicly that explains the project!

The proposal leaves many questions in the minds of FOLT members. What happened to the rail-to-trail and linear park that was proposed by Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Department? How can the land be rezoned with no master plan or public process? Review the proposal by following this link and let us know what you think.  190 pages...really!

GENIUS SAID: I think it is great, but I am not going to read 190 pages, I am just going by those I know who are supporting it.

The Latest From the Power Struggle For County Commission Chair. The Lobbying has Begun. By Geniusofdespair

Rebeca Sosa: Miami Dade County Commission Chair

They might not know who it is going to be the next Chair at the County but I think I know. Pepe Diaz won't be -- he hasn't had his epiphany yet. Taking too long -- and everyone will think he is too stupid to not have heeded God's warnings to him. Work on that transformation Pepe, then maybe next time.

Sally Heyman yells too much. I heard that Javier Souto is deathly afraid she is going to slug him when he goes into one of his long winded rants. He asked to be put on the other side of Zapata so he is afforded some protection by Juan. So forget both Souto and Heyman. I, however, would love to see Souto as the chair. Commission meetings would be 12 hours minimum. Such torture, such fun.

It won't be Juan Zapata, he disagrees too much although he and the mayor stirring it up would be fun to watch. I remember when Arthur Teele and Joe Carollo almost got into a fistfight on the City of Miami Dais. They both menacingly stood up to have a go at it. Those were the days. We need more of that. I had my money on the solid bodied Teele at the time, although Carollo was feisty and maybe faster.  In County politics I definitely would bet on Zapata over the Mayor.

I don't think it will be Xavier Suarez as we usually go Black, Hispanic Black, Hispanic.

So my best guess is Commissioner Audrey Edmonson. She is no longer one of the unreformable majority. She understands the manifestation of the divine nature of the UDB, Pepe. She finally realized that her district was being robbed and neglected by over-development out West. That got her off the bad list that Pepe Diaz is still on.

Audrey Edmonson: Next Miami Dade County Chair?

Vice chair? I think it will be Sally Heyman. She has been on the Commission a zillion years and we usually go white on Vice Chairs. Daniella Levine Cava would be a long shot, but so was Bell.

Rebeca (one 'C') did/is doing a good job. I think she will be running for Mayor next.

Nice Dress Audrey

Monday morning: here's what we are reading -- Bernie Sanders, Peter Van Buren, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Citizens United … by gimleteye

Thomas Frank interviews Senator Bernie Sanders at Salon:

What I am telling you, as somebody who likes Obama and respects Obama, is that the key mistake that I believe he made, and it’s perfectly understandable, is he got into office, and he said, two years after he was in, “I’m gonna sit down and negotiate with the Republicans. I know I can’t get everything. We’ll work on some kind of compromise.” What he didn’t catch on to is that the Republicans had no intention of compromising with him and they have no intention of compromising at all. They have an agenda. It is an extreme right wing agenda backed by the Koch brothers and other billionaires, and the only way you defeat that right-wing agenda is when the American people rise up and demand real change. It can’t be done within the confines of Congress. It has to be part of a strong and active grassroots movement. Do you understand what I’m saying here?

Peter Van Buren, first published in Tomgram, "Apocalyse Now: Iraq edition":

If there is a summary lesson here, perhaps it’s that there is evidently no hole that can't be dug deeper. How could it be more obvious, after more than two decades of empty declarations of victory in Iraq, that genuine "success," however defined, is impossible? The only way to win is not to play.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg in The New Republic:

If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be Citizens United. I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.

From The SaintPetersBlog: "Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam took in $51,607 during the weeklong period, bringing his total to almost $2.67 million, reports show. Thad Hamilton, Putnam’s Democratic opponent, brought in $435 during the period, for an overall total of $20,323.

In the race for attorney general, incumbent Pam Bondi raised $10,750 Sept. 13-19, giving her an overall total of $1.91 million. Bondi spent $576,041 as of Sept. 19. Bondi faces … Democrat George Sheldon, who took in another $12,015 during the period, reporting overall contributions of $615,855."

Sorry to see this story: pay cut at Tampa Bay Times … by gimleteye

I'm not sure I agree with Peter Schorsch's blog assessment of shortcomings of the Tampa Bay Times. He writes, "Today’s pay cut announcement reminds us that the Tampa Bay Times is the Boston Celtics of regional newspapers." Meaning, the paper has been resting on its laurels.

For seven years now we've been at our blog, Eye On Miami, and ours is a frequent one-way dialogue with our city's newspaper of note: The Miami Herald.

We started writing, believing that maybe the Herald editors (publisher/s?) would see there is a dedicated audience for strong local content bearing a sharp, critical eye (hence, gimleteye). Alas. We were wrong.

The Herald has been less and less relevant, as financial pressures erode Miami's only daily newspaper (although the publishers and top line executives never seem to suffer). Part of what keeps us going is that there are other newspapers in Florida where tough-minded editorial content seeps throughs; the Tampa Bay Times being first and foremost.

Now the Times, owned by the non-profit Poynter Foundation, is contracting (read, reporter salaries). Nothing good came from the Herald's contraction, and nothing good will come from the Times'.

In a fair and equitable democracy, there would be a public clamor for print journalism above and beyond the stipulations of the so-called free market.  I don't know if that discussion will ever happen in the United States …


By Peter Schorsch on September 18, 2014
st. petersburg times

It is another dark day at 490 First Avenue South, the headquarters of the struggling Tampa Bay Times. CEO and Publisher Paul Tash lowered the boom with a memo outlining a 5 percent pay cut for all staff — or whatever staff is left after forced layoffs further decimate the newspaper.

It’s so bad at the Times, which is facing a 2016 deadline to pay back a $28 million loan from high-interest lender Boston-based Crystal Financial LLC, is warning employees to take the blue pill, resign voluntarily now and receive 13 weeks severance pay or take the red pill, take your chances and see your severance package capped at eight weeks.