Hialeah: Grant for Feeding Hungry Kids Turns Into Las Vegas Jaunt for Officials. By Geniusofdespair

Carlos Hernandez, Hialeah Mayor was supposed to go on this questionable Las Vegas trip but no one knows where he went instead. Of course, I have my thoughts on the matter. His calendar blocked out the whole week to go to Vegas, but he wasn't there. Could it be he is having an affair? Only his wife Nancy knows where he was and I guess we will keep it between them because the misuse of funds is more our business, isn't it, not a rumored affair?

How this ever got dismissed is beyond me.

Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez

The article was in the Miami Herald this week - by Francisco Alvarado:

Two years ago, Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez signed off on spending $7,621 from a $10,000 corporate grant for feeding poor children. Instead, the money went to pay for airline tickets and posh hotel accommodations for himself, his chief of staff, a police detective and four other city employees to attend a parks and recreation conference in Las Vegas.

News of Mayor Hernandez’s curious city spending surfaced in documents filed in a recently closed joint public corruption investigation by Miami-Dade’s State Attorney’s Office and Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.

Another strange finding: Hernandez never traveled to Las Vegas to attend the annual conference of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) from Sept. 13-17, 2015, and his whereabouts for seven days remain a mystery.

This is the entire ethics report, scroll within the report  to see what dirtbags we have in Hialeah:

   Hialeah Mayor Vegas Report by geniusofdespair on Scribd

As Francisco pointed out, the whole damn investigation that cost a bundle led to nothing -- a back page article in the Miami Herald:

Miami-Dade Ethics Commission Executive Director Joe Centorino, a former chief of the state attorney’s public corruption unit, defended his agency’s work.

“I think the inconsistent statements by the chief of staff are pretty well laid out in our report,” Centorino said. “Yet prosecutions for perjury are very rare because it is difficult to prove. Of course, the decision to pursue it as a criminal matter is made by the state attorney.”  (Rundle failure again)

A Week Missing From Carlos Hernandez's Schedule. What was he doing? Was he with his wife Nancy at a better hotel? What gives.

Investigative Report: WHO GETS THE MYSTERY WATER? HIALEAH OR MIAMI LAKES? By Geniusofdespair

EYE ON MIAMI INVESTIGATIVE REPORT:

City of Hialeah Water Treatment Plant

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, it was required that Hialeah build a water plant as a caveat to move the UDB line - the water was to supply the NEW development on the other side of the UDB. Hialeah agreed to build the plant so the UDB line was moved for Hialeah. They forked over $100 million for the reverse osmosis plant, but somehow the County also forked over the same. Why? It was a condition for the movement of the line. Why did the County pay anything?

Anyway the plant was built by some firm from Spain. Yes, we always use locals don't we? The plant had fatal flaws and wasn't able to run. The raw water for the plant was to come from 14 deep wells. The plant was designed to only supply 10 Million Gallons Daily (for the new development). To give you some idea of how little that is, FPL recently got permission to pump an additional 100 Million Gallons of fresh water daily to keep the toasty-hot cooling canals cooler. With the failed Plant in tow, the Spanish company was bought by another company in South Korea and the South Koreans were tasked with "fixing" the reverse osmosis plant. Did they? The plant has never worked right and the people working there are not water and sewer personnel. In the Flint Michigan spirit of water delivery, the Hialeah plant started delivering water anyway. Could be rotten water for all we know.

The staff at the plant "blended" the mystery Hialeah water with the usual water supplying Miami Lakes. Choke. Why Miami Lakes? Hialeah didn't want to poison its own? Anyway there is more to this story. Much more.

Why aren't County Workers and DERM overseeing this water delivery since the County has $100 million invested in this fiasco? I want to know, and so does Mayor Michael Pizzi who has called Lester Sola at WASA for answers.

By the way, why is the County buying up land way out west in North Dade? I heard they want to put a Wastewater treatment plant out there. Really? Out west near our North West well field? Is that why they are testing that deep deep inject well at Virginia Key. I see a conspiracy of bad planning going on and tainting of water in our future. Injection wells have never been a proven method to dispose of anything.

Wet Dream Mall of the Americas will be joined by 1,000 Future Homes...all to Flood. By Geniusofdespair

I think he means the North Side of 170th Street because that is where they annexed but who am I to question another reporter. Google gives the location for the Mall in the Northwest Corner but the Business Journal says the Southwest intersection. Whatever, it all is somewhere on this map.

According to the South Florida Business Journal....the largest mall to be built in America will not be alone, a developer wants to build 1,000 homes just South of it.  More houses to flood.  Good move. What is the elevation of that area?

Dacar Management affiliate Atlas Hialeah Heights wants to rezone the 135.3-acre site on the south side of Northwest 170th Street between Interstate 75 and Northwest 97th Avenue for high density residential. That would permit eight units per acre, for a total of 1,082 homes. The developer has the option of putting commercial/retail buildings on up to 15 percent of the site.

In addition, Atlas Hialeah Heights agreed to expand Northwest 170th Street to two lanes and build a bridge east over Interstate 75.

They still aren't taking sea level rise seriously. It is coming from the West too folks.

Pennies From Heaven...I Mean Pennies from Hialeah. By Geniusofdespair

Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez

Back from the City of Angels, that looks like a tinderbox of dry brush, to our crazy town.  Not disappointing me, Hialeah, a city that likes their politicians tainted, is in the news. They have a mayor who does quasi legal bank loans with high interest (up to 36%). He was found guilty by the Ethics Commission of lying to the public. Mayor Carlos Hernandez was fined a measly $4,000 by the Commission for the lying about the interest payments ($1,000 of the fine was for the cost of the investigation). Carlos got no fine for the banking, I guess because he squealed on Julio Robaina (the bad one). Mayor Carlos Hernandez did lie when he first said he did not get interest payments from the ponzi schemer Luis Felipe Perez. He later admitted he got $100,000 in interest when testifying against the former Mayor Robaina.

Now you have to remember, the Ethics Commission almost never finds anyone guilty and if they do they write them a very, very, stern letter.

This is pretty harsh behavior for the Ethics Commission to actually fine someone.

The smart ass, slimey Mayor Hernandez paid the fine with 28 buckets of pennies and some nickels. Do you understand how hard it is to put that many pennies in buckets. I am guessing City of Hialeah staff worked overtime to do it. Who delivered the Pennies? City of Hialeah personnel? Ethics you must now look into the penny caper.

The Ethics Commission refused the payment and told the delivery guys to get those buckets out of here. Someone from Ethics should have run down and looked at the delivery truck.

Hernandez called the Ethics Commission "a bunch of clowns", that I find almost true but for different reasons. If anyone ever deserved a fine it is this guy. Thank you Ethics for no stern letter.

Hialeah, wake up!

Here is $1,000 in pennies... not in 28 buckets.  They take up the whole back of a van. Each box has $25 or 50 rolls. There are 2,000 penny rolls here to open and dump in a bucket, and this is just $1,000. Now someone in Hialeah has to wrap all the pennies up again for the bank to accept them.

The only photo from my trip that fits with this blog: The  original "Breaking Bad" camper. The one they blew up was a prop.

Hialeah Out of Control. By Geniusofdespair

Former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez

Yes, Raul Martinez --- Long time Mayor of Hialeah --- ran against the current mayor, but for Mayor Carlos Hernandez to sponsor a resolution to strip Raul's name from City Hall, that sounds like something a totalitarian regime would do like....You know what country goes here.  From the Miami Herald:

The Hialeah City Council Tuesday night approved a resolution to remove the names of former Mayor Raúl Martinez, his wife Angela and former state Sen. Roberto Casas from three municipal properties.

As the audience applauded, the council unanimously passed the three resolutions, sponsored by current Mayor Carlos Hernandez.

The properties include City Hall, a low-income apartment complex and a small park.

This isn't like the case with Lynda Bell naming a building after her mother -- who did nothing in the community except to spawn Lynda Bell. Raul Martinez has been in public service since 1971. So bad blood between Mayors can obliterate your name from Miami Dade County? Good to know. Let's get rid of the name Stephen P. Clark
 from County Hall while we are in this mindset. You might not like Raul Martinez (he was cleared of any wrong-doing) but he was a force in Hialeah for over 30 years, you just don't 'forgettaboutit'. Last I spoke with him, he was looking into corruption in his city. Hialeah never ceases to amaze me. They do what they did in the old days, in that other place I will not name, and don't see it even though it is clear as a bell.

Miami Dade County Upcoming Elections Tuesday Nov. 5th. By Geniusofdespair

Mayoral Election Homestead:
MARK BELL: When asked how he garnered an animal ordinance violation arrest and conviction, and a fine, Bell said he didn't remember what he did. The Miami Herald reported:

Bell says he can’t remember what it involved. “This was what, in ’77?” he said. “It could have been anything from my dog getting out of the yard, or I didn’t get his rabies shot.”

Boys and Girls, when you have to go to court and pay a fine YOU REMEMBER. He was 21 years old. I remember vividly the only time I even shoplifted and I wasn't caught. I remember the store even. I was 13. Bell's minimization of this event raises red flags. First offenses usually only get you warnings, not fines, on the kind of violations he referenced.

Mayoral Election Miami Beach:
Phillip Levine's chilling instructions to the press and ban of bloggers from his press conference, plus his lawsuits, marks him as a bully in my opinion. I HATE bullies. I am glad we found out before it was too late. SLAPP suits are a tool of the rich. Too bad Levine follows suit. I would rather have more of the same with Gongora than be surprised with public figures doing lawsuits and intimidating the public and the press. I got enough of a surprise with Gimenez's behavior, don't need more.

City of Miami:
Jacqui Colyer was endorsed by the Miami Herald for District 5 in the city of Miami.

Jackson Memorial Bond:
You know how I feel about the stupid Bond for Jackson: One big No. If you look at what is happening with the Tennis Center now, you will understand why. Stop with bonds. We already give Jackson 1/2 a penny sales tax and a 1/2 penny from our property taxes - that is $350 million dollars a year. Why give them almost a billion more in one big shot? I never vote for bonds we get screwed in the end.

Here are some photos from early voting on the campaign trail.

Kennedy Park/Library Hialeah

Hialeah uses trucks with blasting sound systems. Looks like a slate.

Parking Lot of Kennedy Library

Miami Beach, Michael Gongora's Mom

Matti Bower supporters in Miami Beach

Arrest in the Hialeah Absentee Ballot Fraud Case. By Geniusofdespair

Deisy Cabrera Mug Shot

Deisy Cabrera was just arrested:

"Deisy Penton de Cabrera, 56, was charged with absentee-ballot fraud, a third-degree felony, and two misdemeanor counts of violating a county ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to possess more than two ballots belonging to other voters (THIS IS TECHNICALLY NOT CORRECT ABOUT THE TWO BALLOTS MIAMI HERALD). Investigators suspect Cabrera, a ballot broker known in Spanish as a boletera, of illegally collecting at least 31 absentee ballots."

Now here is a Miami REGISTERED voter for you  - can't write and lost in space. Deisy filled out her ballot... (Your Affiant  is Detective Joaquin Garcia of MDPD, this is from the arrest warrant):

Affidavit in Support of Warrant

Bad Poetry But Great Signs! By Geniusofdespair

We have featured them in the past, Hialeah's best Liquor Store signage is at M&M Liquors.

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To Have Someone Pick Up Your Absentee Ballot, You Need to Fill Out an Affidavit. By Geniusofdespair

I asked Elections how many affidavits were submitted for absentee ballots in the Hialeah runoff elections. It is the only way someone can legally pick up your ballot. Out of 14,271 absentee ballots cast in the Mayoral run-off election, the Dept. of Elections said they had only 3 affidavits submitted. I will bet that 1 in 5 ballots were picked up in that city but no one is talking.

Hialeah Runoff Election Results. By Geniusofdespair

Waiting...the absentee votes should be in momentarily. I think the absentee results will tell us who won. I hope to be surprised but I don't expect to be. 34.83% voter turnout.
Mayor
Carlos Hernandez - 63.69% absentee
Raul Martinez - 36.31%
Council I
Loudes Lozano - 63.84%
Alex Morales - 36.16%
III
Danny Bolanos - 30.32%
Vivian Casals-Munoz 69.68%
VI
Paul Hernandez - 60.06%
Frank Lago - 39.94%

Another election that will go the way of the absentee ballots. Just saw results. Not much of a change.

Absentee Ballot Collection in Hialeah: Corrupt, Plain and Simple. By Geniusofdespair

Read Accusations fly over absentee ballots in the Miami Herald today. Reported by Patricia Mazzei and Christina Veiga:

“Our guys will not touch a ballot that’s not signed, that’s not sealed, at all,” fire union Vice President Eric Johnson said.

The wrinkle: State and county laws only allow a person to turn in two absentee ballots — other than his or her own — per election. One must be from an immediate family member. The other must be from a voter who has signed an affidavit designating that person as responsible for the ballot.

“Then this whole city is in violation,” a surprised Johnson said when a reporter informed him about the rules.

You are damn right they are Eric! That is why Eye on Miami blog is following this issue so closely and has lobbied for the changes coming out of the County Commission that the article mentioned.

These boleteros are thwarting democracy in Miami-Dade County. Don't think it is JUST Hialeah. Hialeah votes absentee in such high numbers, that they can change any countywide election, like a mayoral election. Also boletero tactics are contagious, now bridging our ethic and racial divide. Read the article...it mirrors our blog posts in many good ways.

Miami Herald Reports EOM's Judith Thompson Story Within Hialeah Early Voting Article. By Geniusofdespair

From the Miami Herald, related to Hialeah Absentee Voting:

Last year, Judith Thompson’s vote was stolen.

Records showed she had voted by mail. Except Thompson never received her absentee ballot.

“Someone else had voted in my name,” Thompson told a committee of Miami-Dade County commissioners last week. “I later spoke with an investigator from the State Attorney’s office, but no one has ever been charged with stealing my vote.”

 One of the reasons: In Miami-Dade, there is no penalty for violating the county ordinance regulating absentee ballots.

That could be about to change. A measure imposing a $1,000 fine or 60 days in jail for breaking the absentee-ballot law cleared the county committee recently with unanimous support.

But any revisions to the law will take place after Tuesday, when Hialeah voters go to the polls in a high-profile mayoral runoff. Current mayor Carlos Hernandez faces former Mayor Raul Martinez on Tuesday.

In that fiery race, no topic has been hotter than absentee voting.

Read the article, it is good...

Watch these two videos.  Video one (catches the flavor of Hialeah voting):  Controversy at Hialeah bus opening. Mayor Hernandez brings bus goers to IHOP and the City Council chair, Isis Garcia-Martinez - a vile woman to be sure, in the mold of Natacha Seijas - is aboard being obnoxious, shouting at a blogger "You are not the press" and "Get out of my way." She is a shrill woman, watch it. You can see each bus rider is given a gift bag as they get off bus. Gift bag and breakfast, not bad for people who are ignored the rest of the year. Here is video one...

Video two (funny worth watching, woman throws plastic water bottle, it is in Spanish):Absentee Ballot Issues - Former Chief of Police follows a campaign worker known for collecting ballots.

Here is the article that explains this second video (Video in Spanish, Article English)

The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald (Enrique Flor) are doing a good job on this election.  These videos give you a good flavor of what is going on in Hialeah.

Hialeah: The Election from Hell. By Geniusofdespair

 The two Titan's of Hialeah face off. Yes, Raul Martinez and Julio Robaina. Robaina isn't running but he is solidly in the race supporting Carlos Hernandez and a vote for Carlos is a vote for Julio, everyone knows it.  The Miami Herald reported today on the use of buses in the election.  I was fortunate to video tape a bus during the election.

Apparently the City of Hialeah scheduled a trip to the Hard Rock Casino on ELECTION DAY. Eleven of the people getting off the bus went to vote. The City's Mayor Hernandez has a field trip for seniors on election day...what does that tell voters?  In my video you can see that people wearing campaign T-Shirts are gathering around bus riders way within the 100 foot radius, and you can see one election official (orange vest) just walk by them without saying anything to the workers within the no electioneering zone.

Also watch the video in the above post you can see Mayor Hernandez bringing a busload of voters to IHOP and give them gift bags.

Check out the video on the Miami Herald site on Absentee Ballot. Here is the explanation of what is going on with the video.

Absentee Ballot Fraud In Hialeah? You Be The Judge. By Geniusofdespair

These are photos of a mailbox in Hialeah, near Hialeah racetrack, taken yesterday at 1pm.   Now make believe you are a voter. Would you deposit your absentee ballot in a full mailbox? Would you deposit ANY mail in a mailbox this full?

If you look closely at these photos there appears to be more than one ballot. Some appear to have been folded together. There are multiple stamps on one visible. There is a signature on one visible and you can see the same red area surrounding the signature on an envelope in the foreground (the back of it).  Most of the envelopes visible appear to be thick and over-sized (like a ballot). You can click on photos to enlarge them.

So what do these photos lead me to believe? That a campaign worker illegally picked up ballots from the voters. From there we don't know what happened to them. Finally  a stack of them were placed in this over-flowing mailbox by the same or another idiot worker. Me, I see what appears to be at least 4 absentee ballots in these photos and I also see fraudulent handling of ballots. And, what about the fraud waiting to happen: All of these ballots could have been taken easily from the mailbox. This is why I hate absentee ballots, they leave too much room for corruption.

What's New with the Hialeah Runoff Election. By Geniusofdespair

There were debates in Spanish this morning.

There is a rumor that a guy is impersonating a firefighter (they have endorsed Raul Martinez), picking up absentee ballots that were requested by voters through the Raul Martinez campaign.  That was done before -- the impersonating -- this happened when Raul was running against Lincoln Diaz Balart in 2008.  State Attorney Centorino did an investigation of this 2008 race.

Hialeah's runoff election is November 15th and early voting starts on the 10th. This must feel like deja vu for Raul since the same Sasha Tirador is working for the Hernandez campaign. Here is what they were doing in 2008 according to authorities I suspect it is no different today:

Voting Today in Hialeah and City of Miami. By Geniusofdespair

Voting at Victor Wilde Park Precinct 321 at 3pm, 353 voters and there were 319 in precinct 319.


At the Victor Wilde Park voting precinct in Hialeah, campaign workers make fun of Mayor Carlos Hernandez having been accused of not declaring interest he was paid to Hialeah Ponzi scammer. That is suppose to be Ponzi schemer Luis Felipe Perez on the left and Uncle Sam on the right.


Only in Hialeah would they drive these billboards RIGHT in front of polling place. I was standing at the front door of polling location.

Meanwhile, at the Legion Park Precinct it was subdued. About 50 people voted by 1pm.

Elvis Cruz, Sarnoff supporter, was busy eating.

Kate Callahan was holding her sign.

Don't know what to make of this sign...at all. Sarnoff is the only one who supports the Park?

My Field Trip to Early Voting in Hialeah Tuesday. By Geniuofdespair

I have to say there is no place like Hialeah for elections. Early voting was festive yesterday. It was noisy -- check out the video, the audio is from the blaring truck speakers. Political signs are everywhere. I saw most of the candidates except the current Mayor.

I said I would endorse the first candidate that fed me. I got a piece of vegetarian pizza at the Raul Martinez camp -- it had sausages and ham on it...with a couple of vegetables of course.

Here are some photos from my outing. As of 5 pm 490 voters went out on Monday to vote in Hialeah.

I was surprised to learn there was a 4th Candidate running for Mayor and here he is. His name is George Castro. He said he could win because he is not like the other 3. Okay.

Raul Martinez was standing around greeting voters. He is running for Mayor in case you live in a cave.

Rudy Garcia, running for Mayor, wins for best hair. It was perfect. Didn't move a bit. Since he was a term-limited State Senator, I asked him for some dirt on Rubio or David Rivera, he wouldn't say a word. He sort of backed away from me during my questions and was soon in the arms of his handler Al Lorenzo. Also working on his campaign is David Custin. Sasha Tirador is working for no-show while I was there, Carlos Hernandez. Both Custin and Tirador were mentioned in the absentee ballot fraud close-out memo from the State Attorney's office. Jeffrey Garcia is helping Raul. He was the one that made the complaint that prompted the investigation of the other two. I like Jeffrey.

Al Lorenzo, working for Rudy - also doing Carlos Gimenez's campaign.

There were plenty of signs in Hialeah.

And, there were even moving signs and really big, noisy moving signs...

Even though he didn't offer me food, I liked Frank Lago. He is running for Concejales. Yes, my Spanish came in handy when people were pushing palm cards at me from all directions:

"No vivo in Hialeah." And, they understood. The throngs of campaign workers parted like the Red Sea, to let me pass...to go find food.

The Hialeah Poll done in August. By Geniusofdespair

Will there be a major shake-up in Hialeah Government? Balsera Communications did a poll, released August 18 that was sponsored by the Hialeah Firefighters, here are the results:

State of City Government:
• 65% of Voters feel the Financial condition of the city is either average or poor.
• 26% of Voters feel Waste & Corruption In Government was the top issue followed closely by Property Taxes and Crime & Safety. Quality City Services was rated as the fourth most important issue to voters.
• 86% of voters feel the performance of the Hialeah Firefighters is either excellent/good.

November Elections:
• Former Mayor Raul Martinez holds a double digit lead over current Mayor Carlos Hernandez. Carlos Hernandez leads, third place finisher, former Senator Rudy Garcia by double digits.
• None of the current council members garners 40% against the field of challengers.
• All Council members appear to be vulnerable, particularly Jose Caragol, appointee Paul Hernandez and Isis Garcia-Martinez. The three incumbents are all tied or within the MOE with their respective challengers ( Julio Martinez, Frank Lago & Cindy Miel ).
• In the only open seat Alex Morales has a commanding lead on the field.

Methodology
A survey of the views and opinions of Hialeah voters was conducted between August 13 -16, 2011 by Balsera Communications. Using random digit dialing, 300 likely voters were surveyed. 83% of the surveys were conducted in Spanish and 17% were conducted in English. 59% of the respondents are republican, 27% Democrat and 13% NPA. 195 respondents were female and 105 were male. 86% were 56+ in age, 10% were between 40-55 while 4% were between 18-39 years old. The MOE is 5.6%.

Hialeah Incompetence? Guest Blog by Hialeahhomegrown

The City of Hialeah's famed Milander Pool has been in disrepair for over six months. This long hot summer -- there were no summer swimming classes, senior exercise classes or swim team practices.

Yes, there has been no summer access to Milander Pool for anyone who wanted to cool down from the summer heat.

Why not? Because the pool has been under repair. How did the problems at the pool become so large that they could not be completed in time for summer programs? Ask the geniuses at Hialeah City Stall a.k.a. Hialeah City Hall.

And this is "The city of progress?"

Thank you Mayor Julio Robaina, acting mayor Carlos Hernandez and acting Council President Isis Garcia-Martinez. How did your Parks and Recreation Supervisors not deal with Milander Pool's problems in a timely manner? Six months is a joke.

Genius said: I called the Mayor's office they didn't know why it took so long to do the pool. They said call Parks and Recreation. Parks and Recreation (Andy) said it was a large project didn't know how long it was supposed to have taken - he told me to call the pool itself. He seemed miffed that I said it was taking too long. There was no answer at Milander. I called the Clerk, to ask how long it said it would take in whatever the Commission passed. He said I would would have to do a public records request...like David Concepcion, you just can't look in the records for me? I don't like every question being treated as a public records request so they can garner YOUR name and take forever. You should be able to ask a simple question of a government. He said he can't give me information only records. He then proceeded to give me INFORMATION, he said the Mayor was the City Manager so we know the buck stops with the Mayor. This is the kind of 'helpful' City Clerk Concepcion is, a friend did a public records request asking for the cell phone contact list of one of the Councilmen. Concepcion sent her a contact list for the Hialeah City Council - that can be found online and he knew that wasn't what she wanted. He is stalling and appears to be a smart-ass. Other clerks call me when they are not sure of what I want or it is not clear. Nobody seems to know what is going on over there in Hialeah...I am waiting on one of the Councilman's aides to return my call. It should be long.

M&M Liquors Latest. By Geniusofdespair

M&M Liquors is staying relevant, weighing in on the upcoming election.