Friday, June 13, 2008
Should Non Profits be Getting Your Donations or Do You Want Your County Commission to Give Your Tax Dollars? By Geniusofdespair
I have started looking at non profits. Do you have any info for me on non profits getting public funds that you want looked at? I think there are non-profits that don't need our public funds for one reason or another, I want to find them.
Round up the horses! Giddyap! Steve Shiver's moved out... by gimleteye
Former Homestead Mayor, former County Manager, Internet tube guru, former low income housing developer Steve Shiver and Chamber of Commerce Alan Harper, schemers tasked by Big Miami Dogs to turn the Homestead Air Force Base into a privatized commercial airport for discount airlines (all gone) and the reconstruction of Cuba (not yet), cut out of Homestead before all those platted subdivisions turned into ghost towns, are partners in Ghost Town in Maggie Valley, NC.
According to a local news source, the lead partner "made his money in Putt-Putt franchises and now lives in Florida."
Maybe there's a Putt-Putt franchise for Alex Penelas, Tom David or Rodney Baretto, in it. Or Otis Wallace, Barbara Jordan, or Javier Souto, Horseman and Farmer! Giddyap!
In a 2003 interview, Shiver touted his business acumen. "I have driven technology projects from the very first day by doing away with paper in our offices, and mandating that all my senior executives use Blackberries and Nextels for responsiveness. Some staff that wouldn't even turn a computer on for e-mail now fight you to take away their technology." So why Maggie Valley and not Silicon Valley? Oh well.
That fighting spirit is no doubt serving Shiver well, now that he is starting over in a cooler clime redolent of the Old West. And that whole housing boom he helped unleash, scarring the landscape of South Dade: well, it's old history now by gum!
"Nestled at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains in Maggie Valley, Ghost Town offers rides fit for the youngest buckaroo to the bravest outlaw. Ghost Town also features staged gunfights, live music and shows, crafts, food and lots more fun. Step back into the Wild West at this timeless, family-fun destination located in a beautiful mountain setting surrounded with breathtaking views. Ghost Town in the Sky has something fun for all ages."
His little piece of the Republican pie... by gimleteye
Today, the New York Times reports that Christopher J. Ward, former Treasurer, stole $725,000 from The National Republican Congressional Committee. “The thefts are both embarrassing and painful for the committee, which has been struggling to raise money for what is expected to be a tough year ...”
Now, where would a senior Republican campaign official get the idea that it was OK to steal $725,000?
Well, for one: it is a tough time to be a Republican. You have to talk fiscal conservatism while nothing around you vaguely resembles it.
When George W. Bush came to office, he pledged an orderly White House, not like Clinton’s whose staff walked away from the Executive Office Building having removed the W key from a bunch of keyboards and assorted mischief. A 2002 GAO report totaled the damage estimate at about $20,000.
But $725,000 from your own Party? Maybe Mr. Ward thought it was a drop in the bucket and no one would notice since everyone else is partying, like the $800 million missing in Iraq of taxpayer money we sent there in George W. Bush’s war, or the $7 billion no-bid contract to Halliburton as a result, the company Vice President Dick Cheney ran back in the day.
Mr. Ward likely read the same news reports that we did, about Halliburton overcharging the Pentagon for fuel deliveries into Iraq.
A recent BBC investigation has estimated the amount of money stolen, lost or not properly accounted for in Iraq as high as $23 billion.
In a 60 Minutes broadcast, the former Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi said of that $800 million, “most of the money simply disappeared.”
In the United States, top financial executives of Wall Street firms—99 percent Republican—are walking away from billions of losses and pocketing hundreds of millions in compensation on the way out the door. The next thing you know, oil smuggling in Iraq will cost the Iraqi government billions of dollars and fund the insurgency.
In case you haven't been paying attention: that is happening, too.
Under such conditions of moral hazard, why wouldn't Christopher J. Ward look at his little piece of the pie as a rounding error to “remodel and pay the mortgage on his home in Bethesday, MD.” I'm not saying this is what Mr. Ward felt, but God: when the dog is messing up the living room furniture and you're only making $120,000 and you're treasurer for the President’s Dinner Committee, “the party’s biggest annual fund-raising event” and only making $10,000. Well: enough is enough. Yes we can!
It’s tough being a poor Republican.
Now, where would a senior Republican campaign official get the idea that it was OK to steal $725,000?
Well, for one: it is a tough time to be a Republican. You have to talk fiscal conservatism while nothing around you vaguely resembles it.
When George W. Bush came to office, he pledged an orderly White House, not like Clinton’s whose staff walked away from the Executive Office Building having removed the W key from a bunch of keyboards and assorted mischief. A 2002 GAO report totaled the damage estimate at about $20,000.
But $725,000 from your own Party? Maybe Mr. Ward thought it was a drop in the bucket and no one would notice since everyone else is partying, like the $800 million missing in Iraq of taxpayer money we sent there in George W. Bush’s war, or the $7 billion no-bid contract to Halliburton as a result, the company Vice President Dick Cheney ran back in the day.
Mr. Ward likely read the same news reports that we did, about Halliburton overcharging the Pentagon for fuel deliveries into Iraq.
A recent BBC investigation has estimated the amount of money stolen, lost or not properly accounted for in Iraq as high as $23 billion.
In a 60 Minutes broadcast, the former Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi said of that $800 million, “most of the money simply disappeared.”
In the United States, top financial executives of Wall Street firms—99 percent Republican—are walking away from billions of losses and pocketing hundreds of millions in compensation on the way out the door. The next thing you know, oil smuggling in Iraq will cost the Iraqi government billions of dollars and fund the insurgency.
In case you haven't been paying attention: that is happening, too.
Under such conditions of moral hazard, why wouldn't Christopher J. Ward look at his little piece of the pie as a rounding error to “remodel and pay the mortgage on his home in Bethesday, MD.” I'm not saying this is what Mr. Ward felt, but God: when the dog is messing up the living room furniture and you're only making $120,000 and you're treasurer for the President’s Dinner Committee, “the party’s biggest annual fund-raising event” and only making $10,000. Well: enough is enough. Yes we can!
It’s tough being a poor Republican.
Pizzi to challenge Seijas? by gimleteye
There is no greater sign of the hopeless nature of South Florida politics than the indication Hialeah county commissioner Natacha Seijas may not have a challenger in the fall election.
Seijas represents Fortress Hialeah, the redoubt of the South Florida construction and development community that has imposed its will on the Florida landscape to devastating effect.
One way to measure the effect is to understand that the current real estate and banking crash has wiped out--for the largest publicly traded homebuilders--the entire profits generated during the building boom itself; in other words, taxpayers are left funding infrastructure for a degraded landscape, fleecing common shareholders but enriching key executives (of the order that fund Seijas' campaigns) in the process.
The crash in real estate markets has its trace straight back to Hialeah, although you would never know it from the behavior of voters there. Why?
Eyeonmiami has documented the pothole politics that keep Hialeah voters calm and complacent-- partly by invoking, over the decades, the shadow of Castro only a few hundred miles away. Miami's Cuban policy and politics has always had more to do with influence over government contracts and influence peddling at County Hall than Havana.
When Seijas faced a recall election last year, waged mostly by citizens determined to shake up the status quo, the tactics employed against petition gatherers--including false imprisonment by the Hialeah police--had the effect of casting an even deeper pall over those who might emerge to challenge her in November. Who could bear that kind of treatment, to run for county commissioner at a salary of $6000 per year? (Of course there are perks, each county commissioner in Miami Dade doles out hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in discretionary funds. Seijas sallies forth to distant parts of the globe on "trade missions" coddled by flunkies; India, Poland, Africa.) Check out our archive feature: Seijas.
It is sad, really, that the unions have allowed Seijas to manipulate them, too. Their support of Seijas is against the interest of their own members. The unions are so flattened by economic circumstances that, even during the unsustainable building boom that is now in cinders, they still can't begin to explain how their members, in supporting Seijas, are voting against their own interests.
If there was ever a time for a candidate to make the case how our politics have failed Miami's voters, it is now. Miami Lakes city councilman Michael Pizzi has been an effective voice for Hold The Line, the informal coalition of interests that have fought Seijas and the unreformable majority of the county commission on the Urban Development Boundary issue in Miami-Dade. He has also spoken forcefully against rock mining companies whose blasting shook the foundations of nearby residences and families .He has the visibility and name recognition to take on Seijas and make the case to the broader public for campaign contributions.
Seijas targeted Pizzi in his own recent election, pushing forward a straw candidate who attracted big campaign contributions from the development lobby in Miami-Dade. Still, Pizzi won. At the very least, the voters of Hialeah need to hear what they are not hearing about Seijas, who appears wholesome as apple pie when she is buying seniors breakfasts and shuttling them to the polls.
The bigger issue is what she has done, in leading Miami-Dade County to a hostile landscape of suburban sprawl and overdevelopment, postponing the costs of water infrastructure and wrecking the environment in the process, all to please her campaign donor base. Someone needs to come forth and explain the facts: Michael Pizzi could do it.
Seijas represents Fortress Hialeah, the redoubt of the South Florida construction and development community that has imposed its will on the Florida landscape to devastating effect.
One way to measure the effect is to understand that the current real estate and banking crash has wiped out--for the largest publicly traded homebuilders--the entire profits generated during the building boom itself; in other words, taxpayers are left funding infrastructure for a degraded landscape, fleecing common shareholders but enriching key executives (of the order that fund Seijas' campaigns) in the process.
The crash in real estate markets has its trace straight back to Hialeah, although you would never know it from the behavior of voters there. Why?
Eyeonmiami has documented the pothole politics that keep Hialeah voters calm and complacent-- partly by invoking, over the decades, the shadow of Castro only a few hundred miles away. Miami's Cuban policy and politics has always had more to do with influence over government contracts and influence peddling at County Hall than Havana.
When Seijas faced a recall election last year, waged mostly by citizens determined to shake up the status quo, the tactics employed against petition gatherers--including false imprisonment by the Hialeah police--had the effect of casting an even deeper pall over those who might emerge to challenge her in November. Who could bear that kind of treatment, to run for county commissioner at a salary of $6000 per year? (Of course there are perks, each county commissioner in Miami Dade doles out hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in discretionary funds. Seijas sallies forth to distant parts of the globe on "trade missions" coddled by flunkies; India, Poland, Africa.) Check out our archive feature: Seijas.
It is sad, really, that the unions have allowed Seijas to manipulate them, too. Their support of Seijas is against the interest of their own members. The unions are so flattened by economic circumstances that, even during the unsustainable building boom that is now in cinders, they still can't begin to explain how their members, in supporting Seijas, are voting against their own interests.
If there was ever a time for a candidate to make the case how our politics have failed Miami's voters, it is now. Miami Lakes city councilman Michael Pizzi has been an effective voice for Hold The Line, the informal coalition of interests that have fought Seijas and the unreformable majority of the county commission on the Urban Development Boundary issue in Miami-Dade. He has also spoken forcefully against rock mining companies whose blasting shook the foundations of nearby residences and families .He has the visibility and name recognition to take on Seijas and make the case to the broader public for campaign contributions.
Seijas targeted Pizzi in his own recent election, pushing forward a straw candidate who attracted big campaign contributions from the development lobby in Miami-Dade. Still, Pizzi won. At the very least, the voters of Hialeah need to hear what they are not hearing about Seijas, who appears wholesome as apple pie when she is buying seniors breakfasts and shuttling them to the polls.
The bigger issue is what she has done, in leading Miami-Dade County to a hostile landscape of suburban sprawl and overdevelopment, postponing the costs of water infrastructure and wrecking the environment in the process, all to please her campaign donor base. Someone needs to come forth and explain the facts: Michael Pizzi could do it.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Karu & Y back together again... by gimleteye
"In retrospect, the owner of Karu & Y realizes that spending $25 million to open a restaurant and nightclub on the edge of Overtown was a prescription for failure" reads the opening paragraph of yesterday's story in The Miami Herald.
Not much retrospect is needed about the spectacular loss of what was to be "a key player in revitalizing Miami's arts district". Even as it opened in the fall 2006, the nightclub symbolized the excess of the building boom. While it lasted, the nightclub filled with the celebrities common to the inside page of The Herald.
I'm not sure how many readers of this blog went to Karu & Y and gazed at its $1 million Chihuly chandelier, but you had to wonder at the business plan that thought the whole enterprise was a good idea in the first place.
Florida really doesn't make much room for skeptics of growth. Instead, all hail the real estate spin, such as this from 2006: "Former A-list watering holes have run their course and new ones have erected off the southern beaten paths. Which path should you clumsily falter upon this season? Ask no more. Exclusive is this year’s trend. Karu&Y shows Miami how it should be done."
Well. It's done. Great while it lasted, I'm just glad I didn't have a dime in that $25 million down the drain.
Type the rest of the post here
Curley’s House of Style Has Your Tax Dollars! By Geniusofdespair
Curleys House of Style (I think they are also a beauty salon) is a non profit that distributes food, fliers, etc. to the needy. I know nothing about this non profit except that they asked for County Funds of $25,000 On June 10th at the Budget and Finance Committee meeting — the request came from Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, I believe it is from her discretionary fund account. I am all for helping people. I am not sure if I think the County should be administering funds to non profits in this time of budget crisis so I looked at Curley's House of Style's 990 tax returns for three years. They are on the County list of non profits that get funds. They did get County funds in 2006 and 2004-2005.
In 2006 they administered Program Services costing them $13,200 and the Management and General Funds to administer the services was $24,490. They claimed net assets of $772,587 at that time -- they took in $306,027 in 2006, part of that is county funds. I don’t know where they get other grants (maybe the County or City). In 2005 they claimed $150,000 in Contibutions/gift/grants. They administered $5,240 in Program Services and the Management and General Funds to administer the services was $18,750. They had net assets of $504,250 in 2005. In 2004 they administered Program Services costing them –0- and the Management and General Funds to administer the services was $30,800. They had net assets of $378,240. Based on 3 years, I don’t think their spending trend has changed in 2007 but who knows.
The problem I see here is: THERE IS NO PROBLEM. I HAVE RETRACTED THIS WHOLE POST. CURLEY'S IS A DESERVING CHARITY, THEY NEED MONEY. DISREGARD EVERYTHING I WROTE. THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY CASH LEFT OVER ACCORDING TO THEM IT IS MOSTLY IN KIND WHICH FOR SOME REASON GETS CARRIED OVER. THIS IS ONE BIG FAT MISTAKE ON MY PART TO QUESTION ANYTHING ABOUT CURLEY'S. THIS IS MY OFFICIAL RETRACTION.
Here is the agenda item for Curley’s request for $25,000 which was approved on June 10th:
WHEREAS, Curley’s is a grassroots 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in August 2001 with a mission to improve the quality of life for low to moderate income families, elderly, youth, the abused, and HIV/AIDS infected individuals; and
WHEREAS, Curley’s provides bulk food products to County residents who are in need; and
WHEREAS, since its incorporation in 2000, Curley’s has fed and clothed several thousand of the County’s neediest individuals and families. Approximately 1,000 clients are served weekly with the provision of bulk food products, informational flyers on diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as job availability and financial literacy seminars; and
WHEREAS, the organization is faced with serious food shortages, impeding its ability to provide food to the County’s residents who are in need; and
WHEREAS, an allocation of $25,000 from the unallocated General Fund Discretionary CBO Funding will enable Curley’s to continue to serve individuals and families throughout the County,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board approves the allocation of FY 2007-2008 unallocated General Fund Discretionary CBO funding as follows: a one-time allocation of $17,000 to Roots in the City, Inc. and an allocation of $25,000 to Curley’s House of Style, Inc.; and authorizes the Mayor or his designee to execute agreements and amendments to the agreements necessary to effectuate the allocations for and on behalf of Miami-Dade County.
In 2006 they administered Program Services costing them $13,200 and the Management and General Funds to administer the services was $24,490. They claimed net assets of $772,587 at that time -- they took in $306,027 in 2006, part of that is county funds. I don’t know where they get other grants (maybe the County or City). In 2005 they claimed $150,000 in Contibutions/gift/grants. They administered $5,240 in Program Services and the Management and General Funds to administer the services was $18,750. They had net assets of $504,250 in 2005. In 2004 they administered Program Services costing them –0- and the Management and General Funds to administer the services was $30,800. They had net assets of $378,240. Based on 3 years, I don’t think their spending trend has changed in 2007 but who knows.
The problem I see here is: THERE IS NO PROBLEM. I HAVE RETRACTED THIS WHOLE POST. CURLEY'S IS A DESERVING CHARITY, THEY NEED MONEY. DISREGARD EVERYTHING I WROTE. THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY CASH LEFT OVER ACCORDING TO THEM IT IS MOSTLY IN KIND WHICH FOR SOME REASON GETS CARRIED OVER. THIS IS ONE BIG FAT MISTAKE ON MY PART TO QUESTION ANYTHING ABOUT CURLEY'S. THIS IS MY OFFICIAL RETRACTION.
Here is the agenda item for Curley’s request for $25,000 which was approved on June 10th:
WHEREAS, Curley’s is a grassroots 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in August 2001 with a mission to improve the quality of life for low to moderate income families, elderly, youth, the abused, and HIV/AIDS infected individuals; and
WHEREAS, Curley’s provides bulk food products to County residents who are in need; and
WHEREAS, since its incorporation in 2000, Curley’s has fed and clothed several thousand of the County’s neediest individuals and families. Approximately 1,000 clients are served weekly with the provision of bulk food products, informational flyers on diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as job availability and financial literacy seminars; and
WHEREAS, the organization is faced with serious food shortages, impeding its ability to provide food to the County’s residents who are in need; and
WHEREAS, an allocation of $25,000 from the unallocated General Fund Discretionary CBO Funding will enable Curley’s to continue to serve individuals and families throughout the County,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board approves the allocation of FY 2007-2008 unallocated General Fund Discretionary CBO funding as follows: a one-time allocation of $17,000 to Roots in the City, Inc. and an allocation of $25,000 to Curley’s House of Style, Inc.; and authorizes the Mayor or his designee to execute agreements and amendments to the agreements necessary to effectuate the allocations for and on behalf of Miami-Dade County.
The Orchid and Onion Award Presentation. by Geniusofdespair
The Urban Environment League held it's annual award presentation last night. Onions (the bad award) were awarded to Related Group, for the proposed Mercy Hospital Towers. Also getting onions: Commissioners Joe Martinez, Natacha Seijas, Javier Souto, Rebeca Sosa, Bruno Barreiro, Barabra Jordan, Dorrin Rolle, Audrey Edmonson and Pepe Diaz for voting to move the Urban Development Boundary. Mayor Manny Diaz got an onion but I am not sure why. Councilman Micahel Pizzi was honored with an orchid for his community activism. Former Miami Beach Mayor David Dermer jointly presented the award to Pizzi with Redland Community Councilwoman Pat Wade. I took some bad phone photos of the event. A lot of other people got awards, hit read more at the bottom for the list and for two more bad phone photo:
Best Opening - Virginia Key Trust
Long Haul Environmentalist - Harvey Ruvin
Voting to Hold the Line:
Mayor Carlos Alvarez
Commissioner Sally Heyman
Commissioner Carlos Gimenez
Commissioner Katy Sorenson
Commissioner Dennis Moss
Superb Activists:
Elvis Cruz
Councilman Michael Pizzi
Public Space Champion - Steve Hagen
Creative Redevelopment Initiatives - Scott’s Project Charette
Emerging Green Builders - Sonia Succar Ferre, USGBC
Public Servant of the Year - Mayor Shirley Gibson
Conservation Organization - Tropical Audubon Society
Dogged Reporting Dan Ricker - The Watchdog Report
Best Teamwork - Miami Neighborhoods United
Best Plan - Miami-Dade Parks Master Plan
Champion of the River - Commissioner Marc Sarnoff
Profile in Courage - Commissioner Tomas Regalado
Best Opening - Virginia Key Trust
Long Haul Environmentalist - Harvey Ruvin
Voting to Hold the Line:
Mayor Carlos Alvarez
Commissioner Sally Heyman
Commissioner Carlos Gimenez
Commissioner Katy Sorenson
Commissioner Dennis Moss
Superb Activists:
Elvis Cruz
Councilman Michael Pizzi
Public Space Champion - Steve Hagen
Creative Redevelopment Initiatives - Scott’s Project Charette
Emerging Green Builders - Sonia Succar Ferre, USGBC
Public Servant of the Year - Mayor Shirley Gibson
Conservation Organization - Tropical Audubon Society
Dogged Reporting Dan Ricker - The Watchdog Report
Best Teamwork - Miami Neighborhoods United
Best Plan - Miami-Dade Parks Master Plan
Champion of the River - Commissioner Marc Sarnoff
Profile in Courage - Commissioner Tomas Regalado
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Florida Hometown Democracy files suit in federal court... by gimleteye
"We fully expect to be on the November ballot.” For background, check our index feature: Florida Hometown Democracy.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO ALL MEDIA:
June 11, 2008
Today, Florida Hometown Democracy, Inc. together with individual supporters, filed suit in the Southern District of Florida, seeking ballot placement for the Florida Hometown Democracy citizens’ initiative in the November 2008 election.
Florida Hometown Democracy is the sponsor of a citizens’ initiative to amend the Florida Constitution. The proposed amendment will establish that changes to comprehensive land use plans approved by city and commissions must be submitted to referendum for final approval or rejection by voters. Hometown Democracy is a response to decades of uncontrolled development that cares nothing for the long term health and sustainability of communities, Florida’s unique environmental heritage or the quality of life of Floridians. Voters must have the final say over changes to their local growth plans because they are the ones who must live with the consequences.
Over 820,000 Floridians signed the Hometown Democracy petition to place the initiative on the November 2008 ballot. The Florida Division of Elections website currently posts 595,368 valid petition signatures. However, numerous actions by the Florida Division of Elections and opponents of Hometown Democracy blocked Hometown Democracy from having its ballot position certified, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The suit asks the federal court to examine and overturn these actions, and place Hometown Democracy on the November 2008 ballot.
The suit asserts that that the State’s recent rollback of the citizen petition filing deadline to February 1st violates the U.S. constitution because 1) it serves no legitimate state interest; 2) it differs from the certification deadlines imposed on other methods for amending the Florida constitution; 3) it interferes with Floridians’ rights to associate with others for the advancement of their political beliefs; and 4) it interferes with Floridians rights to cast their votes effectively. The suit further asserts that the state acted unconstitutionally because many of the state’s 67 supervisors of elections used all manner of varying petition validation criteria that depart from state law to unlawfully reject tens of thousands of Hometown Democracy petitions. Indeed, whether or not a petition was accepted or rejected often depended on to which county the petition was submitted. The suit also asserts that the state’s recent adoption of an anti-initiative statute, which gives commercial establishments the right to permit or exclude initiative petitioning as they see fit, is patently unconstitutional.
Hometown Democracy has retained noted ballot access attorney Gary Sinowski of New York City as its lead counsel. For about 30 years, Mr. Sinowski has successfully challenged unconstitutional restrictions on ballot access throughout the United States. Plaintiffs look forward to a swift resolution of this important constitutional case.
Hometown Democracy President Lesley Blackner urged all supporters to continue to send donations, petitions, and continue to talk with their fellow Floridians about this important amendment. She stated, “After a careful post mortem of what happened to Hometown Democracy, we are compelled to take this matter to federal court. The State’s constant war against the citizens’ right to amend their own constitution must stop. The way our petitions were treated is Bush v. Gore all over again. Fortunately, we the people have the United States Constitution on our side. We look forward to a complete exposé of the tactics employed to deny us of our constitutional rights and a swift vindication in court. We fully expect to be on the November ballot.”
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Lesley Blackner: 866-779-5513
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO ALL MEDIA:
June 11, 2008
Today, Florida Hometown Democracy, Inc. together with individual supporters, filed suit in the Southern District of Florida, seeking ballot placement for the Florida Hometown Democracy citizens’ initiative in the November 2008 election.
Florida Hometown Democracy is the sponsor of a citizens’ initiative to amend the Florida Constitution. The proposed amendment will establish that changes to comprehensive land use plans approved by city and commissions must be submitted to referendum for final approval or rejection by voters. Hometown Democracy is a response to decades of uncontrolled development that cares nothing for the long term health and sustainability of communities, Florida’s unique environmental heritage or the quality of life of Floridians. Voters must have the final say over changes to their local growth plans because they are the ones who must live with the consequences.
Over 820,000 Floridians signed the Hometown Democracy petition to place the initiative on the November 2008 ballot. The Florida Division of Elections website currently posts 595,368 valid petition signatures. However, numerous actions by the Florida Division of Elections and opponents of Hometown Democracy blocked Hometown Democracy from having its ballot position certified, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The suit asks the federal court to examine and overturn these actions, and place Hometown Democracy on the November 2008 ballot.
The suit asserts that that the State’s recent rollback of the citizen petition filing deadline to February 1st violates the U.S. constitution because 1) it serves no legitimate state interest; 2) it differs from the certification deadlines imposed on other methods for amending the Florida constitution; 3) it interferes with Floridians’ rights to associate with others for the advancement of their political beliefs; and 4) it interferes with Floridians rights to cast their votes effectively. The suit further asserts that the state acted unconstitutionally because many of the state’s 67 supervisors of elections used all manner of varying petition validation criteria that depart from state law to unlawfully reject tens of thousands of Hometown Democracy petitions. Indeed, whether or not a petition was accepted or rejected often depended on to which county the petition was submitted. The suit also asserts that the state’s recent adoption of an anti-initiative statute, which gives commercial establishments the right to permit or exclude initiative petitioning as they see fit, is patently unconstitutional.
Hometown Democracy has retained noted ballot access attorney Gary Sinowski of New York City as its lead counsel. For about 30 years, Mr. Sinowski has successfully challenged unconstitutional restrictions on ballot access throughout the United States. Plaintiffs look forward to a swift resolution of this important constitutional case.
Hometown Democracy President Lesley Blackner urged all supporters to continue to send donations, petitions, and continue to talk with their fellow Floridians about this important amendment. She stated, “After a careful post mortem of what happened to Hometown Democracy, we are compelled to take this matter to federal court. The State’s constant war against the citizens’ right to amend their own constitution must stop. The way our petitions were treated is Bush v. Gore all over again. Fortunately, we the people have the United States Constitution on our side. We look forward to a complete exposé of the tactics employed to deny us of our constitutional rights and a swift vindication in court. We fully expect to be on the November ballot.”
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Lesley Blackner: 866-779-5513
For president, reject the haters ... by gimleteye
How to wreck the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama is preoccupying a small cadre of political operatives. You may never see them or know how much they were paid. In time, it may become clear where the money comes from: the Scaife Foundation or some functional equivalent funded by oil money or coal or sugar.
So here is the deal: in the last presidential election it was the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. This time, it will be race.
It will happen, as it has in the past, starting like a “grass roots” campaign at first, like photos circulating on the Internet of Obama’s family in Kenya. Grinning, coal dark black people.
In time, it will catch fire with the right-wing conservative spin machine, although I doubt you will see Fox News commentators quite such rabid dogs given Rupert Murdoch’s change of heart since the two terms of President Bush.
The strategy is simple. They will try to turn the entire nation into those West Virginia voters caught on network news after the results of the Democratic primary, along the lines: “I’ve had it with Husseins.”
It happened to the Jews, branded as the Other over centuries in old Europe, leading up to Hitler. There is no shortage of examples, what happened next.
You don’t need a code to decipher the meaning of Obama’s photos on the Internet. They insinuate: Obama’s family values don’t resemble yours or mine.
The truth is, I couldn’t begin to tell you the stories of those generations beyond one or two, of any of the men who have served the United States as President. And if you look at your own family as I do of mine; we are part of humanity stretching back a hundred thousand generations, not two or three or thirty.
I love America for many reasons, but chief among them is the fact that historic hatreds stretching across time have no place here. Barack Obama won the privilege of representing the Democratic Party in the presidential election for his character, his vision, and not the color of his skin.
If our current economic difficulties—deeper than any time since the Great Depression—tell us anything it is this: we need the courage to reject hate. Period.
Democrats who supported Hillary made the point another way: wouldn’t you rather a candidate who has survived the right-wing hate machine, and a woman too, not a junior senator who hasn’t been vetted by the process?
Barack Obama will do his part—talking to the American people about his values, his character and, should he be elected, policies that will profoundly impact the entire world.
But as Americans, we have to do our part: reject the hatred and the fear and anyone who would exploit us, from whatever corner of the political spectrum.
So here is the deal: in the last presidential election it was the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. This time, it will be race.
It will happen, as it has in the past, starting like a “grass roots” campaign at first, like photos circulating on the Internet of Obama’s family in Kenya. Grinning, coal dark black people.
In time, it will catch fire with the right-wing conservative spin machine, although I doubt you will see Fox News commentators quite such rabid dogs given Rupert Murdoch’s change of heart since the two terms of President Bush.
The strategy is simple. They will try to turn the entire nation into those West Virginia voters caught on network news after the results of the Democratic primary, along the lines: “I’ve had it with Husseins.”
It happened to the Jews, branded as the Other over centuries in old Europe, leading up to Hitler. There is no shortage of examples, what happened next.
You don’t need a code to decipher the meaning of Obama’s photos on the Internet. They insinuate: Obama’s family values don’t resemble yours or mine.
The truth is, I couldn’t begin to tell you the stories of those generations beyond one or two, of any of the men who have served the United States as President. And if you look at your own family as I do of mine; we are part of humanity stretching back a hundred thousand generations, not two or three or thirty.
I love America for many reasons, but chief among them is the fact that historic hatreds stretching across time have no place here. Barack Obama won the privilege of representing the Democratic Party in the presidential election for his character, his vision, and not the color of his skin.
If our current economic difficulties—deeper than any time since the Great Depression—tell us anything it is this: we need the courage to reject hate. Period.
Democrats who supported Hillary made the point another way: wouldn’t you rather a candidate who has survived the right-wing hate machine, and a woman too, not a junior senator who hasn’t been vetted by the process?
Barack Obama will do his part—talking to the American people about his values, his character and, should he be elected, policies that will profoundly impact the entire world.
But as Americans, we have to do our part: reject the hatred and the fear and anyone who would exploit us, from whatever corner of the political spectrum.
Guest Blog: Coral Gables Mayor Gone Wild? by primordial ooze. Posted by Geniusofdespair
Napoleon Bonaparte? No, it is our own Donald Slesnick! The Mayor-dom has gone to his head: He wants to run the show at City Hall as if he were the Executive Mayor. And that is exactly what he seems to want: To be the Executive/Strong Mayor! Does Coral Gables need this change? I think not.
What happens when too much power is concentrated in one person? How about this...you get Manny Diaz who has cocooned himself in his office with nary a word to his constituents, now known for rolling out mega plans that voters feel they have had no input in! In the County it was a necessary evil to change to a Strong Mayor. The County government is too large and the Commission too dysfunctional not to have a Strong Mayor to try to balance out the all-powerful 13. But for a small city, where government is working, the consolidated power is not needed. Excessive power blows the regular tax-paying Jane/Joe out of the equation, and you roll out the red-carpet to the special interests. It appears Slesnick is strong-arming a meeting for a power play under the guise of talking about the city’s future.
Citizens: Wake up and attend the workshop to be held at the end of June. Sources don’t know the time and location yet. In the meantime, do your homework and get involved.
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