Eye on Miami Saturday Editorial Oct. 10: UDB, Suarez, Jordan, Lobbyist Spawns and Hudstead Investigations. By Geniusofdespair

Miami Herald: Your Saturday Editorial Page is a Faux Editorial Page. More than one person in your household? You're out of luck sharing the paper edition. Only one section of news!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Marco Rubio conferring with his BFF David Rivera when they were in the Fl. House of Representatives.

COMMISSIONER XAVIER SUAREZ (the X man)

The gala is tonight. I haven't figured out what it is REALLY for but I am going. I heard he was not going to announce his bid for Mayor of Miami Dade County, but then I heard he would. Anyway, the $1,000 table costs will go towards his District 7 account. It now has $106,000 in it. It wouldn't be hard to switch it over to a Mayoral run account, he just has to send letters to the contributors.  If he does run for Mayor, Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner and City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff have threatened to run for the District 7 seat.

COMMISSIONER BARBARA JORDAN'S RICHES OVER THE YEARS:

She dumped the house in St. Pete and the house co owned with her her daughter. It appears she got new cars. She has lost value on the Key West retreat/rental.

THE GWEN MARGOLIS STATE SENATE SEAT

Kris Korge's son Andrew is running for Gwen Margolis' State Senate seat. He has no political experience, except being related to his politically connected father. This is just like Lauren Book running with no political experience. All she has is a politically connected father - Ron Book. Does she even have a college degree?

In a campaign letter Andrew said:

If you support transparency and stronger oversight of lobbyists...

Ahem. Have you ever met your father Andrew? Do you know he has been a lobbyist his whole working life, just like Lauren's father?  What is this, a new trend: Lobbyists spawning politicians?

HUDSTEAD INVESTIGATION
 

Steve Shiver with one of his X or current wife.

The investigation into the petition began in June. Assistant State Attorney Luis Perez-Medina and Tim Vander Giesen are conducting it with Karl Ross from ethics.

Shiver Family standing at the MCM table.

There are other investigations going on....who can keep up with Hudstead.

MCM constructions was given three city contracts totaling $50 million in the past 18 months. Steve Shiver was their lobbyist. MCM had a table at the sock hop at the race track. The Sock hop was hosted by the track and run by Sandra Nanni of Cutler Bay who is also a grant writer for the City of Homestead.

The racetrack charged Mayor Porter $435 for a gala there. Mario Diaz-Balart paid $2,000 for the same venue. Also under investigation is Jorge Luis Lopez (he is the track attorney).

THE TOXIC UDB MOVING APPLICATIONS 7 and 8 COMING UP

I don't see them going anywhere. I don't think the unreformable majority is a super majority, what is needed now. And, it would be suicide for the Mayor not to veto them. He needs the voters that find this issue important.

Zapata said he was not a sure vote on these. So who do they have for sure, Jordan, Pepe Diaz, Souto, Bovo? Maybe Monestime but he would be a fool to vote for them, it takes money for infrastructure from his district. The tides are turning. The two applications will be heard before the Planning and Zoning Board October 19th. The key is, the County Commission cannot send these up to Tallahassee for review they have to deny them outright. They have never paid attention to Tallahassee's Department (of whatever it is called now) anyway so what is the point of getting their opinion?

Just what we need, a city on the edge of the Everglades. They call it "green" because they think we are fools.

SHOOTINGS

Movie goers, grade school children, high school children, church members, and now college kids (over and over) -- innocent people are killed and the dopey gun lobby thrives in the Repugnant party. They all support lunatics with guns. Yawn. This story is getting old. Soon they will stop reporting mass shootings.

GOP Hard Drive Damaged: And your next Speaker of the House is ... Paul Ryan? ... by gimleteye

Well, what about the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, second in line to the presidency? It could be Daniel Webster, the Republican Congressman from North Florida whose district disappeared yesterday! thanks to GOP gerrymandering judged to be illegal by the Florida Supreme Court. On the other hand, as the website OpenSecrets details, Congressman Webster lacks the political money-raising clout of, say, Congressman Paul Ryan.

And what about Ryan, whose penchant for the political limelight resembles a moth circling a flame? Yesterday, gaggles of cameras reversed roles, chasing the congressman who is off for a week back in Wisconsin to "consult with his family" about taking the job. He most certainly will.

Ryan emerged to the national stage as the young, telegenic second fiddle to Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP candidate for president who really did lose to Barack Obama. Back then, Salon published "Five crazy things Paul Ryan actually believes". The highlight:

If Grover Norquist — he of the immortal “bathtub” quote — were going to take a male lover, it would be Paul Ryan. When the CBO projected the impact of Ryan’s Republican budget proposal’s over the next four decades, it found that government would be cut to its smallest level since 1950. According to an analysis by the Washington Post, Ryan would cut 40 percent from transportation, 40 percent from education and training, 30 percent from “income security” programs for the poor. As Derek Thompson pointed out in the Atlantic, if you project forward Ryan’s defense spending plans, he would cut 91 percent from all other non-discretionary spending. No, that is not a typo.

In other words, Ryan is the perfect serum to the radical right that poisoned the GOP and now wonders why so many, many Americans consider the party to be toxic to the future of this great nation. That is, unless cooler heads prevail and a candidate emerges who could also garner enough votes from Democrats to prevail in a majority vote for the next Speaker.

That outcome is improbable because any Republican with a cooler head in Congress has already been decapitated by the radical right. The sheep cower in a corner of a meadow. The wolves herd them with practiced skill.

Who bears responsibility for the chaos engulfing the GOP?

Look no further than the cast of characters who populate the stage to be the next Republican candidate for president. These won support by embracing the notion that to save government, government is the enemy. If they can't do it quickly from the outside, they have done it from within by hobbling missions of agencies; starving budgets, cutting science in favor of ideology, putting lobbyists for industry in the middle ranks where they can do the most harm, far from the prying view of reporters or TV cameras.

Government doesn't work because it is designed to fail. That is the GOP's significant achievement of the last 30 years.

The biblical admonition, "whatever a man soweth, that shall he reap", applies. So the GOP's hard drive is damaged; the massing components on the jumbotron screen hooked to the GOP by optical cable are jumbled and tie back to corrupted files, speeches, and ideas emptied of meaning except apparently to voters in red states like South Carolina, praying to God to stop the flooding even though their representatives in Congress voted against national flood insurance because the only right thing to do with government is shrink it to the size it can fit in a bathtub and be drowned.


In the vice-presidential candidate's bizarro universe, some rapes are worse than others and abortions are never OK
SALLY KOHN, SALON
THURSDAY, OCT 11, 2012

While Mitt Romney’s defining quality seems to be his inability to define any consistent viewpoints on the driving issues of the day, Paul Ryan is running on a pretty clear and consistent record. And unlike Romney, who changes his stance according to his audience, Paul Ryan has clung to extremely unpopular ideas even in the face of public backlash.

Gov. Scott Fails Florida, Again ... by gimleteye

“Florida’s 900 freshwater springs bring families, visitors and job creators to our state,” Florida's Governor Rick Scott said on Monday as he made another announcement that papers over the truth; this time, related to the failure of the state to protect Florida's fresh water resources. "Over the last three years," the governor said, "We have invested record funding for Florida’s springs, and the projects we are announcing today will ensure our springs are protected for future generations to enjoy."

Gov. Scott's claim is no more true than his assertion to be saving the Everglades. His top environmental officer, Jon Stevenson, piled on: "I would like to thank Gov. Scott and the Florida Legislature for providing record funding for springs restoration, and for securing the recurring funding that will allow us to continue to protect springs in the future," DEP Secretary Jon Steverson said.

For a clearer view, Dr. Robert Palmer, Legislative Chair of the Florida Springs Council, responded, "While these springs projects will probably lead to an improvement over the environmental degradation that would occur without them, it is also true that the projects, individually or in combination, will not result in a single Florida spring returning to health. DEP’s measure of success – pounds of nitrogen reduced or gallons of water saved – is flawed. ... More aggressive and imaginative measures are needed. Where are the State’s plans for buying out polluting activities on those lands in North Florida which are critical to the recharge of the aquifer and to the health of springs? Where are the State’s plans for curtailing water use and fertilizer use at the source, rather than allowing polluting activities to continue and attempting to clean them up after the fact? Where is the State’s blueprint for serious water conservation? Until the State acts on these and other fronts, we will continue to see these lists of projects that make the grant recipients quite happy, but which have little prospect for accomplishing the ultimate goal of clean, healthy springs and a clean, healthy aquifer."

The only fluid that runs pure in Tallahassee is nonsense.

Marco Rubio and Big Sugar Make News (Again) ... by gimleteye

In case you had wondered, the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement -- the one we have all be reading about -- protects Florida's shadow government: Big Sugar. The GOP candidate most likely to benefit from that sausage maker is Marco Rubio.

As Eye On Miami has documented, Marco Rubio is Big Sugar's creation. (For new readers, check our index feature.)

The Daily Caller hits most of the high spots, here. You won't find the story in The Miami Herald.

As the ink dries on the Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP) deal, some U.S. winners and losers are beginning to emerge. U.S. workers in sugar-utilizing industries: sorry, you lose. U.S. sugar producers: you win. The reason: while the United States made concessions in other areas, America’s protectionist system for sugar suffered only minor tweaks. Plus, Marco Rubio likely is very pleased with the sugar deal – will it effect his election chances?

Oh, and don't forget: Big Sugar poisons people, poisons democracy, and poisons the Everglades.

News Flash: CONSERVANCY Stupid Idea POSTPONED because Javier Soto on the way to the hospital. By Geniusofdespair

The Miami Foundation's Javier Soto (not the County Commissioner) is on his way to the hospital so the Conservancy thing at Bicentennial Park is postponed at the City of Miami. Good on the postponement! Miami Herald Regarding your Editorial: It works in New York and Chicago because rich people surround the parks. We don't have the super wealthy, we just have hucksters, boosters and boasters and they don't get anything done right, they will just F--K it up. The park is very nice now, have you even been there?

Good Lord! More News from Hudstead! By Geniusofdespair

The news never stops in Homestead does it? Sources say that the State Attorney is looking into tampering and perhaps corruption with the Petition that was suppose to increase term limits for Vice Mayors (would have helped Judy Waldman). Specifically they are looking at Larry Mena and Judy Waldman according to sources. Woof!!

Now there is talk that citizens are going to petition Hudstead City Hall to put a hold on Judy Waldman's pension until this gets sorted out. Why do they even get pensions in Hudstead? Waldman was also terminated from her real estate job. The perils of Pauline are dogging Judy. That petition was wrong and everyone knew it, especially Judy. For the record, I like Judy. She has always been polite with me.

NO WAY on Conservancy for Bicentennial Park (Museum Park) - will be heard today. By Geniusofdespair

The City of Miami is hearing the wacky PRIVATE Conservancy idea for Bicentennial Park (They call it Museum Park). It is happening too quickly without enough public input. Don't do it!! What is the rush, does Commissioner Marc Sarnoff need a legacy? The park has recently opened, give it a chance. I wrote about this dumb idea in depth. Read the damn article. As Clark Kent said in my article:

The park looks great now. It's better to leave well enough alone. For the first time, I actually like a park in the City of Miami and thought the City had done a good thing for the public. The park is not cluttered with crap or commercialism. The open green spaces are so few in downtown Miami, to have this in the heart of the city is an unexpected delight. But of course, this being Miami, anything that is free and good and open is eyed by private for profit special interests for their own enterprise. Let's not let that happen. What a dumb idea to consider tearing up the park to build an underground parking garage - on the Bay - and all this for an upscale restaurant?

They are so intent on stealing this park from the public, piece by piece over the years. They have one museum that can only afford a shell and another that has private parties all the time. Let the dust settle, let the Science Museum open first. What else do they want from us.....tell the City of Miami commissioners: We need more time to digest this Manny Diaz idea as we might want to barf it up.

Vladimir Putin: welcome to Syria ... by gimleteye

Vladimir Putin: welcome to Syria.

The hell-on-earth that Bashar Al Assad has turned Syria into is now being joined by the army of the unchallengeable leader of Russia. The scorched earth is going to be scorched again.

Who would want to live in Syria? Apparently, a lot fewer.

Meanwhile, "The U.S. Treasury is seeking information from Toyota about how the terror group has gotten hold of the automaker's trucks, which have been shown in ISIS propaganda videos." Not just propaganda videos.

Any visitor to the Mideast knows that Toyota pickup trucks are everywhere.

Maybe the answer to ISIS' Toyotas is to put American soldiers in pickups, too, with mounted machine guns. If it's not Toyotas the terrorists are scrambling in; it will Suzuki or some version that emerges from the Eastern bloc or Russia.

There are going to be very few pieces to pick up in the hot zones of the Mideast.

More than ever, for regional neighbors of Syria, intervention is about keeping the desert conflagrations of the Caliphate away from the Kingdoms and Israel and Iran. These wars without end, though, promise that low-tech, asymmetric warfare will continue to bleed out towards Europe and Russia, too.

Putin, one hopes, is not insane. The chances of Russian intervention in Syria going his way are very, very slim.

Hold the UDB Line Deadline for Letter Sign On to PAB is TODAY! By Geniusofdespair

From Tropical Audubon:

Hold the Line on SPRAWL and tell Miami-Dade County Commission to deny the expansion of the urban development boundary (UDB).

The county is considering two applications that would be devastating to the Everglades ecosystem, water supply and farmlands; especially with the threat of Sea Level Rise. Tell the county to protect the environment and deny these applications.

Read More about the UDB on our website and what you can do NOW.  

A paragraph from letter to the PAB read the whole letter...

Hold the Urban Development Boundary Line
Deadline: Wednesday, October 7, 2015

#1: LAST CALL FOR SIGN-ONS!  Click here to sign the community letter against expanding the UDB as proposed by Applications Nos. 7 & 8 to the Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP).

E-mail Sarah policyTAS@gmail.com:
1) name of your organization's representative, 
2) representative's title, and 
3) name of your organization, by COB TODAY!

OCTOBER 19TH is the Planning Advisory Board Meeting at 10 AM.

The Waldman Dynasty has Ended in Hudstead. By Geniusofdespair

Larry Roth

Realtor Larry Roth got 58.19% of the vote to become a Council member in seat 3. That is a measly 970 votes out of 24,120 registered voters. Roth takes over the seat occupied by Judy Waldman ( the one that Judy's husband Mervin was campaigning for). Mervin got 413 votes.  Jeff Porter won in a landslide vote of 73.79% (1,236 votes).

Roth won with 4% of registered voters. Hudstead is such a disappointment. Wayne Rosen will have to be kissing some new ass.

Judy was in office from 2001 -- 14 years.

Who Is Cloning A Miami Official's Cell Phone and Why? The Competition For Eye On Miami 2015 Story of the Year Heats Up! ... by gimleteye

Around this time of year, our thoughts turn to the best story of 2015. What have we heard and written about that makes the top grade? It is not every year we have a David Rivera and Ana Sol Aliegro mystery, to light up our readers' eyes.

Up to now, this year's leading candidate for Eye On Miami Story of the Year was Miami-Dade County Commissioner Pepe Diaz' recent arrest and videotape by Key West police. Diaz was captured for time eternal on his motorcycle wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the word, “CARTEL”.

It is so much more succinct than “Unreformable Majority”. Anyhow, we have a competitor.

South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard, FIU professor, leading advocate against new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point by FPL, and spokesperson on climate change, reports the following:

"On Oct 2 at 4:01 pm, I received a phone call from South Miami Commissioner Bob Welsh’s mobile phone. I recognized the phone number but I did not recognize the male caller’s voice. His accent was American and the connection was clear. The caller asked, "Did you leave this bag of cables on the table for me?" I replied, “Excuse me? I’m sorry who is this?” The caller abruptly hung up."

Mayor Stoddard used the recent call feature on his phone to call back Welsh's number. Welsh immediately answered.

"I asked Bob if he was with anybody,” Stoddard told this reporter, “Or if he had possession of his cell phone for the past few minutes and he said, yes, it was in his hand now, and he’d had it with him all day.”

Evidently, someone had gone to the trouble of hijacking Bob Welsh’s phone by cloning it and then mistakenly dialing Mayor Stoddard’s phone number.

Mayor Stoddard suggested that City Commissioner Welsh get a new cell phone.

This story and wise advice makes this, a real contender for Eye On Miami Story of the Year.