Watchdog Report Vol.11 No.33 January 2, 2011 Est. 05.05.00 I go when you cannot
CONTENTS
Argus Report: WDR: NOV 7, 2010: U.S. Sen. elect Rubio says voters have given Republicans a “second chance,” and not a mandate
Florida: Scott gives Libertarian Party ideas a big “hug,” Broward hospital districts & Jackson Memorial may be on the block
Miami-Dade County: Commission split on when to have recall elections for Alvarez & Seijas, Wednesday meeting goes nowhere for lack of quorum
Broward County: Broward Bulldog celebrating another successful year of being a community watchdog
Palm Beach County: MAY 2010: Stecker is tapped as new county IG, but does she get clean slate?
Hernando County: Gov. Crist taps Alvin “Al” D. Nienhuis II as Hernando County Sheriff.
Gulf Coast County: Gov. Crist taps Patronis for District Board of Trustees, Gulf Coast Community College
Pinellas County: Gov. Crist reappointed Sewell to the Juvenile Welfare Board of County
Kissimmee County: MAY 2010:Gov. Crist suspends county commissioner Irizarry after domestic violence charge, #39 removal for governor
Monroe County: AUG. 2010: Acevedo gets 8-years, affair traumatized Monroe electorate, school supt. no longer elected
Miami-Dade Public Schools: MAY 2010: Supt. Carvalho says no mass firings at district because of money; people terminated will be for “performance”
Public Health Trust: Will search committee roll the dice and in months ahead select locals such as Burgess or Migoya as president?
City of Miami: Chief Exposito tells Mayor Regalado to “cease and desist” interfering “with legal law enforcement initiatives”
City of Miami Beach: MARCH 2010: Ethics commission says Libbin can serve as Chamber CEO, but with limitations
Coral Gables: Reader says debates are set, first mayoral one is Jan. 18 moderated by WCBS 4 anchor Rodriguez
City of South Miami: AUG. 2010: From educator and activist to Mayor Stoddard, must slow the turnstile of new managers
City of Doral: APRIL 2010: Clerk Herrera and others get ethics advocate warning letter, after Rubio fundraiser e-mail
Community Events: 26th Annual Everglades Coalition Conference, January 6-9, 2011 – Renewal of Life for the Everglades: Moving Forward Together — THE MARGULIES COLLECTION AT THE WAREHOUSE
Editorials: Reflections on the Watchdog Report coming into my twelfth year in May — WDR: March 2005: Transparency in government affairs is always spoken about but without the Watchdog Report rarely seen — WDR: JULY 2008: Collapse and consolidation of media will eventually create a Wild West mentality within public institutions
Letters: Local prominent retired heart surgeon on transplants at Jackson/UM
Sponsors – Publisher’s mission statement & Subscription information is at the bottom of this issue
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>>> If you think it is important to have someone watching your public institutions consider becoming a supporter or sponsor. For there is no trust fund and I do have to live. I almost did not write this week because of my financial condition. And while I as so many others are facing tough times. I hope you or your organization will consider helping in a small or larger way and help keep another voice on line and in the media. A convenient form is at the bottom of this week’s Watchdog Report with all the instructions on how to support this newsletter and news service that will start its 12th Anniversary on May 5.
>>> This week’s report also looks at some of the past stories over the decade, and may you and your family have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
ARGUS REPORT – Heard, Seen on the Street
>>> PAST WDR: NOV 7, 2010: U.S. Sen. Elect Rubio says voters have given Republicans a “second chance,” and not a mandate
The Republican Party has been given “another chance,” said U.S. Sen. elect Marco Rubio (Net worth $8,351) Tuesday night at the jubilant campaign victory party at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables and his proposed quixotic quest for the nation’s most exclusive club 19-months ago is over and he enters office on Jan.3. Rubio, 39, a former West Miami Commissioner before running for the state house in 2000 and called the “pick of the local legislative litter” back then by older state Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach (Net worth $990,000), and he rose to be the speaker in the state House from 2006 to 2008. The father of four, an attorney, leading in the polls won by an even larger margin that had independent Gov. Charlie Crist (Net Worth $461,000) and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami (Net worth about $175,000) trailing in the dust, with Crist facing his biggest setback in his 18 years of public elected office.
Rubio in the three-way race got 49 percent of the statewide vote to Crist’s 30 percent and Meek’s 20 percent and it has put an afterburner on the state representative’s political future that has him along with other new elected officials on the cover of Time Magazine with the question how will they govern in the coming year. Attacks on the young speaker’s finances and past actions with a Republican Party credit card, and a house sale bounced off him as if he was wearing political Kevlar as he campaigned around the state while gaining national profiles in the papers including the New York Times. He leaves over the weekend on his first private trip to Israel. It is unknown what Meek and Crist will do after leaving public office but both are highly connected and should have no problem finding a job in the private sector.
Rubio
Appointed Senator LeMieux spoke at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce luncheon (this last November) and he gave his analysis of the election and what he has observed while being in the body the past 14-months, after being appointed to the post by Gov. Charlie Crist, after Senator Mel Martinez decided to retire early from the body in the summer of 2009. The Senator, an Emory University and Georgetown University law school graduate said it was refreshing to get back to South Florida. He said the “people of the country spoke out” and “there were no rocks thrown in the streets” like in many countries during elections and voters “took their frustration and showed it in the ballot box” but noted those “people elected have a lot on their plate,” he thought. He also gave some advice to the newly elected officials warning, “If they don’t get it done,” they will be “accountable to the people” who are dealing with the “most challenging economy that anyone has ever seen” in future elections.
LeMieux discussed the importance of trade to Florida and its 14 port system and while trade is doing well, we “cannot take this for granted” noting the expansion of other international ports in the region. He also said the role of the military in the state is key, since there are “over 20 plus military bases, and includes “three Combat Commands,” he said. He also gave an honest appraisal of what goes on in Washington saying people don’t realize “the gross way Congress spends your money” and “there is no focus to how the money is spent.” The federal government has added “270,000 federal employees in the past 18-months” and said last year’s deficit was “$1.3 trillion.” He described how much money that was saying it would cover the state of Rhode Island if laid down and predicted a $25 trillion debt level in 2020 if deficits are not addressed and debt payments would be $900 billion in interest “and government would fail.” But he noted the people and nations owning our debt would have pulled the funding plug before that benchmark was reached. He called for the federal government to go back to 2007 budget levels, and believed that would alone bring the overall debt down to about $6 trillion in 2020. He also took a shot at the culture of Washington saying, “Most of my colleagues think their first name is senator” and believes “there is nothing America cannot do” and voters know this but its elected leaders must take a new cue because the political climate has changed. And voters have “to send the right people to D.C. where they should do what is right and then come home,” not treat it as a forever profession he concluded.
Who gained locally with the Rubio win?
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa (Net worth $439,000) worked the crowd at the Greater Miami Chamber Luncheon, like a politician on a mission and she has known and been a friend to Rubio since he was a West Miami commissioner and she was mayor of the little municipality at the time. She would later be elected to the commission while Rubio went to the Florida House but for years, their district offices were across a hallway in a building near city hall and now she has the ear of the junior Florida senator.
>>> PAST WDR: Baptist Health turns 50, long way from being the hospital on the road to “no where,” says CEO Boulenger
The largest private employer in Miami-Dade is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and Baptist Hospital of Miami CEO Bo Boulenger detailed the hospital’s system’s decade’s long trip down memory lane Wednesday at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon. The hospital the brainchild of some local religious lay members who wanted to have a “Christian” hospital and the original site in 1958 for the facility was going to be next to Jackson Memorial Hospital and Cedar’s Hospital in the medical district downtown. However, fiscal constraints and a benefactor with millions suggested a better location was on Kendall Drive next to the Everglades back then and that became the main campus with its opening in 1960, with 55 beds for the health system that is now found throughout South-Dade and the Keys. The CEO said back then ambulance drivers would not take patients down the “road to no where” which was Kendal Drive. He said when the first operation was done, “a tonsillectomy” the medical instruments had to be brought from another hospital. Now, the flagship hospital on Kendall Drive has 680 beds, there are around 1,400 physicians, and Baptist Health South Florida employees 14,314 people “not that we keep count,” he joked. He also noted the hospital’s emergency room is one of the busiest in the state and the facility was ranked in the “top ten in the nation for patient satisfaction,” said the hospital CEO, who has run other hospitals in the system including Homestead Hospital in the late 1990s. >>> Editor’s note: My life was saved at South Miami Hospital at 4:00 a.m. in the morning this past February, since I “could not wait,” said my Vascular Surgeon Jorge Rabaza, M.D. and when I write about the Baptist Health System, I have to note this significant fact. For more information about Baptist Health South Florida go to www.baptisthealth.net
>>> Press release: U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the incoming Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement today after President Obama announced the appointment of Robert Ford to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Syria: “I am deeply disappointed that the President decided to make such a major concession to the Syrian regime. Using this Congressional recess to make an appointment that has far-reaching policy implications despite Congressional objections and concerns is regrettable.
“During the past two years, Syria has continued to sponsor violent extremism and pursue dangerous weapons programs, and has also supplied long-range missiles to Hezbollah and reasserted its destabilizing influence in Lebanon at the expense of that nation’s sovereignty. In fact, earlier this year, the President continued the national emergency with respect to Syria due to the ongoing ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ that the regime poses to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. “Making underserved concessions to Syria tells the regime in Damascus that it can continue to pursue its dangerous agenda and not face any consequences from the U.S. That is the wrong message to be sending to a regime which continues to harm and threaten U.S. interests and those of such critical allies as Israel.”
>>> Press release: Zogby Interactive: Most Adults will make New Year’s Resolutions Americans Vow to Exercise, Lose Weight, and Save Money
Only 32% of American adults answered that they will not be making any New Year’s Resolutions this year, according to a recent Zogby International interactive poll of 1,950 adults. The poll, conducted from Dec. 8-10, 2010 also shows people agree they will exercise more (41%), lose weight (36%) and/or save money (35%). The poll also finds that younger people are more likely to report that they plan to make New Year’s resolutions. Of those aged 18-24, only 15% will not be making any resolutions, compared to 47% of those 70 years or older. Others who say they will not be making resolutions, by age group, are 25-34 year olds (29%), 35-54 year olds (30%), and 55-69 year olds (38%). Exercising more was among the most popular resolution from the choices provided, except for those 25-34 years old, who were more likely to say they will save more money (50%) compared to 40% of that age group who say they will exercise more.
Exercising more was the most popular choice across ideologies (liberal, moderate, and conservative) and political affiliation (Republican, Democrat, and Independent) and across most income levels. However, saving more money, losing weight and becoming a better person all out number exercising more for those making $35K to $50K. Losing weight tops the list for those making less than $25K. Zogby International conducted an online survey of 1,950 adults from Dec 8 – Dec. 10, 2010. Please click the link below to view website: http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.cfm?ID=1936
>>> If you believe it is important to have someone watching your public institutions consider supporting the Watchdog Report for I am a low cost news service yet I do have to live, thank you! Further, I have been honored over the years by being named a WFOR-4 Hometown Hero in 2000, being profiled in a major way by The Miami New Times, The Miami Herald, and the Orlando Sentinel which ran as a nationwide story on me in the Tribune papers on Jan. 2003 and UNC Chapel Hill naming me one of the top columnists in Florida in a multi-state study of the media back in 2004. I also thank Joseph Cooper for the opportunity to be on the WLRN/NPR showTopical Currents on www.wlrn.org since 2000, including yearly election coverage since then, and also the opportunity to be on Helen Ferre’s show Issues on issues@wpbt.org numerous times over the past decade.
FLORIDA
>>> Scott gives Libertarian Party ideas a big “hug,” Broward hospital districts & Jackson Memorial may be on the block
Rick Scott (Net worth around $218 million) is set to be sworn-in on Jan. 4 in Tallahassee and on Wednesday; he stopped by Dominos Park in Little Havana in the evening, part of a victory lap around the state greeting his supporters before he officially begins his new job on Tuesday. Scott, a neophyte to government and public service since he left Columbia/HCA in 1997, a company he created and headed with a $20 billion budget and 285,000 employees including 340 hospitals states his transition webpage. http://www.scotttransition.com/ & http://www.scottcarrollinaugural.com/ Scott has already floated the idea of changing how public hospitals are run and he has his eyes set on the North and South Broward Hospital Districts, as well as Jackson Memorial Hospital system. And while the Broward hospital districts were a creation of the state legislature, and can be changed when it comes to governance and public funding, Jackson may be a different story since Miami-Dade has a Home Rule Charter, though property tax dollars are used for a maintenance of effort contribution, that is supplemented by a 1991 county voter approved half-cent sales tax that brings in around $175 million this year for indigent care, but specifies the money has to be used for Jackson Memorial Hospital. >>> Editor’s note: Scott is not taking a salary and he also planes to sell the state plane as part of his cost savings measures.
What local leaders are benefiting from his victory?
Sweetwater Mayor Manny Moreno, Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina ( a potential Miami-Dade 2012 mayoral candidate), and Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo all bet early on Scott, and in Carollo’s case, his brother Joe, a former Miami Mayor. He backed Alex Sink running up to the election. Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado (Net worth $5,000) also was at the park and he tried to plead his case that the state’s cities need help with their own shaky budgets, as Scott vows to cut property taxes and shrink government around the state that had one political operative saying, Scott was “giving Libertarian Party ideas [not just a look] but was hugging them,” the government consultant thought at a public meeting.
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 Moreno |
 Regalado |
 Carollo |
“Florida TaxWatch Chairman Marshall Criser, III and President & CEO Dominic Calabro congratulate Governor-elect Rick Scott on his appointments to date. Consistent with Florida TaxWatch’s “Governor’s Transition Decision Handbook,” it is good to see thoughtful deliberation over hastiness in selecting and organizing a highly talented and well integrated leadership team that will modernize and reform Florida’s government to better serve the hardworking taxpayers of the Sunshine State.”
“Florida TaxWatch congratulates Governor-elect Rick Scott on his appointment of Wansley Walters as Secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Florida TaxWatch has been working actively working for the past three years on meaningful juvenile and criminal justice reform, including a strong partnership with the Coalition for Smart Justice, and we are delighted to see this new appointment. As leader of the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Services Department, Wansley Walters brings a lifetime of highly successful, cost-effective juvenile justice intervention and prevention experience needed to reform our juvenile justice system with sound business and common sense practices and great public stewardship. This appointment is a win-win for Florida’s youth, families and taxpayers.” >>> Florida TaxWatch has been diligent in following the important issue of Hospital Taxing Districts for several years. The most recent report, Florida’s Fragmented Hospital Taxing District System in Need of Reexamination, found that indigent care dollars should “follow the patient” instead of going to a single provider and recommends an evaluation of whether government should be operating the hospitals and instead have districts simply reimburse all providers for indigent care. For more information, please visit www.FloridaTaxWatch.org/research.
>>>PAST WDR: OCTOBER 31: Sink & Scott duke it out on the airwaves but in such a tight race what role will “cheater” gaffe play on Nov. 2?
Alex Sink (Net worth $9.22 million) Thursday afternoon had a go to the polls event at Scotty’s Landing next to Miami City Hall in Coconut Grove and her political support group included a host of high-powered Democratic and crossover Republican politicians. The group included U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, state Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach (Net worth $990,000), state Rep. Luis Garcia, D-Miami Beach, and Republicans included state Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, and former Mayor Joe Carollo. Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff (Net worth $2.17 million) kicked off the event with Commissioners Richard Dunn, II and Willy Gort (Net worth $185,000 in June 2000) also in attendance that on completion had a few of the people going to the early voting poll site at city hall. Sink the Democrats champion for governor against Republican Rick Scott (net worth $218 million) is neck and neck in the polls with the former healthcare executive, but a gaffe last week in a debate, has given Scott and his supporters a new rallying cry. “Cheater,” said some of the Scott supporters on the other side of a boat ramp, after campaign staffer Brian May had a makeup-artist take a message to the candidate www.miamiherald.com on a Druid phone violating the debate rules about incoming messages last week.
Scott picked-up on this, Mays was fired from the Sink campaign, but the story was covered on national news subsequently, given the tightness of the race, and time left. This action I call the May’s Effect, where at such a late date in the race, this could be the small thing that grants Scott along with the Republican voter turnout surge that is expected and showing up in early voting returns allowing him to possible win with a half to one point edge in the end. Sink has rebounded since the incident and after campaigning at Versailles restaurant and Jackson’s Soul Food Friday, she headed over to Miami Beach and swung by Joe’s Stone Crab, on South Beach to work the voters eating lunch at the establishment. Sink with her entourage after working the restaurant’s dining room went to the take out operation next door to see what was going on over there before departing the iconic restaurant…
>>> Press release: Governor Charlie Crist today appointed Alan Abramowitz of Tallahassee as executive director of the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office, to succeed Theresa Flury, for a term beginning December 28, 2010, and ending December 8, 2013. Currently, he directs the statewide Family Safety Program Office within the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).“With 15 years of experience in social service and juvenile justice, Alan has continually worked to improve the lives of children who depend on the child welfare system,” Governor Crist said. “He is an effective and caring advocate for the young people of Florida, and I am confident the Guardian Ad Litem Program will excel under his leadership.”
Since 2000, Abramowitz, 48, has managed a variety of regional and statewide offices within DCF, including the offices covering Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, Central Florida and Palm Beach County. From 1996 to 2000, he was assistant general counsel for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. He was an assistant public defender for the Tenth Judicial Circuit from 1992 to 1996 and an assistant state attorney for the Eighteenth Circuit from 1989 to 1990. He volunteered in Thailand with the United States Peace Corps from 1990 to 1992.
The Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Program is a partnership of community advocates and professional staff providing a voice on behalf of Florida’s abused and neglected children. The program pairs staff with community volunteers who get to know each child on an individual basis and advocate for their best interests. Additionally, the program uses a team of well-trained volunteers, case coordinators and program attorneys to provide services to Florida’s children. Abramowitz holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kansas State University, a master’s from University of Central Florida and a law degree from the Florida State University College of Law. He also served in the United States Army Reserve and the Florida Army National Guard.
>>> March 8th: First Day of the 2011 Legislative Session
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT
>>> PAST WDR: JULY 2010: Chief Justice Canady tapped by Gov. Crist in Aug. 08, had net worth of $442,000 through Mar.1
Charles Canady, the recently named Florida Supreme Court’s chief justice is in the spotlight this week and Gov. Charlie Crist appointed him to the bench on Aug. 2008.
What do we know about his finances?
Canady’s net worth through Mar.1, 2010 was $442,000 and he lists $50,500 in household goods. His home in Lakeland is valued at $310,000, there is $159,692 in a federal thrift, a deferred compensation plan has $69,700 and bank accounts have $36,966 in them. His only liability is a $195,000 mortgage, his judicial salary was $159,587 and he lists receiving no gifts over $100.00.
>>> Court’s web page: Chief Justice Charles Canady was born in Lakeland, Florida, in 1954. He is married to Jennifer Houghton, and they have two children. He received his B.A. from Haverford College in 1976 and his J.D. from the Yale Law School in 1979. For more information go to http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/justices/canady.shtml
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
>>> Commission split on when to have recall elections for Alvarez & Seijas, Wednesday meeting goes nowhere for lack of quorum
A Special County Commission meeting called by Commission Chair Dennis Moss (Net worth $342,000) to discuss the setting of an election date, for a ballot question, that if passed by county voters would recall and remove Mayor Carlos Alvarez (Net worth $1.74 million) went nowhere Wednesday after a lack of quorum occurred and was cancelled, even though Commissioner Carlos Gimenez (Net worth $871,000) was in the building and would have made the seventh member needed to hold a official commission meeting.
Moss said during the meeting that some people thought there had not been enough public notice for the meeting but he noted there were two stories that day in The Miami Herald www.miamiherald.com on the subject as well as in The Miami Times www.miamitimes.com , and last week in the Watchdog Report. He thought that claim was ludicrous and the meeting was properly advertised he was told by the county attorney’s office. Commissioner Barbara Jordan (Net worth $1.97 million), who had to cut short a vacation in Tallahassee to come back, was disappointed that seven commissioners could not be there, though Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz (Net worth $164,000) had sent a memo indicating he would be unable to attend.
Gimenez, who did not sign the request for a commission meeting also, had an editorial column run in The Herald earlier and he argued the commission should broaden the scope of the meeting, and not just concentrate on the mayor’s issue, and any succession plans. He thought it should also be a discussion about consolidating that election with the recall election facing Commissioner Natacha Seijas (Net worth $617,000). After activists gathered enough certified signatures, a few weeks ago to qualify asking for her recall be put on the ballot. A similar effort was tried to remove Commissioner Bruno Barreiro (Net worth $728,000), but that fell a few dozen signatures short by the end of the qualifying deadline, and he dodged the political bullet that had him saying he needed to do better letting his constituents know his positions and past votes.
 Alvarez |
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Paul Ahr, Ph.D. told the Watchdog Repot Camillus House is going to start Phase One of a new homeless facility near Jackson Memorial Hospital’s main campus even though bank financing is not yet in place.
>>> Board vacancies in District 11, Commissioner Martinez looking for people to serve on these organizations
As a Miami-Dade County Commissioner, I have the opportunity to appoint interested members of our community that meet the requirements to serve on various Miami-Dade County Boards. These Boards have been created to assist in the formulation of policies to improve the quality of life of the residents of Miami-Dade County. Consequently, it is crucial that we have residents like you participating in these Boards. Currently, there are vacancies in the following Boards: Biscayne Bay Shore Line Review Committee – Citizen’s Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) – Historic Preservation Board – Parks and Recreation Citizen’s Advisory Committee (PRAC) – Please find below a brief explanation on each of these Boards and the qualifications needed to serve on them. The Biscayne Bay Shore Line Review Committee – Description: Review development plans and construction activities in the Biscayne Bay Shoreline area that will preserve the basic qualities, characteristics, and the natural, recreational and aesthetic values of the Biscayne Bay area. Qualifications: Resident and elector of Miami-Dade County with an outstanding reputation for integrity, responsibility, and commitment to serving the community and are: Recognized professionals in one or more of the following fields: * Architecture * Landscape Architecture * Urban Design * Lay Persons with demonstrated interest in the preservation of the shoreline environment. Recognized municipal professionals in one or more of the following fields: * Architecture * Landscape Architecture * Urban Design… For more information contact Commissioner Joe Martinez at (305) 552-1155 or via e-mail at district11@miamidade.gov.
>>> Press release: RESOLVE TO CHANGE A LIFE IN 2011! -Library System seeks volunteer tutors-
The Miami-Dade Public Library System is seeking volunteer adult-literacy tutors for Project L.E.A.D. (Literacy for Every Adult in Dade), a free, confidential one-on-one tutoring program to assist adult learners in basic reading and writing. Learn about Project L.E.A.D. and participate in a workshop on Saturday, January 15, 2011, from 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., at the Main Library – 101 West Flagler Street in downtown Miami. Attendees must bring a picture I.D. for required fingerprinting and background check. For more information, or to register, email projectlead@mdpls.org or call 305.375.5323. Project L.E.A.D. Volunteer Tutor Training Workshop – Saturday, January 15, 2011 -9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Please bring picture I.D. for required background check.) Main Library 101 West Flagler Street – 05.375.2665 – 305.375.5323 – Project L.E.A.D.
BROWARD COUNTY
>>> Broward Bulldog celebrating another successful year of being a community watchdog
Press release: Dear friends of Broward Bulldog, Thanks to you, we have had a tremendous year as Florida’s first not-for-profit independent regional news site staffed by professional journalists. Our original reporting has told you about:
> Broward’s $1.5 billion, no-bid garbage disposal deal affecting residents and businesses.
> The conflicting interests of a retiring Florida Supreme Court justice, and questions about whether his votes in a statewide political fight were unduly influenced by a job opportunity at his soon-to-be employer.
> How the Broward State Attorney’s Office ignored clear and disturbing evidence of perjury and frame-up by Broward Sheriff’s detectives against Jerry Frank Townsend – who spent 22 years in prison for a series of rapes and murders he did not commit.
> The bitter zoning fight between Fort Lauderdale’s First Presbyterian Church and its neighbors in fashionable Colee Hammock.
> The federal government’s insider trading case against Holy Cross Hospital cardiologist and Republican fundraiser Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, and how a judge cleared him of those charges earlier this month.
> How before popular Democrat Robert Wexler quit Congress last year FBI agents were asking questions about his campaign’s unconventional $150,000 real estate investment.
Broward Bulldog’s stories have been republished in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, The Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post, and NewsServiceFlorida. Nationally, our stories have been published or cited by The Chicago Tribune, CBS News, MSNBC, New York Daily News, and The New York Times.
Broward Bulldog emerged from the turmoil that’s accompanied the decline of the area’s local newspapers. We are a member of the Investigative News Network, and are committed to investigative journalism and to seeking out important stories that would otherwise go uncovered. But watchdog reporting is expensive. We need your help to continue to deliver the authoritative local, issue-oriented news and information our community needs. Please consider Broward Bulldog in your year-end giving. Broward Bulldog is a registered 501 (c) (3) organization and all contributions are tax deductible. You can donate on our site via PayPal, at www.browardbulldog.org, or by check. Our address is: Broward Bulldog, P.O. Box 23763, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33307 — We welcome feedback and story ideas. Your involvement and energy is essential as we grow and move forward. Happy New Year!
>>> Press releases: Gov. Crist taps Basulto for Board of Commissioners, South Broward Hospital District
Jose Basulto, 47, of Hallandale Beach, founder and president of Basulto Management Consulting Inc., succeeding Laura Raybin Miller, appointed for a term beginning December 28, 2010, and ending June 30, 2013.
>>> Thank you for using the Broward County Commission Agenda E-mail Notification System. A new Broward County Commission Agenda is available. Point your browser to http://www.broward.org/commission/welcome.htm to view the new agenda.
PALM BEACH COUNTY
>>> PAST WDR: MAY 2010: Stecker is tapped as new county IG, but does she get clean slate?
Leaders in Palm Beach County have chosen their county inspector general, they chose Sheryl Stecker state’s the Daily Pulp done by Bob Norman, and he gives some insight on the women. Below is from his web-page. >>> From Bob Norman’s Daily Pulp page at http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/
 Steckler |
HERNANDO COUNTY
>>> Press release: Governor Charlie Crist taps Alvin “Al” D. Nienhuis II as Hernando County Sheriff.
“Al’s 15 years as a dedicated law enforcement officer have given him the experience and skills he needs to honorably serve the people of Hernando County,” Governor Crist said. “The leadership he has shown as an undersheriff for nearly a decade have prepared him to serve as one of the top law enforcement officers in our state.” Nienhuis’ law enforcement career began in 1985 with the Florida Marine Patrol, where he first volunteered and later worked part-time. Since 2001, he has served as the Undersheriff for the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, where he has been responsible for all detention and law enforcement daily operations. From 1989 to 2000, he served in the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, first as a special agent, then a sergeant, in the Clearwater District Office; later as a lieutenant in the Sarasota District Office, and as a captain in the Fort Myers District Office. He has served on the Pasco-Hernando Community College Law Enforcement Training Advisory Board since 2001.
Nienhuis, 47, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida. A graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, he is planning to complete a master’s degree in business administration in 2011. Nienhuis will serve until January 7, 2013, and will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Sheriff Richard Nugent, who was recently elected to the United States House of Representatives.
GULF COAST COUNTY
>>> Press release: Gov. Crist taps Patronis for District Board of Trustees, Gulf Coast Community College (Senate confirmation required)
Katie L. Patronis, 33, of Panama City, real estate broker with Century 21 Ryan Realty, succeeding William Cramer, appointed for a term beginning December 28, 2010, and ending May 31, 2014.
PINNELAS COUNTY
>>> Press release: Gov. Crist reappointed Sewell to the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County (Senate Confirmation Required)
James D. Sewell, 60, of St. Petersburg, self-employed management consultant, reappointed for a term beginning December 29, 2010, and ending August 11, 2014.
KISSIMEE COUNTY
>>> PAST WDR: MAY 2010:Gov. Crist suspends county commissioner Irizarry after domestic violence charge, #39 removal for governor
There he goes again, Gov. Charlie Crist (Net worth $466,000) has suspended Kissimmee County commissioner Carlos Irizarry after he was charged with aggravated assault and domestic violence violations. This is Crist’s 39th suspension since he took office in Jan. 2009 and has concerned the governor enough that a state grand jury is studying the state’s “Culture of Corruption” looking to see the prevalence and scope of wayward elected leaders. >>> Press release: Governor’s Executive Orders 10-116: Executive Orders 10-116, suspending Carlos Irizarry, Kissimmee County commissioner.
MONROE COUNTY
>>> PAST WDR: AUG. 2010: Acevedo gets 8-years, affair traumatized Monroe electorate, school supt. no longer elected
Well its over, Monique Acevedo the wife of in jail Randy Acevedo the ex Monroe County Public Schools administrator got eight years in prison, and payback the stolen money, after she stole $413,000 over a couple of years. The case has taken a life of its own in the Conch Republic and local Circuit Court Judge Mark H. Jones (Net worth $459,000) levied a stiff sentence to the wayward wife who claimed she suffered from a “mental illness” www.miamiherald.com. He did not buy that argument and threw the book at her including 22-years on probation. Further, county voters approved a ballot amendment making the superintendent’s job no longer elected, and now the county school board will select the head of the public school district.
What do we know about Judge Jones?
Jones, 57, is a Dartmouth College graduate and after law school, he became a member of the U.S. Navy JAG Corps and served in that capacity in Key West. His yearly financial disclosure form state’s his net worth through June 2010 was $459,000 and he lists $36,150 in household goods. His home is worth $400,000, a boat is valued at $25,000, there is $65,700 in a money market fund and savings and checking accounts have $2,460. Land in Alaska is valued at $75,200, there is $125,000 in a retirement fund and his life insurance policy is worth $39,170. His liabilities are $216,000 and $3,450 with the Navy Credit Union, USAA is owed $67,600 and a bank in Alaska is owed $21,730. The jurist lists receiving no gifts over $100.00 in value.
Judge Jones
MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
>>> PAST WDR: MAY 2010: Supt. Carvalho says no mass firings at district because of money; people terminated will be for “performance”
Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of the nation’s fourth largest public school district told attendees at the Greater Miami Goals Conference Education Committee break out session on Friday that while other districts around the state may be firing employees. That will not happen here in Miami-Dade “because of economic issues,” he said. The superintendent who took over in Sept. 2008 said there would be people terminated but it will be “for performance issues” and not because of lack of funding. He said the new proposed budget, the board will consider in the future has “no tax increase” and he pledged, “Not to fire a single teacher for economic reasons’” that has other Florida districts laying off hundreds of teachers and other employees. The superintendent told the Chamber attendees that over the last 18-months “there have been $350 million in budget cuts” but said reserves that had dropped to almost nothing 2-years ago will be at $100 million and the number is giving the school’s bond ratings a boost to “stable,” he said. The former science teacher noted that 81 percent of children in the school system are considered “poor” and despite these demographics. Recent district test scores that rose show children, when it comes to education even if poor, can perform academically with their peers around the nation.
Carvalho has an active schedule in the course of a week and he recently went to New York City to receive an award after a Tuesday nighttime event with future principals and assistant principals held in Coconut Grove. At the affair, Carvalho and Freddie Woodson were called “the dynamic duo” of education within the district and these budding administrators that attended the affair clearly had their lights on and all radiated a certain energy, touched with a little bit of hope, and I for one was impressed with the caliber of these people.
PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST
>>> Will search committee roll the dice and in months ahead select locals such as Burgess or Migoya as president?
With odds makers in Vegas almost betting on if Miami-Dade Manager George Burgess or banker and now retired Miami Manager Carlos Migoya is the front running candidate to run the almost $2 billion Public Health Trust now that PHT CEO Eneida Roldan, M.D. is saying sayonara to the public hospital system, but a new wrinkle will be incoming Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who is looking at changing how the state’s public hospitals are run, and that changes the whole equation when it comes to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Scott’s transition team studying healthcare facilities and detailed in a Friday article by award winning reporter John Dorschner in the www.miamiherald.com discusses some of the options the governor elect is looking at, especially since he ran Columbia/HCA, a 340 private hospital chain he founded and left in 1997 after a federal probe concerning Medicare fraud, on a massive scale. That had the private hospital chain later paying a $1.7 billion fine to the federal government, and is the largest such fine ever levied. Scott was never charged and left the company with a golden parachute resulting in his $219 million net worth, but when it comes to public hospitals, this will be his political strong suit.
 Migoya |
 Burgess |
>>> What about the search committee meeting Tuesday afternoon?
Gladys Ayala, the PHT search committee chair said she wanted a “transparent” selection process, though she understood the issues because of the Florida Sunshine Law and the fact names are public if someone applies to be the new CEO, especially since they are likely to be employed at another health system. However, Trustee Martin Zilber questioned whether there was a way to get around some of this public access during this process, and he thought in the past, when Roldan was selected, there was a point the names were unavailable to the public (However, I don’t remember that news blackout back then, and I think I just held running the names until the process was further refined to three people).
>>> PAST WDR: MARCH 2010: Part III: Will meetings upon meetings, reports bleed into the running of the health complex?
It was a full week for the PHT board and the administration struggling with a financial tsunami at the Jackson Health System that now how has the county administration led by Mayor Carlos Alvarez (Net worth $1.66 million) and George Burgess jumping in with both feet after Miami-Dade agreed to accelerate (through a variety of ways and sources) $80 million but includes countywide half-cent-sales tax receipts due to the health trust in the coming months less millions in bond payments. John Dorschner of The Miami Herald www.miamiherald.com has been dutifully reporting the meetings over the past months and the issue of Jackson’s survival finally has the community’s attention, and its importance as a healthcare provider and an economic engine that has two medical school affiliations employing at its peak 12,500 employees, with an $85 million monthly payroll.
Eneida Roldan, M.D. the PHT president and CEO since taking the trust’s leadership reins in June of 2009 has had a rough ride after it became apparent late last year patient receivables and bad debt, the funds owed by patients and providers came in at a much lower number than originally anticipated resulting in a $229 million deficit for the current year. However, last week she has gotten some union agreement concessions, and the federal and state governments are accelerating some payments but much of the hospital systems structural problems still remain. Roldan, on Saturday also got a major front page story and profile by www.miamiherald.com on her trials and tribulations, including the verbal political buzz saw some county commissioners have pointed in her direction, with long serving Commissioner Natacha Seijas (Net worth $655,000), questioning her competency to lead such a large institution and the president’s past statements had Seijas saying the executive could not be trusted. Roldan, so far has survived walking through this political and financial minefield but she now faces major outside oversight and that raises the question if trust staff, already dramatically reduced in their numbers, can do all this while also running a roughly 1,500 bed facility at the main campus and over 30 satellite operations, including Jackson North and South and these newly designated outside monitors should keep that fact in mind.
Further, with this management agreement with the county signed last week, one of the provisions is the county having a complete understanding of what organizational and financial savings are being instituted, and the first meeting was on Friday states The Herald where Burgess laid out these ground rules. The county manager first started coming to PHT board meetings about four months ago, and it was the first time since 1998 that I ever saw the manager show up at these meetings, that historically were assigned to an assistant county manager. In the case of Burgess, at Monday’s trust meeting he brought along the assigned assistant manager, and her staff associate but the third person was the county’s budget and strategic planning director Jennifer Glazer-Moon and these additions show how concerned the county is about the PHT…
What about past Watchdog Report stories since 2000?
Since May of 2000, I have been covering the PHT in all its aspects over the years and its financial challenges since then have never been far below the surface of any story over this time. In 2004, I ran the headline about the $84 million charge the organization was having to take for the year and the numbers in many ways never got that much better, week after week, month after month, to where we are today. Some of the county commissioners are carping about all the sudden press and media attention the hospital system with 12,000 employees is getting but that is what happens in Florida where the state sunshine and open records laws makes all these activities public events. However, the commissioners should also be asking why they and the Fourth Estate did not kick in earlier to alert South Florida of the pending financial train wreck. The chronic problem was apparent to anyone that read the Watchdog Report over the decade, but in many ways, my role seems to be of Cassandra for we, as a community did not necessarily have to be where we are today, if corrective action had occurred years ago.
>>> Grand Jury report on Jackson déjà vu for Watchdog Report, sad trip down memory lane
The 33-page Miami-Dade County Grand Jury Final report, released Aug.5 on Jackson Health System was like a diary of my past 12-years at watching and writing about the public hospital system and the health trust that governs and provides management oversight, and when it comes to the overall governance arrangement, it is a “schizophrenic,” model to put it mildly. The grand jury looked at the hospital’s operation, how it was managed, the role of the PHT board and the Miami-Dade County Commission where in most cases the last word is decided, especially when it came to union contracts for the over 12,000 employees. The Trust 15 member citizen board selected and approved by the county commission was sold to voters back in 1991, when a countywide half-cent sales tax was passed for Jackson, as the independent oversight voters and residents wanted, but independent is a relative word when it comes to this oversight. Over the years, the commission weighed in periodically, and virtually ignored the warnings and why the Watchdog Report has run relentlessly for the last two years the graphs below that former President and CEO Marvin O’Quinn presented in June of 2008 to the county commission.
One of the key points in the grand jury report missed by many media reports is that back in 1973 when the county spun off the hospital and created the PHT board, one of the driving reasons was the hospital’s ability to stay “accredited” to operate and there is no activity in government services that is similar to a clinical situation where there are independent national boards allowing physicians and hospitals to operate under strict rules. Rules that the county commission has no say on and why I always highlight when the facility passes another accreditation cycle, for it is no easy task to achieve when you also have two teaching universities affiliated with the health system.
What about low performing trustees on the PHT board?
The report also highlighted the fact that the board was supposed to represent the diversity of the community, but did not specify the skill sets an effective trustee might need. Over the past dozen years, I have watched and covered the PHT Nominating Council and the process periodically is inconsistent, and occasionally, a disappointment slips through the process, but the county commission even when shown a poor performing trustee, acts like lemmings and vote the wayward trustee in for another term. Martin Zilber during his first term fit such a description when he would show up late, ask for special briefings since he missed committee meetings, and incessantly used his Blackberry during meetings giving the impression he was to busy to concentrate on the proceedings that other trustees were focused on.
The Watchdog Report, for the first time ever created a weekly section called the Zilber Watch where I pounded the attorney on his performance on the board. Further, during this time he refused to resign from the Cultural Affairs Council even though on the PHT application form just above where people sign their name. It states any selected candidate must resign from any other county board, which he finally did three years later after I pressed the issue when he reapplied to the health trust. However, after all this attention what did the county commission do when his name was back on the slate? Nothing and the board rewarded his weak performance by confirming him again, even though there was a strong woman candidate that could have filled his slot (women are vastly underrepresented on the board with currently only four women, up by two, a few years ago).
What about the early years in 1998?
When I first started attending PHT board meetings it was a very formal affair in a very controlled setting and anyone from the public wishing to speak found there was a elaborate process to get on the agenda and in many ways the hospital was on “auto pilot” said a long time county employee assigned to the hospital. In my case there was a certain amount of suspicion regarding who I was, why I was so interested in the PHT and its governance, and essentially what did I want, since everyone else seemed to want something. The board trustees over the years found my only interest was transparency, effective oversight and the fiscal health of the medical jewel in our community and I have covered it relentlessly over the past decade. >>> To read the report go to Miami Dade Office of the State Attorney, 11th Judicial Circuit …
CITY OF MIAMI
>>> Chief Exposito tells Mayor Regalado to “cease and desist” interfering “with legal law enforcement initiatives”
Jorge Exposito, the Miami Police Chief sent a blistering letter to Mayor Tomas Regalado last week demanding he “cease and desist your efforts to hinder, disrupt, or otherwise interfere with legal law enforcement initiatives,” he closed the correspondence. The chief’s issue centers around local coin slot gaming machines that the city is taxing around $500 per machine to get the anticipated $750,000 in projected revenue. The commission in October passed an ordinance allowing them to be placed in restaurants and clubs, but Commissioner Francis Suarez was skeptical of the legislation wondering if state law was not being circumvented and the city was “condoning” this activity. The complete letter and front page story was in Friday’s A Section of the www.miamiherald.com and while Regalado does not appoint the police chief, that is done now by new Manager Tony Crapp, Jr., and he must weigh if the chief’s letter was insubordinate and should be removed from his post. However, it tests Crapp for the first time regarding his independence from the mayor since for years he was Regalado’s chief of staff, until Regalado and the commission confirmed him recently to the new post since Manager Carlos Migoya announced he was leaving as of Dec. 31.
Exposito, hand picked by Regalado alone with then Miami Manager Pete Hernandez right after the 2009 November election of the mayor was brought in with great fanfare and photos on Nov. 19, and the chief’s conformation had all the commissioners supporting the appointment by Hernandez, who later left the city himself. However, since then there have been a number of deadly police shootings and the mayor and commissioners are getting pressure from the community though Regalado at one point last year said “gunfire would be answered with gunfire,” when police were fired upon on city streets, but the comment may have set a tone some believed in the department.
>>> The following e-mail was sent to (now former) Mayor Manny Diaz using his e-mail address on his extensive city web-page on Sept. 13, 2008 at 9:38 a.m. and to date there has been no answer from the mayor. It currently goes to his new e-mail address.>>> “Mayor Diaz (Net worth $1.8 million), I wanted to ask you in the chamber today but not in front of Chair Joe Sanchez. My question is where did the extra $400,000 in the 2007 disclosure form come from? I will run what ever you respond unedited but I would appreciate closing this issue, as I am sure you do. Sorry but I have to ask. Best to all. Dan” >>>> The Watchdog Report through Dec.7 has yet to get a response or catch-up with Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz on where he got the extra $400,000 in cash listed in his 2007 financial disclosure forms. To see what CBS 4 reporter David Sutta’s take on this issue and the other city leaders financial disclosures go to cbs4.com Blogs .
>>> Readers should stay tuned and catch the meeting on the city’s cable station channel 77. >>> Stream Channel 77, for all City of Miami meetings, (Commission, PAB, Code, etc. hearings) http://videos.miamigov.com/
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
>>> PAST WDR: MARCH 2010: Ethics commission says Libbin can serve as Chamber CEO, but with limitations
Commissioner Jerry Libbin has taken on a new gig. He is the new director of the Beach’s Chamber of Commerce and the commissioner since his election a few years ago to the dais has been very pro business and sponsored in the past greater ties with China. He is not the first commissioner to work in a similar capacity because a past collogue a couple of decades ago got a state ethics ruling, still valid that said it was okay but times have changed since then when it comes to perceived or actual conflicts of interest. In an abundance of caution, the commissioner asked the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission for a ruling and below is how the body came down on the subject. The Watchdog Report has mixed views on this new job and if he had it before being elected that would be one thing. Voters would have known what they were getting with their commissioner. But doing this after the fact creates a different set of issues and Libbin needs to rethink this if he finds himself recusing himself to often. For in this new capacity as being the Beach business cheerleader, he can easily have a conflict with what residents concerns are on an issue and municipal voters have the right to expect a full time elected official on the dais, not a hybrid shill for business and development whose vote could be perceived as in the bag. I suggest the commissioner be very careful in walking this ethics and civic tightrope during the coming months and years while he is in office. >>> Here is the ethics opinion: >>> Miami-Dade Ethics Commission ruling last week: Miami Beach City Commissioner Jerry Libbin may serve as President/Executive Director of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, with certain limitations. That’s the response to Libbin’s Request for Opinion (RQO 10-08) before taking over leadership of the non-profit corporation that supports local businesses. The Ethics Commission recommended that Commissioner Libbin avoid voting on matters brought before the City Commission by directors of the Chamber related to Chamber business.
>>> Mayor Bower at Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club
Miami Beach mayor, Matti Bower, will be the guest speaker at the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club, Jan. 4, 2011, 8:30AM – 10:00AM, David’s Cafe II, 1654 Meridian Ave., Miami Beach.
CITY OF CORAL GABLES
>>> Reader says debates are set, first mayoral one is Jan. 18 moderated by WCBS 4 anchor Rodriguez
In regard to your recent Watchdog Report please be advised that the Ponce Business Association is sponsoring three Candidate Forums for the Coral Gables City Commission election that will be held on April 12, 2011. Our first Forum (for Seat 1 – Mayor) is on January 18, 2011 at 7:00 pm at the Coral Gables Congregational Church. The moderator is WCBS4 anchor Eliott Rodriguez. All Candidates in the Mayoral race were invited on December 15, 2010. As of this date, (12/27/10) two candidates have accepted our invitation, Thomas Korge and James Cason. Candidate Forums for the two other races will be held on February 15th (Seat 4) (invitations were sent out on 12/22/10) and March 15th (Seat 5). No invitations have been sent as of this date due to no candidates announcing their candidacy. Ponce Business Association www.poncebusiness.com
CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI
>>> PAST WDR: AUG. 2010: From educator and activist to Mayor Stoddard, must slow the turnstile of new managers
The Watchdog Report stopped by South Miami city hall on Tuesday because it was noticed as a primary day voting site (which it wasn’t) but I was able to catch-up with Mayor Philip K. Stoddard, Ph.D. The mayor, an educator and activist for years has settled in as the new face of the city, though the turnstile of city managers continues to churn, with a new shortlist of candidates being considered for the post, after a national search was done for candidates. The mayor also has to work with a lively commission that has had its own share of turbulence on the dais, and some of this contentious behavior has come before the Miami-Dade ethics commission in the past. The Watchdog Report believes the city needs to settle down when it comes to the turnover rate of top management and the commissioners should realize decisions have consequences in the short and long term. Further, the city is facing a SEC investigation on some city bonds sold, that may drag on for months, but is a significant cloud hanging over the city and its taxpayer residents. For more information about the manager search go to www.miamiherald.com in Sunday’s Neighbors section. Or the city at www.cityofsouthmiami.net
CITY OF DORAL
>>> PAST WDR: APRIL 2010: Clerk Herrera and others get ethics advocate warning letter, after Rubio fundraiser e-mail
City of Doral Clerk Barbara Herrera got a wake-up call March 19 after she received a letter from the county’s ethics commission advocate concerning “allegations” that a city e-mail list was used to promote a fundraiser for former state Rep. Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, now a U.S. senate candidate facing off against Gov. Charlie Crist in the Aug 24, closed Republican primary. As the Michael Murawski letter notes, this kind of activity of a public office, supporting a candidate, is a no-no and why the Watchdog Report made a big deal about it last week when a Miami Beach city employee did a variation of this, though not for a political candidate.
>>> Here is the letter: March 19, 2010, Barbara Herrera, City Clerk, City of Doral
Re: Use of City resources for political campaigns — Dear Ms. Herrera, Mayor and Council
I am writing to you with the hope that this letter will serve as a guideline for you and other municipal government officials to prevent the possibility of ethical transgressions in the future. Recently, my office received some information alleging that the City of Doral’s e-mail system was used to disseminate invitations to a campaign related function for Senate candidate Marco Rubio. The Ethics Commission recently opined that the Mayor of Miami-Dade County was prohibited from endorsing a judicial candidate using County stationary. The Ethics Commission reasoned that while the Mayor was free to personally endorse whomever he pleased, he could not create the impression that the County endorsed the candidate. The Ethics Commission used the same analysis to conclude that the Mayor could not disseminate, through the County e-mail system, a political endorsement that he received from the Firefighters Union and the Police Benevolent Association. We also advised a former City of Homestead Mayor that she could not utilize the City e-mail system to invite people to a Mario Diaz-Balart fundraiser.
The Ethics Commission has deemed the dissemination of political e-mails through a government e-mail network as violative of the Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics ordinance. For future reference, be advised that it could be considered an exploitation of official position[1] to disseminate political campaign material using City resources (i.e. e-mail) or utilize tax payers money to create political advertisements for a third party. If you are ever in doubt as to the propriety of any official action, I urge you all to contact my office or request an opinion from the Ethics Commission. If you have any further questions or need any other information please do not hesitate to call me at (305) 350-0609 or e-mail me at murawsk@miamidade.gov, wrote Murawski with a copy to Doral attorney, former county Commissioner Jimmy Morales.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
>>> Press release: Alison Zemanski, National Parks Conservation Association, P: 202.454.3332 or 202.384.8762, azemanski@npca.org >> Richard Gibbs, Everglades Foundation, P: 305.251.0001, ext. 235 or 305.606.6407, rgibbs@evergladesfoundation.org – 26th Annual Everglades Coalition Conference, January 6-9, 2011 – Renewal of Life for the Everglades: Moving Forward Together
>>> Press release: THE MARGULIES COLLECTION AT THE WAREHOUSE AFRICA: Photography and Video – JENE HIGHSTEIN: Large Stone Carvings -MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO: Broken Mirror Painting … >>> Visitors are welcomed at the door for the price of a donation to the Lotus House Shelter for Homeless Women and Children. Adults $10.00, Miami Dade students are free of charge – For further information please call 305-576-1051 or visit our website at www.margulieswarehouse.com Contact: Curator, Katherine Hinds
591 NW 27th Street, Miami, FL 33127 p: 305.576.1051 / f: 305.576.4963 / mcollection@bellsouth.net
EDITORIALS
>>> Reflections on the Watchdog Report coming into my twelfth year in May
With a new year, it is clear to me that as I enter the 12th year of the Watchdog Report on May 5 that there is a definite time frame to the endeavor, after I faced two major surgeries, am still recovering, and continue to struggle in the financial wilderness. In the mid 1990s when I slowly began to watch what was going on at our public institutions a number of things were clear. These institutions worked in a vacuum of their own interests, and our elected leaders were mere mortals and their flaws were easy to spot. In my case a number of events and people in the late 1990s pushed me into this activity and ultimately the inter-net gave me the mechanism when I started sending the e-mails out on a purple Apple I Mac, after I realized there was a news hole in the media when it came to Sunday night and other weekly publications had picked Wednesday for their publishing day.
However, that required I work almost 24/7 and collect information and watch our leaders through the week and then putting it in the public domain, free, so that all readers have the knowledge, and not a select few in the community. And the ultimate goal was to try to reconnect residents and taxpayers with their public institutions that nationally poll poorly when it comes to competency, that in the last century topped at around 80 percent of us believing government could do something competently but that is now in the 30 percent range.
>>> What about my staff and report name?
Further, since I work alone (except for the help with the webpage from a UM student funded by The Knight Foundation), hitting the twelve year mark has been a weekly news and writing marathon, while also struggling to stay fiscally alive, though I have returned around 40 checks over the years from people or organizations that I did not want to be involved with in South Florida. And someone returning money just never happens down here, and the look on these peoples face is priceless. This is in contrast to Miami-Dade County where a county audit back in 2003 found in the Periodical Program, there were six free newspapers that received around $20,000 for the year but auditors were unable to establish their existence, yet in the Watchdog Report’s case, I actually produce something on a consistent basis.
I also would like people to not refer to the Watchdog Report as the Ricker Report or some variation, because I am not that full of myself, and originally it was not to be about me. But rather making the community more informed, and periodically killing some spending or getting a better deal on a contract and over the past decade. I have easily affected some hundreds of millions of dollars of public money given the collective size of public institutions (around $13 billion yearly in Miami-Dade alone) and that has been one of the driving forces for me behind the scenes at public meetings. So, as I continue this strange odyssey, I ask my readers for a little help if you want to see your government up-close and personal. For there is no weekly paycheck and living off the community is no easy task, but I hope I have proven that the report is of community benefit. And I hope I will be here in 2012 to write further, but that is in others hands and will you be one of them, that helps keep me in the field for another year, that hopefully is better than this past year, and may you and your family have a Happy New Year.
>>> PAST WDR: March 2005: Transparency in government affairs is always spoken about but without the Watchdog Report rarely seen
The big news like the Florida Marlins stadium or a police shooting always makes the mainstream press, but what happens at the next lower tier of government rarely registers in the news food chain and it is at some of these more obscure meetings that the rubber meets the road when it comes to spending public money and making public policy. It is for this reason that you rarely see the Watchdog Report at the big news events since it already being covered by an army of press.
The publisher when it comes to covering government and south Florida tries to be a news contrarian and look for those nuggets of information crucial to developing stories, especially inter-governmental showdowns or issues that explode suddenly into the community’s political landscape. For example, when it comes to the Performing Arts Center, I only attend generally the construction committee to be sure the project, after a massive cost overrun and 20 month delay is still on track. At the Miami-Dade Public Schools, I rarely miss a meeting of the school board audit committee, which is the community’s safety valve and watchdog on how the $5 billion public district spends our tax dollars. The point is there are hundreds of meetings being held throughout the county and its municipalities every week but are rarely reported on and that is why I do what I do.
Transparency in government is always being talked about but it takes someone to bring the information into the light. That is what I have attempted to do over the last eight years, which in a few weeks will include six years of writing about it and it has been an unusual road to embark upon but worth it. For now there are many people ranging from the highest and the most humble people in our community that know first hand what is going on in the halls of power and when it comes to approving future bonds or other countywide initiatives. They are more informed and that strengthens the bond between government and its people and that is a good thing.
>>> PAST WDR: JULY 2008: Collapse and consolidation of media will eventually create a Wild West mentality within public institutions
The collapse and consolidation of the media and the press is hitting hard here in South Florida with the closing of the Orlando-Sentinel Miami office, continued cuts at The Miami Herald and Sun-Sentinel and now the merger of WTVJ-NBC 6 into WPLG-ABC 10 that is likely to get FCC approval since Spanish media is so strong in this market. However, for the general public looking for the press to be watchdogs this should be seen as very bad news and they need to financially support the industry for a strong vibrant and responsible press is the glue that keeps public institutions and elected leaders restrained and without that oversight. South Florida becomes an open town where anything will go in many cases within unchecked government entities.
Yes the inter-net has changed everything when it comes to people getting their news but many of the blogs out there are anonymous and many times not that accurate in some of the reporting and these people cannot replace what a large circulation daily can do collectively keeping people informed. Recently a reporter said something that has rattled in my head since I heard it. He said we do not make the news “we make it better” by being able to explain why something might be important and how it relates to perhaps other things and losing that is a loss for all of us.
Yes, the media has made mistakes, yes, it is not perfect but overall it is one of the pillars of a free society and why freedom of speech and the press was included in the United States Constitution and it has done its job for centuries. It is for this reason as newsroom cuts get to the bone that civic leaders and others should take note because while it might sound great to some people not to have the media. Its loss and watchdog charge must continue if we are not to have a Wild West mentality when it comes to our collective public institutions, and that is not a good thing.
LETTERS
>>> Local retired heart surgeon on organ transplants at Jackson/UM
I have enjoyed your information on Jackson Memorial Hospital and the letter to the editor by Dr. Bernd Wollschaeger. – We should cease the free transplant program. It should be restarted only for the true cost and if data proves it of value. But missing is the portion of the costs assigned to the care of undocumented, i.e. illegal, people. What is this cost and is this not really the cost for the Federal Government?
Jim Jude M.D.
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THE STATE OF FLORIDA www.myflorida.gov
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY www.miamidade.gov
MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD www.dadeschoolsnews.net
PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST & JACKSON HEALTH SYSTEM www.jhsmiami.org
THE BEACON COUNCIL www.beaconcouncil.com
THE CHILDREN’S TRUST www.thechildrenstrust.org
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA http://www.firstgov.gov/
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI www.miami.edu
The Watchdog Report covers a few of the meetings attended weekly. It remains my belief that an informed public will make better decisions. Therefore, I go to meetings, make the presence of an informed citizen known, and bring the information to you. The Watchdog Report is in the fourth year of publication and it has been an honor to be able to send this information to you. It is sent to readers in Miami-Dade, Florida, the U.S. and the world. The Watchdog Report is sent to thousands free and while readers have been prodded to subscribe the results have been mixed. Over 250 reports and Extra’s have been sent since May 5, 2000 and over one million words have been written on our community’s governments and events. The report is an original work based on information gathered at public meetings, interviews and from documents in the public domain.
LETTER POLICY
I welcome letters via e-mail, fax, or snail mail. Letters may be edited for length or clarity and must refer to material published in the Watchdog Report. Please see address and contact information. Please send any additions and corrections by e-mail, fax or snail mail. All corrections will be published in the next Watchdog Report. If you or your organization would like to publish the contents of this newsletter, please contact me. Please send your request to watchdogreport1@earthlink.net
Daniel A. Ricker
Publisher & Editor
Watchdog Report
Est. 05.05.00
Copyright © of original material, 2011, Daniel A. Ricker
>>> Watchdog Report is expanding as a new service and this content is now available to other news media, no longer exclusive to The Miami Herald
The Watchdog Report is no longer exclusively with The Miami Herald, and excluding the one story a week that is printed in the paper on Monday in the Metro & State section by me. The rest of the 20 or so news stories weekly sent out Sunday in the Watchdog Report are now available to television stations web pages, and all the newspapers and other media in South Florida if the publishers have an interest to run part or all of the stories. Further, in 2000, I used to have some paper’s running the report in the Spanish press, that option is available again, and publishers should contact me. The news content will not be free, but you can pick and chose the stories of interest, edit them if necessary but you must still keep the general story intact. If you are a news outlet and would like to learn more about, the Watchdog Report and this offer contact me at watchdogreport1@earthlink.net for further information.
>>> Here is what past newspapers have written about the Watchdog Report publisher including a survey and regional study done by the U. North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the media in the southeast United States.
>>> The Miami Herald and Orlando Sentinel & Sun-Sentinel articles on the Watchdog Report publisher over the years. >>> Published on September 9, 1999, Page 1EA, Miami Herald, The (FL) CITIZEN ADVOCATE’ KEEPS TABS ON POLITICIANS >>> Published on January 3, 2000, Page 1B, Miami Herald, The (FL) MIAMI-DADE WATCHDOG WILL BE MISSED >>> Published on January 20, 2003, Page 1E, Orlando Sentinel, PAPERWORK TIGER, Miami’s citizen watchdog piles up government files in his quest to keep the “little people” informed.
>>>Watchdog Report publisher named ‘Best Citizen’ 2003 by the Miami New Times —The publisher would like to thank the weekly alternative paper Miami New Times for bestowing their 2003 Best of Miami, ‘Best Citizen’ award to me and I am honored. Thank you. To read the full story go to http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2003-05-15/citylife2.html/1/index.html
From the spring of 2003: U. North Carolina, Chapel Hill: Southeast U.S. Media Report lists Watchdog Report publisher as leading Florida commentator >>> Selected excerpts from the report on Florida’s media sources
Those who do read the newspaper in Florida have a bevy of options for state government and political coverage. The dominant newspapers in the state are Knight-Ridder’s The Miami Herald (Acquired by The McClatchy Company in 2006) and the Poynter Institute’s St. Petersburg Times. Both papers endorsed Gore in 2000 but split on the 2002 gubernatorial race, with the Herald endorsing Republican incumbent Jeb Bush and the Times backing Democratic challenger Bill McBride.
Daniel Ricker of The Miami Herald also writes an influential column as well as an email newsletter called the Watchdog Report that goes out to more than 100,000 subscribers. FEBRUARY 2004 – Florida: Columnists in Abundance —ERIC GAUTSCHI, graduate student, School of Journalism & Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill – D) LEADING COMMENTATORS – Resource Commentator Organization Type Web site –Steve Bousquet St. Petersburg Times Column www.sptimes.com/columns/bousquet.shtml -“First Friday” WPBT TV (Miami) TV Show www.channel2.org/firstfriday/issues.html –Lucy Morgan St. Petersburg Times Column www.sptimes.com/columns/morgan.shtml –Daniel Ricker Miami Herald/Watchdog Report Newsletter –www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/columnists/dan_ricker/ >>> Readers who would like to read the complete University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Southeast United States Media Report go to view the complete report or download all the data used in this study. >>> Watchdog Report Editor’s note to the NCU/CH study: The subscriber number referenced is incorrect and applies to readership.
Watchdog Report Supporters Invoice-Form
NOTE: Invoice is for Yearly supporter/sponsorship Rates: Thank you.
Large Business Supporters $500
Small Business Supporters $250
Please make checks payable to: Daniel A. Ricker
Fax 305-668-4784 -To contact the Publisher please e-mail watchdogreport1@earthlink.net
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