Watchdog Report Vol. 12 No.9 July 3, 2011 Est.05.05.00 I go when you cannot!
CONTENTS
Argus Report: After 30 years, Space Shuttle Atlantis hangs it up ending the successful but sometimes dangerous missions, Hubble Telescope one of the jewels of program
Florida: Is Gov. Scott getting more media savvy? Meets with state papers editors, after robocalls touting accomplishments get mixed reception in S. Florida
Miami-Dade County: Mayor Gimenez comes back to commission “Arena,” puts unions under the fiscal gun, but what about the 13-county commissioners?
Miami-Dade Public Schools: A de-escalation of tension between AC & SB after all school board members are allowed to speak at meeting once recognized by the AC chair
Public Health Trust: After 30 years, UM Miller Medical School physicians get sovereign immunity for indigent patients now costing $35 million in malpractice lawsuits yearly
City of Miami: Mayor Regalado net worth rises to $9,300, Commissioner Sarnoff’s drops to $2.08 million, and Dunn comes in at $10,000 for 2010
City of Miami Beach: Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club to discuss July 4th & what do we want from our government?
City of Hialeah: Local physician gets 235 months in federal big house for Medicare fraud scam
City of Coral Gables: Mgr. Pat Salerno of Coral Gables speaks to Ponce luncheon
Town of Palmetto Bay: Ex-Wachovia financial advisor pleads guilty to stealing $1.45 million in clients’ funds
>>> Other stories around Florida
Broward County: Former grant writer Rubin, husband of former county commissioner, sentenced to 10 months in federal pen
Palm Beach County: Long serving Commissioner Marcus survived political purges over the years, had $126,000 net worth through 2010
Community Events: The Children’s Trust Miami Heart Gallery goes through July Jul 29, photos of kids looking for parents heart wrenching — Doing Business with the Military features Lt. Gov. Carrol and Air Force Gen. Fraser
Editorials: Hail Mayor Gimenez, but 16% voter turnout is corrosive to civic psyche and health
Letters: Reader notes it is municipal pension funds in trouble, not counties and school districts employees in state retirement fund — Reader questions why women still second class when it comes to politics after 235 years – Reader on Time Magazine story on Miami-Dade politics
Sponsors – Publisher’s mission statement & Subscription information is at the bottom of this issue
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>>> The Watchdog Report publisher would like to thank the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation www.knightfoundation.org for funding by the Knight Foundation with technical support from the Knight Center for International Media http://knight.miami.edu within the University of Miami’s School of Communication www.miami.edu to maintain my webpage.
>>> May you and your family have a great and safe Fourth of July Celebration and may we all reflect on the good and bad of the Great Experiment over the centuries, and remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their life in defense of our great nation and its peoples.
>>> 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 and I hope you or your organization will consider helping in a small or larger way and help keep another voice on line 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 is celebrated its 12th Anniversary May 5, 2011.
>>> Amandi, Padgett, Ricker, Strouse discuss Mayor Gimenez victory with host Ferre on This Week On Issues – 7/01 & 7/03 – The Mayoral Election Results
On Tuesday, Miami-Dade voters headed to the polls and elected former Commissioner Carlos Gimenez as the county’s new mayor. We discuss this and the recent fiasco over allegations of bribery at the City of Miami. Guests: Fernand Amandi, Bendixen & Amandi International Tim Padgett, TIME Magazine Daniel Ricker, Watchdog Report Chuck Strouse, Miami New Times
>>> Check out Tim Padgett’s Time Magazine story on Miami-Dade County, the mayor’s race and the civic state of our community where 16 percent of 1. 2 million voters elected new county Mayor Carlos Gimenez and the Watchdog Report is quoted in the story. Click here.
>>> CORRECTION: The WDR incorrectly reported that non-voting school board members that attend the board’s audit committee were asked to sit in the audience in a memo from school Board Chair Perla Tabares Hantman. In fact, the Jun. 22 memo requested they sit at the end of the table reserved for non-voting members of the board and staff. >>> Further, I incorrectly reported that former Miami Manager Tony Crapp, Jr. was given severance pay when he recently left the city and that was not the case, only CFO Larry Spring got severance pay when he resigned a few weeks ago.
ARGUS REPORT – Heard, Seen on the Street
>>> After 30 years, Space Shuttle Atlantis hangs it up ending the successful but sometimes dangerous missions, Hubble Telescope one of the jewels of program
Sayonara, venerable Space Shuttle Program with this Friday’s last launch of Atlantis after 30-years of space flight and your voyages into space will be missed except for the two disasters of Challenger and Columbia spacecraft that cost the crews their lives over the decades. The shuttle conceived in the 1970s was designed to be a reusable way to get to the first manned space station back then but the ships have shown the wear over the years, and with a federal funding crimp, these three spacecraft left are being permanently retired and will change the economic landscape in Brevard County. Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center is where the launches occurred over the decades since America’s first Astronaut Alan Shepard in 1961 told ground control to “light this candle” while he sat in the Freedom 7 space capsule, and the former naval aviator and test pilot made history and kicked off the space race with the Soviet Union which had beaten the U.S. when they launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin earlier. President John Kennedy then kicked in the research afterburner when he said America would go to the moon in that decade and space for the coming decades was dominated by America that now includes joint participation with the Russians and other countries.
However, anyone that was born before the mid 1950s knows what the challenges have been going into space, the astronauts that have paid the full measure of their lives and the space shuttle program was no exception. The Watchdog Report gives the Shuttle Program a Tip of the Hat for more than a job well done. The program opened up the world of space to the planet’s scientist and peoples with the Hubble Telescope, that is still operating after being once again upgraded during a past shuttle mission, peering deep into the cosmos going back almost to the beginning of time and we are continuing to find new worlds of planets like never before. For more on NASA and the Space Shuttle Program go to http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/03/2296964/final-countdown-for-shuttle-space.html
>>> Press release: U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, commented today on the recent Chavez-led probe of a Venezuelan television network, Globovision. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen: “Chavez’s newest investigation against Globovision illustrates his desperation to control the public image of his regime and to keep the Venezuelan people in the dark. “Dictators like Chavez view free media as an enemy. When outlets broadcast the truth about the ruling regime, they become the subject of that regime’s ire. “Chavez’s dictatorial resume is growing longer by the day, and responsible nations must not ignore his advances.”
>>> Press release: FRAUDULENT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY OWNER SENTENCED IN MIAMI – Consumers Lost more Than $5 Million As a Result of Scheme
Robert Nicol was sentenced this week in connection with a series of Utah-based business opportunity fraud ventures, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced. Nicol was sentenced by Miami Federal District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz to a term of 125 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay more than $5.2 million in restitution to victims of his offense. Beginning in approximately January 2003, Nicol and his accomplices promoted business opportunities to consumers across the country under the business name Table Top Vending Inc. and, later, Gold Star Vending Inc. Potential buyers were told that they would receive everything needed to operate a profitable business. The business involved placing table top games into restaurant and other locations and collecting the coins patrons fed into those games. Nicol and other salesmen falsely promoted the venture as a high profit business and told potential buyers to contact references, who claimed to operate highly successful table top games. References used fake names and lied about their experiences with the business opportunity. In reality, consumers lost more than $5 million to the scheme.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service executed a search warrant on the offices of Gold Star Vending in February 2007. Robert Nicol later fled the country. In March 2010, Nicol was apprehended in a remote location in the Philippines and the Republic of the Philippines deported him back to United States to face the charges pending against him. Nicol is the last of seven defendants to be convicted and sentenced in connection with Gold Star Vending. Others charged included Seth Lehrenbaum, who provided Nicol with fraudulent references for the scheme and Nicol’s son, Charles Nicol, who served as a Table Top Vending and Gold Star Vending salesmen. Lehrenbaum and Charles Nicol were sentenced to 78 months’ and 41 months in prison, respectively. “In recent years, over 100 individuals have been convicted and sentenced for business opportunity fraud in this District,” said Wifredo Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “Fraudulent telemarketers must realize that all financial fraud will be prosecuted vigorously.”
“This defendant used his business opportunity scam to target those trying to make an honest living, and then fled to the Philippines when his fraud was discovered,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “As this stiff sentence demonstrates, we will see to it that fraudsters who cheat others to make a quick buck cannot escape justice.” “Fraudsters can run but they cannot hide. Robert Nicol joins a growing number of business opportunity defendants the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, along with prosecutors, have brought to justice after being apprehended in other countries,” said Henry Gutierrez, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge in Miami. “This investigation illustrates the Postal Inspection Service’s firm resolve to protect the American public from financial fraud through the mails.” U.S. Attorney Ferrer and Assistant Attorney General West commended the investigative efforts of the Postal Inspection Service. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Assistant Director Richard Goldberg of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Consumer Protection Litigation. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.
>>> Repeat of national Tribune paper profile, a blast from the past of Watchdog’s life back in Jan. 2003, and not all that much has changed financially
The Watchdog Report is going down memory lane again, during the past moving process, and here is a national profile and story done by Maya Bell in the Orlando-Sentinel, but ran in all the Tribune papers around the nation on Martin Luther King’s Birthday back in Jan.20, 2003. After she spent about six weeks, off and on, experiencing the world I was living in back then, and she nicely captured the reality of my life, that in many ways continues to today, which I wish was otherwise after now 12-years.
>>> `I Go When You Cannot’ – January 20, 2003|By Maya Bell – Orlando Sentinel – Miami Bureau Chief
Sometimes Dan Ricker lives in the dark so others may live in the light. It’s not by choice. Miami’s self-anointed citizen watchdog depends on the people he writes for and about to finance his quixotic quest to attend nearly every government meeting in Miami-Dade County. That’s a lot of mind-numbing meetings — as many as 2,500 a year — but not a lot of income. So Ricker teeters on bankruptcy. He dashes to his post office box daily, hoping subscribers to his weekly Watchdog Report have finally mailed their checks. Among them are managers with Florida Power & Light, the utility that regularly cuts power to Ricker’s Coconut Grove home, most recently while he was attending a legislative delegation meeting last month. But what Ricker, once a successful international sales executive, lacks in financial stability, he makes up for in credibility. When he walks into Miami-Dade’s government center, the county manager salutes him. When he runs into Miami’s first Cuban-American congresswoman, she greets him with a kiss. “He knows where the bodies are buried,” said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami. “He knows the people behind the curtain. He knows the real wizard of Oz.” >>> To read the section’s large front page story, but without the photos and smart box graphics, go to: `I Go When You Cannot’ – Sun Sentinel 20 Jan 2003 … Sometimes Dan Ricker lives in the dark so others may live in the light. … to his weekly Watchdog Report have finally mailed their checks. … http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2003-01-20/news/0301190341_1_ricker-school-board-president-miami-s-first-cuban-american
>>> All photos in the Watchdog Report are taken from public government sites, and the Report goes on line at www.watchdogreport.net on Monday sometime during the day usually. >>> 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 numerous times over the past decade.
FLORIDA
>>> Is Gov. Scott getting more media savvy? meets with state papers editors, after robocalls touting accomplishments get mixed reception
Gov. Rick Scott took a road trip Friday afternoon and signed a law granting University of Miami physician’s sovereign immunity, something that the medical school has sought for 30-years. Scott surrounded by physicians from the Miller Medical School said it was important to grant the medical malpractice shield given the medical school’s staffs importance to South Florida residents seeking medical care at the financially beleaguered Public Health Trust. Scott wearing cowboy boots and now showing some hair on the sides of his bald head is markedly more relaxed than he was when first elected and given he uses his own private jet to get around. He has covered a lot of ground around the nation since his election and taking oath in January.
What about the press & robocalls?
Scott who has been taking a beating in the polls giving him a roughly 29 percent approval rating by state residents has in the past shunned the press and all the state’s newspaper editorial boards is taking a different tack now. He met with some of the state’s newspaper editors www.miamiherald.com last week and justified bumping the costs for public records requests based on being a good steward of tax dollars but the media characterized the increase cost as a way of chilling reporters and others from getting access to public documents. He seems to be softening in some areas when it comes to the press after an attempt to go directly to Florida voters with robocalls paid by state GOP money got a mixed review, and here in Miami-Dade where people were inundated with robocalls for the mayoral candidates. These other auto calls pushing the governor were seen to be poorly timed and unwanted by many South Floridians.
Here is the legislation Scott signed
Press release: SB 1676 and HB 395, Sovereign Immunity – The bills grant certain lawsuit protections to both Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and Shands Teaching Hospitals and its affiliates in Gainesville and Jacksonville. In Florida, sovereign immunity limits lawsuits against the government or it agents. The legislation protects taxpayers and helps public hospitals ensure sustained financial viability.
>>>Press release from Chair Jeffery Bass, Esq. : The Judicial Nominating Commission for the Third District Court of Appeal has certified to Governor Rick Scott the following six (6) nominees to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Honorable Judge David M. Gersten for the Third District Court of Appeal: 1. The Honorable Jennifer D. Bailey; 2. Bambi Groff Blum, Esq.; 3. The Honorable Ivan F. Fernandez; 4. Thomas W. Logue, Esq.; 5. The Honorable Jose M. Rodriguez; and 6. Edwin A. Scales, III, Esq. The Commission thanks each of the persons who applied for this judicial position and all of the members of the bench, Bar and public who took time to comment on the applicants.
>>> Press release: The Judicial Nominating Commission for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit has nominated the following persons for appointment to the Miami-Dade County Court for the vacancies created by the appointments of Judge Victoria Brennan and Judge Lisa Walsh to Miami-Dade Circuit Court: William Altfield, Tanya Brinkley, Ivonne Cuesta, John Goran, Steven Lieberman, Spencer Multack, Thomas Rebull and Martin Zilber. >>> ( In the Watchdog Report’s opinion Zilber should not be appointed as a judge, he seems to live in la la land with his hand held devices, and his lack of being able to follow Miami-Dade County requirements when he did not resign from the Miami –Dade Cultural Affairs Council as required when he signed his application to be a possible member of the Jackson Hospital board for three years indicates he lives by his own rules, and someone like that should not be on the local court bench.
>>> Press release: The Eleventh Judicial Circuit is pleased to announce that the Honorable Dava J. Tunis, Circuit Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Criminal Division, is the recipient of the 2011 Florida Bar President’s Award of Merit.
Each year, the Florida Bar president recognizes attorneys and judges who have provided distinguished service to the Bar, the legal profession and the justice system. During the Bar’s Annual Convention held in Orlando this past week, Florida Bar President Mayanne Downs presented the award to Judge Tunis for “demonstrating persistence and courage in the administration of justice as a judge since 2000.” Judge Tunis, formerly an assistant public defender, was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2000 to the County Court bench, where she presided over domestic violence and misdemeanor criminal cases. In 2005, Gov. Bush elevated Judge Tunis to the Circuit Court, where she served first in the Juvenile Division, then in the Circuit Criminal Division, presiding over numerous complex and difficult felony criminal cases. “Sometimes fate thrusts us into situations we would never choose. And a true test of courage and competence is how well you do your job under fire in circumstances you neither asked for nor wanted in any way,” said Florida Bar President Downs during the presentation of the award.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
>>> Mayor Gimenez comes back to commission Arena, puts unions under the fiscal gun, but what about the 13 county commissioners?
Newly minted Mayor Carlos Gimenez prevailed in the low 16 percent countywide voter turnout election to be the new Miami-Dade Mayor after Mayor Carlos Alvarez was recalled on March 15. Gimenez cobbled together a coalition of Hispanic, Angle and African American voters to prevail in what was a squeaker race over former Mayor Julio Robaina (Net worth over $8 million), though earlier polls had predicted a much wider margin for his victory. Gimenez, a former Miami Fire Chief, manager and Miami-Dade County commissioner representing District 7 along the county’s coast and made up of mostly wealthy communities gambled a week before the vote Tuesday by announcing he was not going to debate anymore after doing 26 such events between the primary and runoff election with the other candidates. Robaina hammered Gimenez hard on this subject and the former mayor is said to have spent $300,000 to $400,000 in the final days in the race, including transporting large numbers of Hialeah voters, his base where he is very popular, to the polls. However, Gimenez matched Robaina’s push with absentee ballot votes, and the former county commissioner edged out the mayor just enough during early voting to eek out the victory. He was sworn in on Friday around 1:00 p.m. in the mayor’s conference room on the 29th floor in a low key ceremony done by Circuit Court Judge Ivan Fernandez (Net worth $50,000), and later went to a Gov. Rick Scott bill signing ceremony at Jackson Memorial Hospital granting the University of Miami physicians sovereign immunity when it came to medical malpractice suits that cost the Miller Medical School some $35 million last year in payouts.
Gimenez in his first day also sent our letters to the county’s unions requesting them to forgo planned pay raises on July 1 and the message while expected is not being received well by some of the organizations with the county’s Police Benevolent Association head John Rivera firing back thanks but no thanks he is quoted in www.miamiherald.com . Gimenez facing a $400 million budget shortfall in a $4.7 billion operating budget believes these union concessions will save $151.6 million, and in a further gesture of shared sacrifice. He is cutting his $313,000 salary and benefits in half, which was something he said he would do during the campaign, and while gunning for union concessions, with 27,000 county employees and most are in some union. His task, with a reelection looming in 14 months will not be for the feint of heart and he also has to deal with the 13 county commissioners where in the past he has had frosty relations with some of them including commission Chair Joe Martinez who is planning to run for mayor in 2012.
Gimenez, described as a no nonsense leader and not warm and fuzzy like some politicians, still enjoys a occasional rum and coke and at county hall, employees are bracing for what is coming since the mayor wants to reduce the around 60 county departments into 25 or so and already one assistant county manager Suzie Torriente has resigned, and others are expected to follow. On Election Day, the Watchdog Report asked Gimenez if he planned to keep on interim manager Alina Hudak. He said yes, that she was a professional and he will be meeting with senior staff everyday leading up to Jul. 15 when he is required to submit a balanced budget to the commission that in some form will be passed after commission involvement in September, with the new budget year starting Oct.1.
 Gimenez |
 Martinez |
 Hudak |
What do we know about his finances?
Gimenez, in a filed financial disclosure form with the state Ethics Commission Jun. 13, 2011 had a net worth of $923,323 (Up from $871,000 in 09) through April 12 and he lists $57,000 in household goods. His home is worth $795,000, a boat is valued at $105,000 and two autos are worth $32,000 and $36,000. He lists a wide variety of financial investments including $199,000 in an IRA, a firefighter pension fund has $140,000 and there is $78,254 in an ING account. His liabilities include an $186,000 mortgage with Citi Bank, Bank of America is owed $221,000 and loans for the boat and cars come in respectively at $85,000 and 36,973.
What about county voter turnout?
The Watchdog Report on Tuesday drove around to many polling sites and to say turnout was poor, given there are 1.2 million county voters is an understatement. While many voters availed themselves to use absentee ballots, or to vote early the number of people actually going to the polls made you wonder if actual voters on election day were almost becoming extinct since so few showed up and this mass apathy and skepticism by the electorate does not bode well for our civic and political health that will see another mayor and commission race in 2012.
>>> Commissioner Suarez thinks I am going too far by asking what the rents are for three properties
Commissioner Xavier Suarez and a staff member went back and forth with the WDR over the week regarding his listed property on his financial disclosure form and if there was any pension from when he was mayor of Miami in the past. The following is the email correspondence that ends on an odd note given the benign nature of the subject of what he received in rent from these properties.
>> EP: To answer your questions on these two points, below see Commissioner’s Suarez response; “1. I don’t receive any compensation or pension whatsoever from the City of Miami, including pension. 2. In 1997-98, I did not own any rental property'”.
>> WDR: Therefore, what do you use the three other properties for, not listed as your residence? And why is these properties contributions negative $50,000 on your financial disclosure form? Thanks and best to all. Dan
>> EP: Good morning Dan: Those three rental properties lose about $15,000 per year each. I hope this answers your question.
>> WDR: Appreciate it is a loss, but what do the renters pay in rent on the three units, even though it is not enough to cover the properties mortgage etc?
>> XS: lose about $15,000 per year each. I hope this answers your question. Regards.
>> WDR: What is the market rate, $1,500 per unit or some other number for the three units per month, and I assume these are not at the same rent?
>> XS: market rates all three…not enough to cover condo assessments, real estate taxes and mortgages which were initially at about 80% of value… xs
>> WDR: What is the market rate, $1,500 per unit or some other number for the three units per month, and I assume these are not at the same rent?
>> XS: Sir, I have been courteous to you beyond the requirements of the law and good sense. Now you are delving into what is proprietary information.
Xavier Suarez
>>> Homeless Trust expects Sept. grand opening of Verde Gardens project in Homestead
The Watchdog Report contacted David Raymond, the executive director of the county’s Homeless Trust last week asking what was going on since I could not attend their monthly board meeting. Raymond in a email back wrote, “Recent Highlights of our meetings: We recently recognized the winners of our annual Homeless Educational Curriculum Essay Poster contest done in conjunction with MDCPS and sent three kids and their families to Disney World. The purpose of the campaign is to increase awareness of homelessness and sensitivity toward homeless people.
We also discussed our homeless meters. We are looking for sponsors to locate more meters in downtown Miami. We also discussed the completion of Verde Gardens our project in Homestead, which is now housing families. This project will house 145 families (580 people), has a 20-acre organic farm, and a farmers market. Grand Opening will be sometime in early September,” wrote the long serving trust director.
>>> MIAMI-DADE COUNTY RESIDENT PLEADS GUILTY TO MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR IN MORTGAGE FRAUD CONSPIRACY
Press release: Wilfredo Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), and Michael K. Fithen, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Miami Field Office, announced that defendant Jose Arnaldo Rosario, of Miami-Dade County, pled guilty today to conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. At sentencing, Rosario faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years. Sentencing is scheduled for August 3, 2011 at 1:30 PM in Miami, FL, before U.S. District Judge Jose A. Martinez.
According to the Information, from at least November 2005 to January 1, 2007, Rosario and his coconspirators purchased two properties located at 1331 Brickell Bay Drive (Unit 3003 and Unit 803), Miami, Florida, by obtaining bank loans using false and fraudulent information, phony documentation, and falsely inflated property valuation levels. Rosario and his coconspirators provided the lending institutions with the name of a straw buyer rather than the names of the true purchaser(s); provided false and fraudulent information concerning the intent of the straw buyer to live at the property; and provided false and fraudulent information concerning the employment history and financial resources of the straw buyer.
According to court documents, Rosario and his coconspirators then used these loan funds to purchase the properties using little or no money of their own. A portion of the difference between the amount obtained from the lending institution and the fair market value of the property (or “true price”) would be distributed among the conspirators in the form of undisclosed kickbacks. Rosario set up a shell company named Empire Associates to receive the funds initially and to make subsequent transfers. To avoid detection, Rosario would make a limited number of monthly payments on the loan for approximately one year before he stopped making payments altogether and allowed the properties to go into foreclosure. At today’s plea hearing, Rosario acknowledged that the loss resulting from his actions is approximately $2.51 million… A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.
MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
>>> A de-escalation of tension between AC & SB after all school board members are allowed to speak at meeting and recognized by the AC chair
A de-escalation of tension between school board members and the board’s audit advisory board occurred Tuesday at the school board’s Audit Committee’s (AC) scheduled meeting after one member on the 10-member citizen board questioned whether school board members not on the board should be able to speak during the meeting and sit at the table as if they were voting members. Board Chair Perla Tabares Hantman in a June 22 memo to avoid any confusion asked any school board members attending the meetings to be at the table but not mixed in with the audit members. The discussion occurred after board Member Raquel Regalado spoke to some parents at the last committee meeting who had sent a critical letter about the governance concerning a Charter School located on Commodore Plaza in Coconut Grove.
Isaac Salver, CPA brought up the issue back then and his concern was board member participation sometimes resembled a “miniature school board meeting” and thought that put other board members not attending at a disadvantage. He said he wanted to have the discussion with other committee members about the “scope and level of school board members interaction” However Regalado fired back saying it appears “very personal” and “most boards would love to hear from the elected leaders” noting the audit committees “items sail through” school board meetings and some board members are “not that interested” in what the committee does, she said. Regalado, also an attorney said when she no longer had a spot with her name on it at the table. Your “taking away my name plate” at the table is okay, but you may “fine you are doing yourself a disservice if you take it to that level,” she warned.
Salver apologized to Regalado because she was taking the discussion personally and after a general discussion by the 10-member committee that has one voting school board Member Lawrence Feldman on the audit committee saying he welcomed other board members participating and they getting any questions answered rather than at the long monthly board meetings that are televised. And Hantman said, “I did it [the memo] because Audit Committee members brought it up,” and she wondered if she could not speak here. “All my questions will be at the board meetings,” the long serving board member noted. The Watchdog Report contacted Frederick “Buck” Thornburg, the Audit Committee Chair by email later and I asked about the final resolution of the issue. He wrote back, “As you are aware and after everyone was afforded a full opportunity to voice their views on the issue of School Board member participation in public AC meetings, it became manifest that there was an overwhelming general consensus reached at the Tuesday AC meeting. For a variety of cogent and governing reasons expressed at the meeting, it was appropriately concluded that it would be prudent and valuable to have School Board members continue interfacing, opining and participating in the public AC meetings.
It was reasoned that to eliminate or reduce their participation would be counter productive. It was also the general consensus that having School Board members participating at the AC meetings had no “chilling effect” on the AC members or adverse impact on the carrying out of their fiduciary duties and the exercise of their independent judgment and recommendations on issues. As a result of the discussions, it was noted that care should be exercised to avert any spurious and erroneous impressions that the AC meetings constitute quasi mini School Board meetings or that other than Chair Hantman’s appointed School Board designee to the AC, Dr. Larry Feldman, the other School Board members attending the AC meetings are members of the AC,” wrote the attorney.
 Hantman |
 Feldman |
 Regalado |
PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST
>>> After 30 years, UM Miller Medical School physicians get sovereign immunity for indigent patients now costing $35 million in malpractice lawsuits
After 30 years, the University of Miami Miller Medical School physicians will have sovereign immunity when it comes to medical malpractice lawsuits that have hit the university since it is seen having deeper financial pockets to the tune of around $35 million last year alone. University President Dr. Donna Shalala Friday at a bill signing ceremony with Gov. Rick Scott said that for the university it “was a journey for UM” that has gone on for decades and she thanked state Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville for all his work on getting this bill passed that also includes Shands Hospital in Jacksonville. New PHT CEO Carlos Migoya earlier said the legislation “levels the playing field” for the institution because “Jackson must remain competitive to support the unfunded care [being given].” He also believes it was necessary since the hospital system treats the “most rare and medically challenging cases,” he said. Migoya also thanked Scott for releasing $35 million in state funding that had been put on hold recently, and Migoya believes with this new law. Jackson will be able to draw more “community physicians” that currently not sending their patients to the health trust, said Migoya. And state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, the head of the Miami-Dade delegation reaffirmed it was a “team effort” and the entire Dade delegation in the House and Senate from both political parties “made this happen,” with no one in the group dissenting during the legislative session.
 Lopez-Cantera |
 Thrasher |
CITY OF MIAMI
>>> Mayor Regalado net worth rises to $9,300, Commissioner Sarnoff’s drops to $2.08 million, and Dunn comes in at $10,000 for 2010
With July 1 comes looking at elected leaders required financial disclosure forms for the past year and on Friday the Watchdog Report reviewed the information at the city of Miami’s clerk’s office, and all were filed on time. Looking at public official’s finances gives a clue into their financial life and what pressures may be hanging over their heads, or maybe none and those people that are financially secure are what I call benign public officials. In Mayor Tomas Regalado’s case he continues to be the poorest of the elected leaders with only a $9,300 net worth through Dec. 2010 (Up from $5,000 last year). His salary of around $97,000 was not listed but he does list his Homestead property that he shares with Jose Regalado. His main listed asset besides his home is a 2004 Jeep Cherokee worth $6,000 and he owes Chase Bank $67,000.
What about the commissioners?
>> Commissioner Marc Sarnoff leads the pack with a net worth of $2.08 million through 2010 (Which is down from $2.17 million the year before). He has $500,000 in law practice stock, his townhouse complex is worth $1.3 million, and he has $493,000 in investments with Morgan Stanley and a bank account has $52,714, in it and there is $26,858 in a retirement account. The attorney, elected in November 2006 and up for reelection this November and facing four challengers owes Bank of America $496,000, Citibank $160,000, HSCB $185,000, Chase Bank $22,760, American Express is owed $8,747 and financing for a BMW and Mercedes Benz is $32,516 and $15,079.
>> Commissioner Frank Carollo, CPA is next in the financial net worth race coming in at $707,000 through 2010. His home and investment property is worth $879,000 and he lists $55,000 in personal goods. The man is married with a new baby girl, there is $51,500 in cash, and there is $8,000 in an IRA. His only liabilities are $200,000 with Chase Mortgage and $86,000 owed to EMC mortgage.
>> Commissioner Wilfredo “Willy” Gort elected back to the commission in 2009 after leaving the commission in 2001 after he lost the Miami mayoral race back then. The investment banker since then now has a net worth of $226,000 through June 28, 2011 and lists getting income from MFR Securities, the City of Miami ($55,000 in salary) and social security. He has a CD worth $12,000, a savings account has $50,000 in it and an IRA is worth $52,000. He lists a property in Tavernier valued at $250,000, another property in Sebring is worth $7,000, and two mortgages with Sally Mae and Bank of America come in at $145,000.
>> Commissioner Francis Suarez, a real estate attorney comes in next with a net worth of $81,131 through June 11, 2011, his home is valued at $185,000, and another investment property is worth $91,970. He lists $147,000 and $4,500 in savings accounts and there is $2,480 in a checking account. His liabilities are a Morgan Chase mortgage owed $360,000 and another lender is owed $162,000.
>> And Commissioner Richard Dunn, II is the final financial disclosure form reviewed and he comes in with a $10,000 net worth through 2010. The commissioner also a reverend lists income from the Faith Community Baptist Church and the city of Miami (The commissioners salaries is $55,000 with another some $30,000 in benefits), and lists $50,000 in household goods. His liabilities are $70,000 with Ocean Bank, the IRS is owed $30,000, and the U.S. Dept. of Education is owed $30,000.
>>> With Igwe out as auditor, four commissioners want to do national search for replacement, but in a timely manner
Four of Miami’s commissioners want to do a national search to replace the commission’s Auditor after the body did not renew Victor Igwe’s contract and he was let go last week. The departure of Igwe is not good news for the city given there is no financial officer for Miami, there is a new manager Johnny Martinez and a SEC investigation of the selling of past municipal bonds is ongoing. Last week I asked Miami commissioners if they thought a national search should be done and Commissioners Marc Sarnoff, Willy Gort, Richard Dunn, II and Francis Suarez all thought that would be a good idea, but limit it to perhaps a 45-day time frame suggested Suarez. The commission auditor reports directly to the commission but Igwe has been under the gun for months and commissioners kept dodging dealing with his contract that ended a couple of months ago. Now the commission has to deal with another significant issue and Mayor Tomas Regalado said he was surprised that the body had not taken any action on Igwe and it did hurt the city’s image in front of the bond rating companies that recently downgraded the city’s bonds.
>>> Press release: The Civilian Investigative Panel (CIP), an agency of the City of Miami providing independent citizens’ oversight of the Miami Police Department, seeks qualified volunteer members. Members must be either permanent residents of the City of Miami, own real property, work or maintain a business in the City, have a good reputation for integrity and community service and shall not have a record of a felony conviction, nor be a current or former City of Miami police officer. Interested persons are to submit a completed CIP application form and include a biography or resume. Application forms may be downloaded at www.miamigov.com/cip, obtained from the CIP office at 970 SW 1 St., Suite 305 or by calling 305-960-4950/fax 305-400-5399. Completed applications are to be mailed or delivered to the CIP address listed above. Recruitment will remain open until a sufficient number of applications are received. For more information contact, Carol Abia, Interim Executive Director, Civilian Investigative Panel, (305)960-4952 or email cabia@miamigov.com
CITY OF HIALEAH
>>> Local physician gets 235 months in federal big house for Medicare fraud scam
Miami doctor Rene De Los Rios, 72, was sentenced yesterday to 235 months in prison for his participation in a $23 million HIV injection and infusion Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS). U.S. District Court Judge Joan A. Lenard of the Southern District of Florida also sentenced De Los Rios to three years of supervised release following his prison term and ordered him to pay a minimum of $11.7 million in restitution, jointly with his co-defendants. The final amount of restitution will be determined at a later hearing. On April 14, 2011, De Los Rios was convicted by a jury of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of submission of false claims. De Los Rios was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after his conviction and has been detained since that time. According to evidence presented at trial and sentencing, De Los Rios worked at multiple fraudulent medical clinics and signed medical documents authorizing tests and treatments that were medically unnecessary or never provided. The court found De Los Rios responsible for a total of $46 million in fraudulent billings to Medicare.
According to evidence presented at trial, De Los Rios was hired by the owner of Metro Med of Hialeah Corporation, an HIV infusion clinic that purportedly provided injection and infusion therapies to HIV-positive Medicare beneficiaries. Evidence presented at trial established that De Los Rios ordered unnecessary tests, signed medical analysis and diagnosis forms, and authorized treatments to make it appear that legitimate medical services, including injection and infusion therapies, were being provided to Medicare beneficiaries at Metro Med. However, the injection and infusion therapies were medically unnecessary and never provided. De Los Rios also signed medical charts, often without seeing the patient, indicating that certain treatments were medically necessary, when, in fact, he knew they were not. Evidence at trial established that De Los Rios diagnosed almost all of the patients at Metro Med with the same rare blood disorders, which the patients did not have, in order to ensure maximum reimbursement from Medicare. The evidence at trial also showed that De Los Rios prescribed expensive medications, including Winrho, Procrit and Neupogen, to patients for the sole purpose of receiving reimbursement from the Medicare program. From approximately April 2003 through October 2005, Metro Med submitted approximately $23 million in claims to the Medicare program for injection and infusion treatments that were not medically necessary and were never provided. The Medicare program paid approximately $11.7 million in claims.
The owner and operator of Metro Med, Damaris Oliva, and three other individuals have each pleaded guilty for their roles in the Metro Med fraud scheme. Oliva was sentenced in December 2010 to 82 months in prison. Co-defendants Estrella Rodriguez, Jose Diaz and Lisandra Aguilera were sentenced to 57 months in prison, 54 months in prison and 70 months in prison, respectively. Evidence at trial and sentencing also established that De Los Rios engaged in almost identical conduct at additional sham HIV injection and infusion therapy clinics in South Florida during the same time period. At J&F Community Medical Center Inc. and Rochris Medical Center Inc., De Los Rios prescribed the same medications that he prescribed at Metro Med to patients who he knew did not need them. In a two-and-half-year period, De Los Rios made more than $587,000 in profits from the fraud schemes. At sentencing, the court also found that De Los Rios obstructed justice by testifying falsely at his trial; that as a doctor, De Los Rios occupied a position of trust, which he violated; and that by prescribing medically unnecessary injections and infusions for HIV-positive patients, De Los Rios caused a reckless risk of serious bodily injury to those patients. The court declared a mistrial in De Los Rios’ first trial in March 2011. Yesterday’s sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; John V. Gillies, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher Dennis of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of Investigations Miami office. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Joseph S. Beemsterboer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Robert J. Luck, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. >>> Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged more than 1,000 defendants and organizations that collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $2.3 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers. To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
>>> Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club – PRESS RELEASE: Meeting Date: Tuesday, July 5th, 2011, Meeting Time: 8:30 AM, Meeting Place: David’s Café II, 1654 Meridian Ave., South Beach
At the July 5th meeting of the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club we will be celebrating the meaning of the 4th of July with a discussion of the holiday and it’s relevance to today’s local government: “if there were no government in place now, what kind of government would we need or want?” “How much should it cost?” How would it be funded?” There is no charge for attending and everyone is welcome. David Kelsey, Moderator for the Breakfast Club. Visit our web site at www.MBTMBC.com (Miami Beach Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club).
CITY OF CORAL GABLES
>>> Mgr. Pat Salerno of Coral Gables speaks to Ponce luncheon
>>> Press release: “Keeping you abreast of the pressing issues affecting Coral Gables.” – We meet the first and third Mondays of the month at JohnMartins restaurant (253 Miracle Mile – 2nd floor) at noon. Lunch is $20 for members and $22 for guests. Members and Guests, Please join us for lunch at JohnMartin’s on July 18th. Our guest speaker will be Patrick G. Salerno, City Manager of the City of Coral Gables. The City of Coral Gables operates a Commission/Manager form of government with an annual budget of $143 million dollars and over 750 employees. The City Manager is appointed by the Mayor and City Commission and directs the daily operations of Coral Gables which includes supervision of 14 city departments and services. A graduate of the University of Miami, Pat also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma. Mr. Salerno will be discussing the future goals and direction for Coral Gables. Please reply to this message with your RSVP to poncebusiness@gmail.com Please forward this announcement to any friends or business associates who may be interested in attending. Please check out our website for upcoming events and newsletter at www.poncebusiness.com
Richard Martin, President
TOWN OF PALMETTO BAY
>>> Ex Wachovia financial advisor pleads guilty to stealing $1.45 million in clients funds
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael K. Fithen, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Miami Field Office, announced today that financial advisor, Lazaro E. Salado, 42, of Palmetto Bay, Florida, pled guilty to a Criminal Information charging him with one count of bank fraud for stealing client funds. Sentencing is scheduled for September 14, 2011 before U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke. Salado faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and restitution. According to the Criminal Information, Salado was a financial advisor at Wachovia in Miami, Florida, responsible for assisting clients in investments and financial planning.
From February 2004 to May 2009, Salado stole more than $1.45 million from five of his clients at Wachovia by causing checks to be issued on client accounts, without the knowledge or authorization of these clients, for payment to a bank account controlled by Salado. Salado concealed the fraud by providing false and fraudulent statement to clients and also by transferring money between client accounts through unauthorized wire transfers. >> As part of the plea agreement announced in court today, Salado agreed to make mandatory restitution of $1,457,309 to Wachovia (now Wells Fargo). Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Secret Service. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.
>>> OTHER STORIES AROUND FLORIDA
BROWARD COUNTY
>>> Former grant writer Rubin, husband of former county commissioner sentenced to 10 months in federal pen
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce the sentencing of defendant Richard Rubin, 65, of Southwest Ranches. Rubin was sentenced today, before U.S. District Court Judge William J. Zloch, to 10 months’ imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Rubin was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $104,671.08. Rubin pled guilty to tax evasion, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7201 on April 20, 2011. According to documents filed with the Court, Rubin willfully filed a federal income tax return that failed to report real estate commissions that he had received from the sale of a property described at the “Sunny Lakes” property and the sale of a condominium in Hollywood, Florida. At the closing on the Sunny Lakes property, defendant Rubin’s sales commission of $102,000 was paid to another real estate broker who, in January 2005, funneled the entire commission of $102,000 to defendant Rubin. Defendant Rubin also received a commission in the amount of $6,297 as the real estate agent for the sale of a condominium in Hollywood. Defendant Rubin’s sales commission on this condominium was paid to another real estate broker who, in January 2005, funneled the entire commission of $6,297 to defendant Rubin. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey N. Kaplan. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
>>> 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
>>> Long serving Commissioner Marcus survived political purges over years, had $126,000 net worth through 2010
Long serving Palm Beach County Commissioner Karen Marcus is in the spotlight this week and she survived the commission purge a few years ago that had a majority of the body when all was said and done in federal prison. She has a strong environmental record and started out in the early 2000s in elected office.
What do we know about her finances?
Marcus through Dec. 2010 had a net worth of $126,075 and lists $60,000 in household goods. Her home is worth $232,000 and an investment property is valued at $92,660, there is $17,200 in savings and two cars are worth $8,000 and $12,660. Her liabilities are $89,000 and $184,000 owed to Chase Mortgage, and a Palm Beach Credit Union is owed $12,700 and $8,900. She lists her only income as being her $99,662 in salary as a commissioner.
Marcus
>>> From her webpage: In 2005, Commissioner Marcus, as Chair of the Board, took the lead in negotiations to bring the Scripps Research Institute to Palm Beach County in District One. Although a complex and complicated project, Commissioner Marcus is making sure Scripps positively impacts our current residents. Working together with the Town of Lake Park, City of Palm Beach Gardens, Town of Jupiter, Town of Mangonia Park, and the City of Riviera Beach, the North Palm Beach County LifeScience Corridor became a reality when the site was chosen by the County Commission on February 14, 2006. This will transform Florida and Palm Beach County into a leading center for scientific and medical research. In 2009, the Max Planck Florida Corporation broke ground on their facility, joining Scripps at Abacoa. The Max Planck Society is a 60 year old research institute that will bring an international component to Palm Beach County’s bioscience industry. In recent activities, Phase II of Scripps Florida began moving forward. The Briger tract located in the City of Palm Beach Gardens will be a 681 acre mixed use development focused on biotechnology and bioscience research industries. The potential of 4.0 million square feet, including Scripps Phase II, of biotechnology research and development has been allocated on the plan for the second phase of the Scripps Florida Campus >> For more information on Marcus go to http://www.pbcgov.com/countycommissioners/district1/biography.htm
COMMUNITY EVENTS
>>> The Children’s Trust Miami Heart Gallery goes through July Jul 29, photos kids looking for parents heart wrenching
Welcome to the official Web site of The Children’s Trust Miami Heart Gallery, a traveling, museum-quality exhibit featuring portraits of children in Miami-Dade’s foster care system who are available for adoption. This initiative is a collaboration between The Children’s Trust and Our Kids of Miami-Dade/Monroe. The Children’s Trust is embarks on its adoption awareness initiative for the fourth consecutive year. This year’s photos have a Mediterranean flare that accentuate the locations throughout Coral Gables that served as backdrops for the photo shoots, including the iconic Biltmore Hotel.
To see the photos or for more information go to http://www.miamiheartgallery.org/
>>> “Doing Business With The Military” Workshop Featuring Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll and U.S. Air Force Gen. Douglas M. Fraser
Ever thought of doing business with the military, but didn’t know how? Learn about the military contracting process and network with contractors at the 2011 Doing Business With The Military workshop and expo, featuring speakers Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll and U.S. Air Force Gen. Douglas M. Fraser, Commander of the U.S. Southern Command. The workshop and expo will be from 7:30 a.m. to noon Friday, July 22, 2011 at the Intercontinental at Doral Miami Hotel, 2404 NW 87th Ave., Doral, FL 33172. The event is open to the public and admission is $50, which includes breakfast. Registration and additional information can be found at www.beaconcouncil.com/events The workshop is hosted annually by the Miami-Dade Defense Alliance (MDDA), a program of The Beacon Council created to enhance, expand and retain military installations and defense-related industries in Miami-Dade County. The military industry has an annual impact of $3.6 billion in Miami-Dade County.
>>> About Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll: Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies, Lt. Gov. Carroll came to the United States as a young girl and served in the U.S. Navy from 1979-1999, when she retired as a lieutenant commander. Carroll is a small business owner, a former executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs and former state legislator from Jacksonville, Fla. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico and an MBA from St. Leo University. She is married with three children. >>>About U.S. Air Force Gen. Douglas M. Fraser. Gen. Fraser is the commanding officer for the U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for all Department of Defense security cooperation in the 45 nations and territories of Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea. His operational assignments include Europe, the Pacific, Air Combat Command and Air Force Space Command. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado and has a master’s degree in political science from Auburn University in Montgomery, Ala. >>> About The Miami-Dade Defense Alliance: The Miami-Dade Defense Alliance (MDDA) is a program of The Beacon Council that serves as a liaison to the Florida Defense Initiative and Enterprise Florida. The MDDA’s goal is to enhance, expand and retain existing military installations in Miami-Dade County, to support local reuse efforts as a result of base/mission closures or realignments and to retain and enhance the defense-related industries that contribute significant economic benefit to the local economy. For more information, go to http://www.beaconcouncil.com/mdda/_site/ >> The Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County’s official economic development partnership, is a not-for-profit, public-private organization that focuses on job creation and economic growth by coordinating community-wide programs; promoting minority business and urban economic revitalization; providing assistance to local businesses in their expansion efforts; and marketing Greater Miami throughout the world. For more information, visit www.beaconcouncil.com.
EDITORIALS
>>> Hail Mayor Gimenez, but 16% voter turnout is corrosive to civic psyche and health
Miami-Dade voters and residents need to look deeply into their civic souls and ask themselves why they did not vote on Tuesday for we are a community of 1.2 million voters but a mayor was elected with around only100,000 votes this past week. Mayor Carlos Gimenez won by two percentage points in the 51 to 49 percent race against Julio Robaina, the former mayor of Hialeah but this dismal electorate turnout is a sad commentary on our local society and its political maturity when it comes to picking our local leaders. Critics say the June 28 election date is to blame and people were on holidays now that school has let out but that answer does not explain why 84 percent of the voting public took a pass. And while a new mayor will be chosen again in 14 months, and there are a host of candidates already registered as running and will probable include Robaina again. This community apathy is a corrosive force in the public domain and allows a small subset of people to determine our political destiny.
Further, while cynicism and skepticism is rampant with the local population and the lack of trust of elected leaders is widespread. This political morass will continue to metastasize in our civic psyche and that must be addressed and changed. And what is really odd is we never seem to learn and keep trying the same backdoor deals, with more than a dash of drama, something the city of Miami is dealing with now with the police chief and mayor trading verbal shots and accusations and is making the county’s largest city look like it is replaying 1997 and 1998 when the city was the butt of national comedians jokes. For with 2.5 million residents and $7.4 billion alone in county government, these public entities have a huge impact on the quality of life of all residents, and to allow such a small subset of others to determine your political fate and future in such large public endeavors is a travesty, and ultimately the results are the same. We get the government we deserve.
LETTERS
>>> Reader notes it is municipal pension funds in trouble, not counties and school districts employees in state retirement fund
The Florida Retirement System covers all county employees (and school board employees) – and the FRS is in excellent shape – actuarially sound. The FRS rate for regular employees as of July 1 is only 4.91% of salaries. Most county employees are not high risk, although Police & Fire are high risk and that rate will be 14.1% as of July 1 of this year. Counties do not have a pension problem, but many municipalities do! Private employers would be thrilled to have to contribute less than a 5% match to a 401k. Employees will contribute 3% also, as of July 1.
S. M.
>>> Reader questions why women still second class when it comes to politics after 235 years
Governor Andrew Cuomo has set September 13th for a Special Election to replace Anthony Weiner in Congressional District 9 – and former New York City Council Member Melinda Katz is in the mix. Read more HERE and make some calls if you live in New York. Looking for something to do over the Independence Day weekend? Rather than dwell on the second-class political status of women 235 years after independence from the British Empire, get active with your check book to help elect MORE women to Congress and create change! Please focus on “open seats” for starters; here is the current scorecard.
(Please note that there is Special Election on July 12th in CA36 to replace Jane Harman. The election of Janice Hahn would result in a “pick-up” – one more seat for women, since the Special Election on May 24th in upstate NY was won by Kathy Hochul to replace Christopher Lee.) And you can access my blog HERE to see how DC Dems continue to try to control who runs for Congress rather than look for opportunities for women – unbelievable! Please comment on any of the current blog entries by clicking on Comments and then on Post a Comment – unless you have no opinion. 
Have a great weekend!
Paula Xanthopoulou
“The Truth About the Political Status of U.S. Women – What are we going to do about it?”
>>> Reader on Time Magazine article on Miami-Dade politics and the mayoral election
Thanks for sharing the Tim Padgett Time article. Very interesting view which unfortunately appears to be all too accurate in its depiction of Miami-Dade County. I thought your comments in the article digesting the depressing, current situation were as perfectly apropos as they were an accurate analysis. Loved your wonderfully laconic description and the picture words, which you utilized to describe the reason for the current mess, i. e., lack of “civic maturity”.
Notwithstanding the current mess and with the right leadership, “civic maturity”, needed changes and injection of ethics, I am still highly optimistic that South Florida can redeem itself. Truth is it is now surviving despite itself. Have a great and safe July 4 weekend.
Buck T.
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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 >>> >>> To read the full section large two page front page story, but without the photos and smart box graphics, go to: `I Go When You Cannot’ – Sun Sentinel 20 Jan 2003 … Sometimes Dan Ricker lives in the dark so others may live in the light. … to his weekly Watchdog Report have finally mailed their checks. … http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2003-01-20/news/0301190341_1_ricker-school-board-president-miami-s-first-cuban-american >>>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 – http:///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.
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Please make checks payable to: Daniel A. Ricker
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