Watchdog Report Vol.12 No.10 July 10, 2011 Est.05.05.00 I go when you cannot!
CONTENTS
Florida: Congressional, Fl. House & Senate redistricting coming Miami’s way Aug. 17, state picks up two congressional seats with 696,345 residents per District
Miami-Dade County: Mayor Gimenez injects new direction into county hall, but clock is ticking with over $7 billion balanced budget required Jul. 15
Miami-Dade Public Schools: Supt. Carvalho notes district has “luxury” to debate seating at AC meeting, versus Broward where 1,400 teachers get the ax
Public Health Trust: FRB gets a little independence with 2/3 BCC vote on some items, pressure on Mayor Gimenez to appoint woman to seven-member oversight board
City of Miami: Will there be a fiscal showdown between Regalado & Carollo on Jul.14? Vice chair Carollo has 11 critical questions about city finances & union talks
City of Miami Beach: La Gorce Drive to get speed bumps in 90-days after county & city work together on life safety problem that has had fatalities
City of Coral Gables: Mgr. Pat Salerno of Coral Gables speaks to Ponce luncheon
City of Doral: City’s property tax millage rate goes even lower after years of flat rate
>>> Other stories around Florida
Broward County: Torriente & Hawthorne new Ft. Lauderdale assistant city managers, she is long time Dade employee
Palm Beach County: Three men charged by feds for timeshare fraud owners lost thousands of dollars
Hillsborough County: Controversial new campground on Honeymoon Island gets thumbs down from Gov. Scott & DEP Sec. Vinyard
Community Events: Commissioner Souto holds town hall meeting on Jackson Hospital system — 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 — During the summer recess Miami-Dade Community Action Agency is providing free meals to children 18 years and younger at no cost. The Summer Food Service Program began on June 13, 2011 and ends on August 12,
Editorials: Past WDR: Oct. 08: Will challenging economic times produce real leaders, confidence is earned and not by telling half-truths — Past WDR: Nov. 08: Nation wants government to work, not bicker along party lines, public tax money is in short supply
Letters: Reader on last week’s www.wpbt.org/issues show
Sponsors – Publisher’s mission statement & Subscription information is at the bottom of this issue
>>> Just because you do not take an interest in politics does not mean politics will not take an interest in you. –Pericles (430 B.C.)
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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.
>>> 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.
>>> 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. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2080904,00.html?artId=2080904?contType=article?chn=us
ARGUS REPORT – Heard, Seen on the Street
>>> SouthCom “looks south day to day,” in its mission to defend America, nurture democracy in the vast region with 45 nations having security cooperation agreements
Vice. Admiral Joseph D. Kernan, the U.S. Military Deputy Commander of the U.S. Southern Command located in Doral was the featured speaker at the 24th Annual Military Person of the Year Awards at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon on Wednesday. The event honored 10 service members from all the military branches and the command plays a key economic role in South Florida. The unified command commanded by Gen. Douglas Fraser, with 1,200 military and civilian personnel is responsible for all Defense Department security cooperation agreements with the “45 nations and territories of Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea, an area of 16 million square miles,” states a brochure given out at the event. The admiral, a Navel Academy graduate in 1977 told the gathering they “work in a vast region” that involves “partnerships” in a “difficult region with issues of poverty” and many of these “governments don’t appreciate democracy as we do,” he said of these rogue U.S. allies like Venezuela.
The admiral said while the personnel at SouthCom are just “a small part of the community” the people in the armed services from South Florida “are represented in a big way around the globe,” said the Navy SEAL. Kernan gave a shout out to all the veterans in the room, picking out Robert Levy and former Miami-Dade Commissioner Larry Hawkins, both wounded Vietnam veterans. The admiral said they were both combat veterans with Purple Hearts, and Bronze Stars with a V for Valor awarded to them for their service that left Hawkins in a wheelchair and Levy also winning a Silver Star. And while Miami is not considered a “Navy town” like San Diego. It has opened its arms to the military members here that are your neighbors that “shop” and “drive” and “children are educated here” and I believe we have a “warm relationship in Miami.” The seaman also said SOUTHCOM with a new $400 million headquarters is here to stay and spends part of the $750 million defense budget here, which is a “positive impact for the community. He said while America “fights two wars” the military today is the “best educated and gifted in the world” and the military fighting forces “mirror the United States geographically and ethnically, he said. For more on the Southern Command go to: http://www.southcom.mil/appssc/index.php
 Gen. Fraser |
 Vice Admiral Kernan |
What about Ret. Col. Bien?
Lettie Bien, a retired U.S. Army colonel veteran who has done multiple tours in Iraq over the past decade, is leaving Miami with her husband for Virginia and she will be missed. The attorney married to a physician has been a dynamo on projects she was involved in including the Fisher House Foundation http://www.fisherhouse.org/ that provides free or low-cost housing for wounded veterans and their families and one was created near the Miami Veterans Hospital a few years ago. The Watchdog Report gives Bien a Tip of the Hat for more than a job well done, but also laying your life on the line, so we all may enjoy the freedoms Americans share. >>> For more on Bien go to University of Miami | School of Law – UM Law alumna Lettie J. Bien
4 Sep 2009 … UM Law alumna Lettie J. Bien, JD ’86, a formerly retired U.S. Army colonel who is serving in Iraq as a special advisor, was the Mistress of …
http://www.law.miami.edu/news.php?article=1303 – Cached
>>> White House press release: On July 12, at 2:00 PM Eastern, President Barack Obama will award Sergeant First Class Leroy Arthur Petry, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant First Class Petry will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions during combat operations against an armed enemy in Paktya, Afghanistan in May, 2008. He will be the second living, active duty service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Sergeant First Class Petry’s wife, Ashley, and other family members will join the President at the White House to commemorate his example of selfless service.
PERSONAL BACKGROUND:
Leroy Arthur Petry was born on July 29, 1979. He is a native of Santé Fe, New Mexico and enlisted in the United States Army in September 1999. He attended Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Sergeant First Class Petry is currently assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment and attached to Special Operations Command (SOCOM) with duty at Joint Base Lewis McChord as a liaison for the SOCOM Care Coalition where he tracks and monitors injured Rangers returning from the Theater of Operations to the initial place of care to home station care. Sergeant First Class Petry has completed multiple combat tours to Afghanistan and Iraq totaling 28 months of deployment. His military decorations include: two Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, three Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, National Defense Service Medal, three Army Good Conduct Medals, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Combat Star, Iraq Campaign Medal with Combat Star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, to name a few.
>> THE MEDAL OF HONOR:
The Medal of Honor is awarded to members of the Armed Forces who distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while: engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or
serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The meritorious conduct must involve great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life. There must be incontestable proof of the performance of the meritorious conduct, and each recommendation for the award must be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit.
>>> White House press release: Statement from White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer on Budget Negotiations
“The President believes that solving our fiscal problems is an economic imperative. But in order to do that, we cannot ask the middle-class and seniors to bear all the burden of higher costs and budget cuts. We need a balanced approach that asks the very wealthiest and special interests to pay their fair share as well, and we believe the American people agree.
“Both parties have made real progress thus far, and to back off now will not only fail to solve our fiscal challenge, it will confirm the cynicism people have about politics in Washington. The President believes that now is the moment to rise above that cynicism and show the American people that we can still do big things. And so tomorrow, he will make the case to congressional leaders that we must reject the politics of least resistance and take on this critical challenge.”
>>> 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 show Topical Currents on www.wlrn.org since 2000, including yearly election coverage since then, and also numerous times over the past decade.
FLORIDA
>>> Congressional, Fl. House & Senate redistricting coming Miami’s way Aug. 17, state picks up two congressional seats with 696,345 residents per 27 District’s
State Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah took a road trip to the Miami-Dade Commission meeting on Thursday and told local commissioners about the listening tour being done by state lawmakers on how Congressional, House and Senate districts should be redrawn for 2012 elections now that the results of the 2010 Census results are out. Florida’s population grew from 15.98 million to 18.8 million over the decade and that will create two new congressional seats in Central Florida along the I-4 corridor. State lawmakers are holding 26 public meetings around the state and have yet to hold any in South Florida, but they will be holding them in the future. Garcia said these public meetings are “important because these shape the political landscape of the community for the next ten years.” He realizes that “however we do it, we will get back lash” and at public hearings both the “good and bad” of any proposed map generally gets heard, he said. And the residents criticism is directed at the politicians and it “does not matter if you are a Democrat or Republican” and why my position is if there is public hearings, there is “nothing else we can do,” when it comes to this controversial political process done every decade. Further, Garcia said whatever maps the legislature draws “given [the passage of Amendment 5/6 by voters in Nov.] that legislation will be in conflict with anything we draw” since the amendments and districts cannot favor a political party, he said. However, two county commissioners questioned the process and newly minted Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez suggested why not use computer software to draw the maps since that “would be objective,” he thought. For more info on redistricting go to: http://www.flsenate.gov/# or for the meeting schedule around the state http://censusvalidator.blob.core.windows.net/mydistrictbuilderdata/Public%20Participation/Public_Meeting_Schedule.pdf
Garcia |
 Suarez |
How many people will be in the new congressional, house and senate districts?
For the 120 Florida House of Representatives districts, the number of people in the districts jumps from 133,186 in 2000 to 156,678 residents. And in the Senate, that number jumps from 399,559 to 470,033 people and for the 27 congressional districts, the number of resident’s increases from 639,295 to 696,345 people per district.
When are the public hearings in Miami-Dade on Aug. 17?
Garcia said there are two local public meetings scheduled on Aug. 17 where residents can voice their issues. One public hearing is being held from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Miami-Dade College Wolfson Campus and another later from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. is being held at the FIU library at the main campus in West Dade.
>>> Press release: Gov. Scott today announced the reappointments of Anthony J. Clemente, John P. Fox, Matthew T. Sams, Thayer C. Smith Jr. and the appointment of Carlos M. Trueba to the Board of Pilot Commissioners.
Clemente, 67, of Miami, is a retired professional engineer. He is reappointed for a term beginning July 6, 2011, and ending October 31, 2014.
Fox, 60, of Miami, is the vice president of global government and community relations for Royal Caribbean International. He is reappointed for a term beginning July 6, 2011, and ending October 31, 2011.
Sams, 48, of Fort Lauderdale, is the vice president of Caribbean relations for Holland America Line. He is reappointed for a term beginning July 6, 2011, and ending October 31, 2013.
Smith, 40, of Tampa, is the owner and chief executive officer of 1513 Group LLC. He is reappointed for a term beginning July 6, 2011, and ending October 31, 2012.
Trueba, 55, of Miami, is a vice president and partner at Rodriguez, Trueba and Company. He succeeds Luis E. Boue and is appointed for a term beginning July 6, 2011, and ending October 31, 2012. These appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
>>> Press release: Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally A. Heyman, District 4, has been appointed to the Florida Association of Counties – Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Task Force to find alternatives for locally funded and operated juvenile detention. This group was established by the Florida Legislature through proviso language from SB2000, signed into law by Governor Rick Scott. Commissioner Heyman, who has an academic and professional background in Criminal Justice and is a former State Legislator, has worked for years on juvenile justice matters, including working with DJJ Secretary Wansley Walters. “I look forward to the challenges of working on a legislative budget for Governor Scott and statutory recommendations we can present to the Legislature,” said Commissioner Heyman. “I truly welcome the opportunity to work with Wansley Walters again pursuing juvenile justice ‘best practices’.”
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
>>> Mayor Gimenez injects new direction into county hall, but clock is ticking with over $7 billion balanced budget required Jul. 15
A new political electrolyte is running Miami-Dade County named Mayor Carlos Gimenez and he is breaking outreach barriers with commissioners from the past including attending a Sunshine Meeting held Tuesday between Commissioners Bruno Barreiro and Sally Heyman along with officials and residents of Miami Beach. The discussion concerned speeders on a Beach road but the mayor’s presence when he walked into the meeting at the second floor commission conference room has not be seen for over a decade at county hall. Gimenez further gave a terse five-minute speech on Wednesday when he was sworn in for a second time with friends, officials and county staff present with the usual photographs with friends and supporters. He promised his administration would be founded on “honesty, integrity and transparency” and his election on Jun. 28 was a “defining moment” for county residents, he said. However, the former county commissioner and Miami city manager and fire chief noted there were “serious challenges ahead” and given he has to “present a balanced budget in nine days (July 15) and it “will roll back [property] taxes,” said Gimenez. And that will be no small task.
On Thursday at the monthly county commission meeting Gimenez not only attended, but stayed there through the whole meeting, something rarely done by recalled Mayor Carlos Alvarez who used then county manager George Burgess as his front man with the legislative body. Gimenez during discussions with commissioners said his administration not only would provide more information to the 13-member body, then in the past. The county staff will provide the financial impact of any changes to a project or it’s financing and also what other projects might be affected by decisions by the commission. It is clear that Gimenez will not only be a hands on administrator but more accessible to commissioners and the public at large. Since on Tuesday he left his 29th floor office and got some lunch at the building’s food court on his own walking alone with no staff in tow as an entourage.
What about the final $42 million bond for the Marlins Stadium?
The county commission on Thursday approved the issuance of the final $42 million in bonds for the new baseball stadium with a retractable roof being built on the old Orange Bowl site. The joint project between the baseball team, Miami and Miami-Dade County is costing $515 million but when the financing is factored in. The project comes in at over $2.4 billion and has drawn criticism by some segments of the community including billionaire auto magnate Norman Braman, who fought the project in court a few years ago but did not prevail. Braman would later finance getting the required voter signatures to put Alvarez’s name on a recall ballot along with County Commissioner Natacha Seijas, and both were thumped at the polls when 88 percent of the 18 percent of voters that turned out wanted the pair out of office Mar 15.
Gimenez along with County Commission Chair Joe Martinez and Commissioner Sally Heyman and former Commissioner Katy Sorenson all were against the stadium that was strongly backed by the Alvarez administration and then Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz, but they lost that fight a few years ago. Now, with the contract signed the commission had no choice and it had Gimenez saying, “Nothing on this agenda gags me more than this issue” and I was “dabbling with the idea to pull it, but that is not in the interest to the county,” he said. The mayor told commissioners he was going to “see if the Marlins could do more” when it came to money coming to the county but the county was boxed into the obligation. And I “don’t want to be held liable since they have complied with every single thing” they were required to do in the contract.
Heyman had her on take on the bond discussion for the stadium saying this vote was the “last round of this debacle.” She noted Gimenez, and she had both “voted consistently against Marlins stuff.” The attorney also carped that the deal was “not done in good faith since the ultimate figure of the obligation [the county would owe over decades]” became available “only after we had voted,” she said. And when it came to the Marlins giving a financial break to the county. “I have yet to see the Marlins give any money back,” she observed. Further, Commissioner Esteban Bovo, Jr. new to the body challenged the number of jobs that had been created and whether “phantom employees” a perennial problem in South Florida on public projects were being used and he thought the contract with the team “sucks” and some of the commitments seemed “funky” to him. And while he was not in support of the project, he understood the county was on the hook legally to pass the bond.
What about the jobs issue?
County staff said, “that 3,700 workers were assigned to the project” and when it came to minority jobs for local residents that the team had agreed too. These were “aspirational goals,” said county staff. One public speaker Sam Gilmore said the “Marlins have in earnest tried to work with minority groups” and the construction worker believed the baseball team “has worked in good faith,” he closed his public comments from the chamber’s podium.
 Gimenez |
 Martinez |
 Bovo |
>>> Mayor Regalado’s son Jose tapped by Barreiro for $2.9 billion GOB oversight board
Jose Regalado, Jr., a broadcaster and reporter and the son of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado was appointed to the Miami-Dade GOB oversight board watching how the over $2.9 billion bond money is being spent. His father Saturday said his son had applied to be on a number of boards but he scored big time when District 5 County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro appointed him to the important board on Thursday at the BCC meeting. Jose’s sister Raquel, an attorney is a Miami-Dade Public Schools Board Member.
>>> Section of U.S. 1 named by commission Barreto Way
The County Commission Thursday approved naming part of U.S. 1 from SW 120th Street to SW 136th Street as Roger J. Barreto Way. Barreto was a longtime community leader in his earlier years and produced a large family that included one son being the Miami Beach police chief and another, also a former cop; Rodney was chair of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for a decade recently after being appointed to the commission by Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. Charlie Crist.
>>> Mayor Gimenez to keep eye on CRAs, only one in decades is dissolved
When it comes to Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRAs) Mayor Carlos Gimenez said he is reviewing there activities and whether these are still needed for it costs the county $40 million in financial resources yearly. He said of this investment some of the almost dozen CRAs are “very good” but others are “doing very little” and we need to “create a safety mechanism” so that these sunset when the mission is accomplished, he said. He further noted since these have been created, some of which were decades ago that only “one CRA has went out of business.”
>>> New IG yearly report: Office of the Inspector General 2010 Annual Report Released, June 30, 2011.
MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
>>> Supt. Carvalho notes district has the “luxury” to debate seating at AC meeting, versus Broward where 1,400 teachers get the ax
Alberto Carvalho, the school district’s superintendent said something profound during the animated debate about where they sit and how school board members should participate in the nation’s fourth largest school district’s advisory Audit Committee recently and reported last week in the Watchdog Report. During the animated discussion among the board and others recognized by the committee’s chair. He said “I am a serious violator of placement,” since he moves around a lot at public meetings and even sometimes sits in the audience or a board members chair if they are absent from the board dais. The former chemistry teacher said he had been coming to these meetings “since Methuselah [the oldest man referenced in The Bible said to have lived to 969 years old],” as a spectator and said the body was being like Rome. “When Rome was at war they fought [the politicians] and at peace they fought,” he said. Carvalho then looked north to Broward where they are “spinning their wheels” and the blistering “grand jury report” and the fact “1,400 teachers,” were being dismissed, yet “we have the luxury to talk about [seating] placement.” And while he moves around a lot, I “never forget my place relative to the board,” and then added a twist by saying there were “40 staff members of mine here who have to wait for an item for God knows” how long and if this kind of discussion continued he might remove them from these meetings. He also said it was ironic that the audit committee members “had the luxury” to discuss seating arrangements when other districts were fighting for their fiscal life.
Carvalho appointed in Sept. 2008 has been on a roll since then, despite continued significant cuts in state and federal funding to the tune of $2 billion over the past years, but he has motored on. And while he noted the Broward beleaguered public school district just lost its Superintendent James “Jim” Notter. After a scathing state grand jury report that essentially would abolish the school board, if that was legal for all the backdoor shenanigans that went on for the past few years. Where board members demands were carried out regardless whether there was a need for a new school in a location or not and has put the district in significant capital debt that now has to be serviced in the years ahead, and a couple of board members arrested or already in jail.
PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST
>>> FRB gets a little independence with 2/3 BCC vote on some items, pressure on Mayor Gimenez to appoint woman to seven-member oversight board
The Miami-Dade County Commission passed legislation forcing the 13-member body to muster a super majority vote to overturn decisions made by the Financial Recovery Board, but this requirement does not apply to labor agreements with the unions. The two-thirds vote requirement idea was the brainchild of Commission Chair Joe Martinez and the idea was to give the oversight board more flexibility and independence. But critics charge that since it does not apply to union agreements or the selling of real estate that are county assets, said assistant county attorney Gene Shy, it does not go far enough when it comes to FRB being independent. The new legislation passed the county commission by 7 to 4.
What about the seven member FRB’s composition
On Thursday, the county commission passed 11 to zero a resolution asking county Mayor Carlos Gimenez to appoint a woman to the FRB since currently it is made up of six men. The county commission in 1992 passed a resolution mandating gender diversity on county boards but in the case of the new oversight board created for only 24 months to try to turn around the financially struggling pubic hospital system that gives around $700 million in charity care. But since past Mayor Carlos Alvarez was recalled Mar. 15 there has been no one to make an appointment and for Gimenez, his choice of who will represent his office on the seven member board will not only have consequences with the health trust, but could be a political issue when he runs again in 2012. Since women are a majority of registered Miami-Dade voters.
What did Commissioner Souto say about Jackson Hospital’s financial issues?
County Commissioner Javier Souto on Thursday at the county commission meeting went on a major discussion about “uniform” medical care being given at the public hospital and believes the new Jackson Health System management team only cares about “balancing the books.” Souto a longtime member on the now dissolved PHT board said, “Jackson is not a business, it is much more than that” and with the Jackson issue, we will also have to deal with the Florida House and Senate. He said, “People like me will call for a referendum” and it is not going to be easy “and we have a Crown Jewel in Jackson” but we “have too many sharks and businesses” that make money from the institution eyeing the public institution, he thought. And if anything happens to Jackson the “public will scream bloody murder” and while “the business of America is business” be very careful “boys and girls” since there are elections. He reiterated Jackson is “not there to make money but provide service” and the institution has “been broke all the time.” He is also skeptical about the new management team saying they are being treated “like they walk on water” and he believes the results will be “balancing the books on the backs of the poor in Miami-Dade,” he closed.
However, critics point out that if there is no financial margin there is no mission when it comes to a public hospital’s survival and with federal and state funding cuts in the months and years ahead. Keeping Jackson fiscally viable will be no easy task that is now what new President Carlos Migoya is tasked to do along with his new management staff, and he must be successful if the health trust is to survive in the years ahead and continuing to provide world-class medical care for all in Miami-Dade.
 Souto |
 Migoya |
CITY OF MIAMI
>>> Will there be a fiscal showdown between Regalado & Carollo on Jul.14? Vice chair Carollo has 11 critical questions about city finances & union talks
Miamians should expect verbal fireworks on Thursday at the city commission meeting that has Vice Chair Frank Carollo listing 11 questions he wants to discuss including the city’s hiring freeze, update on insurance costs, replacing the auditor general, next years budget, union negotiations, the city’s financial team, and how Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito was possible going to be paid $200,000 to list a few of the issues listed in the agenda. The Watchdog Report on Saturday ran into Mayor Tomas Regalado and we briefly discussed the issue. He said he was ready to have the discussion at the meeting, though also noted Frank’s older brother, former Mayor Joe Carollo has been on the local airwaves whipping up the Spanish listeners base in Miami and Regalado believes the former Miami mayor wants to challenge County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro for his District 5 seat in 2012.
For the Watchdog Report this brings me almost full circle back to 1997 and 1998 in Miami and continued through the Elian Gonzalez affair in the spring of 2000 where elected personalities just pounded on each other in the media, and that rhetoric in all its intensity is back in the local political debate. Carollo was mayor from 1998 to late 2001 when he lost reelection to Mayor Manuel Diaz when he failed to make the runoff. Carollo also had a scandal with an ex-wife back then after he threw a box of tea at her causing the police to be involved and resulted in a messy divorce and the elder Carollo dropped from public sight for a number of years. However, his political fortunes have risen again after his brother Frank was elected to the commission in 2009 and despite another divorce. He appears to be trying to rehabilitate himself with the public and the turmoil occurring in the city that is also under a SEC investigation regarding bonds sold in 2006 to 2009 under the previous administration of Diaz appears to be the method to achieve this goal.
Further, Joe and Tomas historically from the late 1990s have been political foes, Regalado, and now Commission Chair Wilfredo “Willy” Gort both chaffed when there was a governor created Financial Oversight Board in place for five years and the group ended its oversight responsibilities in Nov. 2001, but the outside body had been requested by Carollo in 1996 after the city experienced a $60 million plus budget meltdown. The commissioners would attend many of these oversight meetings and try to blunt some of the fiscally draconian measures initiated by the oversight board but these efforts eventually put the city on strong financial footing with around $140 million in reserves back in 2002-2003.
 Regalado |
 Gort |
 Carollo |
>>> Ponzi fraud defendant gets 17½ year sentence, destroyed the lives of elderly Miamians
Press release: Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announced that a federal judge sentenced attorney and C.P.A. Lorn Leitman, 61, of Miami, Florida, to 210 months’ incarceration for his role in a 10-year Ponzi scheme. In an unusual decision, the court departed upward from a sentencing guideline range of 121-151 months, commenting, “this case is exceptional.” A federal grand jury charged the defendant with violating the mail fraud statute for defrauding elderly victims and retirees, among others, through the operation of a Ponzi scheme which sought investments in either phantom residential mortgages or a separate venture burdening U.S. military personnel with predatory and usurious loans. The defendant pled guilty to one count of mail fraud on April 6, 2011 and faced a maximum possible sentence of imprisonment for 20 years. Several victims appeared in court to address the impact of the fraud. As one victim explained, losses from the Ponzi scheme forced the end of his retirement and his return to work. He commented, “My dreams are dead.”
The court explained that the decision to sentence above the guidelines resulted from the defendant’s conduct preying upon his closest friends, fellow servicemen, the elderly and retirees, and noted that the defendant breached codes of conduct applicable to members of the Florida Bar and certified public accountants. In addition to the enhanced sentence, the court ordered the defendant to pay $3,308,435.03 in restitution to victims. >>> Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Rochlin and H. Ron Davidson, who prosecuted the case. 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
>>> La Gorce Drive to get speed bumps in 90-days after county & city work together on life safety problem that has had fatalities
A comment by Miami Beach Commissioner Ed Tobin while sitting at a Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting months ago between County Commissioner Sally Heyman and Bruno Barreiro is concluding with traffic calming devices being installed in the next 90-days on La Gorce Drive in a joint effort with the city and Miami-Dade County. Heyman had been saving $500,000 in People’s Transportation Program funding for the traffic slowing devices and met with city officials Commissioner Ed Tobin, Deede Weithorn and Manager Jorge Gonzalez, along with activists and Barreiro on Tuesday to discuss the issue in a Sunshine Meeting that included new Mayor Carlos Gimenez dropping in and essentially blessing the project. The issue has been on the hot burner for about three years, but protests and organizers first started to complain back in 1987. The collector road now has extensive traffic, but no sidewalks, there have been fatalities, and children, people, local pets and other animals have all experienced the speeders coming down the drive. Originally traffic calming devices were expected to cost around $700,000 but that ballooned “to $1.3 million and is still growing” and is cost prohibitive, said Heyman noting there was not enough funding for such a project. However, now traffic calming bumps that are bolted to the highway will be used, and these cost considerable less.
Barreiro when discussing whether traffic circles might be the answer said the ones found in the Roads Area of Miami have become a “sport scar enthusiast “ dream when cars dart around the circles and when it comes to flashing yellow lights used at some crosswalks. He said “People fly right through them” when these are on and have little affect on cars slowing down or stopping, he thought. However, local residents said the long-term solution was to revert the one-way two-lane highway back to what it was before the 1968 Republican Party Convention when it was changed from a single lane road in both directions to its present configuration. Heyman after getting consensus on getting the project done in the next 90-days suggested some police with radar guns start enforcing the speed zone in the meantime to get drivers used to it. And when the speed bumps are installed she expects people will “have lemonade stands” going and in her case, “I will bring my coffee truck,” she joked to the 22 people in the room.
 Weithorn |
Heyman |
Barreiro |
 Tobin |
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
CITY OF DORAL
>>> City’s property tax millage rate goes even lower after years of flat rate
In a unanimous decision, the City of Doral Council has set the proposed millage rate for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 at 2.437 mills, compared to the FY 2010-2011 millage rate of 2.447 mills. This means that for FY 2011-2012, City of Doral property owners will be taxed $2.437 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. The City of Doral has maintained its millage rate at 2.447 mills since incorporation in 2003. The FY 2011-2012 Miami Dade County Appraiser’s estimated projections reflect a 5.3 % decline in property values for the City of Doral as compared to the year before, resulting in close to a $1,000,000 decrease in property tax revenue for the city. The City of Doral Council will hold a Budget Workshop on August 25, starting at 9:00 AM, and two Public Budget Hearings on September 14 and 28 starting at 5:01 PM. The FY 2011-2012 budget goes into effect on October 1, 2011.
>>> OTHER STORIES AROUND FLORIDA
BROWARD COUNTY
>>> Torriente & Hawthorne new Ft. Lauderdale assistant city managers, she is long time Dade employee
Suzie Torriente, a long time Miami-Dade County employee is a new Ft. Lauderdale assistant city manager. During her time at the state’s largest county, she was involved in a wide variety of activities including representing the county administration during the 2007-2008 Charter Review. She left the county briefly around 2001 to be an assistant city manager at Coral Gables but rejoined the county after Manager George Burgess was brought in to replace Steve Shiver in June 2003. This is the third person recently from Miami-Dade that has gone north. The other two past county employees are Broward County Attorney Joni Armstrong Coffey and John Scott, the new Broward County Inspector General and former federal prosecutor.
 Hawthorne |
 Torriente |
>>> Press release: City of Fort Lauderdale Names Stanley Hawthorne and Susanne Torriente as Assistant City Managers
Fort Lauderdale City Manager Lee Feldman has filled two positions on his executive management team. Stanley Hawthorne and Susanne Torriente will serve as Fort Lauderdale’s Assistant City Managers. In their new positions, Hawthorne and Torriente will oversee the City’s day-to-day departmental operations and assist the City Manager with the provision and implementation of municipal services, programs and activities. Prior to accepting his new position with the City of Fort Lauderdale, Stanley Hawthorne served six years as the Assistant City Manager of Lakeland, Florida, where he oversaw the departments of Human Resources, Information Technology, Risk Management/Purchasing, Internal Audit and The Lakeland Center. Hawthorne led the city’s Performance Excellence Division, where he focused on enhancing operations through performance efficiencies and process improvements. In addition, he directed Lakeland’s strategic operating plan, $600 million operating budget, and capital improvement program. Hawthorne has more than 25 years experience in government. He previously served as City Manager of Lauderdale Lakes, Assistant City Manager and Director of Finance for Tamarac, and Director of Management and Budget for the City of Hollywood, Florida. He began his career in municipal government in 1985 in the City of Saginaw, Michigan, where he worked for seven years advancing to the position of Assistant to the City Manager. Hawthorne holds an undergraduate degree from Troy State University in Alabama and a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from the University of Virginia.
Susanne Torriente comes to the City of Fort Lauderdale from Miami-Dade County, Florida, where she most recently served as Director of the Office of Sustainability. In this position, Torriente was responsible for overseeing major departments critical to achieving the County’s sustainability goals, including Solid Waste Management, Environmental Resources Management, Water and Sewer, and Community Image. Torriente directed Miami-Dade County’s policy formulation, grants, energy management and reduction strategies, alternative energy options, sustainable capital development processes, water conservation, and other sustainability-related programs and initiatives. Under her leadership, the County developed and implemented its first sustainability plan, which also includes the County’s first climate action plan. Prior to being appointed as Director of the Office of Sustainability, Torriente served as Chief of Staff and Chief Assistant County Manager. Her 20-year career with Miami-Dade County also includes overseeing Police, Fire-Rescue, Corrections, and Emergency Management. Torriente previously served as the Assistant City Manager of Coral Gables, Florida, where she oversaw the departments of Finance, Purchasing, Information Technology, Parks and Recreation, Automotive, Parking and Cable TV. Torriente holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Miami. In addition to naming two Assistant City Managers, Lee Feldman has also announced that Julie Richards will remain as the Assistant to the City Manager and will also be spearheading Fort Lauderdale’s newly created Neighbor Support initiative. It is expected that the remaining Assistant to the City Manager position, which will lead Fort Lauderdale’s Performance Measurement and Process Improvement effort, will be filled in the coming weeks. http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/press_releases/2011/063011chaz_managers.htm
>>> Press release: Following an evening of celebration, fun and the recognition of Florida’s leading teachers, Alvin Davis, a teacher from Miramar High School in Broward County, was selected as the Florida Department of Education/Macy’s 2012 Teacher of the Year. In addition to being named Teacher of the Year, Mr. Davis will serve as the Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for education during the 2011-12 school year where he will visit schools throughout Florida to share information about educational opportunities and challenges in the state. “Our teachers are the most influential factor in the education of our students and their successes have the unique capacity to shape the future of our children and the nation,” said Education Commissioner John L. Winn. “Mr. Davis’ dedication to empowering Florida students to reach their goals is a testament to this capacity, and I am honored to recognize him as the 2012 Teacher of the Year.” Additionally, Mr. Davis will represent the Sunshine State in the national Teacher of the Year awards program, and will receive a cash prize of $10,000 from Macy’s, a customized trophy and an all-expenses paid trip to New York City for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Macy’s also awarded the other four finalists – Lora McCalister-Cruel from A. Crawford Mosley High School in Bay County, Belinda Nease from Southside Elementary School in Nassau County, Stephanie Thetford from Fort Walton Beach High School in Okaloosa County, and Tracy Staley from Ponce de Leon Elementary School in Pinellas County – a $5,000 check and a $500 Macy’s gift card. Each of the finalists’ respective schools was also presented $1,000 to be used toward educational programs.
“Teachers generously give of themselves everyday to educate children, but elevate and empower future generations to achieve great things,” said Karin Darmanin, Macy’s Senior Vice President, Regional Director of Stores. “Macy’s is thankful to have the opportunity to celebrate with and honor Alvin Davis for his dedication and commitment to education and to always helping students reach for the stars.” The Florida Department of Education/Macy’s Teacher of the Year is chosen from district nominees by a selection committee comprised of teachers, principals, parents, and the business community. Florida’s top educator is selected on the basis of demonstrating outstanding accomplishments in teaching, the ability to communicate with other educators and stakeholders, and exceptional professional and community service. The winner must also show a superior capacity to inspire a love of learning in students of all backgrounds and abilities. For more information about the Florida Department of Education/Macy’s Teacher of the Year, visit http://www.fldoe.org/profdev/yeartch.asp.
>>> 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
>>> Three men charged by feds for timeshare fraud owners of thousands of dollars
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Daniel C. Alexander, Chief of Police, Boca Raton Police Department, announced the arrest of defendants James Michael Tomasso, Wensley Robin Mcfarlane, and Nicholas Charles Higgins, of Palm Beach County, for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. According to the criminal complaint filed with the court, the defendants were engaged in a scheme to defraud timeshare owners of thousands of dollars. Operating under the names of Euroamerican Timeshares, LLC., E.A.T. Sales, LLC., National Timeshare Liquidators, LLC., and Real Estate Purchasing Syndicate, LLC., the defendants and others would call timeshare owners outside of Florida and offer to purchase their timeshare on condition that the timeshare owner/seller would send them thousands of dollars in up-front fees. The owners were promised that the fees would be returned to them at the closing. No purchases or sales ever occurred. These fees were simply split amongst the various telemarketers involved in the fraud. To further the scheme, the names of the companies involved frequently changed. This permitted the “new” company to re-solicit the timeshare owner. In total, this scheme took in over three (3) million dollars. >>> Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the Boca Raton Police Department, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Kerry Baron, who is prosecuting this case. A complaint is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 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.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
>>> Press release: Governor Rick Scott in consultation with Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Herschel Vinyard today instructed the Florida Park Service not to proceed with plans for camping at Honeymoon Island State Park.
In addition, the Florida Park Service will be evaluating how to proceed at Fanning Springs, DeLeon Springs, Edward Ball Wakulla Springs and any other parks being considered for campsite expansions. “After seeing the public’s reaction, it is clear that this is not the right time to expand camping at Honeymoon Island State Park,” said Governor Rick Scott. “These natural treasures belong to all the tax-paying citizens of this state and it would be unfair to proceed with a plan that so many Floridians are so adamantly opposed to.” Going forward, Governor Scott has instructed DEP and the Florida Park Service to meet with local communities, state park citizen support organizations and other park stakeholders before formally proposing the addition of amenities or services, including family camping, at any state parks. Florida’s award-winning state park system is one of the largest in the country with 160 parks spanning nearly 700,000 acres and 100 miles of sandy white beach. Under the leadership of Governor Scott and DEP Secretary Vinyard, Florida’s state parks will continue to be among the best in the nation. For more information on Florida’s state parks, visit www.FloridaStateParks.org, www.twitter.com/FLStateParks or www.facebook.com/FLStateParks. For more on this issue go to St. Pete Times story at: http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=MTM0NTI3MDE%3D
COMMUNITY EVENTS
>>> Press release: Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto has invited Mr. Marvin Cordero, Government Relations, Community Affairs & Outreach for Jackson Health System to do a special presentation on Jackson Hospital. We ask the public to please participate so any of your questions can be answered at the meeting. Location: West Dade Regional Library 9445 SW 24 Street (2nd Floor) Date and Time: July 14, 2011 at 7:00 PM >>> We need to be on “Full Alert” with anything and everything related to Jackson. Jackson belongs to all of us.
Watch out for those who want to “confuse” us. There are many, many sharks swimming in that pool now! Watch out!
>>> 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.
>>> “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.
>>> Press release: During the summer recess Miami-Dade Community Action Agency is providing free meals to children 18 years and younger at no cost. The Summer Food Service Program began on June 13, 2011 and ends on August 12, 2011. A nutritionally balanced lunch and snack is served weekdays at 200 program sites throughout Miami-Dade County. A list of the participating sites is available to be downloaded from the Miami-Dade County web portal at www.miamidade.gov/caa. The program sites are approved in geographical areas where 50% or more of the children qualify for free and reduced price meals during the school year. Program sites are located in recreational centers, summer camps, churches, and community based organizations that provide services to children during the summer recess. It is the policy of Miami-Dade County that all children will be served without discrimination. Meals will be provided to all children regardless of race, color, sex or disability. According to Ruthe White, Nutrition Service Coordinator, “this summer we have seen a significant increase in the number of meals served compared to last year.”>> For additional information about the programs and services provided by the Community Action Agency please call (786) 469-4600 and for information regarding the Summer Food Service Program, please contact Rani Panchanathan at (786) 469-4789. Who: Miami-Dade Community Action Agency What: FREE meals for children during the summer recess When: Start Date: June 13, 2011 End Date: August 12, 2011 Where: 200 Program sites throughout Miami-Dade County Why: To provide nutritious meals to low-income children during the summer recess.
EDITORIALS
>>> Past WDR: Oct. 08: Will challenging economic times produce real leaders, confidence is earned and not by telling half-truths
If there was ever a time for a serious debate about what needs to be done to shore up the nation’s economy, that time is now. The New York Stock market continues it’s downward slid and trillions of dollars are evaporating in millions of peoples 401 K accounts and the confidence of investors has never been so shaken over the past few decades. One of the great problems when it comes to this confidence is many elected leaders, including President George Bush have not been straight up with the public over the years and their creditability just is not there, especially when it comes to peoples own money.
The habit of not telling the full truth to the public has become an art form with many leaders at all levels of national, state and local office holders and when times are tough and trying and these individuals go to the well of public trust. They find it is empty and it is of their own doing over the past years of half-truths or manipulation of the truth. There is a funny thing about confidence, when it is applied on a global basis, with the speed of the inter-net; it is hard to fool the public anymore for very long. Especially when they see the financial meltdown through their nations own minds around the globe, and there never was a better time for the world to act in coordination to ease this credit crisis, that regardless of the past fixes including a $700 billion injection approved by Congress last week and signed by the president did not regain the global markets confidence and part of that is people no longer believe what their governmental leaders say.
At a local level, elected leaders should keep their eye on this financial challenge and understand the political world they now inhabit is very likely to change significantly in the coming months and joking at commission meetings with such comments as “it is all good” or there is “A lot of love in the room” becomes tiresome and childish. And given the global economy especially when repeated over and over again it shows a lack of understanding of the fundamental economic changes facing the United States at a time when great leaders are in short supply, and many of the ones we have are just not cutting it and they should raise their game. For the times call for true leadership and tough decisions. Let us see if our elected leaders rise to the challenge or bicker their way over the cliff.
>>> Past WDR: Nov.08: Nation wants government to work, not bicker along party lines, public tax money is in short supply
The national electorate is looking at possible all three branches of government being dominated by one party and as it has happened before. The winning party is expected to go nuts with the absolute power. A phenomena that has happened in the past with both Republicans and Democrats and it is not what the average American needs right now. What they need is for government to work, be transparent and honest with the people and for us to realize the importance of the two party political system we have in the United States.
The Democrats after eight years of a George Bush presidency believe it is their time and they may be right but the continuation of these divisive and major partisan attacks by both groups whoever is in power must come to a close for the nation is facing challenges on many fronts never confronted before and who ever wins the presidency and controls the Congress. That political party is going to face the reality of almost $11 trillion in debt, decaying national infrastructure and healthcare challenges but short on money to pay for these issues and that sad fact should be considered by officials from both sides of the political aisle. For unfortunately that is the new world we all live in and it is a harsh reality that must be faced, if it is ever to be resolved.
LETTERS
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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.
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>>> 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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