Watchdog Report Vol.12 No.52 April 29, 2012 Est.05.05.00 – Celebrating My 13th Anniversary May 5

>>> 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. The Watchdog Report webpage is free, has no ads, pops-up and is just the news in a mainstream reporting manner.

>>> HELP: I NEED FINANCIAL HELP IF THIS IS TO CONTINUE AFTER 12-YEARS AND HEADING INTO 13-YEARS IN MAY: 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.

ARGUS REPORT – Heard, Seen on the Street

>>> Bayfront Park Trust passes resolution to keep Bicentennial Park under its control Tuesday, new control suitors not wanted

The Mildred and Claude Pepper Bayfront Park Management Trust that operates and manages Bayfront Park and nearby Bicentennial Park passed a resolution Tuesday to keep Bicentennial Park under the Trust’s management umbrella. Since a “rumor” has surfaced that people were trying to change that management structure since two new museums are going up on part of the 30-acre bayside land. Nathan Kurland, a member of the Trust board said he had heard “rumors” to this affect and believed the organization should act proactively. The city of Miami created the Bayfront Management Trust in 1987 and in March of 1994, Bicentennial Park was added to the Trust’s portfolio and on Dec. 2006, the deep-water parcel adjacent to the park was also put under trust management. The management of Bayfront has been excellent since a major scandal rocked the organization in 1999 to 2000 and sent the past director to jail and in the course of 2010, attendance to events was 287,679 people and in 2011, it was 158,093 in the course of the year.

Timothy Schmand the Trust’s executive director in a Mar. 14 memo notes the facilities over the last 11-years have consistently ranked in the top 50 venues worldwide based on ticket sales and is in the top ten nationally. He told trust members I “hate to see duplication, we are a natural for Bicentennial Park” and noted “most of the Bayfront Bay Walk is on Trust property.” Kurland noted the park was a city “asset and waterfront property” and any change in its oversight “might be a foot” in the door “to put another museum there,” he said. When the Watchdog Report asked for more specifics on the issue. Kurland passed not saying anything more specific, but the Trust members unanimously voted to approve a resolution stating they supported “absolutely no changes in the management of the Bay Walk and Bicentennial Park.”

What else is going on at Bayfront?

Bayfront Park in the 1990s used to require the city pumping in some $400,000 in public money to keep the organization running but after the scandal has been a consistent moneymaker for the city. And while the Trust is also running Bayside, the tourist attraction with shops and restaurants next to the park. The organization also started yoga lessons six years ago and 75,000 people living in the nearby condominiums and others have participated in the over 1,000 practices, that have about 75 people in each class since then, said Schmand.

>>> White House press release: New Health Care Law Provides Up to $148,589,661 in Health Insurance Premium Rebates for People in Florida

President Obama’s health care law – the Affordable Care Act – gives hard working, middle-class families the security they deserve and includes a number of important provisions that help control health care costs. One way the law helps hold down health care costs are new rules that generally require insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of your premium dollars on health care and quality improvements instead of other activities like advertising, executive bonuses, or overhead. If insurance companies fail to meet this standard, they must provide a rebate to their customers. The law calls this the “medical loss ratio” rule, but it’s commonly known as the 80/20 rule.

Yesterday, a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 1,753,065 consumers in Florida will receive $148,589,661 in rebates solely because of the 80/20 rule. This includes 38 percent of enrollees in the individual market in Florida for an average rebate of $153 per person. Rebates to consumers will be delivered by August 1. You can read the full report by visiting http://www.kff.org/healthreform/8305.cfm. And even if you don’t you receive a rebate, you may be benefiting from the new rule. Many insurance companies changed the way they do business or lowered their premiums to comply with the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule is just one way the Affordable Care Act is already making a difference. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act: 2.5 million more young adults have health insurance on their parent’s plan. 5.1 million people with Medicare saved an average of $635 on the cost of their prescription drugs. And everyone on Medicare can get preventive services like mammograms for free.
Insurance companies cannot raise your premiums by 10 percent or more with no accountability. It’s illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage to children because of a pre-existing condition. And in 2014, discriminating against anyone with a pre-existing condition will be illegal. While some want to go back to the days when insurance companies could deny your coverage or jack up your rates whenever and however they pleased without any accountability, we are committed to moving forward, implementing the Affordable Care Act and delivering the benefits of reform to the American people. For more information on the new health care law, go to www.HealthCare.gov.

>>> Press release: Cyprus Officials, Ros-Lehtinen Discuss EU Presidency, Rights of Cypriot People

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today met with Deputy Minister for European Affairs Andreas Mavroyiannis of the Republic of Cyprus. Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, along with fellow members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Deputy Minister Mavroyiannis discussed the upcoming Cyprus Presidency of the European Union and the U.S.-Cyprus relationship. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen: “Eight years after becoming a full member of the European Union, Cyprus will assume the Presidency this summer for the first time. Cyprus has set forth an ambitious agenda for its tenure, with particular emphasis on economic growth, job creation, and the promotion of human rights around the world. I wish Cyprus well as it begins this important endeavor.

“Yet, even as Cyprus continues to use its voice to advocate for the rights of oppressed people, its own citizens continue to suffer from the ongoing division, conflict and military occupation of their country. This is a critical year for Cyprus reconciliation talks, and now more than ever it is important that all responsible nations support those efforts. “I am hopeful that a peaceful and equally beneficial solution can still be achieved if both sides engage in the negotiations in good faith.”

>>> Diaz-Balart: IRS new Florida pilot program, step in the right direction

Press release: Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) released the following statement in response to the implementation of the IRS new Law Enforcement Assistance Pilot Program, exclusively for the state of Florida. The pilot program is designed to aid law enforcement in obtaining tax returns to investigate and prosecute specific cases of identity theft. Diaz-Balart comments:

“After numerous hearings and meetings with the IRS, during which I expressed deep concern with the astounding number of identity theft cases in South Florida, today the IRS responds with the launch of a new pilot program. The new program will help provide answers to the thousands of identity theft victims in the state of Florida, particularly in South Florida. We must ensure the security and safety of hardworking taxpayers; I think this program is a step in the right direction to prevent these heinous crimes from occurring in the future.” Congressman Diaz-Balart testified on a panel in June 2011 held by the Oversight Committee, Subcommittee on Government Organization, Efficiency and Financial Management titled “IRS E-file and Identity Theft.” In the same month, Diaz-Balart met with IRS Commissioner, Doug Shulman to demand more effective measures to be implemented to prevent identity theft.

>>> U.S. Attorney Testifies on Health Care Fraud before U.S. Senate

Press release: U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer testified this morning at a hearing before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on health care fraud. Mr. Ferrer’s testimony at the hearing, entitled “Anatomy of a Fraud Bust: From Investigation to Conviction,” highlighted the Department of Justice’s successful national efforts to combat health care fraud, citing the record number of prosecutions and the highest ever financial recoveries during fiscal year 2011. Also testifying during the hearing were Daniel Levinson, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Dr. Peter Budetti, Deputy Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Kathleen King, Director of Health Care, U.S. Government Accountability Office.

During the testimony, U.S. Attorney Ferrer stated, “Health care fraud is a costly law enforcement problem. Every year, taxpayers spend hundreds of billions of dollars to provide health care to the most vulnerable of our society – our seniors, children, disabled, and needy. We have a duty to ensure that these funds are spent on providing proper medical treatment to those who need it.” According to Ferrer’s testimony, in FY 2011 alone, the government’s health care fraud and prevention efforts recovered nearly $4.1 billion related to health care fraud and false claims and returned these funds to CMS, the U.S. Treasury, other Federal agencies, and individuals. This is the highest annual amount ever recovered from doctors and companies who attempted to defraud seniors and taxpayers or who sought payments to which they were not entitled. 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.

>>> The Watchdog Report has taken a licking over the past 13-years, but has kept on ticking with some special peoples & organizations help – Thank You!

The Watchdog Report is Celebrating my 13th Anniversary and I could not have done this without the help of around a hundred people and organizations over those years and to each of you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and while some earlier supporters have passed away or can no longer help in some capacity. You each still stepped up and helped at a time I needed it and has allowed me to get to this date and time. And when I started, I only knew the power of the internet would give the report internet wings that fly’s over the globe via the email list every week, people sending it on by their own list, or the www.watchdogreport.net webpage. I also thought long and hard about when to publish and most weekly papers in South Florida run on Wednesday, the big dailies have there own schedule of what is published over the weekend, and there was a news opening I thought. If someone was willing to work essentially 24/7 and publish late Sunday afternoon. Now this coming Saturday May 5, I will mark this new Anniversary and there has been so much news that has been reported on in the weekly report over those years as my past readers know and for the first time this past year. I have published 52 weeks in a row.

And that publishing milestone is no small feat and it has left me exhausted, broke and later in the month. I will take a break since my web person is getting married and going on her honeymoon and I wish her all the best in her new married life. However, I also want to thank all of you that have helped in some way to get to this milestone. Since I work alone and battled a major medical issue back in February 2010, that included two lifesaving surgeries, one at 4:00 a.m. by Vascular Surgeon Jorge Rabaza, M.D. at Baptist Health’s South Miami Hospital that he said “was a flip of the coin,” if I came through the operation and I thank him for being successful and keeping me alive. And since that time, it has given me a different perspective about life and its fragility and throughout these past years. I have tried my best to fight public corruption and I have done what I could to make public institutions more transparent, ethical and eliminating waste, fraud and abuse of the community’s precious public tax dollars but it has been a rough road for me financially.

When I first started, I knew two things, the internet and the Florida Open Records Sunshine Law opened a door to watching public institutions and what elected leaders did like never before and I would make the Watchdog Report free to all that were interested. I wanted the richest and the poorest and in need of us to get the Report if they wanted it. Because I also hoped to increase the civic depth and understanding of all people interested in how politics were affecting their lives. Since as Pericles said, “You may not take an interest in politics but politics may take an interest in you,” and that has been my tag line since the beginning back in 2000. However, financially it has been slow going and while I have saved hundreds of millions of public tax dollars over these years, by killing some expenditure or getting the PHT a break on a new stents contract where about $10 million was saved along with others help in 1998. And I have done this fiscal questioning for almost 15 years now and it adds up quickly given the aggregate sum of public dollars in play now around $13 billion yearly we have in our public institutions in Miami-Dade. And one example included the Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization considering giving a politically connected person Dr. Rudy Moise around $10 million to do traffic updates on a Creole AM radio station he owned and was being pushed by Ron Krongold, one of the co founders of Jungle Island.

After I spoke to some commissioners before the vote back in the early 2000s pointing out other radio stations were doing it free as part of their public service component. Further, I also noted we should at least put the traffic updates in Creole and for that amount of money, and we could buy our own radio station at the time since the market was not that competitive. Miami-Dade Commissioners ended up voting it down at the time, with Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez telling Krongold who pushed the deal very hard at the dais. “You are on fire, bail out, bail out,” he joked when it was clear the issue was dead with the other MPO members (After this incident, Krongold would later be removed by Gov. Jeb Bush to the MPO board since he was the governors appointment), but there have been so many other cases like this over the years, and this saving of tax dollars is a very strong reason why I kept at the Watchdog Report. Also, another example was in the late 1990s at a school board committee meeting when then long serving Board Member Betsy Kaplan said to me after what I call an incident. “Dan, you’re trying to keep us out of jail,” she mused and yes, that was another objective in my attempt to help be part of building a community that was informed and civically engaged with minimal public corruption.

I reflect on this because I doubt anyone will ever do this again in South Florida when I am gone for it took a broad set of circumstances to take a international businessman on this path after living in Japan, almost five years in Sydney traveling throughout Asia, and spending extensive time in China since my 1974 degree from George Washington University’s (Sino-Soviet Institute at the time) was in Chinese Studies. Further, I am divorced with no children, thought back in the mid 1990s someone needed to fight for the residents who did not have time to participate in governmental affairs, and when no one else stepped forward, I did. And that decision was partly driven by some of the social and financial injustice that pervaded the community back then with scandals in the headlines ranging from MIA to Miami-Dade, the county school board and the city of Miami being the poster child. Where city managers were fired like eating M&Ms and elected leaders and two city managers went to jail.

Further, I was given the gift of being a featured Miami Herald editorial columnist back in the spring and summer of 2000, sharing the Tuesday page with controversial award winning writers like Max Castro and Carl Hiaasen. I was writing as the ‘Public Citizen’ and later in 2003 as a featured weekly independent news columnist for The Herald as the Watchdog Report, where one of my weekly stories ran in the general circulation daily up to the time McClatchy bought out Knight–Ridder. And this mainstream media exposure expanded my readership to around 100,000 readers in 2004. A University of North Carolina Chapel Hill study of the media in the southern states estimated and named me one of Florida’s “influential columnists.” Further, I have been a regular contributor on WLRN/NPR 91.3 FM on Joseph Cooper’s show Topical Currents show www.wlrn.org since 2000. I appear frequently on Helen Ferre’s show Issues on WPBT2, and past Watchdog Report stories early on have run in the Community Newspapers as well as in Spanish publications and all of this early on allowed me to gain credibility and a readership base unheard of at the time, and now, for a single individual reporter working on his own.

And after all of that media help, I also thank the many new people I have met on this strange journey, their thoughts, opinions and information that they have given me. For I have tried to represent the average person when I have gotten the chance to interview such people like then candidate President Barack Obama, Presidential candidates Senators John Kerry and John McCain, Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. Charlie Crist almost weekly when they were in office, as well as people like former Soviet Union Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former CBS anchor Dan Rather, and the U.S. Ambassador from Pakistan over the years to name a few of the people. And covering South Florida brings these people here and I am convinced there is nowhere else in the country; just a citizen armed with the internet could accomplish this. For when you say Miami anywhere you go in the world, someone will have some colorful comment be it a German tourist to a retired headhunter in Borneo. And I like to joke that South Florida “is like the dysfunctional half brother or sister every family has, but we have great weather, beautiful beaches, and stone crabs the size of small children! And that has been what has made Miami one of the top destination spots in the world, and where else but here, would a Watchdog Report spring up back in May of 2000.

>>> See what was said about the Watchdog Report in the Miami New Times 2003 — Best of Miami — BEST CITIZEN — Daniel Ricker – watchdogreport1@earthlink.net

Three years ago, we said Ricker was our Best Gadfly. Given his dedication and perseverance, this new honor, Best Citizen, is well deserved. Ricker goes to 2500 mind-melting meetings annually, from the Public Health Trust’s purchasing subcommittee to the Efficiency and Competition Commission to the Alliance for Human Services’ nominating council to the school board’s audit committee. Sometimes he’s the only public observer. Object: to be the Public Citizen for all those out there who can’t attend, and to connect and serve as an information bridge among the special-interest-dominated Miami-Dade governmental institutions that seem so problematic and indifferent to the democratic process.

This month his e-mail newsletter, The Watchdog Report, celebrates its fourth anniversary (Now entering its 13th year May 5th ). In a former life, Ricker made a handsome living as an international salesman of heart pacemakers. As the hard-working publisher of Watchdog Report, though, he’s struggling financially — this despite the fact that his weekly compendium of meeting summaries, analysis, interviews, and commentary has become essential reading for anyone involved in public affairs. What his written work may lack in polish, it more than makes up for in comprehensiveness. So raise a toast to the man whose official slogan says it all: “A community education resource — I go when you cannot!”

>>> 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 and was Best Citizen in the 2003 Best of Miami of The Miami New Times, profiled twice in The Miami Herald, and the Orlando Sentinel ran a nationwide story on me in the Tribune papers on Jan. 2003, and UNC Chapel Hill named 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. Further, I am a frequent guest on WWW.WPBT2.ORG on Helen Ferre’s show Issues, and have also appeared on Eliott Rodriguez’s show News & Views on www.CBS4.com .

FLORIDA

>>> Troika of public corruption and ethics mavens, former state Sen. Gelber says, “Everyone has an internal compass about what is right or wrong.”

Corruption in Florida was the topic of the day Wednesday and how to tamp out this statewide scourge brought together former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson, state Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach and Miami-Dade Ethics and Public Trust Commission Executive Director Joe Centorino to the Downtown Bay Forum luncheon at Miami’s Temple Israel. Republican Pam Bondi beat Gelber a former federal prosecutor and ten years in the state legislature, serving first in the House and then the Senate before running for the Florida Attorney General spot back in 2010.

Centorino said when it came to political scientists and the issue of “corruption and ethics, political science never got a handle on it.” He noted only “people in the process know it best,” and how there is “corrupt pressure to infiltrate the political process,” said the former Council member in Salem Massachusetts when he was younger. And when it came to the ethics commission the challenge through education was to get people to do the right thing, because the commission cannot “enforce the unenforceable” and many of the acts people do are stupid and look bad but “are not a violation.”

Gelber said, “I have a fundamental belief about corruption and it is that everyone has an internal compass about what is right or wrong.” He noted that the Sunshine State is in the top tier or first when it came to elected officials going to jail around the nation. Further, Gelber said while counties and municipal governments are required to have meetings in the public, that is not the case in the state’s legislature. Here in South Florida you let the “Sunshine in,” when it comes to legislation and policy questions but “in the legislature it is called lunch,” he said. The state lawmaker over the years said he has tried to introduce some corruption legislation, but never got anywhere because other legislators would ask, “How is this going to affect me?” He also said, “you don’t need to give a bribe, there are other ways” such as political Pac’s that raise money and dole it out in political ads in support of certain elected officials during their races. And he called some of this behind the scenes political activity “slimy but not illegal.”

Sorenson had a different perspective on the matter and carped that the Florida Sunshine Law of open and public meetings was “against human nature” and has resulted in “important interests and policy issues not being discussed,” since the elected leaders can only discuss policy questions in an open to the public meeting. She said when (now deceased) County Commission Chair Art Teele, Jr., appointed her to chair the manager selection committee in the mid 1990s “I had hardly anything to do with it,” since three other commissioners had already agreed on the choice and were busted for the Sunshine violation later. “Good people abide by it, but others don’t,” said the long-term county commissioner first elected in 1994 and did not seek reelection in 2010. She noted the “public and press love the Sunshine Law,” but these open government requirements are “not the best for government,” the former District 8 commissioner thought.

Centorino, in the post since September, but prior to that the past Miami-Dade assistant state attorney heading up the public corruption unit since the mid 1990s when waves of scandals hit Miami-Dade at all levels of government. These scandals resulted in voters creating the ethics commission and the county commission created the county Office of the Inspector General. The man said “enforcement has its own politics”, and dynamics but the worse is the perception with the public and the blowback “is the people that don’t get charged makes us all seem corrupt”, and that fact is “part of the problem.” The attorney said one of the problems was people are relying on “law enforcement to deal with political goals.” He noted a “healthy Democracy needs a healthy electoral process” to remove wayward elected leaders rather than through law enforcement action alone.

Gelber getting back to money and gifts joked that a Legislator cannot accept a muffin from someone after a zero tolerance law on gifts was passed by the legislature a few years ago. However, “you can accept a wheelbarrow of cash,” if it comes from a 527, a section in the federal tax code for the creation of political action committees and the donors names are shielded from public scrutiny. He cited the push for legalizing large scale gambling in the state that had millions of dollars being spent to get the legislation passed, but stalled in the last session, but will rear its head again in the coming years he predicted. Gelber said about these gambling corporations spending “$1 million [that ] is nothing when they are trying to make billions” over decades and opposition will eventually dissolve given “the enormous amount of cash” that is involved in the lobbying process, “once they get a foothold,” in the future he thought.

Centorino also noted the “lack of [civic] engagement of the entire community” was also a problem and is producing this “lack of a civil society,” he thought. He said you saw an example of that “when [billionaire auto magnate] Norman Braman makes a splash. There should be 50 Norman Braman’s if we are to have good government,” and it should not be “just one person like that and where are the rest of the Norman Braman’s?” in South Florida he asked. And Gelber thought when it came to public corruption “we have very lax laws when it comes to ethics and campaign laws.” He also thought the process of someone becoming corrupt was a “slope elected leader’s fell into” because there is very little law enforcement and oversight when it comes to corruption, noting again while something’s “may be just slimy, it’s not against the law,” but it does contribute to the possibility of corruption of public officials and civil servants.

>>> Press release: Gov. Scott signed legislation that will expand the protections available to victims of domestic and sexual violence. Florida currently provides nearly $6.5 million for rape prevention and sexual assault services which is in addition to $29 million available for domestic violence programs. Legislation signed today will provide an additional $1.5 million to pay for relocation services for women who are victims of sexual battery. “While Florida has a 40-year low crime rate, we must continue to protect the rights of individuals affected by crime. This critical legislation I have signed into law shows the valuable steps Florida has made in protecting the rights of victims,” said Governor Rick Scott. “April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and this week is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and it is an important time to raise attention to promoting victims’ rights and remember those lives affected by violence. We will continue to work to keep our communities safe so that fewer people are victims of crime.” Legislation approved today will increase funding for female victims of abuse and is coupled with critical programmatic and legal changes that will help prevent incidents of abuse from occurring.

Legislation Signed by Gov. Scott

HB 1355: Protection of Vulnerable Persons >> Legislation increases the requirements for reporting known or suspected abuse of a child and establishes stricter criminal penalties for individuals who fail to report such abuse. It also authorizes additional spending to support victims of sexual abuse and to increase the state’s capacity to process additional reporting.

HB 701: Florida Evidence Codes >> Legislation provides exceptions to the hearsay rule, under certain conditions, and at the approval of the trial judge, to allow victims statements made outside the courtroom (such as statements to a 911 operator, law enforcement, or rape counselor’s) to be used as evidence in court proceedings.

HB 1099: Stalking >> Legislation expands protections for victims of stalkers by removing the burden for the victim to prove that the person making the threat has intent to actually carry out the threat and expands the definition of threat to include verbal and nonverbal threats and those made through electronic means.
Makes it easier for victims to secure an injunction for protection through the courts by creating a statutory cause for action against stalking and requires the courts to consider issuing an injunction for a longer period of time.

HB 1193: Public Records Protections for Victims of Violence >> Legislation expands the protection of public record access of any personal contact information that may be used for the Clerk of the Court to notify victims of domestic violence, repeat violence, sexual violence and dating violence.
Legislation ensures personal information of victims of domestic or sexual violence is protected in court proceedings.

>>> Press release: The Movement is becoming national. I spoke this week before hundreds of people in Fresno and Merced, California. Both have growing children’s movements, and both are inspired by The Children’s Movement of Florida. The week after next I will share the podium with the leader of The Children’s Movement of Hawaii. All across America I see people organizing to insist that children be at the very top of the priority list for those who make decisions as to how public money — our money — is spent.

Here’s one paragraph of what I said yesterday morning in Fresno: “You and I live in a country where the vast majority of us go to public schools. I can promise you that the first-grade teachers in Fresno County’s 190 public elementary schools know first-hand that a great chunk of entering students are really not ready to learn; these teachers see so frequently the tragedy of the first-grade student who already feels like a failure. Just think of the difference it would make to children entering formal school, and to their teachers, to have children really ready to learn. The early years are the most crucial growing and learning years of a child’s life.” (If you want to read the entire speech, click here.) We can build a movement for all children. We must. Dave Lawrence Jr., Chair The Children’s Movement of Florida

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

>>> And they’re off, WDR gets first phone call from Mayoral Candidate Martinez as election looms Aug. 14, challenging incumbent Gimenez, but what of Suarez?

The Miami-Dade County Mayoral Race is heating up and late Friday afternoon the Watchdog Report got my first campaign call from County Commission Chair Joe Martinez, who along with a host of other candidates on Aug. 14 is challenging incumbent Mayor Carlos Gimenez, elected last June in a special runoff election. After a massive majority of county voters recalled Mayor Carlos Alvarez though, it included only about 16 percent of the county’s voters going to the polls. Gimenez and Martinez have been verbally sparring on the commission dais over the past months and the latest controversy is the past hundreds of cars bought by the county back in 2006 that have been sitting in a county parking garage when the coffers were flush, but the vehicles have now become the poster child for waste in Miami-Dade government.

Gimenez detailed the issue in a memo last week, the number of cars has drastically diminished, and a variety of vehicles have been put in service that has the county police department needing to replace eight vehicles a month because of either an accident or age and millage and reported in a March Watchdog Report. Here is Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez’s memorandum regarding the County’s vehicle fleet. To view the memo, visit http://www.miamidade.gov/mayor/memos.asp.

Martinez

Gimenez

Suarez

What about County Commissioner Xavier Suarez running for mayor?

A knowledgeable source close to Suarez said he does not expect the former Miami mayor to run for county mayor saying it was roughly “90 percent he would not,” but he also noted with the Harvard trained attorney one never knows and you can’t rule it out and “is a 10 percent” variable. Suarez is going to weigh his chances after a May 11 fundraiser that will showcase some of his family providing entertainment and of course food. Suarez replaced Gimenez as the Commission District 7 representative on the 13-member commission and he is different from Gimenez and former Commissioner Jimmy Morales who came before the new county mayor, and if Suarez stays on the county commission. He will if elected again have a full four-year term on the 13-member commission.

>> Press release: Vice Chairwoman Audrey M. Edmonson hosted the first meeting of the task force charged with combating the rise of scrap metal and copper wire theft on April 27, 2011 at the Joseph Caleb Center, 5400 N.W. 22 Avenue, in Miami. At the meeting, representatives of government, law enforcement and the industry chose Miami-Dade County Police Lt. Denise Bernhard as chairperson and Denise M. Carreño from Bob’s Recycle as vice chairperson of the Miami-Dade County Scrap Metal and Copper Wire Theft Task Force. The State Legislature has allowed Miami-Dade County to amend its scrap metal ordinance through July 1, 2013 in order to allow the task force to complete its work.

The task force, created by legislation sponsored by Vice Chairwoman Edmonson, will formulate recommendations to the Miami-Dade County Commission on the enforcement of ordinances regulating junk dealers and scrap metal processors. In January, Vice Chairwoman Edmonson spoke before the State Senate Community Affairs Committee in support of a bill which creates additional restrictions on regulated metal transactions, making it more difficult for secondary metals recyclers to purchase regulated metals, including copper, which may have been obtained illegally. In March, the State Legislature adopted higher penalties for secondary metal recyclers who buy stolen copper and other metals without proper documentation. It preempts new but grandfathers existing ordinances.

“I am pleased that we have begun the task of thoroughly examining our present ordinance and that we have representation from industry and government alike,” Vice Chairwoman Edmonson said. “We want to create an ordinance which does not impede scrap metal dealers from doing legitimate business; we want to make it harder for thieves to sell stolen metals. Scrap metal and copper wiring theft is an epidemic in Miami-Dade County which is not only criminal in nature but an issue which has severe consequences. In addition to the increasing cost and inconvenience to replace copper wire stolen from light poles, appliances and air-conditioning units, it creates a security threat to our residents, particularly our most vulnerable ones, our children and seniors.”

>>> MIA NAMED AMONG AMERICA’S 10 BEST AIRPORTS, SETS NEW PASSENGER RECORD

Press release: Miami International Airport (MIA) this month was named one of the 10 best airports in America in 2011 by the readership of Travel and Leisure magazine, who rated U.S. airports on their facilities, services and overall attributes (see http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-best-and-worst-airports/22). Additionally, after a record-breaking year for passenger traffic in 2011, MIA surged to a new record in the first quarter of 2012 with the most passengers ever during that period. More than 10.2 million travelers passed through MIA in the first three months of the year for an increase of 9.5 percent over the same period last year. Through March, international passenger traffic increased by 11 percent and domestic passengers grew 8.1 percent over last year. In the last two quarters, MIA has overtaken New York’s JFK Airport as the U.S. airport with the most international flights. According to a preliminary report from Airports Council International, MIA was also the 18th busiest passenger airport worldwide for the month of January, moving up from 26th in calendar year 2011 (see http://www.airports.org/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-5-212-218-222_666_2__).

>>> Press release: Registration Now Open for Miami-Dade Parks’ Summer Camps! Exciting Summer Camps are being offered by the Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department, June 11-August 17, 2012, at its parks around the County. Programs are affordable and fully-supervised. There’s fitness, sports, nature-encounters, arts and crafts, field trips and more! Camp hours: 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m., with early drop-off/ late pick-up available. Miami Dade Parks provides inclusion services for children with disabilities who want to attend typical summer camps.

>>> Press release: Adrienne Arsht Center AileyCamp Miami 2012 AileyCamp Miami is a summer day camp where middle school students are “turned on” to dance and come to respect the discipline of dance as a physical activity that requires athletic ability comparable to skills demanded by any sport. Also, campers will increase their leadership skills and enjoy a variety of social activities. Monday – Friday, June 25 – August 4, 2012; 8:30AM – 3:30PM. Ages 11-14, MDCPS Grades 6-8, SPACE IS LIMITED, NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

>>> District fiscal guru Hinds warns looming COPS debt payments could jump by $50 million in new payments, without successful restructuring in 2013-14

Richard Hines, Ph.D., the veteran CFO of the Miami-Dade Public Schools, that came out of retirement back in 2008 to fiscally right the district has for the second time pulled out $10 million in bond costs savings over a ten-year period. But it could be the last time he can pull off this trick on COPs bonds used to fund capital projects because of “debt restructuring” and an earlier deal last year pushed out other ballooning larger payments out to 2013-2014 and property tax ad valorem revenue currently is still depressed. Hines noted there was some good news that when it came to people not paying property taxes because they are appealing the assessment. He said the Florida legislature passed a law this year requiring these people to have to pay 75 percent of their property tax bill now and he estimated it might bring up to $30 million in the coming year and the district is monitoring the issue very closely. He also said that “salaries have been reduced so much” that “salary expenditures are down $3 million and [this money is going into the district’s] reserves.”

However, when it came to the nation’s fourth largest public school district when it came to these current COPS bonds that the district “hopes to restructure again.” “If we don’t [restructure the bonds again], there will be $50 million in new payments” required in the coming years because of that, and he said that “is money we don’t have,” said the fiscal wizard brought back from retirement in 2008 after the public district’s reserves was under $10 million. Hines made these remarks at a school board committee a few weeks ago and is why with no state funding for capital coming from the state for years now. It is pushing the large public school districts in Florida to be saddled with huge debt that is a drain and diversion of dollars needed for current school maintenance and other infrastructure projects.

>>> Press release: KROP SENIOR HIGH STUDENTS EXCEL AT BARRY UNIVERSITY’S SCIENCE OLYMPIAD

Each spring, Barry University hosts a Science Olympiad competition designed for local area high school students taking chemistry and physics. More than 150 students from about 13 Miami-Dade and Broward schools participate in a daylong competition comprised of a written test, an oral team competition, and a lab tournament. This year’s Olympiad took place on April 20 and the team from Dr. Michael Krop Senior High School dominated the field and had unprecedented results. In the overall Chemistry II (advanced) competition, the Krop Senior High students took first place, coming in ahead of Ransom Everglades and Pinecrest Academy. Four Krop Senior High students placed in the top 10 out of 54 competitors: 3rd place -Netgie Laguerre, 4th place – Kirlos Haroun; 7th place – Jiali Lei; 8th place – Salomon Vainstein. In the Chemistry II Oral Competition, the Krop Senior High team came in second place in front of Ransom Everglades. Krop again came in first place in the Chemistry II Overall Standings.>>> The Krop Senior High team was comprised of Netgie Laguerre, Kirlos Haroun, Salomon Vainstein, Jonas Shomorony. The following students also competed in the Chemistry I (first year) competition and finished in third place in the oral competition: Qiwei Lin, Charity Waweru, Leonardo Placeres, Vanessa Wu, Enrique Santiago, and Eric Abrams. The team’s instructors and coaches are Dr. David Buncher and Dr. John Trafton. For more information contact Dawn M. Baglos, Principal, Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High, 305-652-6808.

PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST

>>> County Commissioners get closed strategy meeting with CEO Migoya May 1; afterwards their mouths should be zipped tight regarding new JHS plan

On May 1 in a closed to the public meeting Miami-Dade Commissioners will get to hear the case of Jackson Health System CEO Carlos Migoya evolving strategy to right JHS fiscally while also become competitive in the fast moving healthcare delivery system market. Commissioner Sally Heyman got the needed signatures to hold the closed executive session where only one Financial Recovery Board (FRB) member can attend without it being open to the public and press. FRB Chair Marcos Lapciuc has indicated he will not attend the meeting since he feels it could compromise the independence of the FRB from the 13 member county commission. The commissioners planning to attend are Heyman, Commissioners Barbara Jordan, Javier Souto, Xavier Suarez and at least three other commissioners or it could be all 13 members but that is unknown at this time. Migoya and Lapciuc along with the new JHS administration have been squeezing every dollar out of the health trust that lost well over $400 million over the last few years, and the fiscal hemorrhaging really went into overdrive first in 2004 when Jackson posted an $84 million loss with adjustments back to the late 1980s. However, it has struggled since then and it remains to be seen how involved commissioners get involved in this process and is why the public and all at Jackson are holding their collective breadth to see how this meeting and strategy pans out now and in the future.

Jordan

Souto

Heyman

>>> Here is the announcement of the meeting: A Special Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners is called for May 1, 2012, during the Commission lunch break, for the purpose of: 1) meeting in a closed executive session to review a written strategic plan regarding the Jackson Health System; and (2) adopting County Commission directives thereon to the Financial Recovery Board. Pursuant to Section 395.3035, F.S., this meeting is exempt from the public meeting requirements of Section 286.011, F.S. and will be closed to the public. http://www.miamidade.gov/cob/downloadsandlinks.asp

>>> Letter to UM President Dr. Donna Shalala from FRB Chair Lapciuc on future staff cuts

Dear President Shalala,

As you proceed through a challenging time of restructuring at the Miller School of Medicine, I want to assure you of Jackson Health System’s ongoing commitment as your partner. I am grateful for the balanced nature of your comments on this matter that recognize the wide range of factors that have forced medical schools and healthcare systems to reexamine their operations. Please know that the leadership and staff of Jackson are completely committed to building a next-generation organization that earns its position as the University of Miami’s clinical partner. Together we have built a system in which the world’s best medicine is available to our entire community, and together we will ensure that system is even better and stronger in the future. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to the people of Miami-Dade County. Respectfully, Marcos José Lapciuc Chairman Public Health Trust Financial Recovery Board

LapciucCITY OF MIAMI

>>> To be or not to be a strong mayor form of government, that is the question, commissioners debate issue

The Miami Charter was the discussion of the day at Thursday’s Miami Commission meeting and while the five commissioners thought the mayor should be able to be recalled by the electorate, the body should elect its own chair, but the idea of a strong mayor form of government like Miami-Dade County is an elusive topic for the moment. Commission Chair Francis Suarez said he had spent months on a extensive review of the city’s charter and has concluded a strong mayor form of government is the way to go, not the current executive mayor form in use now that has the manager with the power to administer the city’s services. Commissioner Willy Gort agrees with Suarez but Commissioner Frank Carollo has his doubts given some of the past governance experiences and an incompetent mayor could drain the city’s coffers dry, and he wants more time to think about the issue.

And Mayor Tomas Regalado supports the change to a strong mayor and he told the Watchdog Report Friday that it would not be much different from when he was first elected in the mid 1990s. Back then he said, then Miami Manager Cesar Odio (who later went to jail) when they first met, said to him. Commissioner, “What do you want?” and it would be a similar situation if there were a strong mayor form of government, he thought. However, Commissioners Marc Sarnoff and Michelle Spence-Jones both expressed concerns about a strong mayor form of government and if it is right for the city and its demographics that is 65 percent Hispanic. They both liked the current check and balances the current political system has in it but the commission will continue to debate the issue in the future and if it goes on the ballot. The charter question is expected to be on the Nov. general election ballot.

>>> Rapper and music producer Luther Campbell was named to the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority by Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones and the former county mayoral candidate last spring brings a new and interesting perspective to the body. Campbell is also a featured weekly columnist with the Miami New Times and people should not underestimate this man who ran a credible mayoral campaign, though he fell short of the top spot won by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

CITY OF MIAMI BEACH

>>> Mgr. Gonzalez institutes sweeping changes, brings FBI & IG into the picture after being rocked with seven Beach workers indictments

Around 100 people gathered in protest of all the recent corruption arrests in front of Miami Beach City Hall Thursday after city Manager Jorge Gonzalez announced sweeping changes at city hall that had seven code enforcement and fire safety inspectors being indicted last week by federal authorities. After a FBI undercover sting operation started last summer began after a nightclub owner balked at making payments to the people to keep the club open. Since then the arrests have been the talk of the city and Gonzalez has said he will root out any other corrupt individuals but there is significant blow back and had him announcing the city will have a police officer as a liaison on the FBI’s Public Corruption Task Force, the Miami-Dade Inspector General Chris Mazzella will contract with the city, and all past records these wayward officials were involved in are being double checked are just a few of the reforms he is enacting.

The scandal after it broke had Mayor Matti Herrera Bower calling it “horrible” but the arrests have given faces to corrupt public servants and an upcoming May 9 commission meeting is expected to have fireworks. Since this will be the first commission meeting since the initial arrests earlier in the month. Commissioner Ed Tobin in a series of emails with Gonzalez last week is critical of the long serving manager that cut his policy and administrative chops after Hurricane Andrew helping to get Homestead back on its feet right after the Category 5 storm cut a swath through South Florida back in Aug. 1992. He has been in the manager’s post almost 12 years and has weathered past political turbulence but this is the biggest hit to his administration to date. To read his memo on the subject go to: http://web.miamibeachfl.gov/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=70044 Here is what NBC 6 did on the controversy: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Residents-Protest-Corruption-in-Miami-Beach-149097615.html

>>> Press release: Former UBS Client Pleads Guilty to Failing to Report Over $4 Million in Swiss Bank Accounts

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), announce that Luis A. Quintero, of Miami Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty today to willfully failing to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), in violation of Title 31, United States Code, Sections 5314 and 5322(a). Sentencing has been scheduled for July 24, 2012. At sentencing, the defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison. Quintero pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno to a one count Information charging him with the willful failure to file the FBAR on June 30, 2007 that was due for calendar year 2006. According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2006 Quintero had approximately $4 million in accounts at UBS AG, a Swiss bank. In his plea agreement, Quintero also agreed to pay a civil penalty of approximately $2 million, which is half the highest aggregate balance in the Swiss accounts.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Quintero sold wholesale quantities of imported perfumes and fragrances in Miami and throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Quintero conducted business through several domestic S corporations, including Genesis International Marketing Corporation. In September 1998, Quintero opened a personal numbered account at UBS AG. In October 2004, Quintero caused two offshore corporations to be formed, which Quintero then used to open additional accounts at UBS. The offshore corporations were Murano Development Corp (Murano), incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, and Credimax Corporation, S.A. (Credimax), incorporated in the Republic of Panama. In February 2005, Quintero caused an account to be opened at UBS in the name of Murano. That same month, Quintero closed his personal account at UBS and caused the transfer of approximately $2.3 million from his personal account at UBS to the Murano account. In February 2006, Quintero caused an account in the name of Credimax to be opened at UBS. Quintero was listed as the beneficiary of the Murano and Credimax accounts. The total aggregate value in these UBS accounts as of December 31, 2006 was $4,005,618. From 2005 through 2007 Quintero used the Murano and Credimax UBS accounts to conduct financial transactions. For example, Quintero caused a business customer in the U.S. to send $314,000 to the Credimax UBS account. Quintero also caused the transfer of approximately $2.4 million from the UBS Swiss accounts to the accounts of U.S. corporations that Quintero controlled.

According to documents filed with the court and statements made during the plea hearing, Quintero knew that he was required to file an FBAR for foreign bank accounts in which he had an interest. Indeed, Quintero had previously filed FBARs for years 2001 and 2002 relating to bank accounts in Mexico in the name of Quintero’s U.S. corporation Genesis. Nonetheless, Quintero failed to file FBARs for the UBS Swiss accounts of which he was the beneficial owner, and which held more than $10,000 in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Quintero also failed to report his interest in the UBS Swiss bank accounts on Schedule B of his tax returns, Forms 1040 for 2005, 2006 and 2007. >>> U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CID agents involved in this case. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana Maria Martinez and Trial Attorney Todd Ellinwood of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. In February of 2009, UBS entered into a deferred prosecution agreement under which the bank admitted to helping U.S. taxpayers hide accounts from the IRS. As part of the agreement, UBS provided the United States with the identities of certain United States customers. United States citizens who have a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a financial account in a foreign country with an aggregate value of more than $10,000 are required to file with the United States Treasury a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts on Form TD F 90-22.1. U.S. citizens are also required to disclose the existence of such accounts on their individual income tax returns. >> 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 CORAL GABLES

>>> Loosening truck law passes local P&Z board 4-1, goes to commission next, Anderson hopes “civility prevails” in debate

The City Beautiful no trucks allowed ordinance in a grace period in Coral Gables got a go ahead to tweak the legislation at a city Planning and Zoning Board meeting Tuesday, and it is now headed to the commission in May. The city has spent around $200,000 defending the law prohibiting trucks from parking outside of houses and critics fear opening up the law would reduce property values of homeowners and the scenic beauty of the Gables. Former Mayor Donald Slesnick, II has supported the current no truck law and has been a vocal opponent of keeping the law. However, others say trucks have changed substantially over the decades and are not trades people utility vans, like long ago and commercial trucks will still be banned along with a few other restrictions if the law is made more lenient. The issue has been a hot topic issue for years after a resident challenged the law in the courts but it appears to be concluding. Last week I contacted Mayor Jim Cason, and Commissioners about the recent passage of the modified truck law and Commissioner Maria Anderson responded.

“As I’ve said in the past, this law was always to prohibit commercial type trucks…and that would not change. This would allow trucks used by families as a lifestyle choice. I love my hometown of 52 years and think thoughtful changes would not affect the cache of Coral Gables. We have not enforced this law for seven years, and yet property values continue to be among the steadiest in Miami-Dade County. We’ll see what happens, but bring your jammies to the Commission meeting, as this will be a long day with lots of emotion on both sides. May civility prevail! Stay tuned,” wrote the veteran commissioner in her last term since being elected in the spring of 2001. >>> Here is more on the subject: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/25/2766034_p2/coral-gables-zoning-board-pickups.html

>>> Gables web page: Zoning board: Pickups on private property OK — with restrictions Coral Gables’ Planning and Zoning Department determined new guidelines, and the advisory board approved, in a 4-1 vote, that pickup truck owners would be allowed to park their unmodified vehicles in residential driveways, potentially changing controversial rules that have existed …
Read more

>>> Gov. Scott taps Rodolfo “Rudy” A. Ruiz II, of Coral Gables, to the Miami-Dade County Court.

Ruiz, 32, has been an assistant county attorney with the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office since 2009. He previously practiced with White and Case from 2006 to 2008. From 2005 to 2006, he was a law clerk to Judge Federico A. Moreno of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Ruiz received a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. “Rudy has built a reputation as a smart, diligent and committed attorney at both the trial and appellate levels,” Governor Scott said. “He will bring these qualities to the bench as he continues a career of public service.” Ruiz will fill the vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Norma Lindsey to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court.

MIAMI SPRINGS

>>> Press release: Gov. Scott taps Ariana Fajardo to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court.

Fajardo, 41, has practiced with Orshan and Fajardo since 2003. Previously, she was an assistant state attorney with the Eleventh Judicial Circuit from 1996 to 2002. Fajardo received a bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and a law degree from Nova Southeastern University Law Center. “Ariana is committed to the rule of law and well understands the proper role of the courts within our system of government,” Governor Scott said. “As a prosecuting attorney, and as a leader in the bar, she has demonstrated integrity and a dedication to hard work.” Fajardo will fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge Julio Jimenez.

>>> OTHER STORIES AROUND FLORIDA

BROWARD COUNTY

>>> Press release: Former Florida State Senator Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion

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 that Muriel Amanda Dawson, 55, formerly of Broward County, pled guilty earlier today to charges of felony tax evasion and failing to file a federal income tax return (Counts 2 and 5). During today’s guilty plea, Dawson admitted that in each of the calendar years 2004 and 2005, while she was a Florida State Senator, she received substantial income from third parties. Dawson failed to file income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service during that period. Dawson also admitted that she failed to file federal personal income tax returns for any of the years 2006 through 2008. During this time, Dawson was a Florida State Senator representing portions of Broward and Palm Beach counties.
In particular, in taxable year 2005, the defendant received total income of at least $102,896 from various sources and did not file a federal income tax return. Among the sources of additional income were: $7,200 from the Ft. Lauderdale Housing Authority; $22,600 from Friends of Children; $1,000 from Blackhawk Security; $5,000 for Alliance for Florida’s Future; $22,000 from Consulting and Communications Group, Inc.,; $15,000 from Alliance for Promoting Florida’s Future. In addition, as stated in court, Dawson received a salary from the State of Florida as a State Senator and was required to file a federal personal income tax return for tax year 2008. During today’s plea hearing, Dawson admitted to willfully failing to file a tax return for taxable year 2008. Sentencing is scheduled for July 12, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. At sentencing, Dawson faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison on Count 2, and one year on Count 5. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CID and FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen Carlton and Julia A. Paylor. 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.

>>> 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

>>> Press release: Miramar Man Convicted on Kidnapping Charges

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 Keith F. Dunn, Chief of Police, Miramar Police Department, announce today’s conviction of defendant Joel Wayne Griffin, Jr., 22, of Miramar, on kidnapping charges. According to the evidence presented at trial in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, Griffin brutally assaulted and tortured his girlfriend in August 2011 after mistakenly believing that she had been unfaithful to him. For three consecutive days, Griffin held the victim against her will in a residence they shared in Miramar. During that time, Griffin beat the victim, cut her with a knife, pulled hair out of her head, and burned her with a cigarette lighter, causing third degree burns on various parts of her body. To prevent her from calling the police, Griffin took the victim’s cell phone, money and car keys. He then forced her to go with him to Wilmington, Delaware where he hid out in hotels and at a cousin’s residence. After being in Delaware for about four days, the victim disclosed the abuse and kidnapping to one of Griffin’s cousins who called the Wilmington Police Department. Soon thereafter, the victim was rescued and the defendant was arrested.

Griffin will be sentenced before the U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley in West Palm Beach on a date to be determined by the court. Griffin faces a maximum term of life imprisonment on the kidnapping charges. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, the Miramar Police Department, and the Wilmington Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Dispoto and Roger Stefin. 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.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY

>>> Press release: Florida Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft and Wire Fraud

Ernst Pierre, a Port St. Lucie, Fla., tax preparer, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Pierre was charged with a scheme to file false federal income tax returns using stolen identity information. According to the indictment and Pierre’s admissions in his plea, from October 2009 through May 2011, Pierre filed false tax returns for clients of Tax Max, a Port St. Lucie tax return preparation business he owned and operated. Pierre obtained the names and Social Security numbers of relatives of clients for whom he had prepared and submitted federal income tax returns and then fraudulently used those names and Social Security numbers as “dependents” on other client tax returns and on his own tax return. Inclusion of a dependent on a federal income tax return can result in a higher tax refund.

Sentencing has been set for July 2, 2012, before the Judge Donald L. Graham of the Southern District of Florida. Pierre faces a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison for the wire fraud count and a mandatory two-year sentence for the aggravated identity theft count. Pierre also faces up to $500,000 in fines and an order of mandatory restitution. >> This case was investigated by IRS – Criminal Investigation special agents. Trial Attorneys Justin K. Gelfand and Thomas J. Krepp of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida. Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax.

LAKE COUNTY

>>> Press release: Lake County Woman Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud Conspiracy Charges

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, announce that defendant Linda Irene Rovetto, 69, of Lake County, pled guilty yesterday in connection with her participation in a bank fraud conspiracy scheme. More specifically, Rovetto pled guilty to converting and misdirecting more than $3.5 million of real estate escrow funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1344 and 1349. Sentencing has been scheduled for August 20, 2012, at 11:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez. At sentencing, Rovetto faces a possible maximum statutory sentence of 30 years in prison.

On December 9, 2010, defendant Rovetto and three others were indicted on bank fraud, conspiracy, and related mortgage fraud charges. According to the charges, Rovetto, through her company Florida Lakes Title & Closing, LLC, along with various co-defendants, were diverting escrowed mortgaged funds from real estate closings. In this way, the defendants diverted more than $3.5 million in mortgage loans to Raviworld New Homes, Inc., a company managed by codefendant Bhaardwaj Seecharan. Bhaardwaj Seecharan pled guilty on April 2, 2012 to the same charges as Rovetto. Sentencing for Seecharan is also scheduled before Judge Martinez on August 20, 2012. Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. Mr. Ferrer also thanked the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation, Bureau of Finance, West Palm Beach Regional Office for their work on this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Cooperstein. >>>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.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

>>> Monday April 30 – Elephant Forum – 94th Aero Squadron Red Road – State Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami $25 Mary Ellen Miller 305-377-9l87.

>>> The Miami/Dade County Alumni Association of Bethune-Cookman University will host its Scholarship Gala on Friday, May 4th at 6:30 pm at the Rusty Pelican, located at 3201 Rickenbacker Causeway Key Biscayne, FL. This year, the M/DCAA will honor State Senator Larcenia J. Bullard! Tickets are $80/pp and Dress is Business Attire. If you’re interested in attending, information on tickets/tables/sponsorship is available at (407) 808-8494 with Mr. Sumner Hutcherson.

>>> It’s prom season again and we are currently collecting gently worn dresses for our Mentees attending prom this year and we need your support to make this year’s event, even more successful than last year’s! Long and short dresses are welcome, as well as any other clothing/accessories that you are interested in donating. Items can be dropped off Monday – Friday between 8:30am-5:00pm at WOT offices located at 22 East Flagler Street, 6th Floor, Miami, FL 33131 – we are located on the 6th floor of the Macy’s building. Due to timing, we ask that all items be in WOT offices by no later than Thursday, April 19th. If you need the items picked up, please contact Beatrice Arias at 305-371-3330 or b.arias@womenoftomorrow.org to make arrangements and we will gladly have a WOT staff member pick up the donated clothing at your convenience. You will receive an acknowledgement letter after the event for your tax purposes. Thank you in advance for your donations and support – we are able to continue doing what we do, because of you! Warmest Regards, Women of Tomorrow

EDITORIALS

>>> JULY 2009 PAST WDR: Public institutions budgets have fundamentally changed, but do the leaders realize this?

With cuts and layoffs coming with the new county and municipal budgets starting in October, public institutions must consider not doing some arbitrary across the board cut without first looking at past performance. The private sector had to deal with this since the 1980s but government has been immune over the decades and now it is in these institution’s face and can no longer be ignored. I appreciate that many people in public service do a fine job and these are the people that should be kept and rewarded for their job skills rather than just tenure but that concept is to nuanced for government and just asking for a five-percent cut in salaries at the county is bringing a firestorm, and forget about Miami where former Manager Joe Arriola says the city pensions need a $98 million injection, and he noted on television that if Commissioner Tomas Regalado (Editor’s note: Regalado did win the 2009 mayoral race and he reduced his mayoral salary from $150,000 to around $100,000) wins the mayoral race. Arriola said after Regalado retired from elected office he would get a $120,000 a year pension for the rest of his life, and the businessman thought that type of payout over the years would bankrupt the city, especially in the budget years from 2010 to 2012.

Further, when I hear people say that the old days of continued growth in property values and the economy will be coming back to America soon. I don’t believe they have factored in how the world has changed with the nation’s debt growing at such a rate. The debt service alone could be devastating, and that is before factoring in China and India, and these nation’s ever expanding economies. These two countries for centuries, were essentially donor nations to the western powers but that economic tide is going the other way rapidly and these two nation’s will have an impact globally in the future like never before and that lack of understanding of the change in dynamics will be the real challenge for public institutions, as future years play out. However, one thing is for sure, the debt that public institutions have taken on has a life of its own and it is generations to come that will have to pay this off, while critical services get the short stick, with them asking if it was all worth it, as the current local politicians watch television in their retirement homes.

>>> Check out the past national story in the Tribune papers: Paperwork Tiger
By Maya Bell, Miami Bureau, January 20, 2003 — MIAMI – 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 is always teetering on bankruptcy. He dashes to his post-office box daily, hoping subscribers to his weekly Watchdog Report have finally mailed their checks.

LETTERS

>>> Thank you for highlighting the work of our volunteers. We could not do it without their dedication and commitment. Their contribution of time distinguishes the non profit sector in America as uniquely powerful force of community service.

John Richard
CEO Arsht Performing Arts Center

>>> Thanks, for your kind comments about our board volunteers. We have one who has served for 40+ years. The only “compensation” he has received is the inner satisfaction of doing something good for the community.

Brian Keeley
CEO Baptist Health South Florida

>>> Thanks for the nice mention re volunteers! We also had a nice reference in the GMCVB weekly about our attendance this weekend.

Joel Hoffman
CEO Vizcaya

>>> Thanks for the feature on volunteers in the most recent WDR. Personally, I volunteer at Fairchild Garden, the Arsht Center, and the New World Symphony year around. I am a Mangohead for the King Mango Strut every year in the Grove. Volunteers make Miami’s vibrant arts and culture scene possible. This May, I will also be volunteering for the Volvo Ocean Race when the boats visit Miami. See if you can cover this event – http://volvooceanracemiami.org/.

Mike

>>> The problem with college tuitions is that the federal loan programs, as currently structured, have erased any incentive for the schools to reduce or even maintain tuition levels so that they are affordable. The last bubble was real estate. The next one will be the college tuition loans. And it’s not fair to the kids that they leave school with multi hundred thousand dollar loans. But it’s not the government. It’s easy money and runaway tuitions that are in response to the easy loan money.

Steve

>>> Property appraiser needs to be Proactive investigating the Epidemic of Homestead Exemption fraud, Costing taxpayers millions of Uncollected Tax Dollars!

James

>>> Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading your bulletin. I checked it out after we met when I was in town speaking. This is a great public service for Miami and I look forward to continuing to see what you write.

Katy

>>> LIFETIME FOUNDING MEMBERS & INITIAL SPONSORS IN 2000

ANGEL ESPINOSA – (Deceased) owner COCONUT GROVE DRY CLEANER’S
HUGH CULVERHOUSE, Jr.
THE MIAMI HERALD www.miamiherald.com (2000-2008)
ARTHUR HERTZ
WILLIAM HUGGETT, Seamen Attorney (Deceased)
ALFRED NOVAK
LINDA E. RICKER (Deceased)
JOHN S. and JAMES L. KNIGHT FOUNDATION www.knightfoundation.org
THE HONORABLE STANLEY G. TATE

>>> Watchdog Report supporters – $2,000 a year

BADIA SPICES www.badiaspices.com
FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT www.fpl.com
RONALD HALL
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY www.miamidade.gov
UNITED WAY OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY www.unitedwaymiamidade.org

>>> Watchdog Report supporters – $1,000 a year

AKERMAN SENTERFITT www.akerman.com
RON BOOK
LINDA MURPHY: Gave a new laptop in Oct. 2001 to keep me going.
WILLIAM PALMER
SHUBIN & BASS www.shubinbass.com

>>> Public, Educational & Social institutions – subscribers at $1,000 or less

CAMILLUS HOUSE, INC. www.camillushouse.org
CITY OF MIAMI www.miamigov.com.
CITY OF CORAL GABLES www.coralgables.com
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH www.miamibeachfl.gov
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP FOR HOMELESS www.cph.org
THE STATE OF FLORIDA www.myflorida.gov
GREATOR MIAMI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE www.miamichamber.com
GREATER MIAMI CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU www.miamiandbeaches.com
HEALTH FOUNDATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA www.hfsf.org
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY www.miamidade.gov
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY ETHICS & PUBLIC TRUST COMMISSION www.miamidade.gov/ethics
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY INSPECTOR GENERAL www.miamidade.gov/ig
MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD www.dadeschools.net
PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST & JACKSON HEALTH SYSTEM www.jhsmiami.org
THE BEACON COUNCIL www.beaconcouncil.com
THE CHILDREN’S TRUST www.thechildrenstrust.org
THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY LEAGUE OF CITIES www.mdclc.org
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA http://www.firstgov.gov/
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI www.miami.edu

The Watchdog Report covers a few of the meetings attended weekly. It remains my belief that an informed public will make better decisions. Therefore, I go to meetings, make the presence of an informed citizen known, and bring the information to you. The Watchdog Report is in the fourth year of publication and it has been an honor to be able to send this information to you. It is sent to readers in Miami-Dade, Florida, the U.S. and the world. The Watchdog Report is sent to thousands free and while readers have been prodded to subscribe the results have been mixed. Over 600 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 www.watchdogreport.net
Est. 05.05.00
Copyright © of original material, 2012, Daniel A. Ricker

>>> 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 >>> 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.

General subscriber’s names will not be published in the Report. To subscribe to the Watchdog Report please use the form below as a subscription invoice.
********************************************************************

Watchdog Report Supporters Invoice-Form

NOTE: Invoice is for Yearly supporter/sponsorship Rates: Thank you.

Supporting Sponsors $5,000
Sustaining Sponsors $2,000
Corporate Sponsors $1,000 (All levels above will be listed in the report with web-site link if desired)
Large Business Supporters $500
Small Business Supporters $250
Individual Supporter $150
Student Supporter $ 75
Any amount $

Name & Address

Please make checks payable to: Daniel A. Ricker

Send to: 3109 Grand Avenue, #125
Miami, FL 33133
Fax 305-668-4784 -To contact the Publisher please e-mail watchdogreport1@earthlink.net