All the People Who Filed Financial Disclosure Forms in Miami Dade County. By Geniusofdespair

There are 45 pages of people. Maybe you would like to check on someone. Form 1 is useless.

Financial Disclosures 2016 by geniusofdespair on Scribd

2016 net worth of County Commission Chair Esteban Bovo $447,760
His Business is ELB Business and Community Consulting. He claimed $75,000 in 2016 from that. He has $333,275.19 in liabilities.

2016 Net Worth of County Commissioner Joe Martinez is $309,095. He figures his house is worth $469,420 and he has two mortgages totaling $368,000. His income is $75,000 from Centurion Security Group.

Need to get Form 6 Financial Disclosures for others? HERE IS THE LINK...YES HERE -- HIT IT.

Tomas Regalado's form is with the Miami Dade County Commissioner of Ethics because he only had to do form 1. I can't find them on line.

Form 6 is much more interesting. Here is Mayor Gimenez's Form 6 (his quarter of a million income -- from us).

County Commission Chair Contenders, What the Gossips IN THE KNOW are Saying. By Geniusofdespair

 Audrey Edmonson feels dissed by Chair Monestime and they had words on the dais. Perhaps other Commissioners feel her pain and will make her the Chair.

Nah, It is the Hispanic turn. Yes, the County Commissioners run a strict, albeit fair, racist enterprise, except to White non-Hispanics. The Blacks and Hispanics take turns being chair every two years. The two White Commissioners don't get a turn. They do get to be vice chair sometimes. There hasn't been a White Chair since Gwen Margolis. Funny when you consider the make-up of the county population in 2015 Census data, 4% separate Whites and Blacks but there are twice as many Black Commissioners.

 Steve Bovo is the most likely choice. He has been being very nice to everyone, not the kind of nice he is to the pretty aides, just more polite. He is lobbying hard, minimizing the ethical lapses surrounding him.

 This one, Joe Martinez wants to be Chair so bad. What a nightmare this guy is. Thank the lord he doesn't have a prayer this cycle and then he will have to wait for the Black Chair reign. I hope to never see this bully as chair ever again.

Why not the X man? County Commissioner Xavier Suarez is in the running with Bovo according to my gossip pals, although they feel Bovo is the favorite, they like Xavier Suarez's chances. The money is on him as well. I think he would be fair. He would be my choice.

Rebeca Sosa is a long shot, she was a very efficient chair last time except for the fatal flaw: Becky appointed Lynda Bell as her vice chair and Lynda Bell tried to out-chair Becky. That was a Big Mistake!

Oh Lord, this would never happen. Even the Commission is not that dumb, to make Pepe Diaz the chair. He is a chair....just there, taking up space, parroting the lobbyists, reading their scripts.

So, Sunshine out the window, they are all jockeying for the position,  buttering up the never will be -- offering them Committees and most probably candy. I would guess Godiva, not shitty, cheap candy.  Maybe they are offering expensive cologne like "The Commissioner." I am sure there is a warehouse somewhere full of the stuff. Check with Joe Martinez, its creator.

Never to be: Souto. That is one thing you can count on. I don't think Souto would even vote for himself. He will die senile in office...if he isn't already...senile. I know he is not dead because he still talks and we all know after 6 seasons of the Walking Dead, they do not speak once dead.

Well, who do you think it will be. Give us a guess. The winner will get a bottle of the Commish.

County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa the Enigma. By Geniusofdespair

Rebeca Sosa

County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa: I like her. She is complex and has been incredible on some issues that face the County. Not so good on others. She after all, elevated Lynda Bell to Vice Chair and also gave her a Committee Chairmanship. Unheard of. Lynda Bell milked the Vice Chair title for all it was worth. Do you know who the Vice Chair is now? I do but that Commissioner is quiet as a mouse. Rebeca was an incredible Chair of the Commission, very good to the public she serves, polite and patient. The high point of her Chairmanship for me was when she shut off the microphone when Developer Lobbyist Jeffrey Bercow wouldn't stop talking after his time was up.

Rebeca championed wiping out absentee ballot fraud and took the lead, adding a penalty so that the illegal collection of absentee ballots could be prosecuted. There was a law on the books without a penalty. You need a penalty to prosecute. That was a major act that led to the arrest of many for fraud. Too bad we have such crappy prosecution.

She did vote to lift the Brown application 30 year deed restriction after only 5 years. But for the most part, she votes right on UDB applications.

This is a woman who cares about her constituents but I feel she cares about County issues as well. She was torn and upset yesterday, trying to help her constituents with the Ludlam Trail, not knowing the money pot would be hurting agriculture because she was improperly briefed. She was visibly upset being placed in that position: Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I really felt her pain on this.  She did the right thing and withdrew her resolution after she listened to the farming community. Mayor, you had better find her some Ludlam Trail money,  and not by robbing another account.

Rebeca Sosa took the lead on Climate Change and Sea Level rise for the County. This was a courageous stand for her, because she is the mentor of "Climate Change Denier" Marco Rubio. I really give her credit for being the one to address this for the County under those circumstances.



This video does not give you a fair portrait of her beautiful voice. I once heard her sing at a League of Cities meeting years ago and her voice is beautiful. You can get some idea from listening to her sing off the cuff in this video but it doesn't do her justice.



Anyway, you never get 100% of what you like from a County Commissioner but I think Rebeca is fair to us and she listens to the public. I just can't figure out that Lynda Bell blunder. Maybe one day she will explain it to me. She knows perfectly well how I feel about Marco Rubio, who is like a son to her, but she is always very nice to me. She doesn't hold grudges towards the people. That is a good thing for a politician.

As I age and watch this group of 13 govern, I know how difficult it is for them to please everyone and if I had to listen to snarky lobbyists I might vomit right there on the dais. The Commissioners take my jabs in stride, but I hope that my blogs make them think and become better public servants because I, and my readers, are EVERYMAN, Joe Public - representing the people who can't get to meetings and follow local politics. Some Commissioners are unreformable but not the 5 on the dais yesterday. I am glad we have term limits so we can get the unreformable like Barreiro, Jordan, Souto and Diaz out of there.
 

Picture of the day: County Commissioner Javier Souto Alert Guy. By Geniusofdespair

No that is not County Commissioner Javier Souto sitting up in his coffin. It is him sleeping on the dais in September. He is waaay past his prime and pretty much an embarrassment.  But he was on the right side of the ban on fences in front yards, the ordinance Lynda Bell got repealed. That should be revisited.

  Good to know how alert the guy is. The public must have been speaking, he is all ears for developers.

Condescending is not a good quality County Commissioner Lynda Bell. By Geniusofdespair

Patronizing your fellow Commissioners, almost all more educated than you (with your associates degree) is very rude Lynda Bell. Xavier Suarez must have been very offended and Barbara Jordan for 2. Pepe Diaz not so much.  Lecturing is so disgusting by her because she knows nothing.

This is not the way to talk to colleagues...or for that matter anyone.  This is exactly why Lynda Bell has so many enemies. She is always right in her head, shaking papers around in front of your face of her google searches. You never get to see what is on the papers she shakes around.

I am not saying what she is proposing is bad. The fact that it is not necessary, well that is another story.  It is not happening so why address it?

She is trying to increase the ban on County Commissioners lobbying after they leave office. Is it  targeted at Katy Sorenson or Natacha Seijas or no one in particular? Former commissioners are so fed  up with the county when they leave they don't want to lobby there anyway. When is the last time you saw Gwen Margolis? But listen to what she says, singling out her fellow commissioners, almost calling them crooks for not agreeing  with her, i.e. if you are not a crook, why wouldn't you vote for this? What a complete clueless person: Lynda Bell County Commissioner (fiscal conservative my eye, tea party friend, you bet!). Let the Gay Hating group, Christian Family Coalition endorse her. That is what all "Good" Christians do when they live in glass houses: throw stones. Good Christians are not vindictive Lynda Bell.

Anyway watch the damn video.
If not visible, here is the link.