Showing posts with label Akerman Senterfitt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Akerman Senterfitt. Show all posts

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Just what you'd expect from smug, self-serving and sanctimonious FL-100 state Rep. Joe Gibbons: Deny, deny, deny and then try to play the role of 'victim' -on video- after years of lying to the citizens of SE Broward County. His behavior and years of serial lies and chronic misrepresentation are anathema to representative democracy, and never passed the smell test. But despite these facts -shocker!- the vast majority of South Florida and Tallahassee's press corps either appeased Gibbons or didn't care enough to report the #ColdHardFacts; @beamfurr

Yes, YEARS after he should have, in what is an obvious ploy to somehow inoculate and ingratiate himself to voters in advance of the Broward County Commission race against former Hollywood City Commissioner Beam Furr next year, after so many years of Gibbons consistently insulting the intelligence of the concerned residents of south Broward County and being an invisible presence, esp. in Hallandale Beach.
And he compounds this by being, not incidentally, one of the least-effective legislators in the area, since Joe Gibbons is nothing if not the very picture of a knee-jerk politician.
Gibbons actually has the unmitigated gall and ego to think that his personal and political ambitions are more important in the larger scheme of things than the truth, which is that the citizens of this part of the county and state are entitled to be represented in government by someone who actually lives here -all-the-time- not less than eight months out of the year.
The citizens of this area deserve to be represented by someone who puts THEIR best-interests first, not his own! Joe Gibbons is the wrong man at the wrong time and he will NOT be missed after he loses next year. 
-----
Sun-Sentinel video: Joe Gibbons responds to residency accusations.
Video at: http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=91082&sitesection=sesunsentinel&VID=25052122

"I don't think it's right that I'm being kind of dogged like I have been by people who don't have my best interests at heart,'' said Gibbons.
You're right, I don't have YOUR best interests at heart, I have the community's.

The Southest Broward community that I live in whose residents you have lied to and mis-represented for so many years.

You, with your non-legislative job not in Broward or South Florida but up in Tallahassee working as a lobbyist for a powerful and influential law firm.

Color us unimpressed by you putting this community's best-interests LAST on your list of priorities for years, even while you drew a government paycheck purporting to represent us.

You may've fooled all the lazy and indifferent reporters and columnists in Tallahassee and South Florida who didn't care about FL legislators actually living where they are supposed to, like the Sun-Sentinel's Michael Mayo recently admitted in his own column, but we have been totally hip to your serial lies and intentional misrepresentation all along, Joe Gibbons.

So start making plans now to move up to Lakeland next summer and joining your dysfunctional family that has indulged your personal ego and overweening political ambition.
You and your serial lies and your weird dysfunctional family obviously need more quality time together to bond!
So, this community, the one you consistently put LAST, is going to give you the boot and give you the time to do just that!

------
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
County commission candidate — and his wife — say Broward is his home
Gibbons defends against residency questions
By Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel
August 25, 2013
He lives in Hallandale Beach. His wife spends most of her week in Lakeland. Their 4-year-old twins live their lives in Jacksonville. This is the family of Joe Gibbons.
The state representative and his wife spoke out this week, telling the Sun Sentinel that Gibbons spends most of his time in Broward County. Skepticism about where the 64-year-old lobbyist and Democrat hangs his hat has dogged him since he married a Jacksonville lawyer five years ago and the couple subsequently had twins.

Read the rest of the story of a pol coming to terms with his serial lies to his constituents at
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-gibbons-county-candidate-20130825,0,1635095.story

A reminder: From things I've personally seen and observed, I believe that there's still yet another big shoe that will drop on Joe Gibbons this year.
If everything checks out as it seems to as of now, I hope to be one of the persons dropping that big shoe on him sometime before Christmas.
Christmas is the time for giving after all!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

And not for the first time... a Miami Herald reader reveals more insight in their comments about the news than the Herald reporter does in their reporting of a news story; re Miami-Dade lobbying fees


And not for the first time... a Miami Herald reader reveals more insight in their comments about the news than the Herald reporter does in their reporting of a news story; Miami-Dade's lobbying fees

A well-informed and observant Miami Herald reader states what radio industry icon Paul Harvey used to famously call "the rest of the story" in his syndicated show, via the comments section of Monday's article about Miami-Dade's tortured handling of its lobbying fees. 
Again.

The reader states factual connections with devastating aplomb: " Becker & Poliakoff also employs Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, Carlos Gimenez Jr, and George Burgess."
As someone has no doubt said a few times before, though never in my family, "Eureka!"

Which is to say, 
a.) Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, the former Miami-Dade County Commissioner and current FL State Senator for District 36, who replaced one brother, Alex, currently a lawyer/lobbyist and former State Senate Majority Leader, and another brother, Renier, who's currently on the Miami-Dade School Board.
b.) Carlos Gimenez Jr., the son of Miami-Dade County's current Mayor, and, 
c.) George Burgess, the former Miami-Dade County Manager who resigned in March, after his job was overwhelmingly eliminated "with prejudice" by county voters in August of 2010, presaging the delicious and much-deserved recall of County Mayor Carlos Alvarez earlier this year.

It's helpful context alright, especially for those of us who have followed how the M-D lobbying process/charade has been abused over the years so that commissioners could make sure that their pals kept getting their cut of the American Dream, Miami-style (crony capitalism), which to cite but one example, where Comm. Sally Heyman kept Carrie Meek on the reservation regardless of her actual use, or the fact that her team was not one of the lowest bidders, but useful context of the sort that for the past few years has routinely NOT appeared in Herald articles, and Laura Brannigan's article is no exception.

(No serious follower of Miami-Dade politics and government that I know ever asks what a particular decision, vote or legislative bait-and-switch means on its face without first mentally scrolling thru his head the family trees of the county commission -and their assorted unofficial "families"- and then thinking about which members of la familia works for which one of the companies, firms or parties involved. 
Yes, just like in a banana republic, that's just the fundamental default question you have to ask.)

Just like the Herald NEVER mentioned in the days and weeks leading up to this decision that the subject would be taking place, much less, when the vote would be taking place.
Just keep the readers in the dark:THAT'S the Herald's local coverage policy -always after the fact.
And sometimes, NOT even then.

As it happens, the Miami-Dade County vote described took place last Monday, Dec. 19th.

Correct, it has taken the Herald exactly one week to report upon this vote in Miami, not in Timbuktu, in Mali, where a past housemate of mine in Arlington county served in the Peace Corps, and explained to me many times how difficult it was to communicate with the outside world from the village that she lived in.

Should a professionally-run news organization, esp. one that still claims to have a degree of relevancy and currency in the South Florida market have the same problem reporting from Miami in the last days of the year 2011?
I don't think so. 

For more on this point, see my post of November 27, 2010 about the use of technology, wherein I draw a comparison between the ability of a great song performed at a Paramore concert last year in Stockholm -at the bottom of this post- to be uploaded to YouTube and be seen by me thousands of miles away within hours, and the Miami Herald's myopic Pony Express-style of news reporting, where they constantly miss what's current because of their conscious decisions made by editors and management, leaving readers who want fresh news in the lurch.
How a video of Paramore in Stockholm and Razorlight at the Cuckoo Club, London proves the Miami Herald is moving too damn slow in its news coverage., Iceberg dead ahead!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-video-of-paramore-in-stockholm.html

That the powers-that-be at One Herald Plaza chose to print this story about lobbying and the commission vote that decided it -at least temporarily- so long after-the-fact, and on the day after Christmas, instead of in Sunday's paper, their largest circulation day, well, to me, that's a very curious conscious choice indeed.
Yes, more Pony Express-style news coverage from the Miami Herald, but it doesn't end there.

Also as it happens, Monday marked 13 days since the Broward County Commission voted on redistricting and approved new district maps, and the Herald has STILL NOT printed anything in the newspaper or posted anything online about it.
Even though it directly affects roughly 40-45% of their readers.

Seriously, is it really asking too much of a local daily newspaper to actually report news within 24 or 48 hours?

For more on los hermanos Diaz de la Portilla, see also: http://www.ccfj.net/CCFJDeLaPortilla.htm

-----

Miami Herald 
Miami-Dade Commission aims to cut lobbying tab, ends up paying $50,000 more 
By Martha Brannigan
Posted December 25, 2011

Facing a tight budget, Miami-Dade commissioners launched plans this fall to ink new contracts with Tallahassee lobbying firms. Their goal: to slash spending. 

The two firms that had the business offered to reduce their prices, but the county rebuffed them.It was a costly decision. When commissioners doled out four lobbying agreements last week totaling $450,000, they wound up spending $50,000 more than the reduced price offered by the two incumbents.

After 90 minutes of debate and five failed motions, the vote was 10-3 — with Commission Chairman Joe Martinez voting against an initiative that he had spearheaded.

Also voting “no’’ on Dec. 19 were Commissioners Lynda Bell and Xavier Suarez, who argued for reduced spending.

“Nobody wants to cut out one of their friends,’’ Martinez said wearily from the dais. “Why doesn’t someone make a motion to defer and put us out of our misery?’’ 

In an interview afterward, Martinez added: “It was my item, but it didn’t turn out the way I expected. That’s why I voted against it.’’

Under the deal, sponsored by Commissioner Barbara Jordan, a team of lobbyists led by the two incumbent firms — Ron L. Book P.A. and Rutledge, Ecenia & Purnell P.A. — were kept on, but were scaled back each to $170,000 a year from $225,000. Erased, too, was $50,000 for special projects, or “work orders.’’ 

Two additional firms — Akerman Senterfitt & Eidson and Ballard Partners Inc. — also were awarded contracts for $55,000 a year each. Akerman already does federal lobbying for the county. Book subcontracts with the Pittman Law Group. Rutledge subcontracts with Becker & Poliakoff, Dutko Worldwide LLC, and Gomez Barker Associates Inc. The one-year contracts come with annual options to renew for three years.

Besides the lobbying team, the county has its own government affairs staff and assistant county attorney Jess McCarty doing work in the state capital.

Brian Ballard said his firm won’t be doing work for the county on the casino issue. Ballard represents Genting Group, the Malaysian gambling giant that is pushing for legislation to permit destination resort casino gambling in the county, a pivotal issue now before the legislature. 

Akerman partner Mike Abrams said in an email that his firm has represented a Genting affiliate, Bayfront 2011 Property, “in several real estate matters,’’ but has “not been contacted or engaged to lobby on behalf of Genting or any of its affiliates with the state government at any level, including the legislature.’’

The commission’s money-saving effort began a week into the county’s new lean budget for fiscal 2011-12. “The ominous specter of layoffs threatens employee morale and the county’s ability to deliver services to our residents,’’ Martinez said in an Oct. 7 letter to Mayor Carlos Gimenez, adding that to “drastically reduce’’ costs it would be necessary to advertise for lobbying firms through a competitive selection process. 

In a bid to hang onto the lucrative and prestigious county work and to head off a competitive search, honchos at Ron L. Book P.A. and Rutledge, Ecenia & Purnell offered on Oct. 24 to cut their annual contracts to $200,000 each, from $225,000. The firms took reductions in 2009 and 2010 as well. 

But commissioners brushed aside the offer, pushing forward with a selection process and giving themselves the broadest latitude in handpicking the new team. “I thought we could get it down to $350,000 or $300,000 [in total],’’ Martinez said. 

The commission named the selection committee members, and rather than have the committee rank firms with numerical scores, asked simply for a list of firms meeting the basic qualifications. 

At the commission meeting, Bell recommended spending a total of $300,000 for three firms. But the measure died for lack of support, as did four other ideas.

Some commissioners fretted that changing lobbyists with the legislative session set to begin next month was ill-timed. Others said cutting spending at a time when Tallahassee is facing its own severe budget constraints was ill-advised. 

“This is a very tough year in Tallahassee,’’ said Commissioner Jose “Pepe’’ Diaz. “It’s a chaotic situation, plus there is redistricting,’’ he added, referring to the drawing of new political boundaries. 

Finally, Jordan successfully proposed the $450,000 deal, divided among all four firms that had applied. 

“If this was really about saving money, when you add it up, it cost $50,000 more than the two firms agreed to reduce their fees to,’’ said Commissioner Sally Heyman, who voted for the measure but was unhappy with it. She said by being on the prevailing side she is in a position to bring the issue up for reconsideration. 

“I question whether we need lobbyists in Tallahassee at all,’’ Suarez said afterward.

The commission plans to take up the issue of reducing payments to the county’s Washington lobbyists next year.


MIAMI-DADE LOBBYING 
Incumbent lobbyists in Tallahassee: Ron L. Book P.A. and Rutledge, Ecenia & Purnell P.A. Book subcontracts with Pittman Law Group. Rutledge subcontracts with Becker & Poliakoff; Dutko Worldwide LLC; and Gomez Barker Associates. Additional firms receiving state lobbying contracts: Akerman Senterfitt & Eidson and Ballard Partners Inc.
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Paramore - Misguided Ghosts - (Acoustic) LIVE at Fryshuset, Stockholm, Sweden, November 30, 2009, http://youtu.be/O9OuNtlXiGA

Friday, November 19, 2010

Julie Patel is spot-on in Sun-Sentinel blog post: "revolving door" between state government and the utility industry continues to spin in Tallahassee

Just wanted to pass along this spot-on House Keys blog post from this afternoon by Julie Patel of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

It really shows that once again, even the sorts of things that are somewhat common in almost all states, are always egregious in the Sunshine State.

-----

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
House Keys blog -Buying, selling, insuring your property
"Revolving door" keeps spinning
By Julie Patel
November 19, 2010 01:20 PM


What's been called the "revolving door" between state government and the utility industry continues to spin in Tallahassee.


Gunster, one of Florida's largest law firms, announced this week that it snagged three former PSC employees – Lila Jaber, a commissioner from 2000 to 2004, and Beth Keating and Matt Feil, former PSC attorneys – from another powerhouse firm, Akerman Senterfitt. They will be part of Gunster's expanded governmental affairs practice.


Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2010/11/revolving_door_between_governm_1.html

See also:
http://www.gunster.com/
Julie Patel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/juliepatel

Sunday, April 18, 2010

In case you'd forgotten what sort of person Joe Gibbons was, here's a quick reminder: Y-O-U are at the bottom of his pyramid

My comments about State Rep. Joe Gibbons follow
this excellent article by Julie Patel.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-psc-college-laws-20100416,0,2688175.story

Legislation to reform PSC would rule out consumer-oriented regulator
By Julie Patel, Sun Sentinel
April 16, 2010


If you dropped out of college, you're still qualified to be a Florida governor, leading the nation's fourth largest state.

Or a state senator, deciding how to spend billions in tax dollars.

Or the state's chief financial officer, responsible for the accounting and auditing of the state's books.

But without a college degree, some legislators say you're not qualified to help set utility rates paid by millions of Floridians.

These regulators "have serious responsibilities to understand complicated rate cases," said Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach. "Someone with a college degree has the ability to learn and the discipline required to receive it."

He is one of 34 lawmakers who has voted for a bill that would require those appointed to the state Public Services Commission to have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college. The provision, one of many to reorganize the agency that regulates the state's utilities, is in a bill that could be put to a full House vote this week.

Some observers see another reason for the college-degree provision: oust commission Chairwoman Nancy Argenziano.

"She is fighting for consumers, and the utilities don't like it," said Bill Newton, executive director of the Florida Consumer Action Network. "Utilities are among the largest contributors to the Legislature, so it is no surprise that they are doing the utilities' bidding."

The five-member Public Service Commission has been at the center of a political firestorm over the past year after the state's largest utility, Florida Power & Light, proposed its largest rate increase ever. Contentious hearings erupted over allegations of cozy relationships between regulators and utility staffers.

Some commission officials resigned or were put on temporary leave. Gov. Charlie Crist appointed two regulatory newcomers to the commission, and the new commission rejected all but 6 percent of FPL's rate increase.

All of which put the Public Service Commission in the public eye.

Three House committees have approved the bill to reorganize the commission. Gibbons said the bill "has nothing to do with any one individual."

Five legislators who voted for it don't have bachelor's degrees, including Matt Hudson, a Republican who represents parts of Broward and Collier counties.

Hudson said he supports the requirement for commissioners because they're paid more than $130,000 a year and deal with "extraordinarily technical matters." Legislators are paid about $30,000 for their part-time work.

"Certainly these are people that are expected to know a great deal, and I think it's appropriate that we put criterion, just like you would put criterion for any executive position," he said.

Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul supports the requirement.

A college requirement is important because "PSC members are not elected," Jill Chamberlin, the speaker's spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail. "They are supposed to make decisions as judges do."

In the FPL rate case, Chamberlin said the PSC considered 176 complex issues ranging from accounting to the cost of capital. The commission has a staff of engineers, economists, accountants, finance experts and lawyers to review these issues, "but the staff does not make the decisions," she wrote.

As for comparisons to elected officials, "The Governor, the Legislature are elected," she said. "It's up to the voters to determine standards for knowledge and background."

Argenziano, a vocal critic of utilities' influence on policy and regulation, dropped out of pre-veterinary college to raise her son. She worked on weekends washing cars and painting apartments and has worked as a veterinary technician specialist, a real estate agent and part owner of an emergency animal hospital. She spent 10 years as a Republican legislator from Crystal River before being named to the commission by Crist.

"I could not get what many people my age had the good fortune to get, a formal education. But I can tell you I learned through the school of hard knocks, hard work and experience," she said.

"While I never claim to be a genius, I do know I was born with intelligence."

Public Counsel J.R. Kelly, the state's utility customer advocate, said all the commissioners he's dealt with the past few years have been "learned."

"I might not like their decisions but I could not sit there and tell you they weren't competent," he said.

College degrees aren't required for many top governments posts, but some require advanced degrees. For example, the Attorney General must be a member of the Florida Bar, which means he or she must have a law degree. Only licensed physicians can be appointed to the state Board of Medicine.

Jan Beecher is director of the Institute of Public Utilities at Michigan State University, a utility regulation research center. She has looked at the demographics and qualifications of utility commissioners nationwide.

She knows of no state that requires utility commissioners have a college degree but a study she completed last month found that most do. Only 32 of 233 commissioners nationwide said they had completed "associate, some college, or not specified."

A few states require specific experience, Beecher said. For example, Nebraska's municipal utility regulation board has designated spots for an attorney, an engineer, an accountant and two laypeople.

"You want to be very careful not to exclude someone because your hands are tied by statutory requirements," she said. "But I certainly think education is important in our field."

She recommends that states give commissioners the opportunity to learn more about utility regulation. In most states, agency staff provides technical expertise, she pointed out.

Floridians have elected seven governors who didn't have college degrees, according to Gary Mormino, a history professor at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg.

"I am leery to suggest that a college degree makes one smart or better suited to govern," he said. "Character matters more than brains or a college pedigree."

See also: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-psc-college-laws-box-20100416,0,6549111.story

Reader comments at:
http://discussions.sun-sentinel.com/20/soflanews/fl-psc-college-laws-20100416/10
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So, State Rep.
Joe Gibbons, who stands by and pretends
he
doesn't know anything about the self-evident corruption
and anti-democratic
sentiments that have been emanating
from the bunker at Hallandale Beach
City Hall for YEARS,
much of which took place with him squarely in the
center
of it all -
the same guy who had said and did what,
exactly, about the Village at Gulfstream
Park
project completely exporting their Section 8
Housing, as the Diplomat is now trying to do
under their incompatible LAC proposal?
-
the guy who
won't say word one about what side he
favors
on the Diplomat LAC issue affecting his District,
is very concerned
about making sure that... someone
who is pro-consumer at the Florida Public Service
Commission
has to go buh-bye?
Huh?


The
Gibbons that was the ranking Democrat on the
House Transportation and Economic
Development Appropriations
Committee,
but who has
never ever attended any of the many
regional Transportation summits
and workshops
that I've attended since he was elected, which have
drawn
people from all over the state and from U.S.
DOT regional HQ in Atlanta, and even from Canada?
Yes, that Joe Gibbons!

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4400&SessionId=64


http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Committees/committeesdetail.aspx?CommitteeId=2450&sessionId=64

Gibbons
is such a nothing representative, it's distressing
that in the year
2010, his great luck is to represent one
of the most apathetic FL House
Districts in the entire state.
Mine.

If this Julie Patel article is an accurate indication of
how he's going to put
his representation for his corporate
clients at
Akerman Senterfitt -where Gibbons is a
"consultant"
- ahead of our interests, things are definitely
going to get a whole lot bumpier for him over the next few
months.

On that you can depend.
See http://www.akerman.com/public/attorneys/aBiography.asp?id=1186&name=Gibbons-Joseph-A.

Did you notice that the office they show him
attached to is NOT in Fort lauderdale or Miami,
but the one in Tallahassee

You might be interested in knowing that just this year,
I have been approached about five times at myriad events
throughout Broward, all by different but clearly
well-informed people
, each specifically asking me
variations of the same question:
Did I know that Gibbons and his family really
live in/near Jacksonville, and NO LONGER live
in his FL House District?


I didn't.
Who does he think he is, Steve Geller?

--------------
Just in case you never saw it, last June I wrote an email
and
subsequent blog post on June 4th that gets to the
heart of the
problem as it involves the state's transportation
issues and
Joe Gibbons' somnolence here in his own
district.


It concerns an important Transportation meeting held
up at the
Broward Convention Center when the
Legislature was
NOT meeting, while Gibbons was,
perhaps
, with his family near Duval County.

I include this series of excerpts here, along with
some pertinent
facts to better connect-the-dots.
They are from:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/tomas-boiton-is-on-case-south-florida.html


Nothing quite says lip service like folks acting all concerned

with transportation policy and Quality of Life issues when

being interviewed by reporters, but then skipping the chance

to appear at an informative Saturday morning event where

actual concerned South Florida citizens are present and

accounted for.


Plus there was a great speaker like Gordon Price of

Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, the noted

Smart Growth expert, who made a truly fantastic

presentation that had most attendees wistful as they

watched it, and even more angry than they expected

at seeing once again how much worse this area is than

it ought to be compared to other places.

(See http://www.sfu.ca/city/bioGordon.htm and

http://www.pricetags.ca/presentations.html )


Mr. Price flew across North America from beautiful

Vancouver to deliver a powerful message in Fort

Lauderdale, and I made time to make the relatively

short trip up to the Broward County Convention

Center to hear him - and was very glad I did,

as many other attendees told me as well.


Based on her pathetic track record and apparent fear

of actually interacting with knowledgeable taxpayer

citizens, instead of the govt. officials and trade groups

she clearly prefers to interact with, which I've written

about here before, I completely expected FDOT

Sec. Stephanie Kopelousos to be a no-show.

She didn't disappoint, so her non-appearance was

NOT exactly Breaking News.


But where was my own State Rep., Joe Gibbons?

Or my State Senator, Eleanor Sobel?


Gibbons, the former Hallandale Beach City Commissioner

who now acts oblivious to all the self-evident unethical and

incompetent activity taking place here in HB, happens to be

the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation

and Economic Development Appropriations

Committee, and yet was a no-show that morning, as were

South Florida Senators Alex Diaz de la Portilla and

Chris Smith, both of the Senate Committee on

Transportation and Economic Development

Appropriations.


Nice going!

Way to represent!


----------
Because of my longtime interest in transportation issues,
I have been
to every SFECC meeting held in Gibbons'
district since he was elected,
in Hallandale Beach as well
as in next door Hollywood and Aventura.


I've also been to every major public transportation meeting
held in
South Florida, whether the Regional meeting I
reference above, the
one held in Dania last Fall on funding
sources for Tri-Rail and commuter
rail in the state or the
one thrown by Broward County three years ago
at the
Broward County Convention Center, which had hundreds
of
people.

I was even at the impromptou meeting held over a year
ago at Hollywood
City Hall hosted by Rep. Elaine
Schwartz
and Sen. Eleanor Sobel on dedicated
Tri-Rail funding.

That doesn't make me an expert, just concerned.


So why is it that
Joe Gibbons is never seen, not even at
the ones not held
during the regular legislative session?

At some point, it's fair to say that he's a
no-show on this
issue in his own
area.

How come
Gibbons and his Committee have never held
a field hearing
down here since he was elected?

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Perennial defender of the unethical and the slipshod: Joe Gibbons. Call him a serial apologist and be done with it!

My pithy comments about my embarrassing
State Representative,
Joe Gibbons, follow the article.

St. Petersburg Times

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/psc-ethics-reforms-sail-through-senate-bog-down-in-house/1077245#
Ethics bill for PSC stalls in House
By Mary Ellen Klas and Steve Bousquet,
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE — A bill aimed at tightening the ethics rules at the Public Service Commission flew through the Florida Senate Wednesday and then became snagged by a House committee, which raised red flags about some parts of the measure.

With no debate, the Senate passed the bill aimed at ending improper communications between commissioners or senior staff members and the utilities the agency regulates.

The vote was 39-1 with Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, the lone no vote.

Senate President Jeff Atwater applauded the measure's sponsor, Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, for championing the issue. The Senate made the issue a top priority by approving the bill on the second day of session.

The bill would ban private conversations between commissioners or their staff aides and anyone with a pending rate case. Last year, PSC staff members and commissioners communicated through text and BlackBerry messages with Florida Power & Light representatives as they were awaiting PSC rulings on several issues. A PSC lobbyist also attended a Kentucky Derby party last May hosted by a Florida Power & Light executive.

Fasano called the episodes "egregious violations of the public trust."

The measure doesn't prohibit all communication between commissioners and staffers with utility officials. Instead, it requires that any conversations that take place must be written down and posted within 72 hours.

The bill also requires commissioners to apply the same ethical standards as judges when ruling on a rate case, and it would ban senior staffers and commissioners from leaving the agency and going to work for a utility company within four years.

Minutes after the Senate vote, the House Energy and Utilities Policy Committee debated but did not vote on the companion bill by Rep. John Legg, R-New Port Richey, as well as two other PSC-related bills.

Several House Democrats led the opposition to the four-year employment ban in Legg's bill. The ban would not affect current PSC members or staffers but would apply only to anyone hired after July 1.

"We're going to run people out of the industry or run people out of state," said Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach. "By making it four years, we make the industry less attractive."

Legg argued that when commissioners or key staff members cross over and work for utilities they once regulated, it smacks of "consumer exploitation."

Another PSC-related bill by Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Dunedin, would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment to make commission seats elected positions rather than appointed. State law now requires a nominating council to recommend candidates to the governor, who selects from that list to choose appointees to the five-member commission.

The measure would also ban candidates from accepting campaign contributions from regulated utilities. Florida had an elected PSC until the 1970s.

Also Wednesday, the rate case was back in the news as the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee overruled the PSC's order to force FPL and Progress Energy of St. Petersburg to disclose employee salary and benefits packages as part of their rate case requests. FPL's rate case ended with the company getting $75 million of the $1.3 billion it requested. Progress got none of its $500 million increase.


See also, Sansom wants Rep. Joe Gibbons off panel, from
The Buzz politics blog of Feb. 15, 2010
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2010/02/sansom-wants-rep-joe-gibbons-off-panel.html


Way to bring attention to yourself,
Gibbons!
Another sad and pathetic example of the Hallandale Beach ethical taint,

writ large
, as yet another Akerman Senterfitt consultant shows his
version
of thinking 'big picture' -creating jobs for pals, cronies and
prospective clients
.

For me, this recalls so many exasperating Hallandale Beach City
Commission
meetings I've attended in the past where, rather than
do what was right,
Gibbons continually tried everyone's patience
and credulity by trying to
simultaneously appear both publicly
above-the-fray, yet also a savvy insider
and wheeler-dealer,
the latter role of which he was eminently laughable in.


(Not unlike present-day HB Commissioner
Anthony A. Sanders'
recent attempts to
appear savvy and demanding with the Westin
Diplomat Resort & Spa
over their preposterous LAC proposal
rubber-stamped and wink-winked by the HB City Commission.
)

In
Gibbons' particular case, his two-faced strategy was never more
obvious
or absurd than in his long-winded attempts at HB City
Commission meetings
to gain concessions or some small handfuls
of sugar from
Magna Entertainment's Gulfstream Park
Race Track & Casino
.

Instead, all
Gibbons accomplished was looking like a two-faced
pol who
argues not over matters of principle, but rather over price
-
Where's something for me and mine?

Honestly, why do ethical issues continue to be such a serial problem
for my
State Representative, Joe Gibbons?

Per my blog post here on Saturday, February 27th,
Missing voices in Broward County's ethics debate are ignored
by South Florida news media. It's our old media friend:
Mr. Lack of Curiosity!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/missing-voices-in-broward-countys.html

discussing last month's very important Broward Legislative Delegation
meeting at the downtown Fort Lauderdale campus of FAU/BCC
on Las Olas
to discuss State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff's common sense
ethics proposal
for an IG for Broward County, Gibbons, just like
State Sen.
Chris Smith and State Rep. Perry Thurston III,
were no
Profiles in Courage, though Gibbons at least voted for it
in the end, unlike the other two, though doing
himself no favors with
his comments or attitude.


Plus,
Gibbons has always been perceived as an apologist for
Hallandale
Beach mayor Joy Cooper and city manager
Mike Good
serial incompetence and has consistently looked
the other way
when unethical and anti-democratic things
happened either right in front of him, or in his district,
as continues to this
very day.

Seriously, when was the last time
Gibbons publicly spoke-out
against what
everyone paying serious attention knows has been
taking place at Hallandale
Beach City Hall for years?

The answer is that
Joe Gibbons NEVER has.
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4400&SessionId=64


Whether coming or going, as a Hallandale Beach City Commissioner
or State Representative,
Joe Gibbons has never ever been a
Profile in Courage.

He is imminently replaceable in the State Legislature, even if he doesn't
quite
have the good sense to realize it.
Fine -all the better.


If
a candidate with integrity and smarts ran directly at Joe Gibbons
and his dismal track record, I'd vote for them in a heart-beat and
so would most of the well-informed people I know and respect in
Southeast Broward County.
Just saying...