FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'
Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
http://explore.org/#!/videos/player/mother-protects-her-cubs-at-brooks-falls Brooks Falls Bearcam: http://www.nps.gov/katm/photosmultimedia/brooks-falls-bearcam.htm Unlike this amusing video of a Mother Bear at Brooks Falls at Katmai National Park in Alaska protecting her young cubs, Broward Democratic Party Chair Mitch Caesar has NOT been seen trying to save his six Dem legislators who may be illegally living outside the districts they're supposed to represent, and who may well get prosecuted for violating the Florida Constitution and breaking the trusts of the voters: Joe Gibbons, Dale Holness, Jared Moskowitz, Hazelle Rogers, Maria Sachs and Perry Thurston. But that doesn't fully explain away the complete failure of ANY reporters at the Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, CBS4, NBC-6, 7 News and Local10 to even attempt to interview Caesar and ask him on-camera why this wink-wink acceptance of it has been allowed to go on for years in Broward County under the one-hand-washes-the-other brand of political cronyism, wherein Broward lobbyists are in far too many instances the chief campaign fundraising link for pols whom they'll later be appearing before. It's a system that completely disadvantages the public interest and non-profits and unduly rewards a handful of already-powerful lawyer/lobbyists in downtown Fort Lauderdale what is an overwhelmingly Democratic County -with too few powerful Independent-minded pols who refuse to play that game and will push back hard, a gaping weakness in the political culture here that usually exists even in the smallest counties around the country. In short, people who are used to always getting what they want, or indirectly threatening elected officials and their pals and sycophants with turning off the campaign cash spigot. Mitch Caesar has been the Broward County Dem Party chair the entire time many of these pols have been in their current office, committing fraud, so he has a lot to account for personally. But he doesn't seem to be held responsible for anything by the current press corps in South Florida. With the exception of a handful of reporters, the press here acts like Caesar is just like you and me -watching from a distance and finding out from TV and the newspaper and blogs like mine. But he's NOT like you and me -he's at the center of everything in Broward County. How come he was fine for so many years with so many hundreds of thousands of Broward voters being lied to, intentionally? And even more importantly, what exactly was the greater societal good that Mitch Caeser personally believed was being accomplished by the six of them drawing a salary for years for a job that they may've NOT legally been qualified for under the Florida Constitution? Name one. Name two. It's because we all know implicitly that he can't give even one good reason to such a simple question that I've assembled the Top Ten Reasons It's So Important to Broward County Residents... to have such unremarkable and even thoroughly mediocre legislators in office like Joe Gibbons, Dale Holness, Jared Moskowitz, Hazelle Rogers, Maria Sachs and Perry Thurston, even if they have to intentionally violate the Florida Constitution to do it:
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Above, the complete list.
What do you know, there's not a single valid reason.
Or are you one of those people, outliers, who believe that rank mediocrity should always be rewarded at election-time, since that would explain a lot in Hallandale Beach and other cities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
More on Broward County politicians' residency ruse: Is intentionally violating & evading the Florida Constitution 'the new normal' for ethical standards in the Sunshine State? Latest facts & chronology regarding at least 5 Florida legislators from Broward -and one Broward Commissioner- who DON'T live full-time in the districts they were elected to represent
Why would you expect an individual who values power more than integrity and who doesn't really live full-time where they do, to care as much about the actual day-to-day Quality of Life and problems of those constituents and small business owners as someone who does?
It's part of why it's called representative democracy.
It's supposed to be a lot more than just any old job you drive to from somewhere else.
Sometimes, things are exactly what they look like.
Shame on Broward Demos! Five Demo legislators could face jail for lying about residency
http://t.co/9XHePTpzKI
— Buddy Nevins (@Buddynevins) July 3, 2013
More ethics problems for State Sen. Maria Sachs. New complaint for not disclosing a home in The Villages
http://t.co/Au27sJVpOg
— Buddy Nevins (@Buddynevins) July 3, 2013
Fla Bar investigating residency of Rep. Perry Thurston. Brow Prop appraiser removed his exemption in April. D/L and voter reg in Lauderhill.
— Amy Sherman (@AmySherman1) July 1, 2013
State Rep. Perry Thurston's wife Dawn maintains Plantation homestead exemption, documents from Brow prop appraiser show.
— Amy Sherman (@AmySherman1) July 1, 2013
Senator Maria Sachs responds directly to charges she doesn't live in her legislative district. http://t.co/ZrY9SgllGk#sayfie
— Peter Schorsch (@SaintPetersblog) July 1, 2013
Local10 News video: Senator caught on video staying outside district, Maria Sachs has home in Boca Raton, claims to reside in Lauderdale condo Bob Norman, Reporter, bnorman@Local10.com Published June 26, 2013 04:45:07 PM EDT
More on the widespread flaunting of constitution by South Fla. Democrats living outside of their districts. http://t.co/aCBWK02sAP#sayfie
— Peter Schorsch (@SaintPetersblog) June 27, 2013
Broward Commissioner's residency claims don't hold up, North Miami mayor sued over city's residency rule Bob Norman, Reporter, bnorman@Local10.com Published June 25, 2013 03:07:21 PM EDT
Office of Broward State's Attorney closeout document re Joe Gibbons commingling campaign funds and personal funds, where he blamed his staff for all the problems.
Is Kristin Jacobs poised to become 'the last straw' and the cynical face for voters of the ever-expanding Broward candidate residency scandal? Yet MORE residency problems in Broward County per Media Tracker Florida: Jacobs wants to run for FL House 96 while living in House 93, even while convincing evidence suggests that at least 5 current members of the Broward Legislative Delegation may be knowingly breaking state law, practically daring Broward State's Attorney Mike Satz & Co. to actually do something; Videos by Local10 investigative reporter Bob Norman show he's NOT afraid to go after South Florida's unethical pols and ask the hard questions
Could Kristen Jacobs really be dumb enough to think that she can get away with it, too? Yes.
Florida House Candidate Kristin Jacobs Tries to Hide Residency Problems
By Tom Lauder
July 1, 2013
House of Representatives District 96 candidate Kristin Jacobs asked state election officials to hide her address from the public in the wake of new evidence that suggests she lives outside District 96.
In an affidavit filed with the State of Florida, Jacobs asked state elections officials to redact her home address. The Florida elections website shows Jacobs’ paperwork for the District 96 seat, but her address is blacked out. Jacobs filed for the District 96 seat, but numerous public records show Jacobs actually lives in District 93, which is represented by George Moraitis (R-Fort Lauderdale).
Anyone want to guess how many Broward state legislators actually LIVE full-time in the district they were elected to? Anyone?
It's another one of Broward State's Attorney Mike Satz's lasting legacies to all of us as Broward citizens that he and his crew are unwilling to make an example out of someone breaking the law he is sworn to enforce and prosecute lawbreakers.
Maybe if Sazt & Company had actually gone hammer-and-tong after one of these legislative miscreants a few years ago who thought they could pull the rug over voters' eyes and knowingly violate the Florida Constitution -and told Broward County Commissioners that he'd 'no longer accept their wink-wink residency, too- and abandoned their See No Evil/Hear No Evil/Speak No Evil mindset, the problem wouldn't have mushroomed to the extent that it clearly has while he has been in charge and done NOTHING. Yes, Black & White carpetbaggers everywhere you look in Broward!
Unethical politicians hiding in plain-sight are Bob Norman's favorite kind of people to bring the hammer down on: Joe Gibbons, Perry Thurston, Jared Moskowitz, Hazelle Rogers, Maria Sachs...
Local10 News video: Florida Democratic leader caught living outside district Author: Bob Norman, Reporter, bnorman@Local10.com Published On: Jun 12 2013 03:34:55 PM EDT Updated On: Jun 12 2013 11:00:00 PM EDT
More on the widespread flaunting of constitution by South Fla. Democrats living outside of their districts. http://t.co/aCBWK02sAP#sayfie — Peter Schorsch (@SaintPetersblog) June 27, 2013
Local10 News video: Senator caught on video staying outside district, Maria Sachs has home in Boca Raton, claims to reside in Lauderdale condo Bob Norman, Reporter, bnorman@Local10.com Published On: Jun 26 2013 04:45:07 PM EDT Updated On: Jun 26 2013 11:00:00 PM EDT
Senator Maria Sachs responds directly to charges she doesn't live in her legislative district. http://t.co/ZrY9SgllGk#sayfie — Peter Schorsch (@SaintPetersblog) July 1, 2013
And as if there weren't already serious ethical issues involving her, Florida state Senator Maria Sachs sets a now LOW in unethical behavior among South Florida pols. Democrat Sachs, who defeated Ellyn Bogdanoff in 2012 and who was endorsed by the Miami Herald, is so lazy & unethical that she even failed to disclose her legislative salary on her required disclosure forms three years in a row.
Editorial: Sachs case shows why ethics laws remain too lax.
Posted: 4:33 p.m. Sunday, June 16, 2013
BY ANDREW MARRA - PALM BEACH POST STAFF WRITER
For three years, state Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, skirted state law by failing to publicly disclose all of her financial assets on mandatory state disclosure forms. When questions were raised before her election last year, she brushed them off as “negative campaigning” and said she had not even bothered to go back and look at the reports.
The Florida Commission on Ethics was not so dismissive. Last week, it announced that it had found probable cause that Sen. Sachs had violated Florida’s disclosure rules for elected officials by not properly reporting her net worth or her ownership of a Tallahassee condo. According to the commission, she failed even to disclose her legislative salary.
These transgressions occurred from 2008 to 2010, and by 2011 Sen. Sachs had begun including the omitted information in her new financial reports. After the ethics commission began an investigation, Sen. Sachs also filed amended forms for the years in question. As a result, the ethics commission said it will not seek to impose fines or take further action.
The senator has said the omissions were unintentional. Accidental or not, she is hardly the first elected official to fail to properly disclose her finances as required by law. Indeed, last week the ethics commission faulted four other current and former legislators for similar failings.
Questions about Sen. Sachs’ financial disclosures were raised last October by Sid Dinerstein, then the chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party. His complaint to the ethics commission was baldly political, but Sen. Sachs was wrong to dismiss it out of hand. The requirement that candidates and elected officials disclose their assets reveals to voters any agendas that otherwise would be hidden, and is so fundamental a concept that it is included in the state’s constitution.
The Legislature passed a sweeping ethics reform package this year. But the bill actually makes it easier for officials to correct flawed financial disclosure reports without penalties, and it failed to give the ethics commission the much-needed ability to initiate its own investigations, even into disclosure reports that are obviously flawed. Until that authority is granted, one of the few ways for it to investigate omissions like Sen. Sachs’ will be politically motivated complaints.
Andrew Marra for The Post Editorial Board
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After her victory,
"State Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith sent out a statement congratulating Sachs on her campaign and called her a "rising star" in the state Democratic Party."
The news directors at CBS4, NBC-6 and 7News and the editors at the Miami Herald need to wake-up from their summer coma and admit that they've been completely asleep on this scandal from the very beginning, and need to acknowledge that there are LOTS of people all over South Florida who HAVE noticed this failure.
And also noticed their complete failure to make a serious effort to catch-up.
Why? Why so much resistance to doing hard news? Of pushing back against elected officials and putting them in their place? Why are you in your job if you don't want to cover and investigate what people are genuinely interested in that is also important to society? And don't think we forgot about you down in Miami-Dade, Frank Artiles, and the way blogger Elaine de Valle caught you a few years ago still living at the home you said you would move out of if you got elected. My April 21, 20111 blog post on this subject was titled, Elaine de Valle's Political Cortadito blog channels Sherlock Holmes and catches the crook red-handed: FL Rep. Frank Artiles. Blogger 1, Lying Pol 0 http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/elaine-de-valles-political-cortadito.html Speaking of how many of Broward's legislators live elsewhere, why is it that the website of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators is managed by a company located in Spain? http://fcbsl.org/http://www.arsys.es/
When you go to a list of members, on my computer Google Translate pops-up and asks you if you want to translate Spanish. http://www.fcbsl.com/#!/members
