Bob Norman column to my attention earlier this
afternoon, and I thought you'd want to know about
it, too.
The reader comments below are as of 5 p.m. today,
but check back later as there may be some additional
comments this evening.
Hm-m-m.. Moss & Associates?
Why does that name sound so very familiar?
Could it just be because they're the construction
company mentioned below in Bob Norman's
Daily Pulp column, which has made so much
money for doing something that was not necessary?
No, that's not it.
Oh, I know what it is.
Moss & Associates, is the same firm that is
a partner in the no-bid contract for the new
Marlins Stadium at the Orange Bowl site by
the genius tag team of commissioners of the
City of Miami and Miami-Dade County.
See:
1.) http://mosscm.com/projects/
2.) http://www.huntmossjv.com/
3.) http://florida.marlins.mlb.
Say what you will, but obviously, the folks at Moss
clearly know who to make their political contributions
to and how to make sure their campaign dollars
have an economically-beneficial ripple-effect.
Also, for those of you who may not know, the reference
to Sitsonhishands is a thinly-veiled reference to
Michael Satz, our not very aggressive Broward State
Attorney.
He's the longtime incumbent and frequent Bob Norman
foil, who ought to have ordered a team of very curious
professional investigators and forensic accountants to
parachute behind enemy-lines at HB City Hall years ago
-along with coordinated air-drops into other enemy redoubts
like Sunrise and Deerfield Beach- but who, instead,
has done anything of note.
Well, okay, there was, supposedly, according to a
trusted source of mine, a sternly-written letter to HB
City Hall about their snail-like pace on public records
requests and reminding them of their legal obligations
under FL statutes (and our very poorly-defended
Sunshine Laws,) but locally, that's hardly been the
stout defense of the public trust that's been needed
lo these many years.
Maybe it's my imagination, but as a person who
considers himself pretty well-read, honestly, I don't
think I've ever lived anywhere in the country -at any time-
including South Florida from 1968 to the mid-'80's,
where the local news media seemed to evince so little
curiosity or interest in the relative success or failures
of the efforts of the local SAO when it comes to cases
of public corruption and forcing local govt. agencies,
employees and their leaders, to actually follow the law,
as is the case now with Michael Satz.
He's practically invisible.
http://www.sao17.state.fl.us/
Except in Bob Norman's columns.
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/?keywords=%22Satz%22&x=25&y=9
In fact, Alberto Milian, who was one of the defense
attorneys who demolished the corrupt lies of Hallandale
Beach and their Police Chief' Thomas Magill in his
attempt to frame two innocent Florida citizens for crimes
they didn't commit, to impress City Manager Mike Good
-for more info on that, see see my April 14, 2008 post
titled, "Dial M for Magill" -and mendacity! at
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/dial-m-for-magill-and-mendacity.html
first came to my attention in 2006 in a Bob Norman
column that mentioned Satz, who had the phrase
The Face Behind The Disgrace just below his photo
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2006/06/its_milian_time.php
Here's an excerpt from the June 3rd, 2006 post titled:
It's Milian Time
The Zapata trial is just one more in the growing list of humiliations for Satz, who had the gall to go after rank-and-file deputies while protecting the obviously corrupt sheriff, Ken Jenne. That isn't just incompetence. It's injustice, more proof that Satz is a very bad seed. And there's no better replacement than Al Milian, who was employed in Satz's office for many years as a pitbull prosecutor. Milian would be tough on criminals -- including those holding elected office and leech off the public trough. Broward County needs this guy.
Owing to my particular interests and all, I've always
known the name of the State Attorney wherever I've
lived since I was in high school in North Miami Beach.
While I lived up in the D.C. area from 1988-2003,
since D.C. doesn't have a traditional SAO structure,
and the U.S. Attorney for The District performs many
of the same tasks an SAO does, I knew some of
Eric Holder's Asst, U.S. Attorneys, people who
actually prosecuted important criminal cases when
he was in charge.
People I greatly admired and spent time with
once in a while, but they were also people who
really did vary their routes home at night, just
to make sure that someone was not following
tailing them from the parking lot at Judiciary
Square.
So, admittedly, having been up there for so long
and gotten used to how things were handled
there, my frame of reference for understanding
how a guy like Satz got into office in the first
place, and then has been able to entrench
himself all these years, is somewhat fuzzy,
but what gives?
People I trust who are much better plugged-in
to Broward politics and judiciary matters than
I am, with the requisite historical perspective
on the myriad political skulduggery and lobbyist
logrolling of the area, are frustrated they are
unable to adequately answer my simple question.
Why has a very capable and even -dare I say it-
semi-articulate person, NOT run against Satz
under the banner of bringing accountability
and transparency to Broward's city and
county halls of power, besides the usual
criminal justice bromides?
Anyone care to explain it?
I have my suspicions, but I ask because
his record, such as it's been reported on,
sounds more to me like an indictment
than a record anyone would voluntarily
want to run on, given the chance.
Seriously, if you heard that CBS was doing a
one-hour drama series set in Fort Lauderdale,
say a legal or medical series, you know exactly
how they'd try to sell it, don't you?
The expensive boats on the canals and the ocean,
the sun and the sin, sexy people everywhere
doing upscale, sophisticated things before retiring
to their great well-decorated homes.
Nothing about South Florida's endemic traffic,
bad retail customer service, govt. red tape...
And you know in your head exactly how they'd
write the roles of the crusading, crime-fighting
SAO and its staff, even if they were just secondary
players.
I mean who doesn't appreciate a well-executed,
media-coordinated perp walk?
Yes, we've become conditioned to have certain
expectations of people in power.
So, granted that it's coming from a fictional premise,
but why must the actual reality here be so
VERY FAR from what the public would expect in
an SAO and his staff?
In any case, given both HB history and the
specific personalities involved, I'm sure that
Hallandale Beach City Hall will give lip service
to using that economic stimulus money it
just received for some reasonable purpose,
before the City Manager and Mayor decide
to use it on building a moat and a drawbridge,
to better keep critics like me and some of you
at arms-length.
You know, rather than in perhaps making sure the
public parking lot lights directly in front of HB
City Hall or the Police Dept. actually worked.
(The city hall and police dept with no directional
street signs anywhere in the city.)
Last night, barely more than half of them worked,
and one of the ones that didn't was, yes, the same
one closest to the police-controlled security camera,
which has only worked for -maybe- two months since
the security cameras were installed in January of 2008.
August 3, 2009 photo by South Beach HoosierAbove, looking west at breezeway entrance to
Hallandale Beach City Hall Municipal Complex
from west-side sidewalk of U.S.-1/South Federal Hwy.
What you can barely(?) see is the public parking lot
light that's closest to the police-controlled security
camera.
It was out of order last night, much as it has been
for 99% of the time since the camera went up last year.
Trust me, when you're there, it's much darker
than it appears here, because I had to use a flash
to even get this mediocre quality photo.
I sure hope those investigative commandos from the
Broward SAO, if they ever show-up in Hallandale
Beach, remember to bring long-lasting flashlights!
They'll need them!
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2009/08/broward_school_board_blows_15.php
Broward School Board Blows $1.5 Million, Has No Money
By Bob Norman
Monday, Aug. 3 2009 @ 2:25PM
