new interest

It would be interesting to know EXACTLY when city officials met, discussed, voted, and decided to give MDAC a pool rental of $200 a month! Is there ANY record of that happening? How would they come to that conclusion $200 a month is fair market value because they are on record as saying they have NO idea what other pools charge! Does ANYBODY believe that Gym doesnt know what other pools are charging? Thats his JOB to know those things, AND to get fair market value for our pool! Was the Council aware that this was happening? Does a swim team with 100 registered swimmers and several practice sites sound like a team that needs a handout? Is this just another sweetheart deal he has concocted, or something worse? The possibilities of kickbacks and skimming come to mind. Even that $200 a month pittance has apparently NOT been paid in YEARS! The responsibilty for this obvious mismanagement fiasco, at best, lies at the City Managers desk. At worst, the sweetheart deals, poor-to-nonexistent documentation and controls, outright fabrications, and rents NOT collected may very well be illegal. The Herald has become interested in this ongoing saga. Perhaps management will answer to them.

felons as mortgage brokers

Out of work? Just released from prison and cant find a good job?

No problem. become a mortgage broker. Few, if any questions asked, and little or no oversight or regulation. Ex-cons as mortgage brokers stole over $84 million from 2000to 2007, according to a Miami Herald investigative study. Thats over a MILLION dollars a month from the elderly, the poor and the disabled. Their outlandish mortgage scams included wildly inflated appraisals and phony loan applications. They defrauded borrowers and absconded with millions. Florida is now #1 in mortgage fraud in the country. We're number 1 !!!!

The Office of Financial Regulation's excuse for allowing 10, 529 ex-cons a license to become brokers during those seven years was: we believe in giving people a second chance. So they handed out licenses to convicted cocaine dealers (253), murderers (15), 84 sex offenders and 835 convicted of assault and battery. Add in the 922 larceny convicts, the 327 burglars, and 67 robbers and its hard to believe the second chance theory.

Obviously a significant portion of those ex-cons saw not an oppurtunity to become an upstanding citizen by making a contribution to society but instead, saw an oppurtunity to break the laws again and steal from law-abiding citizens.

It is, however, the 252 convicted of fraud and 161 convicted of forgery that is the most troubling, as they had access to Social Security numbers and personal financial records. Little or NO oversight for those whose past records indicate a tendency to defraud and steal? WHAT was the OFR thinking? Where is their common sense and judgement?

Even a proponent for ex-con fair treatment, Mark Maur, said, "We are opposed to overly broad employment rerestrictions but we recognize that some restrictions should be tied to certain occupations. You dont put a pedophile into a daycare center, for instance. And convicted frauds...", his voice trailed off into a disbelieving question. "As mortgage brokers?"

Miami Herald, July 22, 2008, page 1B, Fred Grimm

Neighbors, June 29

June 29 Miami Herald Neighbors. A week ago Mayor Carlos Alvarez announced plans to cut 1600 jobs, scale back a bevy of social service departments, and eliminate 4.6 MILLION miles of public bus routes- all to close the 200 MILLION dollar gap in the 7.4 billion budget. Increased police expenses and less money from property taxes have resulted in a $1.2 million dollar shortfall for palmetto Bay. Village Manager Ron Williams said, " We know that because we are mostly a built-out bedroom, established community, we wouldnt have a lot of commercial growth". "There is no doubt these are challenging times," Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina said. "People are faced with losing their homes, deciding whether they can pay for gas in their tanks or food on the table, and inevitably they are going to turn to the City for help." AT LEAST 30 Miami-Dade communities are expected to see a decline in taxable property values, the likes of which have not been seen since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. EVERYBODY ELSE GETS IT, times are tough, why not our illustrious City officials ? OUR City oficials responded by voting to take on MILLIONS in new debt, knowing that we are in a recession, residents are losing their jobs and their houses, and WE go on a spending spree? Absurd. Ridiculous. Incredibly irresponsible. Seriously and stupendously stupid. MONUMENTAL MISMANAGEMENT. Certifiably crazy. Hopelessly out of touch. Colossal cluelessness. Ineptitude personified. How many ways can this idiocy be described? Residents need to remember this next election, if we arent bankrupt by then.