My Friend, Richard Grosso Sounds Off on Growth's Insanity in Florida. By Geniusofdespair

As our UDB faces assault by developers...And an expanded highway is proposed along the UDB and supported by our zany Mayor Gimenez,  NSU Law Professor Richard Grosso sounds off. Richard Grosso has always been the voice of reason in my view. He is one of my heroes, along with Gimleteye (Alan Farago), on the environment:OpEd in the Miami Herald Today:Local governments don’t have the luxury of pretending sea-level rise and climate change aren’t...

Read More

Sun Sentinel: Excellent OPED on the corruption of corporate money in Florida politics ... by gimleteye

THIS SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING TO FLORIDA VOTERS AND TAXPAYERS.Florida’s campaign swamp is wider and deeper than Publix | EditorialThe uproar over Publix’s contributions to Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s campaign for governor is the latest chapter in a too-familiar story: the exorbitant influence of corporate money in Florida politics. Publix is merely one of many players in this high-stakes game.The differences this time are the enormity of a single company’s support for a particular candidate, the resulting social media campaign against...

Read More

Who Will Be The Next Mayor of Miami Dade County? By Geniusofdespair

Rebeca Sosa, Esteban Bovo embracing Carlos Gimenez (looking at each other with goofy eyes), and Daniella Levine Cava.I woke this morning thinking about who would be the next Mayor when Carlos Gimenez is forced to leave, thankfully. I am sure the planning has begun as the disastrous reign of Gimenez winds down -- another 2 years. He taught me one thing: The mistake a strong mayor can be. He has hurt the County in so many ways.  Also he is a mean-arrogant...

Read More

Congressional Candidate David Richardson took Sugar Money? by Geniusofdespair

You might not know who these guys are but they are the executives of US Sugar• LUIS FERNANDEZ IS EXECUTIVE VP AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND CO-PRESIDENT OF SUBSIDIARY AMERICAN SUGAR• MALCOLM WADE IS US. SUGAR'S SENIOR VP OF CORPORATE STRATEGY AND BUSINESS• ERIC EDWARDS IS ASSISTANT VP OF US SUGAR•ROBERT COKER IS SENIOR VP OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS FOR US SUGAR Richardson got the above thousands of dollars of donations related to U. S. Sugar. Also now I...

Read More

Bullsugar: Snakes On A Plain ... by gimleteye

The South Florida Water Management District excels in distraction and diversion. These serve a purpose: to deflect attention from the multi-billion dollar engineering model that is gradually turning a public resource -- clean, fresh water -- into a privatized commodity benefiting the state's biggest campaign donors. Big Sugar, for example.The rebuttal refrain is familiar: "we have the lowest water rates in the nation" or "the cheapest electricity for Florida". It is as if taxpayers have become numb and lulled to sleep by repetition.The upcoming...

Read More

Donna Shalala on Lennar's Board? By Geniusofdespair

The Blue Wave in U.S. Congressional District 27In a press release, Congressional hopeful, David Richardson said it was "Effectively a two-person race." I guess he must mean that Matt Haggman dropped out and Kristen Rosen Gonzalez. Really? Did they? In this poll Haggman and Richardson are running neck and neck. I guess things have changed since January. I called Matt Haggman and he was bewildered by the quote about 2 candidates. He said his campaign...

Read More

Eileen Higgins: County Commission District 5 ! ... by gimleteye

Defying conventional wisdom, first time candidate and Democrat, Eileen Higgins, defeated better known Republican rivals in a non-partisan primary race for the county district including Miami Beach and a swath of Little Havana including surrounding neighborhoods. This is a huge win for Higgins, who political operatives tried to squeeze out with a field of Republican rivals and instead topped them all. The vote between Higgins and runner-up Barreiro...

Read More

HBO "The Final Year" ... by gimleteye

The emotion I felt, at the conclusion of the excellent HBO documentary "The Final Year", is in one word: "devastation".I voted for Obama twice, but I found plenty to criticize in his two terms. Still, "The Final Year" conveys his essential nature -- competence and caution -- qualities of character that stand in stark contrast to the wild and careening presidency of Donald Trump. The HBO documentary that premiered last night is told mainly through two principal figures in the Obama administration: chief speechwriter and advisor, Ben Rhodes, and...

Read More

District 5 County Commission: Eileen Higgins ... by gimleteye

For many years, Miami Beach and the western edges of District 5 was under-served by Bruno Barreiro, whose place was cemented by campaign contributors from the development supply chain for his reliable affirmative votes on suburban sprawl.Today's election is the rare instance (noted by Doug Hanks in the Miami Herald) of a county commissioner surrendering his/her seat and leaving a vacancy.If you live in District 5, please vote Eileen Higgins. Read this interesting analysis of the district and candidates at MCI Ma...

Read More

Angry with the world and....Read on, it might be you too! By Geniusofdespair

From the New Yorker MagazineI will never be the same. NEVERMy life with therapy taught me two lessons: don’t minimize and don’t deny: in other words be truthful with yourself. As a child I had become adept at lying to me to cope. Can’t do it anymore.The way my country is going and the blinders on many of the people in the country is having a devastating effect on me. The truth hurts.For example, one tiny example: the Everglades-Trust pushing hard...

Read More

Stop Shopping At Publix ... the corporation has given nearly three quarters of a million dollars to GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam in the past three years ... by gimleteye

Read this excellent OPED in the Palm Beach Post. We are unaccustomed to newspaper editorial boards pushing back against political orthodoxies like the right of corporations to be more powerful than people. In this case, Florida's iconic grocery chain: Publix for its unlimited campaign contributions to the GOP designated front-runner to be next governor of Florida, Adam Putnam.At Eye On Miami, we've written extensively about Putnam, mostly for his...

Read More

SNL grabs Donald Trump by the Pussy ... by gimleteye

SNL writers are quick, but even they couldn't react fast enough to catch Trump's capitulation to North Korea demands that the US stop its planned joint training exercise with South Korea. In the show's season finale they did pin the tail on another donkey: Sarah Palin on Twitter. Palin is paid big bucks to put her stamp of spite, bigotry, and outright nastiness in defense of Trump. Tina Fey reprised her Palin caricature last night and voila.In real life Palin cried tears when, recently, Senator John McCain expressed his regret for elevating Palin...

Read More

Big Sugar Money Is Turning Toxic To Florida Politics ... by gimleteye

Because of Big Sugar's chokehold on Florida politicians, what happened in 2016 -- massive toxic algae outbreaks -- will happen again. Know whose bank account is filling the campaigns of the candidates you vote for.If you are a candidate seeking election and refusing money from Big Sugar, Eye On Miami wants to hear from you NOW. We will feature any candidate who rejects Big Sugar's money; Democrat or Republican or Independent.Here is our bottom line:...

Read More

Betraying my Husband, Fukushima's Nukes and All That Jazz. By Geniusofdespair

I always look in on Fukushima's nuclear disaster of 2011, when there was a meltdown of 3 of their reactors. It was a cascade of events that caused the meltdown; Tsumani caused by an Earthquake. The Japanese are trying to deal with a million tons of radioactive water. The fuel is somewhere in the reactor building but, after 7 years of searching, no one is sure where it is. So everyday the groundwater percolates up from the foundation -- 150 tons of water, and it becomes contaminated by what is left in the reactors:To keep that water from leaking...

Read More

REFORM SUGAR SUBSIDIES NOW! Wall Street Journal Agrees With Eye On Miami! ... by gimleteye

A Chance for Sugar Welfare ReformA bipartisan coalition could reduce the worst farm subsidy.A Chance for Sugar Welfare ReformBy The Editorial BoardMay 15, 2018 7:03 p.m. ETCognitive dissonance is common in Washington, but some cases truly are exceptional. One is the ritual of the farm bill, when Republicans who campaign on “free markets” whoop through corporate welfare for agriculture interests. But maybe there’s a stroke of sense coming on sugar...

Read More

Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board Cheers For Sugar Policy Reform (Just Like Eye On Miami!) ... by gimleteye

The Tampa Bay Times says it just like we do, maybe a little more diplomatically: Big Sugar poisons people, poisons Democracy, and poisons the Everglades. Call your Congressional representative TODAY: Support Sugar Policy Reform!Editorial: U.S. House should end sweet deal for Big SugarEditorialsWith a new farm bill coming up in Congress, now is the time to reset the board on sugar policy to allow market forces to set sugar prices and bring relief to Floridians who are paying dearly for this sweet deal.Longstanding U.S. sugar policy pummels consumers...

Read More

Matt Haggman for Congressional District 27. By Geniusofdespair

Here is Matt Haggman on the Michael Putney show. Make your own decision for this blue wave US Congressional Seat 27. I will be voting for Matt Haggman. He is smart, articulate, my friend, and most importantly not Donna Shalala or Bruno Barreiro (even worse). I have to say, out of all the reporters I have known from the Miami Herald, he was the one I got along with best. He showed me respect, called me, etc. We just clicked. He has a great sense of humor and an innate ability to zero in on problems in our community. He never called me when he worked...

Read More

C-O-L-L-U-S-I-O-N ... by gimleteye

Really good piece, by Axios, summarizing the bill of charges against Donald Trump, not yet criminal indictments. Leads to question: Republicans, what in the world are you thinking by defending Trump and obstructing the US Department of Justice?1 big thing: The public case against TrumpMike Allen, AXIOSOne thing is true of all major political scandals: What we know in the moment is but a tiny, obscured, partial view of the full story later revealed by investigators.That’s what makes the Trump-Russia drama all the more remarkable.Forget all we don’t...

Read More

America Dream Mall: A Totally Predictable Nightmare ... by gimleteye

Next week the Miami-Dade County Commission will vote on the America Dream Mall; one of the largest, if not the largest, malls in the United States, to be built in the northwest corner of Miami-Dade County. From the point of view of traffic and infrastructure burdens on taxpayers, it is a predictable nightmare.Before Gov. Rick Scott, citizens had a place -- state administrative court -- and a roadmap, through the Florida Department of Community Affairs,...

Read More

How Gov. Rick Scott Crapped In Florida's Water Future: the case of George Lindemann v. Maggy Hurchalla ... by gimleteye

We've written exhaustively about the lawsuit and its implications: that Maggy Hurchalla (nee Reno) -- born and raised in what is now Kendall -- finds herself on the tip of a spear used by Big Sugar and its proxies to privatize Florida's water supply.Tampa Bay Times journalist Craig Pittman adds to the record of a dismal case: George Lindemann v. Maggy Hurchalla.Hurchalla and her legal team, including Sandy D'Alemberte's firm, are appealing on first amendment grounds.The case is Kafka-esque, (read our archive for more detail), and here is a key...

Read More

The Blue Wave is Coming...with a whimper. By Geniusofdespair

SIGH!THAT'S IT? This is the favored candidate of the Democrats to send to Congress in district 27? Get excited young people...

Read More

Condo King Jorge Perez: "Besides I'll be dead, so what does it matter?" ... by gimleteye

Politicians plan for sea level rise, by Spanish artist Isaac CordelThe New York Times repeats a quip by Miami Condo King and local billionaire Jorge Perez about climate change and sea level rise.The report concerns a contemporary home built on Miami Beach by Mr. Hani Boutros. Concrete pilings elevated his dream house ten feet high -- not exactly a new concept in South Florida -- with a "retractable" stairway -- which kind of is. But a retractable...

Read More

The Republican Race For Governor, Rick Scott, and Donald Trump ... by gimleteye

The online blog -- Florida Politics -- has coyly tracked Big Sugar's talking points in the past. Peter Schorsch, publisher and founder of Florida Politics, wrote yesterday from an insiders' perspective of a weekend meeting in Orlando, "At confab, Adam Putnam supporters asked to raise more money, game out Trump involvement." We offer the following comments as "outsiders"."... If the election for Florida governor was to be decided by the candidates taking a pop-quiz about the Sunshine State’s history, people, and geography, it’s very likely Putnam...

Read More

They Want to Build a STEEL MILL in Hudstead With Miami Dade Mayor Gimenez's Blessings as He Had to Recuse Himself. By Geniusofdespair

Miami Dade County's most notorious city for UP-TO-NO-GOOD, Homestead, is being slated for...wait for it...an eco-friendly steel mill. Julio Gimenez, the County Mayor's son, is helping pitch this insane area and other family members have been lobbying for it. The Trump-like family ties on this project forced Gimenez to recuse himself. They, the County and the Steel people, want to put this Steel Mill on County land (our land) by the military airport...

Read More

INCREDIBLE: How GOP politics in Florida is poisoned by Big Sugar ... by gimleteye

Read this incredible news report in Politico. On an evening when the top GOP candidates sparred for the first time in public, Big Sugar's influence peddling was on full display yet none in the audience, or the candidates for the matter, dared touch the issue of subsidies and corporate welfare benefiting the billionaires who were not in attendance but watching from behind the velvet curtains of the Republican Party of Florida.For at least eight years,...

Read More