Imagine how Jose "Pepe" Cancio felt after the Latin Builders' Association, in which he has been a member for more than 20 years, first snubbed him at the forum for county mayor and then endorsed Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina -- without even hearing him out.
Cancio goes so far as to call the endorsement a "backroom deal" made without the consent of all members or directors. To which I can only say one thing: "Duh!"
But you don't have to imagine, dear readers. Ladra got a copy of the email he sent the board of directors last Thursday when they LBA issued its announcement and wants to share it with you.
"I am appalled to learn that the LBA issued an endorsement of a mayoral candidate without having the courtesy of interviewing other leading candidates," Cancio began, reminding the chairman of the board, Bernie Navarro, that the qualifying period had ended less than 48 hours earlier. "Unlike other associations such as BASF and ABC, which have extended interviews to all candidates, the LBA issued an endorsement without consulting or advising many of its directors and certainly most of its members. It is my understanding that you are in Europe and you were not even present at the meeting."
"The LBA has always been proud to stand for tradition and it has a history of supporting its members. I started my candidacy the same day that the LBA conducted its 'mayoral debate' and I was disappointed in not being added at the last minute to the panel. I definitely expected an opportunity to be heard," Cancio wrote. "Today, to add insult to injury, we received notification by the LBA that our company was selected 'Member of the Month' which includes receiving recognition in the May issue. In addition, I am the only mayoral candidate who was selected to receive the coveted 'Entrepreneur' of the Year Award by the LBA as received by Jorge Mas Canosa, Pedro Adrian, Armando Codina and others in the past, and I refused to accept it because I felt at the time the award was more deserved by our company and by our employees rather than by me individually.
"As a CEO of a leading Hispanic construction group and a long-time member of the LBA, I should
have received at a minimum the courtesy of an interview. The only endorsement that really counts at the end is that of the voters but I must voice my disappointment in the way that some LBA members purporting to act on behalf of the executive board of the LBA handled what should have been a transparent and democratic process," Cancio wrote, and he had me up to there but then he finished with this zinger and totally lost me: "It is because of this sort of back-room deals and catering to special interests that the LBA is now losing a lot of its credibility in the eyes of many in our community and that is very unfortunate."
Now losing credibility? Special interests and backroom deals are what the LBA is made of, and I find it hard to believe Cancio wouldn't know that after 20 years as an award-winning member of the month. Maybe it only bothers him when he's in the "out" group.
Showing posts with label LBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LBA. Show all posts
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Different $$ "bundles" for Robaina
Well, it's not exactly news, but Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina -- a cash magnet whether he is getting large wads in unmarked envelopes delivered to a friend's home or multiple campaign checks -- was officially endorsed by the Latin Builders Association, as if the group needed an official press release so everyone would know.
Bernie Navarro, president elect of the LBA, pretty much summed it up when he said that since LBA members are "immersed in the building industry, we are extremely invested in the future direction of our local communities... and as a result it is imperative" to endorse Robaina.
And he is so right: The development, building and real estate industry are extremely invested in his candidacy through campaign contributions that more than suggest there is some kind of expected return. Take, for instance, the $18,000 that came from a real estate broker in Miami Lakes through his relatives and companies. Or the $38,000 (at least) from Roberto Cayon, former founding president of Hialeah's Ready State Bank, through his relatives and 70-some corporations that he either owns, is a principal in or is owned by one of his business partners, real estate developer Tom Cabrerizo, who is also partners with Yoram Izhak, who also gave about another $12,000 that Ladra found so far through 24 companies.
(By the way, Cabrerizo and Izhak are the two men who sent Miami Police Chief Miguel Esposito a cease and desist letter last month after the chief said on Spanish language radio that the men were connected to organized crime. Cabrerizo and Izhak were arrested in 2004 as part of a high-profile racketeering case, but federal prosecutors dropped the charges later. Shiver.)
Anyway, this practice of writing multiple campaign checks from your companies, your siblings and, sometimes, every junior partner in your firm is called "bundling" and it is a way of getting around the $500 maximum contribution requirement intended to keep special and financial interests or a small number of people with money from having a disproportionate amount of influence on a candidate or election.
And it is perfectly legal. But I don't know if it's always ethical. I mean, it looks like it might just be enthusiastic support when Pinecrest Councilman Joe Corradino or Hialeah car magnate Gus Machado give $1,500 (their own, their wife's and their business contrtibution). But when $2,500 come from developers Jose and Luis Boschetti, who are "a formidable presence in the South Florida condominium conversion market," according their website, and $5,000 in ten donations come from Jorge A. and Lisette L. Lopez, who own auto-related and real estate businesses in Hialeah, it looks like they are more invested.
Former State Rep. Miguel de Grandy, one of the panelists at an ethics and law seminar Friday at St. Thomas University (priceless iron
y, and photographed here sitting with former commissioner Katy Sorenson on the panel), said that no matter the price, it was part of the American Way. And at the end of the panel he participated in -- called "What Hat Do I Have On Today? Lawyers, Lobbysts and Elected Officials"(priceless, I tell ya) -- I asked him how he would characterize the contributions to Robaina from himself and his wife and his firm and his partner and his sister and her partner (that's $3,000 for anyone who lost count) and if that was done as a lawyer, or as lobbyist or as a private citizen and voter -- albeit one who specializes in government law, going before cities and county boards with his clients' land use, incorporation, annexation and rock quarry issues, among others, first at Greenberg Traurig and at his own firm since 2001.
"As a private citizen," de Grandy said, quickly, seemingly relieved to have that option. "It's part of the American system, part of everybody's first amendment. That's how it's done."
Yes, apparently, it is how it's done.
Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, who was on an earlier panel about judicial races, had a different spin on it, however. "They have an interest. Something is up," he told Ladra when she asked what he thought about a $38,000 contribution coming from the same family or business group. "That would require some special explanation from the people involved."
Former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, the symposium's guest speaker and a dean at the university, said: "That might raise my eyebrow."
But de Grandy -- who, by the way, was reprimanded just last year by the Florida Supreme Court and entered a guilty plea for violating legal ethics due to a conflict of interest because he represented two vendors competing for the same bag-wrapping contract at Miami International Airport -- also knows it doesn't pass what the conference participants called "the smell test."
"That's the problem I have with the premise of where you are going," de Grandy told me. "It is the purpose of election law to make sure everyone knows what everybody else is doing. There are 20 ways to get around that. The issue is not whether it's wrong to give money to a campaign. The issue is that it's transparent. So that people like you can point it out.
"Some people can be bought with a little bit of money. And some people take more," said de Grandy, who is now special counsel to the Florida House overseeing the redistricting process, on which he is considered an expert, having successfully challenged a 2006 initiative for clients Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Well, it does certainly look like the price of tickets to the Elect Julio Robaina Ball fluctuate, depending on who's buying or how soon they confirm, or, something.
Bernie Navarro, president elect of the LBA, pretty much summed it up when he said that since LBA members are "immersed in the building industry, we are extremely invested in the future direction of our local communities... and as a result it is imperative" to endorse Robaina.
And he is so right: The development, building and real estate industry are extremely invested in his candidacy through campaign contributions that more than suggest there is some kind of expected return. Take, for instance, the $18,000 that came from a real estate broker in Miami Lakes through his relatives and companies. Or the $38,000 (at least) from Roberto Cayon, former founding president of Hialeah's Ready State Bank, through his relatives and 70-some corporations that he either owns, is a principal in or is owned by one of his business partners, real estate developer Tom Cabrerizo, who is also partners with Yoram Izhak, who also gave about another $12,000 that Ladra found so far through 24 companies.
(By the way, Cabrerizo and Izhak are the two men who sent Miami Police Chief Miguel Esposito a cease and desist letter last month after the chief said on Spanish language radio that the men were connected to organized crime. Cabrerizo and Izhak were arrested in 2004 as part of a high-profile racketeering case, but federal prosecutors dropped the charges later. Shiver.)
Anyway, this practice of writing multiple campaign checks from your companies, your siblings and, sometimes, every junior partner in your firm is called "bundling" and it is a way of getting around the $500 maximum contribution requirement intended to keep special and financial interests or a small number of people with money from having a disproportionate amount of influence on a candidate or election.
And it is perfectly legal. But I don't know if it's always ethical. I mean, it looks like it might just be enthusiastic support when Pinecrest Councilman Joe Corradino or Hialeah car magnate Gus Machado give $1,500 (their own, their wife's and their business contrtibution). But when $2,500 come from developers Jose and Luis Boschetti, who are "a formidable presence in the South Florida condominium conversion market," according their website, and $5,000 in ten donations come from Jorge A. and Lisette L. Lopez, who own auto-related and real estate businesses in Hialeah, it looks like they are more invested.
Former State Rep. Miguel de Grandy, one of the panelists at an ethics and law seminar Friday at St. Thomas University (priceless iron
y, and photographed here sitting with former commissioner Katy Sorenson on the panel), said that no matter the price, it was part of the American Way. And at the end of the panel he participated in -- called "What Hat Do I Have On Today? Lawyers, Lobbysts and Elected Officials"(priceless, I tell ya) -- I asked him how he would characterize the contributions to Robaina from himself and his wife and his firm and his partner and his sister and her partner (that's $3,000 for anyone who lost count) and if that was done as a lawyer, or as lobbyist or as a private citizen and voter -- albeit one who specializes in government law, going before cities and county boards with his clients' land use, incorporation, annexation and rock quarry issues, among others, first at Greenberg Traurig and at his own firm since 2001."As a private citizen," de Grandy said, quickly, seemingly relieved to have that option. "It's part of the American system, part of everybody's first amendment. That's how it's done."
Yes, apparently, it is how it's done.
Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, who was on an earlier panel about judicial races, had a different spin on it, however. "They have an interest. Something is up," he told Ladra when she asked what he thought about a $38,000 contribution coming from the same family or business group. "That would require some special explanation from the people involved."
Former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, the symposium's guest speaker and a dean at the university, said: "That might raise my eyebrow."
But de Grandy -- who, by the way, was reprimanded just last year by the Florida Supreme Court and entered a guilty plea for violating legal ethics due to a conflict of interest because he represented two vendors competing for the same bag-wrapping contract at Miami International Airport -- also knows it doesn't pass what the conference participants called "the smell test."
"That's the problem I have with the premise of where you are going," de Grandy told me. "It is the purpose of election law to make sure everyone knows what everybody else is doing. There are 20 ways to get around that. The issue is not whether it's wrong to give money to a campaign. The issue is that it's transparent. So that people like you can point it out.
"Some people can be bought with a little bit of money. And some people take more," said de Grandy, who is now special counsel to the Florida House overseeing the redistricting process, on which he is considered an expert, having successfully challenged a 2006 initiative for clients Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Well, it does certainly look like the price of tickets to the Elect Julio Robaina Ball fluctuate, depending on who's buying or how soon they confirm, or, something.
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