Tainted endorsement out, back in

As expected, the endorsement from the Unity Coalition for the Miami city election in District 2 went to Kate Callahan -- who pays the group's political director, Vanessa Brito, $4,500 a month to manage her campaign against incumbent Commissioner Marc Sarnoff.

What was not expected is that the organization took it back four hours later.

As Ladra predicted, Callahan scored the recommendation after last week's screening before the LGBT group, which also interviewed Donna Milo and Michelle Niemeyer (Sarnoff said he was neither invited nor notified). And while he may not have announced it, UC President Herb Sosa did tell Milo in an email sent at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday that a decision had been made: "After much discussion and review of credentials & positions on issues of importance to UC|CU, we felt that both yourself and Ms. Niemeyer were extremely impressive and we would be proud to have represent our city and its needs, but it was determined that Kate Callahan was the overall choice for our recommendation, due to the fact that she will be a full-time commissioner, seemed most in line with our organizations positions on issues of concern as well as offered to host various LGBT community workshops once elected," Sosa wrote (at least he is a fan of long sentences).

That did not ring right to Milo, a Republican transgender lesbian who lost a congressional bid last year against U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Dem/District 20). Milo told Ladra it was a done deal by the time she got to the screening Sept. 1. "I feel it was predetermined. They had their minds made up," she said, adding that she was later told there were some arguments within the group. "Obviously, it was crooked.: While Brito abstained from the vote, the campaign consultant and chairwoman of the Miami Voice recall PAC -- which may be warming its engines (more on that later) -- did collect the questionnaires and contact the candidates. Brito (read: Callahan) had access to all the questionnaires before the screening. Milo and her campaign manager, Emiliano Antunez, had issues with her involvement and influence. Last year, other November candidates and supporters felt UC's recommendation of the Brito longshot slate -- wannabes she worked for and/or with -- was inappropriate if not downright fishy. Nobody can deny that it is at the very least a perceived conflict of interest. Not even Sosa -- eventually.

While he told Ladra Tuesday that it was an insult to even suggest anything might be perceived as unethical. But an hour after I called him on the phone to follow up on the endorsement, he sent another email to Milo and every other candidate in this year's elections, as well as the UC board members, saying that the organization would not endorse anyone and, in effect, rescinding the Callahan recommendation. "Due to unfortunate, misleading and irresponsible actions beyond our control by some in the media and the community, Unity Coalition/Coalicion Unida will not be issuing political recommendations in any local race for November 2011 elections," he wrote, using all caps, but it was just too loud so I changed it. The rest is as is: "We value our process, take the highest of respect & care to ensure total transaprency [sic] and professionalism in our political recommendations since 2002, but unfortunately this year our process was violated and compromised by misinformation put out prematurely and irresponsibly by others, and therefore we feel we have no choice but to NOT ISSUE ANY POLITICAL RECOMMENDATIONS for the 2011 elections at this time. Thank you for your time and attention. We wish all the candidates in the City of Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Miami Lakes & beyond - the best of luck."

Just what does "our process was violated and compromised by misinformation put out prematurely and irresponsibly" mean, may I ask? Maybe it is code for "our tainted process was exposed just in time and with a great deal of legitimate context and therefore we have no choice but to not issue any political favors for our friend because it's too obvious and might be difficult to defend or deflect from." And if Ladra is among the "some in the media" that made this happen, well, then, wag my tail. Because that second email was sent out at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, an hour after Ladra questioned Sosa about the obvious and blatant conflict of interest in a telephone conversation that he recorded after I gave him permission, as required by law, because I have no reason to object. He was not happy when we were done, I guess. Hence the email subject line: "UPDATE on UC|CU Political Endorsements for 2011 - THERE WILL BE NONE!" And it was 35 minutes after I sent Sosa an email asking why he had said that Brito had not been to a UC meeting in six months and had not been at the screening when she announces it on her facebook profile page and posts a mobile photo of her candidate client talking to the board.

Ladra, 1. Sosa, 0.

But I still want copies of the UC's last three annual 990s (forms non-profits are required to file with the IRS and produce copies of upon request). Ladra has questions about the expenses and proceeds (if there were any left) from a Haiti earthquake relief fashion show in Miami Beach last year that Brito organized. But since Sosa, who seems afraid of what we might find, flat out refused to provide them, I will have to make the public records request via the IRS in D.C. and that could take weeks. "Our records are clear. We have audits. I'm not going to share them with you. It's none of your concern," Sosa told me, but maybe he changed his mind about that also, like the endorsement.

Because it is my concern, Herb. This community needs organizations like UC to vet candidates and make recommendations based on the group's criteria and agenda, and I hope that UC will resume that tradition -- after it creates a cleaner process that is not violated and compromised by conflict of interest, real or perceived. And those organizations must be transparent and accountable to the community. So I hope that you change your mind and provide me with copies, as required by law, so that any perceived problems can be cleared up.

In the meantime, he did say he would not provide them to me. He was very specific. "I'm not giving you anything." So if anyone else would care to do the honors and get the public documents for Ladra, we would wag harder. Sosa can be reached at sosa37@bellsouth.net or 786-271-6982.

Miami campaigner taints process

The political advisor of a LGBT group that intends to make endorsements in the Miami city elections is also the campaign manager for one of the candidates. And while that appears to be an enormous -- and possibly planned -- conflict of interest to everyone in the universe, however, is defended as business as usual and no big deal by the group's leaders.

Unity Coalition sent out questionairres to candidates and is screening them tomorrow. But Ladra is going out on a limb to say that they already know they will be pushing for Kate Callahan in the city's District 2 race against incumbent Commissioner Marc Sarnoff. This hunch is not based on her stand on issues or any one thing that she has done, but rather on the fact that her campaign manager is UC's political director, Miami Voice chair and political consultant Vanessa Brito.

After all, Callahan is paying Brito $4,500 a month, according to campaign finance reports, for something. All political operatives have just raised their eyebrows or dropped their jaw. Brito is a newby and $4,500 a month is way out of her league. She is robbing Callahan blind. They say this. Not Ladra. But Ladra knows that the gypsy con artist is totally capable.

Yeah, yeah, both Brito and UC founding president Herb Sosa say there is no conflict because the campaign manager/political chair will abstain from voting. Riiiight. And her hand-picked committee is not going to just rubber stamp her clients. Suuuure. But that's exactly what they did last year when almost every single pick on their "vote for" list had Brito on the campaign either as staff or volunteer, including such obvious underdogs and arguably unqualified candidates as commission hopeless Mimi Planas and longshot State Rep. candidates Johnny Farias and Lisa L'Esperance. Maybe it's just loyalty. But it's not a coincidence. It is, indeed, a conflict of interest, even if it is just perceived as such by the other candidates and their supporters. And UC should go out of its way to ensure that perception is addressed and eliminated.

Two candidates in the District 2 race did not submit the questionnaire and might not even be considered by the board, making their recommendation somewhat useless. The third may noto have been contacted either but Michelle Neimeyer never returned my call so I don't know. Sarnoff, the incumbent who is easily reached, said he never got it. Nor did he know about the screening tomorrow. This was the same thing other candidates in the 2010 race told Ladra back then. "I guess I am not going to be considered by them," Sarnoff said. No, Marc, you are not. "Isn't that a conflict of interest?" Yes, Marc, it most certainly is. Donna Milo, another candidate, agreed with him. She got the questionnaire after Brito contacted Milo's campaign manager to say they never got it back. But Milo, a Republican transgender who just lost a Congressional bid for the 20th district to replace Debbie Wasserman Schultz, says she does not want to give the campaign manager for her opponent access to use her questionairre in some way. She said she offered to take the answered questions with her for the board to use during the screening only if she could take them with her when she left. "Unless I get to keep copies of Kate Callahan's answers and the answers of the other candidates. Because Vanessa is going to have access to all of them and that means that Kate Callahan will have access. Why would I turn over the questionairre to my opponent?"

Milo's gut instinct is right on target, I bet. Brito must really want Milo's questionnaire. Though Sarnoff said she never reached out to him, she emailed Milo's campaign manager last week to get her included. "The Unity Coalition Board of Directors is meeting on September 1st (see details below) and would like to meet with as many candidates running on November 1st. While Donna Milo did not complete the questionnaire, we would still like to extend an invitation to join us and talk to our Board," she wrote. "Please let me know if Donna will be attending." Antunez said Milo never got a questionnaire and that, later, Brito took that back, telling him that UC founder and president Herb Sosa said that any candidate screened had to fill out a questionnaire. But the political operative is more worried about what he sees about an apparent conflict of interest with Brito's participation?

"If an organization is going to endorse candidates in a race it should go the extra mile to insure that no one involved in the process is working for any candidate in the race," said Emiliano Antunez, Milo's campaign manager. "In the interest of fairness, Unity Coalition should consider completely removing people involved in campaigns from the process of endorsing candidates.

"Ms. Brito may not be voting member but her initiating the contact for Unity Coalition regarding endorsements in the City of Miami Commission District 2 race where she is working for one of the candidates, unnecessarily clouds the process for an organization that has done much needed work on GLBT issues in Miami Dade."

Duh.

Brito, in photographs here with Kate Callahan and U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen at the SaveDADE Champions of Equality event in May, would not respond to a call or an email about this little repetitive conflict controversy. Except to write her comical "cease and desist" mantra and add that she never votes on any election endorsement, which as Ladra already explained, means nada. Her influence in that group is permeable. Ladra has sat in on meetings.

Sosa, however, was very defensive and told Ladra that her information was non-facutal (what information? It was a question) and that she lacked "understanding of the process" when she simply asked legitimate questions about Brito's role. His answer speaks volumes about his own guilty conscience and fear that I am asking the right questions, so I am going to include it in full, with the questions I asked.

Ladra: "How are you handling the process this year, seeing as how Vanessa is involved in several elections? And is there not a conflict of interest that your political director is also campaign manager for a candidate and working, possibly, on other campaigns?"

Sosa: "Once again your information is non-factual and lacks understanding of the process and issues involved in Unity CoalitionCoalicion Unida and how we have conducted our business since 2002. I will once again attempt to clarify it for you now.

"All individuals running for elected office & positions UCCU deems important and of subtance to our mission, are considered each election cycle - this one being no exception. All qualified candidates have year-round access to our questionnaire via our website and we do our best to reach them as well. Once they return their questionnaire, our board decides if they wish to meet them in person for consideration of UCCU recommendation. Any board member with any conflicts - personal or business - do not vote on recommendations - never have, never will. Our minutes & voting always reflect this."

"I hope this educates you once again on our process and I expect that any 'reporting' by you on this issue be fair, factual, complete & accurate. If you wish to report on issues really affecting our LatinoHispanicLGBT community, I am always available to inform you on the facts."

Ladra reports on politics and government, but since this group does make endorsements and could have influence -- and, just maybe, influence that is manipulated for political gain -- perhaps it is a good idea for you and I to meet and discuss your group's efforts, Herb. Please have the 990s from the last three years and the receipts from your Haiti earthquake relief effort last year ready so I can see them and ask questions about where the money went. Oh, and where the dozens of bottles of donated liquor that were left over went. (Ladra suspects that perhaps they coincidentally ended up at the campaign events that followed in the next week for two of Brito's clients). Maybe I could ask you about about LGBT groups that hurt the community -- of which I am a proud member, by the way, which I have to state because they are capable of turning this into something it is not and have before -- by capitalizing on their non-profit status to run scams that the board members financially benefit from?

When do you want to get together? Or should I send a questionnaire?

First slates, now staffs stiffen up

Campaign teams are forming as paid political operatives attach themselves to candidates and slates in the upcoming Hialeah elections.

Most recently, interim alcaldito Carlos Hernandez and Council President Isis "Gavelgirl" Garcia-Martinez were spotted at a Starbuck's on West 49th Street Thursday morning with absentee ballot queen Sasha Tirador and gypsy con artist and Tiradorita-in-Training Vanessa Brito. "It was a private meeting," Garcia told Ladra when we asked earlier this afternoon. "And I don't have to talk to you about anything." After the call was mysteriously disconnected, Garcia-Martinez returned a subsequent phone call and, in a much more friendly and open manner, told Ladra that Tirador was her campaign manager and that Brito -- who did not return several phone calls, as usual -- was "doing numbers and stuff for me.

"Vanessa and I have been friends for a long time and we worked the Frank Lago campaign together," Gavelgirl said referring to the state rep race where the chief of staff to Sweetwater Mayor Manny Marono lost to cigar czar Jose Oliva. Brito, as chair of Miami Voice, had simply endorsed Lago and was not supposed to have worked the campaign professionally, but she does that all the time. She also said Tirador was on board. "She's always been in my campaign," Garcia-Martinez said before Ladra reminded her that she had not raised much and Tirador is a pricy professional. "I always raise funds and pay her," Gavelgirl said, adding that she had done some fundraising since the last reporting deadline.

Tirador was a little more comic and cryptic about it.

"The meeting was in reference to a blouse that Isis and I are going to buy at Macy's," she said, thrilling Ladra with a reference to an earlier blog post (She likes me! She really likes me!) and proving that political operatives can have a sense of humor, too.

The meeting was a follow up to a proposal that Tirador made to the two incumbent candidates, she told Ladra. She said she met the group there and, though she worked with Brito in the recall effort against former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Commissioner Natacha Millan -- both she and the Miami Voice PAC chair (who she thought was a "volunteer" until Ladra told her) were paid consultants for Norman Braman -- she said she did not make a partnered pitch with Brito and was surprised to find herself at the same table. "I went to a meeting. I didn't know who was going to be there."

Tirador, widely rumored to be working for Hernandez already, said she had made proposals to both the acting alcaldito and former State Sen. Rudy Garcia (Rep., District 40), though certainly not former Mayor Raul Martinez, who she helped beat in the Congressional race where she worked for Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and who she repeatedly called an obscenity, daring me to quote her (more on that later and I will). But since she is on board with Garcia, and Garcia said she was definitely on slate with Hernandez, Ladra is going to go out on a limb and say the absentee ballot queen, who has worked with both incumbents in past races, is on his team too.

Besides, Garcia said he hasn't met with Tirador in weeks. And, while the veteran state legislator guardedly answers questions in some secret agent language that you don't exactly know if he answered your question or not (read: not), he seems to indicate that she will not be working on his campaign. "For the time being, she is not part of the team," Garcia said, again insisting that he has not hired anybody. Everyone else in the biz -- the same malas lenguas who say that Tirador is already with the incumbents and that council candidate Lago is part of the slate -- says Garcia has got Ana Carbonell, Al Lorenzo and Dario Moreno. Garcia-Martinez said Lago was not necessarily part of the slate -- yet. "I like him. He's a great guyy. But we don't have a slate yet. We'l work that out in the next week or so."

Not to be outdone, of course, is Martinez, a political powerhouse who already has Jeffrey Garcia (who helped Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez and is now working on the Miami Commission incumbent campaign for Marc Sarnoff) on board and will meet with former State Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla next week. The DLP, who Ladra has a love/hate relationship with, has been rumored for a couple of weeks to be on the Martinez side but Mr. Mayor had denied any connection -- until today. Martinez said the former senator -- a brilliant if somewhat offbeat guy -- called him as he recovered from back surgery last week (that's why he was MIA from the Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez supporter thank you shindig at the Big 5 Club, which turned into a Hialeah campaign stop, last week).

"He's bright, he's respected," said Martinez (and Ladra might add reckless and unstable but mighty good-looking). Mr. Mayor already got a $500 contribution from the Becker Poliakoff lawfirm where the Dean's brother, Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (Rep. District 36) works. "I've known them since they were kids. I knew their father," Martinez said.

So this could turn out to be a big rematch between Dean Diaz de la Portilla, who worked on the pivotal Gimenez run-off, and Tirador and Carbonell who were on the same team in the county mayoral race working for former Hialeah mayor Julio Robaina. The Dean, who had worked with Brito on the Gimenez campaign and, we hope, didn't teach her too much of what he knows, won that one. It will also put Jeff Garcia and Brito against each other in a second November race: Brito is working on the campaign for candidate Kate Callahan against Sarnoff. As Ladra has mentioned, it is an incestuous business. Even Emiliano Antuñez of Dark Horse Strategies, who represents a third of four candidates, Dona Milo and worked against the Dean in the race for the Miami-Dade Commission District 7 seat but with him in the Gimenez run-off -- but against him and with Tirador in the Robaina primary -- may also team up with Brito Tirador (anew) on the Hernandez team in Hialeah.

Ladra has to go now. There are new flow charts to draw.

'Neutral' activist worked for mayor

The chairwoman of the Miami Voice recall PAC, Vanessa Brito, has repeatedly said she was going to stay neutral in the mayoral race and has been made a media darling -- including a Best Local Activist nod from New Times, which apparently does not vet its best candidates -- for her role (read: paid Norman Braman campaign coordinator) in the historic recall.

But Brito has been working on the campaign for our mayor elect, Carlos Gimenez, for the past few weeks, at least. Maybe longer. Perhaps New Times should have named her Best Professional Activist. Here she is hiding from my camera at the Gimenez victory party, although she jumps at every other media exposure opportunity and even creates them when she can.

Not only did Alex Diaz de la Portilla tell me himself, between insults on Tuesday, that Brito was working with him on some of his campaign tasks -- which we know includes advertising and the absentee ballot drive, and I will bet on the latter -- but a Hialeah firefighter also told me, unwittingly, that he took some financial report from the city to her house (we assume he got permission from Gimenez campaign people) so she could have the "PAC attorney" look them over and see if there was some mismanagement they could attack on. As far as Ladra knows, the PAC attorney is Miami Lakes Mayor Michael "Muscles" Pizzi, whose own town overwhelmingly voted for former Hialeah mayor Julio Robaina, who was narrowly defeated in the mayoral runoff Tuesday. But why would they need Muscles's help with that? Maybe it was supposed to be "PAC accountant." Although, really, anybody with a basic grasp of math can see that there are discrepancies and not a lot of transparency with Hialeah's finances. People have asked questions already and I expect the next city council meeting to be fun. (I'll be in the back row). Anyway, I called Vanessa and left her a message about her getting the financial reports and why she was working for the mayor when she said she was going to stay out of it. She never called me back. But she immediately called the firefighter, because she knew where I had gotten the information, and I was sitting next to him when the call came in on his cellphone.

And while Brito denies being the one behind the emails sent by vb@speakupmiami.us -- who began to praise the Political Cortadito once Ladra started sniffing around this subject, but thanks anyway -- and truthabout@8milliondollarmayor.org and rescuemiami@rescuemiami.info and ben@rescuemiami.info, the IP addresses for all four of those emails come back to the same IP address as brito@miamivoice.org and brito@myamimarketing.com. Let's repeat that: All six emails have the same IP address, which come from the same domain client or host server. And even the emails from Hugo and Ralph Arza, who were working for Robaina, come from the same IP address. Weird, huh? (More on that a little further down) It could even mean they come from the same computer or network of computers at the same physical address. But it could also mean that the same client at go daddy owns the domains or the same host server hosts all those domains and emails. It could be that one consultant opened all those domains for her and also opened the Arza domain. But we don't know because she won't discuss it.

We do know that social media and email blasts are one of Brito's specialties and a staple of her campaign strategies. Despite several replies to these emails, asking these people to come forth, only one email has been returned. I asked the speakupmiami writer -- who began the first missives citing the Miami Voice voter guide -- to please call me so we could establish it was really an independent group, not just another pseudonym for the same old people (like the PACs are). In the reply, the writer cited the movie Inception and said,"If you've seen inception then you'll understand that I although I cannot call you will have to take a leap of faith."

Later, when I insisted, the writer added more: "Look my name is Victor, I haven't been out of college too long, but was really interested in investigative journalism. One of the reasons I follow you is because I thought your questions and writing were right on the mark. A friend of mine got me involved with all this as he brought up politics in the city and county I realized how bad things were and could get. I've just been following the campaigns since the recall but things have gotten too hot I think. I am humbly stepping away but stay in touch," it said. Ladra pressed, and explained the IP discrepancy. "That I have no idea about, I do not work in computer technology or anything I don't know how that works, and I said I was interested in investigative journalism, I am new and do not know much." Ladra pressed again, asking for just 60 seconds by phone. If I could hear Victor's voice, that would certainly go a long way toward easing doubts. His answer: "I'm a little busy right now but if you give me a little bit I will try to give you a call."

That call never came. Subsequent attempts to reach "Victor" have been met with no answer.

Brito did not respond to a telephone message left on her voice mail. She did reply to an email request. "That's absolutely not true. I don't know who those people are and in fact, contacted them about the initials. You can post anything you want. If you haven't contacted the people who own the site, then you're not doing your job. I will ask you once more not to contact me again." But I did. I have to try harder. "You should have a tech help you out with IP research. I will not have anything to do with false accusations regarding this. I am asking, once again, that you do not contact me again - for this or any other issue."

I did try her again today, just before I posted this. I had tried her yesterday, too. But she does not want to -- or cannot -- explain this seeming conflict of interest.

She sent me (under the subject line "good research") the registration of speakupmiami.us to a Tallahassee address who is also behind rescuemiami.org, another pro-Gimenez group. Ladra was thinking the same thing: Flow chart! But it proves nothing because, as everone knows, you can have a registered agent hundreds of miles away and still be sending emails from the computer in your home, which is what the IP address footprint may indicate. At least, according to people who know far more about this than me. I did get tech help. And according to all the forensic computer and people with dedicated host servers, the dedicated server that hosts the Miami Voice email also hosts the other groups. And also hosts emails that come from Hugo and Ralph Arza at ralpharza.com. So all those emails are being routed through the same internet client.

It makes sense that Brito would want to join a winning mayoral campaign, and get a bite at a piece of it so she can later claim credit. Photographed here at the Gimenez victory party, where the self-promoting opportunist got herself a soundbite on WSVN Channel 7, Brito is also a political consultant with a marketing firm and while she has repeatedly insisted that the two hats are separate there seem to be blurry lines. But Ladra can't help but wonder if she worked both sides. The Arza email connection is one weird thing. And then there's this little "Twilight Zone" moment: The Miami Lakes office used as campaign HQ by former candidate Roosevelt Bradley, widely considered a Robaina plant who later endorsed the Hialeah pick, was also listed as the address of a political consultant with an inactive corporate name paid by North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin in his Congressional bid, on which Brito worked last year, and whose expense report has other vendors with inactive corporations or nonexisting addresses (more on later).

All of this might be explained of course. I believe in giving one the benefit of the doubt. But Brito will not give an explanation or even talk about any of these things. And that gives the doubt more benefit.

Meanwhile, the "neutral" Miami Voice chaired by a political consultant did give out one endorsement -- to Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroño's chief of staff Francisco Lago, a buddy of Brito's from her FIU days, in his unsuccessful bid for the state rep seat vacated by the new Miami-Dade district 13 Commissioner Esteban Bovo, who decidedly won the seat of former Commissioner Natasha Seijas Millan, who was the only one of five targetted commissioners that Brito's efforts -- which she admits were paid for by Norman Braman -- was able to oust. (That's success?) Anyway, Lago's latest campaign finance reports do not show direct payments to her (the final one is not in yet, though), but she could have gotten the trickle effect of the $102,000 or so paid by Lago through Sasha Tirador, who also worked on Robaina's campaign with David Custin. Both Tirador and Custin also worked for Braman on the recall, with Brito.

It's all just too close for comfort. But this business is terribly incestuous. Yesterday's enemies are working on campaigns together today. Take the case of Emiliano Nuñez, a direct mail specialist who was paid more than $3,500 by the Robaina campaign before the primary and then got hired by the Gimenez PAC, Common Sense Now, and made another $5,815 after Robaina's people did not rehire him for the runoff (maybe that was their mistake). Nuñez told me himself that he will work for whoever hires him, which may leave a bit to be desired, but it's honest.

Brito, on the other hand, is fooling the public by saying she is neutral when she is stumping for one of the candidates. And I cannot imagine she is doing it for free, but that shouldn't matter.

This hypocrisy is something that our new mayor needs to distance himself from. He should know better, after he was already burned by her once, when she did the press release and radio spot against Gimenez for the Accountability Project.

And he should distance himself from her if he wants to continue to be known as honest and transparent. Because she is all about smoke and mirrors.

The Brito Bounce burns Robaina

Looks like another candidate has borne the brunt of the Brito Bounce, which is what Ladra calls it when PAC chair and political operative Vanessa Brito shows her traitor opportunistic stripes and betrays another one. Burned this time: Former State Rep. Julio Robaina, running in the District 7 commission race to replace mayoral candidate Carlos Gimenez (burned last time).

Robaina met with Brito, chair and founder of the Miami Voice recall PAC, early last month to chat campaign strategy and he thought she was on board until just the other day. He didn't even know, til Ladra told him, that Brito’s Myami Marketing firm was paid $2,000 for "PR consulting" April 21 by former Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez, Robaina’s only opponent in the race. But he got an inkling something was up. She hadn't return a single call of more than a dozen he made to her in the two weeks since the April 6 breakfast meeting at a Bird Road Denny’s where Brito indicated energetically that she would be on his team, he said. In attendance were the two men who Robaina said “highly recommended” Brito: The late Carlos Alvarez, a campaign consultant and local democratic party activist who had a sudden massive heart attack last Friday, and Johnny Farias, who ran for state rep last year but lost the Democratic primary to Sandra Ruiz. Also there, former State Rep. Juan Carlos Zapata (Rep., District 119), who is running for commissioner in District 12 next year, and someone named Yoel Alfonso, who might be a union guy and the same Yoel Alfonso quoted in a 1997 New Times story as an avid Suarez supporter. (What the...? Don't these candidates vet people anymore?)

Brito, who looks like she is picking her next switcheroo here, was excited about the get together, posting on facebook at 8:14 a.m. April 6 via blackberry that she was “looking forward to a great morning meeting.” And she was excited in her email to Robaina the next day, and furnished here to Ladra. To quote in its entirety:

“Hi Julio! Great meeting with you and Juan yesterday. I hope we can work together, especially mobilizing the recall voters in the District. Let's just hope CG stays in the race!

As promised, here are the counts for voters for 3/15 election. I will get you the numbers for the Key Biscayne precincts separately in a bit.

Dist. 7 Voters who voted in Recall Election: 22,671

Dist. 7 Voters who signed a Recall petition or requested an AB through us: 9,722

Dist. 7 Voters whose AB solicitation has expired, was not renewed, and would not receive an AB for your election: 9,390

Dist. 7 Voters who voted AB: 8,579

Hope this serves as a starting point. These folks are more likely to vote for you over Suarez, so long as you get to them first and target them correctly.”

Wonder what her current boss would say/think about that last line. But Robaina took it as a sign that she really did want to do something, even if they couldn't afford the $4,000 he said she asked for. ”She said, ‘We like you, Julio. We know your past. You are a breath of fresh air.' Why would she give me data if she was working for the opposition?"

Brito said all she gave him were raw numbers. "Did I give him names and addresses? There is a lot more data than that," she said. She acknowledged she had gone to the meeting, but said she never agreed to work for Robaina or indicated that she would work for him. She said that Yoel Alfonso, who was also there, was also supporting Suarez now. But, as Ladra said, we suspect he was always supporting Suarez. Maybe Brito was, too. The other people at the meeting, the two that are still with us, told Ladra that Brito indicated she was part of Robaina's camp.

"She told Julio she wanted to help," Juan Carlos Zapata, who is one of Robaina's partners in their condo management business, told Ladra. "She was taking notes."

Said Farias: "She was very enthusiastic about it."

Brito also sent two other emails on April 7 -- one with the Key Biscayne numbers and another that ends "let me know if you need anything else, please." Sounds like she is on board, right?

Wrong. Robaina said he tried to call Brito at least a dozen times since that last email. He left messages. Brito never called him back. Farias, a known Vanessican, told Ladra the same thing. "I tried getting a hold of her several times. I couldn't get a hold of her," Farias said, adding that Alvarez, before he died of a massive heart attack Friday, had also tried to reach Brito several times, to no avail. "I haven't talked to Vanessa in almost a month," Farias said. "I heard that she started working with him [Suarez] because a friend of hers asked her to help him out."

Perhaps it was Norman Braman, the other recall media darling, who recently endorsed Suarez. After all, he pays Brito an undisclosed sum through an Arizona company for "data research" and, Ladra suspects, other work on local campaigns. But Ladra thinks that the gypsy con artist was more motivated by the money (that $2,000 is what's on the books as of April 22. The next financial disclosure report is not due until May 19). Brito has every right to get paid for her work as a political consultant and to work for whoever compensates her what she thinks she is worth. But she should have called Robaina and told him. To leave him hanging is not as bad as coming out with a press release and attack ad after telling another candidate that he was the bomb and she was going to help him. But it's still bad.

Zapata said he warned Robaina against trusting Brito. "I like community activists. But I also get very skittish when community activists also take on political agendas," Zapata told Ladra. "Julio said she was going to help him without any money. I told him, 'You gotta be careful. Folks like that who get into the scene through some popular movement and then they become famous and then they get politically involved -- it never ends well.'"

Ladra told Zapata that she is quite sure, actually, that Brito planned her political agenda first and then became a self-proclaimed "community activist" to further it.

"That's the sense I got," he shot back.

"Sandra Lopez" to be unmasked

Ladra has a message for whoever hid behind the name Sandra Lopez to send out an email to Miami Lakes residents last month bashing a local dentist who is leading an effort to recall Mayor Michael "Muscles" Pizzi: Come out, come out, where ever you are.

You are going to be outed anyway, so you may as well come out now and save some face.

Melissa Ayers, a spokeswoman for Constant Contact, called me back today about the lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court seeking damages for defamation in an email blast they sent March 8. But even though David Bennett, president of the Concerned Citizens for Better Government PAC formed to recall Pizzi, sued the company, what he really believes is that Pizzi was somehow behind the email.

Ladra isn't so sure. I mean, he's an attorney first. He must know that the records can be retrieved via subpoena. And Constant Contact does not fight subpoenas, Ayers told me, so it's just a matter of time before everything is revealed.

I am willing to bet Sandra is a pseudonym for Miami Voice PAC Chair Vanessa Brito, who we suspect also hides behind the pages of actual sitting elected officials whose facebook accounts she administers or manages (ala "Vanessa Brito!" is who won in the Coral Gables elections and also who someone wants for mayor. "Vanessa Brito!" The elected has denied making those posts to someone else. He still has not called me back, but I will post it anyway. More on that later).

The email in question was sent after Bennett registered Miami Voice, Inc., under his name in Florida's Division of Corporations (Brito had not secured it and only registered at the county. Why?). "Sandra Lopez" called what Bennett did fraud and questioned his motives, alleging he was going to use the "good name" of the fraudulent PAC (sue me for defamation, I dare you) to raise funds. Of course, "Sandra Lopez" took the opportunity to campaign for the recall of commissioner Natacha Seijas in this email, which by the way had no political advertisement disclaimer. I mean, if it is not a PAC plant, who or where is this suddenly very vocal and active Miami Lakes resident "Sandra Lopez," who still has not returned two emails sent from me to her at miamilakesconcernedresidents@gmail.com, and why is she so outraged on behalf of Miami Vice? She goes so far as to say that "No greater fraud of deceit has been perpetrated than Dr. Bennett creating an organization named Miami Voice." That is very extreme, no?, if she is not a board member. She has not been quoted or seen at any Miami Vice rallies or court appearances. Ah, maybe she is just a Pizzi fan. "Sandra Lopez" did two days earlier send another Constant Contact email -- with more misspellings -- that praised Pizzi for serving as pro-bono attorney for Miami Vice against a lawsuit from Seijas' supporters that challenged hundreds of questionable petitions. Maybe this is the bono in pro-bono.

"I am a resident of Miami Lakes and Miami-Dade County. I want to congratulate Mayor Michael Pizzi for being the only mayor in Miami-Dade to have the courage to publicly support the voters in their quest to recall Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Commissioner Natacha Seijas.

"This past September, Mayor Pizzi appeared before the County commission and urged them not to raise taxes and he set an example by lowering taxes in his own city. In fact, Pizzi was the first mayor to sign Mr. Braman's recall peition and staged a rally in Miami Lakes to protest agaisnt raising taxes.

"Michale Pizzi then foguht in court pro-bono to make sure that voters have the right to vote in the recall election. Finally, in March, Mayor Pizzi completed his fight for the people when he cast his "YES" vote on the recall of both Seijas and Alvarez."

This email included a photo of Pizzi at a pro-recall rally with "hundreds of residents" before casting his vote. But the photo expired from the Constant Contact system and Ladra could not see if they were truly residents or Miami Vice's paid sign-holders. And that email, as well as any other email sent by "Sandra Lopez" or the client who paid for it under different names, will be part of what Bennett's attorney, Stephen Cody, will demand in court. He also wants every single email that it went to and suspects the email addresses were provided by Pizzi, or someone at the city at Pizzi's request. Ladra says they were provided by Miami Voice, who already had gotten them from Pizzi. It doesn't matter, what is left of their credibility will be tarnished unless, and I can hold a tiny little shadow of a doubt better than anyone, "Sandra Lopez" comes forward.

Ladra can't wait for this to play out in court. Cody is going to ask for two years worth of the "Sandra Lopez" client's email records and we suspect other political campaigns might be, shall we say, embarrassed. by some of the things he may find.

Ayers, the Constant Contact spokeswoman, said this type of defamation claim on emails "comes up all the time" and that the company is not liable. "We don't control the content and our policy is very clear. The content is the responsibility of the client." She confirmed Cody's report that they had talked to the client. "We do reach out to the customer, we tell them a concern has been raised and make sure they are notified that they can't do that. The person who sent this email has been contacted and that person said they would not do it again."

Okay, but since we don't think that person is really honest, you can't just believe it, Melissa. And since it is being used as a manipulative tool to malign someone for political benefit, with none of the regulatory checks in place like campaign finance reporting or political disclaimers, you need to do more, Melissa. Or we are going to see more of these pseudonymous bashing email blasts.

Cody suggests a screening filter for words like "fraud" or "criminal" and maybe "rapist" -- let me add "pedophile" -- to a spam filter so someone can review them if they are flagged. It should not be so difficult. And it might save you the cost of going to court when it "comes up all the time."

Because, trust me, if changes aren't made, it will come up again from another "Sandra Lopez."

Email for Voice PAC in lawsuit

The Miami Lakes dentist leading the recall effort against Mayor Michael "Muscles" Pizzi filed yet another lawsuit Monday stemming from his ongoing public battle with the one-time activist lawyer.

But instead of Pizzi, (standing in the photo at the Miami Lakes library with a misspelled PAC sign), David Bennett this time sued Constant Contact for libel and/or slander because of an email sent to Miami Lakes residents. The author is a "Sandra Lopez," but Bennett and his attorney, Stephen Cody, believe is a pseudonym for someone else. That email said the dentist committed fraud when he registered a Florida corporation under the name Miami Voice, which is the name of the opportunistic PAC born from the mayoral recall fever, a group that ultimately ousted veteran commissioner Natacha Seijas. They were loudly outraged by the move. So what Bennett and Cody -- who represented Seijas in the lawsuit to stop the recall and PAC chair Vanessa Brito in a lawsuit against her by Miami Gardens Councilman Andre Williams -- really want is for the trail to lead back to Miami Voice and Pizzi, who represented the PAC pro bono.

And what they really hope is that Pizzi used a city credit card or account to pay for it. That would be unethical, illegal and, possibly, actionable.

Cody said someone at Constant Contact practically admitted the email author was not Sandra Lopez. "They said that they warned the person not to do it again. She said 'They've been put on notice,'" he quoted someone as saying. "But that's not good enough," Cody said. So Bennett sued them for intentional and negligent defamation.

In the motion, it says Constant Contact "is aware of the true identity of the person using the pseudonym 'Sandra Lopez' but permitted that person to hide their identity." It also says the company "failed to take reasonable steps" to make sure that the content they were sending on behalf of a third person was not "false, scandalous and defamatory."

Here's some of the email, titled "Urgent: Dr. Bennett Commits Fraud by Misrepresenting Miami Vice, sent March 8 to "friends and Miami Lakes residents" from Ms. Sandra Lopez:

"As shocking as it may sound, Natacha Seijas supporter and main campaigner, David Bennett, has registered a Non-Profit with the State of Florida under the name “Miami Voice.” As we know, Miami Voice PAC has led the fight to oust Commissioner Natacha Seijas and Dr. Bennett has nothing to do with the recall. In fact, he has attacked the original Miami Voice numerous times in his emails and efforts to fight the recall," the email author wrote, adding the link to the Florida Division of Corporation website where the record of the incorporation of the name can be found. "Their organization is aimed at destroying the real Miami Voice's efforts and has secretly and without permission registered an organization called Miami Voice. Bennett's Miami Voice organization is going to be soliciting emails from people in an attempt to continue his rampages against Miami Lakes residents and government and more significantly, to raise money."

They haven't raised money and he didn't need anybody's permission. Sandra Lopez, or whoever, also says that when television stations showed up at the address listed for the corporation (but she doesn't say at whose request or suggestion), they found a church (but she didn't say that David Southern, the other corporate officer, is a pastor at that church). But read on, please:

"No greater fraud of [sic] deceit has been perpetrated than Dr. Bennett creating an organization named Miami Voice."

Really? No greater fraud in Miami or Miami-Dade? Ever? Sandra Lopez has been asleep under a rock. Or, more likely, she is one of the Miami Voice promoters and boosters, perhaps PAC chair Vanessa Brito herself, who uses Constant Contact on a regular basis and has quite the flair with emails (more on that later). Or judge for yourself.

"Why would David Bennett solicit money from people pretending to be Miami Voice? Is this an attempt by Bennett to mislead people and misuse the Miami Voice name? Is there a valid explanation for all this? More likely, this is part of Bennet's [sic] ongoing and disgusting efforts to help Natacha Seijas by spreading lies, misinformation and deception throughout Miami Lakes in a desperate attempt to try and divert attention from his friend Seijas. Dr. Bennet [sic], let the residents put you on notice: You can send 20 emails a day spreading lies and deceit about Miami Lakes officials and other honorable people. It is not working. The voters of Miami Lakes are going to recall Natacha Seijas because of the tax increases and her vile conduct. No red herrings about Miami Lakes officials are going to change that."

Neither Pizzi nor Brito returned calls and emails to get their comments. An email sent to Sandra Lopez at her email address, miamilakesconcernedresidents@gmail.com, but nobody wrote back or called at the number I provided. (Can't someone track down that ip address?) Ladra was also unable to reach Lisa Sparks, regional development director at Constant Contact. But I will keep calling to try to see what the company says about the email.

But Ladra recognizes Brito's hand all over it for several reasons. (1) It's obviously written by someone who thinks Miami Voice is much more important than it is. (2) There are misspellings throughout. (3) It opportunistically takes shots at Seijas in the midst of the campaign to oust her. (4) We wonder if that is a violation of campaign finance laws because there was no political disclaimer (and we know from past posts that she laughs in the face of campaign finance laws). (5) She has those starving-for-scoops Spanish language news stations on her speed dial. And (6) She uses the term "red herring" three days after Ladra used it to describe the woman's excuse tactics for being more than a week late with financial reports.

As for Bennett swiping the Miami Voice, Inc., name: It might have been silly and immature, or hilarious and heroically pre-emptive, depending on who you ask. But it certainly wasn't fraud. Bennett and his friend, David Southern, registered the name legally through the proper channels because the Miami Voice people had not secured it. They may have intended to confuse voters and get some traction from the quickly-changing-from-good-to-bad name recognition for their own recall effort against Pizzi. That might be sneaky (and, Ladra believes, counterproductive), but it ain't illegal. In fact, Ladra likes the move if only because of the email which, if it turns out Sandra Lopez did not exist, shows how Miami Vice operates (email campaigns are a staple).

And it would also be silly and immature if it was a Sandra Whoever who wrote that letter. But just silly and immature. It's still silly and immature if it was Pizzi or Brito. But it's also evidence of how they manipulate the public trust. Even if it wasn't public dollars used, it still smacks of self-promoting propaganda. And by using someone else's name, it shows a pattern of deceit (which I can spell).

Ladra has a suggestion for Dr. Bennett, who said he would give the name away to a non-profit for free if one wanted it. Let Ladra buy the corporation for $1 and hold on to it until that non-profit comes along (and is vetted). That way nobody can say Bennett is using the name inappropriately for this or that. And I can promise you, dear readers, that I'm not going to use it for anything.

Like people with no hidden agenda or liar's guilt, I always use my real name: Ladra.