Less Money, More Problems: Crime and Income Disparity in Greater Homestead

According to US News and World Reports using 2010  figures from the Department of Justice, the less you have, the more you have to lose, apparently. Looking at the correlation between property crime and household income levels, the DOJ found that those with a household income of less than $7,500 were subject to the highest rate of property crime--200 per 1,000 households. Households earning $50,000 or more were victims of far fewer incidents of property crime--less than 140 per 1,000 households. See the graphic to the left to get a better sense of the data.

HIH used ZipAtlas to bring below poverty level numbers into perspective for the Greater Homestead zip codes. One can quickly discern the more affluent areas in blue from the less affluent areas in red and everything in between.  This Google Map with poverty data overlay reflects zip code 33031, Redland and Redland Edge areas as having the least household poverty at 4.79% followed closely by zip code 33035, Keys Gate at 5.23%.  Conversely, Florida City in red has 34.54% of households below the poverty level. 
According to the Census Bureau Quick Facts the City of Homestead has a median income of $38,724 below Miami-Dade county average of $43,957 and well below the Florida average of $47,827.  The map reflects an obvious disparity between haves and have nots with no meaningful geographic boundary with the exception of the Florida Turnpike. The highway by itself is not a significant deterrence as well as the gates for the communities limiting access to residents and authorized visitors. The contrast in income may be indicative of why sporadic crime waves occur in Keys Gate as recently experienced in North Gate.  It appears Keys Gate is a relatively more affluent enclave surrounded by significant poverty and nothing short of more community vigilance, activation of the AT&T Protection One alarm system by residents and increased police patrols is going to work to minimize property crime in the area.  

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Miami-Dade County PAB Meeting: Proposed Annexation to Florida City

When: On Monday June 3rd 2013 at 3:30PM 
Where:  111 NW 1st Street 
               Miami FL 33128 
County Commission Chambers 

This notification is located in the Neighbors Section of the Miami Herald Page 19SW on Sunday May 26th 2013.

"An application to annex the area depicted below in the City of Florida City has been filed.  As required by Section 20-7 of the Miami-Dade Code, this letter is to notify you that a public hearing on a boundary change application filed by the city of Florida City is scheduled for June 3rd 2013, 3:30PM in front of the Miami-Dade county Planning Advisory Board (PAB) at the address shown above.  The Code requires notification to all property owners within the boundaries of the proposed annexation and 600 feet thereof.  you are welcome to attend and participate in the public hearing.  This area is approximately bounded on the North by SW 352nd Street, on the South by SW 384 Street on the west by SW 192nd Avenue and on the east by SW 180th Ave.  In general, the municipal type services currently provided by the County are local police, public works, code enforcement, and building services.  If annexation is approved, the City of Florida City will provide these services.

Municipal millage rate for the proposed annexation area is the FY 2012-13 unincorporated millage rate of 1.9283.  If the area were part of the City of Florida City the FY 2012-13 millage rate of 7.75 would be applied, and increase of 5.8217 mills, the average property owner would pay an additional $233 in municipal taxes."

HIH POV:

We believe this notification should have been made available online and not in an obscure section of the Miami Herald tucked away where no one reads it.  There is a significant impact to the residents in this area and they need to be notified directly and publicly with the widest dissemination possible.  A newspaper is not sufficient with advances in technology.  It would have cost less money to place the add online unless of course the motive was to not inform the residents. Then the objective may have been achieved if not for citizen volunteers that offer this information to this blog.

You may direct inquiries to:
@pzdirector@floridacityfl.com
@mayor@floridacityfl.com

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Homestead and Florida City property owners cautiously support widening Lucy Street

Excerpt from Miami Herald.

A plan to widen the east-west dividing street between Florida City and Homestead would require 10 feet of property from businesses and residents on either side of the thoroughfare, according to an engineer from Miami-Dade Public Works.

A small group of people from both communities gathered last Tuesday at Homestead’s Laura Saunders Elementary School to view the county’s plans for widening Lucy Street from 187th Street to US 1 – a distance of a little over a mile.

Read More on link below:

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/05/3379154/south-miami-dade-property-owners.html#storylink=cpy

South Miami-Dade property owners cautiously support widening Lucy Street - Homestead / South Dade - MiamiHerald.com

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MDFR Ladder #65 at Work by Homestead High School.

Miami Dade Fire Rescue Ladder #65 by Venetia Groves pull a woman out a sinking car.   This happened at the intersection of SW 167th Ave and Palm Drive by Homestead Senior High School.

Thank you MDFR #65 for the good works you perform for our community,  Bravo!

Note:  The Miami Herald article below has the wrong address as Palm Ave and 167th Street doesn't exist in Homestead or anywhere else in Miami-Dade County.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/18/3293614/firefighters-save-woman-in-sinking.html

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District 8 Commissioner Lynda Bell Gets Apology From Beacon Council After Discussing Funding And Oversight Changes

Late Breaking Related Content:
Miami-Dade commissioner gets apology after calling out county's economic development agency
The chairman of Miami-Dade's top economic development agency apologized to County Commissioner Lynda Bell on Wednesday, a day after Bell publicly called out Beacon Council leaders from the dais.
 
"I feel very bad, personally, about any bad feelings you have about the meeting we had Monday," Joe Pallot, chairman of the Beacon Council's board of directors, said at a meeting of the commission's economic development and social services committee. "We really do want to work with you."
 
"I appreciate the apology," Bell said. "I think it may have come from the wrong person, but I do appreciate it."
 
Piped in Nero: "I echo anything my chairman may have said."
 
On Tuesday, Bell had said Pallot and Beacon Council President and CEO Frank Nero treated her and her staff "very rudely and disrespectfully" in a private meeting Monday, held in part to discuss Bell's proposal to renegotiate the 27-year-old Beacon Council's open-ended contract with the county.

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/10/miami-dade-commissioner-gets-an-apology-after-calling-out-countys-economic-development-agency.html#storylink=cpy



By Patricia Mazzei
pmazzei@MiamiHerald.com

Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell turned up the heat Tuesday on a simmering political feud with the county’s economic development agency, the Beacon Council.
Bell proposed renegotiating the county’s open-ended contract with the Beacon Council — a move that agency leaders fear could threaten the 27-year-old council’s existence, or at least create uncertainty in its plans to expand and recruit businesses to Miami-Dade.

Friction between the Beacon Council and Bell became public in recent weeks, after Bell sent a letter to the editor raising concerns about the agency to a community newspaper that had published an editorial questioning the Beacon Council’s effectiveness — particularly in South Miami-Dade, where Bell’s district is located. The editorial prompted the Beacon Council’s lawyer to send the paper a letter demanding a retraction.

The Beacon Council has a big-picture focus, its leaders say, intended to attract businesses to grow the county’s economy as a whole. At least some commissioners, however, counter that the agency doesn’t do enough to help small businesses in their districts. More than half of the agency’s annual budget comes from $3.7 million in county funds.

The tension was evident Tuesday when Bell briefly presented her plan to have the commission more closely oversee the Beacon Council.

“I report to the people and to the taxpayers, not the Beacon Council or its board,” Bell said. “Many in my community, and many in yours on the dais, have been crying out for help.”

She ultimately deferred her measure at the meeting of the internal management and fiscal responsibility committee — but only after several other commissioners praised her proposal and vowed to support it. Bell pledged to bring back the legislation after meeting with members of the Beacon Council’s board of directors.

She sat down with the council board’s chairman, Joe Pallot, and with the Beacon Council’s president and chief executive officer, Frank Nero, on Monday in what Bell described as a contentious meeting.

“I was treated very rudely and disrespectfully, insulted — as was my chief of staff,” Bell said.
Nero and Pallot, who did not attend Tuesday’s committee, said in an interview before the meeting that they were concerned by Bell’s proposal, which they said they learned about only shortly before sitting down with the commissioner.

“My fear is that if our contract — and by extension our existence, our structure — is opened up, we’re going to chill all of the wonderful efforts of One Community One Goal,” Pallot said, referring to the five-year plan for the county’s economy. One of the people chairing that initiative is Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

Pallot quickly added that he doesn’t think Bell wants to do away with the Beacon Council. But he said the agency and the commission could make some of the changes Bell proposed without renegotiating the entire contract.

The key proposal in Bell’s measure would delete the automatic renewal to the Beacon Council’s contract. Bell and other commissioners said they would prefer a contract set for a certain number of years with an option to renew.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/16/3052984/miami-dade-commissioner-takes.html#storylink=cpy

  http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2012/10/17/miami-dade-commissioners-want-more.html?page=all

  http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/121018/story3.shtml

  http://southdadematters.com/2012/10/10/bell-to-beacon-council-its-miller-time

 http://www.communitynewspapers.com/pinecrest/commissioner-bell-responds-to-beacon-council-questions/

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Message From The Pets' Trust In Miami Dade County, Vote Yes On #240 On November 6th

"How can people do that?" a friend asked me recently?  "How can they just take a part of their family and give it away?"

"I guess in a society where people beat and abandon their kids, this should come as no surprise," he said, answering his own question.

My friend was reacting to an e-mail I'd forwarded him about a dog that had been dropped off at Miami-Dade Animal Services because its family "no longer wanted him." It was one of dozens I receive weekly about what has become an epidemic in South Florida. 

Hundreds of animals are being abandoned by people who no longer want them.  Sometimes the reasons are legitimate.  People have lost their jobs and don’t have the financial resources to care for the pets they love.

But reasons like "he's not purebred," or "I just don’t want her anymore," are inexcusable.  And they fuel the anger of pet advocates in our community. (The two dogs shown above were surrendered because they aren't purebred. Thankfully, a rescue group found them good homes.)

Every day, about 70 animals are killed at Miami-Dade Animal Services to make room for the hundreds that they take in each week.  It’s called euthanasia.  But let’s not kid ourselves.  

Euthanasia is the practice of ending the life of an animal with a terminal illness or an incurable condition.  And while many pets are put down for these reasons, hundreds of healthy, adoptable animals are put down simply because there's no room for them.

That’s not euthanasia.  It’s killing, plain and simple.  Seventy dogs and cats a day, every day. 

These are animals that are either surrendered by their owners or picked up on the street by animal control officers after they are thrown out of cars, dumped in the Everglades, or just left to roam the streets on their own.

Who’s to blame?  We are.

It’s easy to point the finger at the shelter, which despite a recent change in management, continues to suffer from the same problems that plagued its previous director.

Why doesn’t someone do something to find a permanent solution?

Well, someone has.  His name is Michael Rosenberg. 

Last year, Rosenberg adopted a 6-week-old kitten from Miami-Dade Animal Services and named her Wren. Four days later, Wren died – just one of the victims of panleukopenia, a deadly virus that spread through Miami-Dade Animal Services, forcing the shelter's temporary closing.  Dozens of cats had to be euthanized after they contracted the highly contagious, incurable disease.

Though heartbroken, Rosenberg vowed to make something good out of the situation. With the help and support of animal advocates and local rescue groups, he came up with the idea of creating The Pets’ Trust in Miami-Dade County.

"The County has managed Animal Services for at least the 25 years I've been here," Rosenberg said.  "What are the results?  21,000 animals killed every year -- over half million in the past 25 years.  And the County just keeps those lethal injections coming."

The Pets’ Trust would help provide funding for programs and resources that would cut down, and hopefully eliminate, many of the problems that plague Miami-Dade Animal Services.

The goal is to end the senseless killing of healthy animals and promote responsible pet ownership. Monies deposited into the fund would go toward operating and staffing a new shelter – set to open next year – lower the cost of spay/neuter services and fund programs to educate pet owners about the importance of vaccinating and microchipping their animals.

To fund the Pets’ Trust, Miami-Dade homeowners would be assessed approximately $13 each year on their property tax. A $13 assessment may not seem like much, but at a time when so many families are struggling just to keep their homes, asking them to fund the county’s animal shelter may not seem like a good idea.

Nonetheless, Rosenberg says he’s received a lot of support from everyone with whom he shares his cause. 

That's why he thought getting it on the ballot for a general vote would be as easy as getting the Miami-Dade Commission to approve it. But, he says, he has hit a wall of bureaucracy when trying to get the support he needs to even get the petition on the ballot.

"Almost all the animal rescue groups and animal advocates have come together and we created The Pets’ Trust for the people of Miami-Dade County to vote on," Rosenberg said.  "All we want is to have it on the ballot so people can vote. How will we know if people want this or not, if we don’t give them the chance to vote on it?"

Even if you’re not an advocate for the animals, at least you can agree that the citizens of Miami-Dade County should have the right to decide what they want on the ballot.

How can you help?  For starters, go to www.PetsTrustMiami.com  and sign the petition asking for the right to vote.  For more ideas, and to keep up with the latest on the petition, follow The Pets Trust on Facebook. Once it’s on the ballot, you can always vote against it.  But let's at least get the petition on the ballot.

"Cut the bureaucracy and let the people decide," Rosenberg said. 

I couldn’t agree more.

• Copyright 2012 by Post Newsweek. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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NASDAQ/RealtyTrac Reports Foreclosures Edged Up First Half of 2012

Former "Ground Zero" Homestead Housing Bubble Stabilized?

Florida, thankfully not mentioned in report.

The half-yearly foreclosure market report, released by RealtyTrac, revealed an increase in the overall foreclosure activity. As per this leading online marketplace of foreclosure properties, foreclosure filings for the first half of 2012 increased 2% from the prior six months, but dipped 11% from the prior-year period. This brought the total number of properties receiving default, auction or repossession notices to 1,045,801.

Though overall foreclosure activity was low (primarily due to decline in bank repossessions) in the second quarter, foreclosure starts - default notices issued and foreclosure auctions (depending on the state's foreclosure procedure) - surged 9% from the prior quarter and 6% from the prior-year quarter to 311,010 properties. This was the first quarterly rise in foreclosure starts since the fourth quarter of 2009.

Moreover, during the second quarter, foreclosure starts increased in 31 states on an annual basis, including 17 states with judicial foreclosure process and the remaining with non-judicial foreclosure process. Further, the states with the highest foreclosure rates were Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, California, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Ohio and Utah.

Additionally, the procedure to complete the foreclosure of properties in the second quarter took an average of 378 days, up from 370 days in the previous quarter. Further, bank-owned properties took an average of 195 days to sell from the time they were foreclosed, up from 178 days in the first quarter.

The increase in foreclosure activity indicates that mortgageservicers have resumed distressed property dealings with renewed vigor. The primary reason behind this resumption is the $25 billion settlement deal that took place between five mortgage servicers - JPMorgan Chase & Co. ( JPM ), Bank of America Corporation ( BAC ), Citigroup Inc. ( C ), Ally Financial Inc. and Wells Fargo & Company ( WFC ), 49 states' attorneys general and the regulators earlier this year.

However, with mortgage servicers finding other options - short sale and loan modifications - to prevent foreclosure, we believe that foreclosure activity would take time to show a significant upward trend. When all these alternatives would wear out, only then a property would be foreclosed.

As per the RealtyTrac report, there will be a gradual rise in foreclosure activity for the rest of the year. Also, there will be additional pressure on the home prices as many properties would come to the market due to the surge in foreclosure activities.

Moreover, a sharp rise in foreclosure starts indicate that there would be potential rise in short sale, where the homeowner sells the property at a lower amount than owned on his/her loan. Also, others could be repossessed by the banks and placed on the market at a significant discount. Thus, many properties are likely to end up in adding to the foreclosure inventory, which is expected to jeopardize the recovery of overall housing property market in the near future.

Though the leap in foreclosure may dampen the housing prices in the near-term, this will enable the housing market to revive in the longer term. Moreover, we hope that there would be enough number of buyers for these properties; otherwise the housing market will have little chance to regain a solid foothold.

Read more: http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2012-07/foreclosure-rises-marginally-in-1h-analyst-blog.aspx?storyid=155364#ixzz20SOytXqg

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Seminar To Address Political Corruption Next Wednesday

                         FLORIDA IS #1

Joseph Centorino, Executive Director COE

How Can We Squeeze the

Sleaze Out of Florida Politics?

Political corruption may be common

It may even be pervasive

But is it INEVITABLE?

This recent report on WTSP 10 NEWS (Tampa/St. Pete) provides a good backdrop for this program

http://www.wtsp.com/video/1673055064001/1/Florida-Number-1-in-US-for-political-corruption

Featured Speakers

Dan Krassner
Executive Director

Integrity Florida

Integrity Florida is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute based in Tallahassee, Florida

whose mission is to promote integrity in government and expose public corruption.

SEE CURRENT NEWSLETTER @ http://tinyurl.com/7juept2

ATTACHED: CORRUPTION RISK REPORT – Florida Ethics Laws – FINAL REPORT 2012
www.IntegrityFlorida.org

Sabina Covo

Radio host and TV Contributor

CARACOL 1260

Covo is co-host of La Ventana with Pedro Sevcec and a regular contributor for news programs on

W Radio, ADN Chile, America TeVe, Telemundo and Mega TV. She is also a columnist for El Nuevo Herald

http://www.caracol1260.com/comunidad/bloggers/sabina-covo/blogs/1464823.aspx

Joseph Centorino

Executive Director

Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust

Centorino assumed this position following a 25-year career at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office where he was

Chief of the Public Corruption Division and oversaw the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed by public officers and employees

http://www.miamidadeethics.com/index.html

MODERATOR

Seth Gordon

GDB Miami

New Miami Forum

--------------------------------------------

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

8:30 – 10:00 A.M.

Breakfast Fee:

Members - $20.00

Non-members - $30.00

RSVP to: Cali@GDBMiami.com

(please include your name, organization, phone # and email address)

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State Rep. Ron Saunders Informing Public About Citizens Insurance Rate Hikes

 Florida State Representative Ron Saunders is giving a presentation on “Citizen Windstorm Insurance Coverage, Problems, and Changes” 

This presentation, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Powell, is scheduled for Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 5:00 PM, in the Royal Palm Clubhouse, located at 2700 North Gate Place, in the North Gate neighborhood of Keys Gate. 

Please convey this information to your fellow residents in the most prompt, efficient, and effective method possible.  Additionally, in order for Mr. John Beck, the conscientious and hard-working Manager of the Royal Palm Clubhouse, to have at least an approximate “head-count” for the presentation, anybody who plans to attend this presentation should email Mr. Beck at RPCKG@bellsouth.net.  

 Thank you for your assistance and cooperation in this matter, and for your continuing efforts on behalf of your fellow residents.

Sincerely,

   Tim Craig

Timothy L. Craig

Community Liaison

Keys Gate Community Association

Vice Chair – Steering Committee

City of Homestead Centennial

Supervisor and Treasurer

Homestead Educational Facilities Benefit District

State Rep. Ron Saunders said actions taken by the state insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., are hurting Keys property owners and driving up costs for basic windstorm coverage.

"Actions by Citizens are hurting consumers and threatening our economic recovery," Saunders said.
He's asking Citizens policyholders to contact his office if they've recently been notified of any hike in premiums or re-inspection for wind mitigation credits.
Things like hurricane-approved shutters, impact-resistant glass, roof systems that use straps and screws instead of nails all help harden structures against wind damage.

"Citizens has instituted a re-inspection program to see if customers are entitled to mitigation incentive credits for items such as shutters and hurricane straps," Saunders said.
"Unfortunately, the program seems to be working against consumers rather than for them. Out-of-state inspectors unfamiliar with our area's building codes are wrongfully denying mitigation credits, which cause a large increase in premiums. "I have asked Citizens to hire local inspectors that are familiar with our area," Saunders added, "and make sure that everyone who deserves a credit receives it."

The Monroe County lawmaker, who served as House Minority leader in the 2012 legislative session, warned that Citizens governing board has announced plans to require new policy holders "to pay as much as 30 percent more than existing customers."
That, Saunders said, "contradicts a cap of 10 percent per year approved by the Legislature. I strongly disagree with Citizens that the 10 percent cap only applies to current policyholders and have expressed my opposition to Citizens.

"Real estate transactions and construction projects are falling through solely because of the actions of Citizens and we cannot allow this to continue."
The Key West native said that Citizens has discontinued writing builders' risk coverage and denying coverage to transient rentals. "All of these actions have a negative effect on our economy," he said.
Policy holders experiencing problems with Citizens are asked to contact Saunders' office at 853-1947 or email him at: ron.saunders@myfloridahouse.gov.

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Arcade or Quarter Horse Racing or Casino or Jai Alai or Barrel Racing May Be In Florida City's Future

RACINO = A racino is a combined race track and casino. In some cases, the gambling is limited to slot machines, but many locations are beginning to include table games such as blackjack, poker, and roulette.

David S. Romanik who is the CEO of Gulfstream Park has gotten Florida City to designate a parcel of land next to Florida Keys Factory Shops/Prime Outlets as "Adult Arcade Entertainment Centers." If not mistaken this used to be the property that was going to be Whitewater Rapids Park.Mr. Romanik is also associated with Everglades Jai Alai, newly formed in April.

According to what is available online this matter is still up in the air as to what can be allowed within certain mileage of other gaming facilities.

Ft. Myers Real Estate Holdings, LLC., which is currently operating out of a U.P.S. Store mailbox in Homestead is the property owner.

Here are some links and bits and pieces, have a fun weekend trying to decipher this one.
For the adventurous do a sunbiz.org search of David Romanik.

http://floridahorsemen.com/tag/david-romanik/

http://opinions.1dca.org/written/opinions2011/02-07-2011/10-1766.pdf

http://florida-business-complaints.findthedata.org/l/38430/FT-MYERS-REAL-ESTATE-HOLDINGS-LLC

http://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/Hollywood/david-s-romanik-P509557.aspx

http://www.becker-poliakoff.com/pubs/articles/koslow_a/koslow_gaming_law_review.pdf

Mr. David S. Romanik

President and Chief Executive Officer

Employment History

·         Minority Owner

Gretna Racing

·         President

Gulfstream Park

·         President and General Manager

Gulfstream Park

·         Chief Executive Officer

Gulfstream Park

·         Attorney

Becker & Poliakoff P.A

·         South Florida Gaming Law Attorney

Becker & Poliakoff P.A

·         Gaming Law Attorney

South Florida Realtors

·         Consultant

The New York Racing Association Inc

·         Attorney

Landefeld

Pennington Law Firm

Board Memberships and Affiliations

·         Member

Becker & Poliakoff P.A

Education

·         J.D. degree with honors

University of Florida College of Law

·         B.S. degree , Economics

Wharton School of Finance & Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania

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New ICE Detention Center? SW Ranches Out, Is Florida City Back In?

 

 Florida City has been interested in the facility since 2009 when the issue was discussed during a city commission meeting.

Florida City Mayor Otis Wallace sent a letter to a Miami-Dade commissioner saying that the center would be built at a cost of about $150 million and would house up to 2,300 detainees.

 

http://homesteadishome.blogspot.com/2009/03/florida-city-mayor-otis-wallace-says.html

 

 

Will This Help Or Hurt The Area? 

 

Don't Forget To Factor In How FPL Imported Most Of Their Workers From Outside Of Homestead/Florida City

 

 

Older Posts On The Subject

http://miamitodaynews.com/news/110310/story4.shtml

 

http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/immigration-dentention-facility.html

BY DANIEL CHANG AND MICHAEL VASQUEZ

dchang@MiamiHerald.com

Federal government officials have abandoned plans to build an immigrant detention center in Southwest Ranches, authorities announced late Friday, bringing to a close a year-long fight by local residents and others opposed to the facility.

The announcement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which would have staffed the detention center, was terse and offered little explanation for the decision.

“ICE has reevaluated its need for an additional detention facility in South Florida and has decided that it will no longer pursue a facility in the Town of Southwest Ranches,’’ read a written statement sent by Nestor Yglesias, an ICE spokesman in Miami. “We are examining our options for additional detention space in the region and will make the appropriate notifications when a decision about the way forward has been made.”

Torres declined to say if the agency is considering other South Florida locations for a detention center, or if ICE has decided that it has enough beds in the region.
For more than a year, ICE has said the Southwest Ranches location was at the top of its list to build one of the nation’s largest facilities to hold immigrant detainees. The proposed plan included at least 1,500 beds and 500,000-square-feet of space.

Corrections Corporation of America, the private prison contractor vying to bring the detention center to Southwest Ranches, issued a written response through Steve Owen, a company spokesman:
“One of the greatest values we offer our government partners is the flexibility to meet their changing circumstances,’’ Owen’s statement read. “We understand ICE’s decision not to proceed with a civil detention facility. We are grateful for ICE’s tentative selection of our site and Southwest Ranches’ interest in partnering with CCA.’’

CCA owns the approximately 24-acre property just east of U.S. 27 between Sheridan Street and Stirling Road in Southwest Broward where the detention center would have been built. The company has been working with Southwest Ranches town leaders since about 2005 to bring the facility to Southwest Broward.

ICE’s Friday night announcement was welcomed by neighboring Pembroke Pines commissioners, who have been opposed to the center being built in an area that includes a county landfill and a state prison but also thousands of homes and several schools.

“We don’t want that stuff in Pembroke Pines,’’ said Iris Siple, a Pembroke Pines commissioner.

“It was not a very popular idea here,’’ said Angelo Castillo, another Pembroke Pines commissioner.

“In fact, that’s understating it. It was a dreaded idea.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/15/v-fullstory/2851928/ice-pulls-plug-on-immigration.html#storylink=cpy

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One More Warehouse With Many Of The Same LLCs As 406 SW 1st Street, Florida City

This address is 14272 SW 140 Street #111. For our first story on this subject hit on the link.

http://homesteadishome.blogspot.com/2012/04/dozens-of-corporations-and-llcs.html

Companies at this address:
Jlo Investments, LLC
Jlo 4 Investments, Inc
Waterside of Homestead, L.L.C.
Genesis Land Holdings, LLC
Jlo Investments II, LLC
Southern Homes of Florida City II, LLC
Fog Investments, LLC
Stone 360 LLC
Greecol Holdings LLC
Jlo Investments III, LLC
Jcc 1 Investments, LLC
Diamond Park Holdings, LLC
Avocado Park Holdings, LLC
Greecol Realty, Corp.
Duval Holding, LLC.
Jel Family Investments, Lllp
Beta Holdings LLC
28102 Townhouse, LLC
Cops Investments Fl, LLC
Jr Investments of Middle Georgia Fl, LLC
King Investment & Management, Inc.
1679 Holding, LLC
1340/1450 Holdings, LLC
Jl Property Investment Holdings, LLC
1320 Holdings, LLC
363 Holdings, LLC
Dager Family Holdings Gp, LLC
7601 Holdings, LLC
326/330 Holdings, LLC
1262/64 Holdings, LLC
129 Holdings, LLC
836 Holdings, LLC
154 Holdings, LLC
Irocc Investments of South Florida, LLC
Push Investments, LLC

People at this address:
Winston Betancourt
Gabriel J Dager
Ricardo L Dager
Jose Lopez
Ricardo Dager
E Jose
Gabriel Dager
L Barbara
Daniel Diaz
Fernandez Carlos

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Homestead Housing Authority Board Member David Berrones In Hotel Business In Florida City

Florida Limited Liability Company

RAM HOLDINGS OF HOMESTEAD, LLC

Filing Information

Document Number L11000081123 FEI/EIN Number 452889786 Date Filed 07/14/2011 State FL Status ACTIVE Effective Date 07/14/2011

Principal Address

409 SE 1ST AVENUE FLORIDA CITY FL 33034 US

Changed 02/08/2012

Mailing Address

409 SE 1ST AVENUE FLORIDA CITY FL 33034 US

Changed 02/08/2012

Registered Agent Name & Address

PATEL, PREMSARAN A 2712 AUGUSTA DRIVE HOMESTEAD FL 33035 US

Manager/Member Detail

Name & Address

Title MGRM

BERRONES, DAVID MR 409 SE 1ST AVNENUE FLORIDA CITY FL 33034 US

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Bermuda Run Investments Show Otis Wallace Partnering With Florida City's Former Community Development Director

Florida City Mayor Otis Wallace with Mayor Steven Bateman celebrating

From Miami New Times article: Darin Baldwin was tired of staying silent. A few days after Thanksgiving in 2009, the 14-year veteran of Florida City government stuffed four envelopes with everything he knew about Otis Wallace. He scrawled the addresses of the FBI, Miami-Dade Police Department, Gov. Charlie Crist, and the county commission. Then he dropped the envelopes into the mail.

For more than two years, only a handful of individuals inside those organizations knew of Baldwin's letter and his later testimony to investigators. But the documents, obtained by New Times, contain explosive allegations against Wallace. In them, Baldwin says the mayor traded his vote for land he later flipped for $1 million. Baldwin also claims that members of Wallace's administration took hundreds of thousands in bribes that were later passed to the mayor. Prosecutors never charged him, but the documents and New Times' own two-month investigation raise troubling questions about Wallace's administration.

On December 11, 2009, Baldwin secretly met with investigators in a warehouse across from Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Doral and spilled his guts. In a sworn statement to the FBI and Miami-Dade Police's Public Corruption Investigations Bureau, Baldwin said he had served as Florida City's public works director for eight years but was fed-up with corruption.
Baldwin began by describing how Wallace had allegedly sold his vote to Steve Torcise Sr., a real estate developer who owned land in Florida City. According to Baldwin, the two made a deal: If Wallace voted to rezone 100 acres of land — and convinced commissioners to do the same — Torcise would sell the mayor a chunk for the cut-rate price of $100,000. Once rezoned, both men would resell the land for a huge profit.

"Torcise gave the mayor ten acres of land in return for [getting] the other hundreds of acres rezoned," Baldwin told investigators. "The mayor, in turn, after he got it rezoned, sold it for a million dollars."

Baldwin's testimony didn't end with accusations over a shady land deal. He also claimed developers and businesses routinely were asked for bribes. When they needed permits or contracts, businesses would approach the community development director, Bill Kiriloff, and he'd refer them to Tomas Mesa, a former building and zoning director. Mesa then demanded anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 to ensure the deal went through. Some of the money was then kicked back to the mayor, Baldwin alleged.

Often, Kiriloff would bypass lower bids to reward companies that paid bribes, Baldwin continued. The corruption was easy to hide, he testified: "For various reasons, if they didn't dot an i or cross a t or they left out a paper, they'll disqualify someone."

Finally, Baldwin told investigators that Mark Ben-Asher, the finance director, was complicit in the scam, falsifying documents to benefit the mayor and funneling illicit funds to Kiriloff and Mesa. "He's the right-hand man to the mayor," Baldwin said.

Finally, there is also evidence backing up Baldwin's claim that finance director Mark Ben-Asher laundered bribe money flowing into Florida City. According to investigators' records, Ben-Asher's own former payroll manager, Dorothy Henderson, said large sums of city money were inexplicably paid to companies owned by or in partnership with Mesa and Kiriloff.

Henderson declined to comment for this story. Ben-Asher denies any involvement in bribery and says he's named because he was "instrumental" in getting Baldwin fired. "So I can expect some fallout," he says. He also says Henderson was just a "bookkeeper [who] would not have the ability to determine what transfers... were improper."

Wallace, meanwhile, insists he and his administration are clean. Asked what he thinks of Henderson's and Rivera's statements corroborating Baldwin's claims of corruption, the mayor says, "The word bullshit comes to mind. It's a fairy tale."

The evidence wasn't enough for prosecutors. On January 11, 2011, two detectives from Miami-Dade's public corruption unit met with Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Senior to discuss the case. They asked the prosecutor to subpoena Wallace's bank statements, which would "provide the necessary evidence needed to verify the allegations," Det. Ashley Thomas wrote in a memo.
But Senior refused. Instead, he said the statute of limitations had expired on many of the charges and there wasn't enough evidence to proceed. The case was closed February 22, 2011.

There's a bloody coda to Baldwin's accusations. On November 10, two days before his 62nd birthday, Bill Kiriloff was found slumped over the wheel of his black sedan in Florida City's Fasulo Park with a hole in his head. He was wrapped in a blanket. Two silver handguns rested on the city official's lap, and an empty can of Heineken lay on the floor in the back. Police ruled the death a suicide.

Kiriloff had long faced allegations of drug use and corruption before he became a member of Wallace's inner circle. While working as a Charlotte County administrator, his secretary twice found cocaine on his desk. Kiriloff was arrested February 12, 1989, and pleaded no contest to the drug charge.

Just a few years later, Kiriloff was hired in Florida City. Wallace says then-city manager Dick Anderson hired the ex-con. The mayor also claims he learned of Kiriloff's past only in December 2003, when Gov. Jeb Bush pardoned him. By then, Kiriloff had spent "ten to 12 years at the city doing a good job," Wallace says.

Marlene Kiriloff, Bill's ex-wife, says she knew of his cocaine and gambling problems long before he left her in 1980. After their divorce, people began asking her if he had taken bribes. Eventually, she began wondering the same thing herself.

She was shocked by her ex-husband's apparent suicide, but not by news of investigations in Florida City. "After all his problems, there must have been somebody holding a candle for him to get into government again," she says.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/content/printVersion/3207852/

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