eMail Broadcast Message Blasting Mayor Bateman for Ethical Lapses

Residents of Homestead received another email this afternoon from Concerned Homestead Citizens.  It reiterates the same story that all the major news outlet are reporting.  The media blitz on the Mayor has been relentless but the Mayor has provided the fodder even if his heart is in the right place.  It's one thing to try to bring jobs to Homestead by any means necessary.  That is a position one can easily defend.  It's quite another to try to profit from it at the same time.  The Homestead voters will be the judge come November.

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Shameless & Ethically challenged Mayor Steven Bateman: An Undercover Lobbyist

Jim DeFede, journalist at CBS4,  has an expose on Mayor Steven Bateman that premiered on TV at 11PM last night.  It appears our ethically challenged Mayor has been on the payroll of Community Health of South Florida Inc (CHI). There's no problem with the Mayor having a second job considering the city only pays him $6000 a year for his mayoral duties.  The problem is he represents himself at County Hall as the Mayor of Homestead while lobbying the County Mayor, Carlos Gimenez and other staff for an additional Sewer pump in Homestead on behalf of CHI.  There's the conflict of interest the Mayor disregarded. The sewer pump will allow Homestead to permit additional residential and commercial developments in the city, one of them being a new CHI Clinic for children.  The Mayor has no shame to his game.  He will do whatever is necessary to bring growth and jobs to the city and if his bank account grows with it, well so be it!

The problem with his exuberance is that now the Mayor finds himself being investigated by the State Attorney's Office for this and the Dade Medical College conflict of interest.  The City of Homestead is no stranger to controversial Mayors. We had Steve Shiver already, another Mayor and subsequent County Administrator during Alex Penela's County Mayorship, who was sent packing for his ethically challenged ways.  Ironically, Mayor Bateman wants to bring back Steve Shiver as City Manager but doesn't have the votes on the City Council to get rid of George Gretsas.  Indeed, the sewer backup at City Hall is worse than we're led to believe.

It has become evident that Mayor Bateman has serious issues with holding office and his private enterprise. However, the only ones that can directly hold him accountable are the voting citizens of the city of Homestead come this November, regardless what the State Attorney's office determines.

You can read the expose on this link, there's even a video.
 http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/07/01/homestead-mayor-privately-paid-by-firm-seeking-his-help/

The Miami Herald also has the in-depth story.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/02/3481006/homestead-mayor-steve-bateman.html

The Miami New Times now has a chronology of Mayor Bateman's ethical lapses.
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/07/homestead_mayor_steven_bateman_2.php

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Anonymous Asked For Ethics Commission Contacts Information

An anonymous comment asked to publish the contact information for the Miami Dade Commission on Ethics. We are happy to oblige. 

 
The Purpose of the Commission
The Ethics Commission was created in 1996 as a result of a citizens' vote to amend the Home Rule charter. It is an independent agency with advisory and quasi-judicial powers. It is composed of five members, each serving staggered terms of four years at a time. The Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit appoints two of the members; the Dean of the University of Miami School of Law and the Dean of St. Thomas University School of Law share in the appointment of one member; the Director of Florida International University’s Center for Labor Research and Studies and the Miami-Dade League of Cities each appoints one member.

Government employees and officials have a special duty to serve the public in a fair and just manner. The Ethics Commission is dedicated to bolstering public trust in the administration of government by informing the public and private sectors about the laws and seeking strict compliance with them.  It is empowered to subpoena, audit, and investigate all facts and persons materially related to a complaint at issue.

The Commission’s jurisdiction extends to the municipalities of Miami-Dade County provided the subject is covered by one of the ordinances under its authority:

• The Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance
• The Citizen’s Bill of Rights
• The Ethical Campaign Practices Ordinance
• The Election Campaign Financing Trust Fund Ordinance

Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics
(Please click names for biographies of COE members. For staff, click names to e-mail.)

• Dawn Addy, Chair
• Nelson Bellido
• Charlton Copeland
• Judge Seymour Gelber
• Kerry Rosenthal

Joseph M. Centorino, Executive Director

Oversees, coordinates and is responsible for all of the abovementioned activities and all other operational facets of the department.
Administration

• Rodzandra Sanchez, Coordinator of Administration
• Rachelle Cedeno, Administrative Legal Clerk

Legal Unit

• Miriam Ramos, Deputy General Counsel
• Victoria Frigo, Staff Attorney

Responds to requests for advisory opinions; handles legal matters that may impact the operations of the Ethics Commission; drafts legislation and reviews legislation proposed by others to create more ethical and accountable local governments; appears in court when decisions of Ethics Commission are contested.
Education & Outreach Unit

• Robert Thompson, Community Outreach Coordinator
• Rhonda Victor Sibilia, Community Outreach Coordinator (and website author)

Provides training for government officials and personnel, candidates for office and business community regarding ordinances under the purview of the Ethics Commission; conducts workshops, conferences and seminars in the community; makes presentations and speeches to public/private organizations, associations and groups on the subject of ethics in government.
Enforcement Unit

• Michael Murawski, Advocate
• Sylvia Batista, Investigator
• Manuel Diaz, Investigator
• Breno Penichet, Investigator
• Kennedy Rosario, Investigator
• Karl Ross, Investigator
• Christina T. Seymour, Auditor

Conducts investigations of official/employee misconduct in County and municipal governments; files complaints with the Ethics Commission or processes complaints that are filed by the general public to be heard by Ethics Commission; tries cases before the Ethics Commission; refers cases for criminal prosecution or other dispositions with other appropriate agencies.  Enforcement Unit is the most labor-intensive as more personnel are needed to cover county departments and municipalities.

 http://www.miamidadeethics.com/LefthandBarMainPages/ContactUs.html

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Attorney Kelsay D. Patterson Makes The Case For City Attorney Disqualification, Is Homestead Literally In The Ocean With A Paddle?

The analysis, argument and conclusion are above as Johanna Faddis' Attorney Kelsay D. Patterson spells out why the City Attorney should be disqualified from representing the City of Homestead City Council in the lawsuit. Some lawyers are sharks aren't they?

Link to the case.
http://miamipublicrelations.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Faddis-v.-Homestead-filed-9_1_11.pdf

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