Manny Diaz was still in office, and no matter what The Herald wrote about him, every single story contained a quote from the "opposition" Commissioner Tomas Regalado.
Commissioner Tomas Regalado ran his mayoral campaign, not based on ideas or principles, but as the "anti-Manny," a position and moniker Chuck Rabin and the Miami Herald quickly latched onto.
Now fast forward, and with today's piece of drivel "news" story, the Miami Herald has proven once again that they are nothing more than Mayor Regalado's press office.
Where are the opposing views in ANY of the Miami Herald's reporting on Mayor Regalado?
Is there not a single person who disagrees with the Mayor in all of Miami?
Does anyone remember when the Herald would call on their cast of characters: Grace Solares, Elvis Cruz, Steve Hagen, and ethics expert Professor Anthony Alfieri?
Today's story is so biased it could have been written by any member of the Mayor's Press staff.
Here are some more examples:
- The Herald article on Tony Crapp Jr.'s salary makes no attempt to compare his $197,000 salary to similarly sized cities, or to the private sector. The wisdom of an $800 car allowance and $200 phone allowance is never questioned. The mayor's assertion that this is "a lean compensation package" is never challenged.
- The Herald ran a reprint of a red light camera story from the Palm Beach Post, where an overwhelming majority of those ticketed are having their suits dismissed. The Herald never questioned the $8 million in expected budget revenues to the City from a program that is already in trouble in other parts of the state. The Herald has also never asked how much compensation Lobbyist Armando Gutierrez received for his involvement in the red light camera procurement.
Now, just think of all the stories that have been featured here, on Miami for Change, Investigation Miami, and the Crespo Gram Report.
- The Herald has forgotten about Pieter Bockweg and the C.R.A., who on Monday will try to reinstate all of the supposed salary cuts and perks he expects as executive director of said agency for himself, and the two former Sarnoff staffers.
Could the Herald not find the time to further investigate any of them?
And think about why it is that local bloggers beat the Herald to major news stories, only to have the Herald article appear days later, peppered with quotes, explanations, and excuses from the Mayor.
The citizens of Miami deserve and demand that our local newspaper maintain the mayor accountable, not just act as his mouthpiece.
29 comments:
DEAD ON!!!!
Part I:
Investigation Miami,
Let me shine the light on other facts regarding the filming of the Miami Police Department (MPD).
For your readers that have not done so, the Miami Herald wrote an article about the MPD Video Production. You can copy and paste the following address to read the article,
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/19/v-fullstory/2024319/explosive-video-has-star-role.html
The Herald article mentions this idea of the video filming goes back to, at the very least, May 11, 2010. Definitely around the time Mayor Regalado and then City Manager Carlos Migoya should have known about the City's budgetary challenges. Understanding then, the City's financial conditions this could have been an opportunity to explore the possiblity of creating a revenue generating partnership between the City and the filming production company to offset some of the budget deficit the City has been realizing.
However, it is my understanding that such partnership would have required for the City Attorney to review, negotiate, and enter into a contract needing to be approved by the City Commission. Why wasn't this opportunity even explored in the same fashion that Mayor Regalado's daughter Raquelita Regalado requested for the Miami-Dade School Board to conduct a feasiblity study for "La Ley Broadcasting" to televise High School Sports? Well, I will tell you, why? It was a deliberate attempt to hide the Mayor's son involvment from profiting in filming the video. The Chief is not going to say it, because he wants to use this information to hold it over the Mayor's head to protect his job, but lets review the Herald article to see whether it supports this very fact.
The Herald newspiece reports that on a letter dated November 4, 2010 signed by Exposito, Moreno, and then-City Manager Carlos Migoya, gave Beach Productions the right to move forward with an attempt to sell the project to network TV.
Wait a minute here! The Chief and the City Manager have the unilateral right without City Commission approval to allow for a production company to sell what I regard it to be a portion of the City's intellectual property? And do so via a letter? Or was the idea to allow for such a thing to occur via a letter to circumvent the contracutal process and subsequent approval(s) by the City Attorney, Risk Management, City Attorney, and City Manager, only after the City Commission would have discussed and authorized or unauthorized for the execution of said contract in a public forum. Maybe said City Commission open discussions and discourses would have facilitated and unlighten for that legislative body with the idea of profit sharing revenues by selling the City's portion of ts intellectual property. Better yet, perhaps the City Commission would have wanted to put this out to bid to see whether Production Companies would have wanted to give the City more of the share of its profit-sharing revenues (i.e. 60% vs. 50%, 50% vs. 40%, 40% vs. 30%, etc.). Furthermore, the City has given its intellectual property rights away, but still owns any liability that comes with producing and distributing such a video. Unless again, that letter is being called a letter for a matter of convenience, but contains such language with waiver provisions to waive any such liability/ies to the City. Only a public records request for the City to provide a copy of this letter will allow us to further examine the issue that will support the fact the letter is a Contract disguised in the form of a letter to allow for such circumvention.
PART II:
this was deliberately done by both then City Manager Carlos Migoya and Chief Exposito at the behest of Mayor Regalado to avoid the transparency process to prevent the discovery of his son's involvement and to the very fact that no revenue to the City's coffer would be more money to Tomas Regalado Jr.'s pockets. This was a deliberate attempt to keep the "Sunshine" away from what is obviously the City's property to be given away for personal benefit.
To believe that Tomas Regalado Jr. only involvement in this production was to introduce the producers to the Chief is to believe in this Mayor who since the day he was sworn-in has been conniving and lying to the City of Miami employees, unions, residents, businesses and the media. There is no reason for the Mayor's son to believe there is a conflict of interest unless there is some kind of quid pro qou. If the Mayor's son believe there is such a conflict because he merely introduced the produces to the Chief of Police would mean that he and others would encounter conflict of interests all the time. Whether it would be in a social function, community gathering, meeting, etc., an individual introducing one person to another person who then engages in a business relationship does not constitute a conflict of interest for the person who introduced them unless there were any personal financial gain indirectly or directly to be received by that person.
Even more, if the Mayor's son believed back in May 11th, 2010, of such a conflict, and removed himself from any involvement with the production of the video, than why wouldn't he do the same when he saw the previews of the Video with a credit designating him as an Executive Producer. After all, the very same television channel he works for was provided with a copy of the Video. Coincidence! Absolutely not! He was their to sell and broker a deal. The possiblity and opportunity of making money tainted his judgement several months later.
A credit to his name as an Executive Producer to this production would open doors for him of future projects to financially gain from directly or indirectly.
Please, if Diaz had done half the shit Regalado has done, there would be a massive outcry in the streets, with The Herald and Fat Ass Jim DeFede leading the way!
The Herald has become nothing more than space for Norman Braman to advertise, and liner for bird cages, that's it.
Yeah, I don't know why the Herald doesn't spend more time reading these fine blogs and all their anonymous comments.
By the way, I think that the dude who offed 2 cops today was black which it makes it 7...or is it 8?...black guys killed in the City of Miami in the last year.
We're all waiting for your take on this one, fellas!
What happened to the Herald? Is the Herald so desperate to sell its vacant land that it will give up all ethics?
How could a 50 story LED billboard tower benefit the 2 mil residents of South Florida?
They will do another story on the Marlins before they touch their beloved 50 story "media tower" billboard.
Meanwhile, Tomas, Sarnoff, Dunn, Gutierrez, and Marin, and robbing taxpayers blind.
What about Tony's gag order on city employees, why doesn't Chuck challenge Regalado on that?
"Regalado could not be reached Wednesday for comment on the new policy."
So that's it.
If Rabin were a real reporter with balls, he would ask Regalado why he, a former journalist, is restricting journalist access to city employees.
Dear 13:07,
You're too conspiratorial by half. The "intellectual" copyright belongs to the production company, not the city. It's the production company/producer/ director/editor who put these shows together, not the city. You could take the concept, give it to 3 different production companies and come up with 3 different shows.
Additionally, this is reality TV, and not withstanding the monies paid to Sarah Palin, or the Kadashanian sisters, or some of he other people there isn't enough money in the pot for the City to get rich, or even to cover the costs of just one City Commissioner's expense accounts per episode, if that.
Why can I say this? because among my other credits was being a Location Manager on 2 different season episodes of The Amazing Race, being the local producer for a 6 part Irish reality Show called "Making Jake," and having friends who have produced, production managed, location managed all kinds of reality shows.
Additionally, Tommy Regalado was NOT, I repeat, WAS NOT "there to sell and broker a deal." The producers of this show went and did a deal with real producers and with the agency William Morris/ Endeavor to sell the show. I have been told which cable network signed a letter of intent to actually buy the show, but was asked not to reveal the name of the channel that has backed off because of the controversy and the fact that this show now has about as much chance of actually being produced as I have of becoming Mayor of Miami.
If you're going to write like you know the film business, then you better really know the film industry.
al crespo
PS: Check the Crespo-Gram report tonight where again, I will be breaking news!
Sorry, pushed the send button before linking my name to the above post.
al crespo
Mr. Al Crespo,
I think you are concentrating and reacting to your area of expertise and ignoring some important points being made by Anonymous @ 13:07. Specifically, about going about this via a letter and not a contract; and, not having the City Commission approve it. Any type of image, city logo, vehicles, etc. belongs to the City and should require waiver or release forms to be approved by the City Commission and subsequently executed by the City Attorney and City Manager.
No, what I'm focusing on is the continual straw man argument about Tommy Regalado. He is irrelevant to this entire story, and has been used by Exposito's people to keep all the Regalado "haters" in a froth,and too busy to focus on him.
Believe me, if there was a real angle on Tommy and this show, I'd not only know about it, I'd have already written about it. It was bullshit.
As to the claims about contracts, etc...Yes, that bothers me too, but, if all the other craziness about Exposito and Regalado had not surfaced and consumed everyone's attention, I doubt that there would have been anywhere near the attention to either this You Tube video, or any possible show. As for a letter vs a contract, the contracts would only have come about after the show was actually been picked up by a network or cable channel.
The letter only represents a release for the production show to see if they could market the show.
Trust me, if they had really reached the production stage of a reality series that would have been so many contracts that you would have gone snow blind over the whiteness of the papers flowing around city hall.
None of these reality shows ever starts real production without locking up EVERYONE in a contract. As an example, look at all the crazy people that appeared in Borat and then got pissed when they saw how stupid they appeared. None of those lawsuits went anywhere because Fox had them all sign contracts that probably would have allowed the production company to stick a telescope up their ass if they wanted to.
All you all are jumping way to far ahead in this game and looking for arguments that just aren't valid at this stage of a production.
al crespo
Al, the point is that The Herald should be doing the job that you, TBM, and I'm are doing. Instead they continue to excuse Regalado's behavior.
AL,
I respectfully disagree with you. There is a story within the story. The inception of putting together a production of a concept is a story, the production is a story, the selling and distribution of the video is a story. Many facets or chapters of this is story.
Maybe not the point or story you would want to write about, but still a story to be told.
Bottom line, the Mayor was caught in yet another lie, and now everyone is trying to make excuses.
Al Crespo,
If you are such a bad ass, why haven't you forwarded all of this shit to the FEDS?
At least Chief Exposito had the balls to do what you, Investigation Miami or Take Back Miami would not do!
Everyone is lining up to make excuses for poor Tomasito.
Hey bad ass, how do you know that the Feds don't already have all this info? Tomas nor Expo have any balls, the city is a fucking circus.
Anon 1655 has balls like Exposito, both hung like knats!
The best part of the Miami Herald is the section that I use for my cats to crap on. Lets be honest the Miami Herald's impact on Miami is slipping everyday. Their readership numbers are in a nose dive because they refuse to report all the local news and continue to write about Haiti and Cuba each and every day till you feel like screaming. We have major problems here in Miami that impacts all of us and we need a REAL newpaper with objective reporters that report the news not give us their opinion which is suspect at best. In one week Take Back Miami reports more local news than the Herald does in months, I for one can't wait for the day the Miami Herald goes broke however, my cat might get upset since he loves to crap all over the newspaper each and every day.
At least the Herald's Patricia Mazzei reported that Overtown CRA Chairman Dunce Dunn pulled the agenda items increasing pay and benefits to 4-5 way overpaid CRA toadies. The overpaid inexperienced toadies were displaying pure greed. Dunn displays abject stupidity. Dummy Dunn promised he would bring the item back when "hopefully" the public would not notice.
Richard Dunn was Mayor Regalado's choice to be appointed commissioner replacing indicted ex-commissioner Spence-Jones.
NO judgement or common sense!
How is Bockweg still there? First he brings a crazy salary and benefits package to the CRA Board (even after Suarez told him not to) while the city was cutting everyone's including police and firefighters' salary and benefits. (He told Suarez "I think I have the votes").
Then, at a televised CRA meeting, he tells Carrollo he does not have to give him answers about the budget.
Now bringing back the salary and benefits request that was rejected?
Even the City Manager who hired him says he is unqualified, hired only because the manager golfed with his father.
Why is he still there and bring resolutions giving himself raises, meal allowances, car allowances, more weeks of vacation, etc.? Sarnoff, Dunn, Koteles, 52-Story Billboards.
Suck it Overtown.
Check the budget on the $200,000CRA "grant" for the arena site. The picture shows green grass covering the site, but the budget shows 30% of the site will actually be a poorly constructed parking lot for the drug club across the street.
Building a parking lot for Peter Erlich's buddy.
Its Miami Bitches.
Park West has 52 vacant lots. Most are under foreclosure actions. Almost all are blighted. Who is doing anything worthwhile?
Not you - leach. Why don't you take some of the money Peter Erlich scammed from Miami 21 and invest it.
No more CRA money for drug clubs.
Why are the mayor and commissioners getting a pension. How about a resolution eliminating this feeding at the trough.
Pensions for elected officials? No contribution necessary. So sweet.
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