Showing posts with label Patricia Seitz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patricia Seitz. Show all posts

Monday, January 12, 2009

Political culture and crime in FL Speaker Ray Sansom's district matches his ethics: pathetic!

Was reading yesterday's excellent post by Alex Leary at the Herald's Naked Politics blog about the latest chapter in the unethical exploits of Florida Speaker of the House Ray Sansom, and his self-serving rationalizations for his curious combination of rampant cronyism, greed and hypocrisy, dressed-up as public service.  (Seems more like 'self-service' to me!)
Sansom: 'I saw no legal or ethical problem'


After reading that, I was curious to see for myself what the newspaper that ran his apologia of an Op-Ed, the Northwest Florida Daily News, might have said about the behavior for the Angel of Niceville, who appears to have quite a history of using taxpayers funds to treat his friends and pals the way they think they deserve to be treated.
I figured I'd find an editorial that was either scathing or softball, since his actions aren't likely to be viewed as anything in-between.

But before I could find that, I found this delicious headline and story from the area that I thought was truly worth mentioning.
I don't know about you, but I hate it when "awkward boots" ruin a good time for everyone. 

Below that, I have found something that sounds all too familiar to me here in Broward County, and in particular, here in Hallandale Beach: items that are NOT put on the public agenda being voted upon without sufficient public notice and citizen input.

That's exactly how in less than two years, Hallandale Beach's Vice-Mayor, William Julianattempted to have the HB City Commission's salary TRIPLED, an interim City Commissioner was selected -Anthony Sanders- and, last month, how City Manager Mike Good's contract was, apparently, renewed 4-1, without any public comment or any documentation given.
All within the past two years.

A resident from Northwest Florida wrote the newspaper to share and recall for everyone's benefit, some of the previous ethical exploits of Mr. Sansom, and brings up several matters that paint a picture of a chronic offender, as well as a political culture there that, frankly, seems remarkably like what passes for the political culture in South Florida.
The "fixer" culture, where you have to pay-to-play.

Speaking of crime, does anyone have any ideas why the Herald has, thus far, never printed the COMPLETE list of names of the 200-odd South Florida 'leaders' who urged U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz to go easy in sentencing the de Céspedes brothers recently for their stone-cold multi-million dollar fraud?

That's a glaring black hole in the story and thus far, nobody in South Florida media seems interested or inclined in making that list public.
Where's the transparency and accountability there?
Where's the curiosity?

I can't be the only person in South Florida who'd like to know just who's on that particular list.
No doubt, lots of people who every day ask South Florida citizens to implicitly "trust" their judgment in making decisions that directly affect their lives and futures.
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Man in awkward boots disrupts AJ's
By Andrew Gant
January 11, 2009

DESTIN - A deck hand proclaimed he "paid the light bill" at AJ's before sheriff's deputies hauled him off for disorderly intoxication.

The 35-year-old man was trying to start fights with bar patrons when employees called 911. He "loudly justified his presence at AJ's" when deputies arrived, claiming "this is no big deal," according to his arrest report.

His muscles were tense, his nostrils flared and his fists clenched, a deputy said.

But the man soon became apologetic and tried to shake the deputy's hand. When he refused, the man said "That's all right, I ain't gonna shake you either when I catch you out of uniform and you are gettin' your ass whooped," according to the report.

As deputies escorted him away, he tripped and fell over a handicap rail because "he was wearing very large, awkward fitting rubber fishing boots," the deputy wrote.

When he got about 50 yards from the restaurant, he yelled, "(Expletive) that mother (expletive), he's (expletive)!"

He told deputies he drank "a few beers" before he was charged with the misdemeanor and taken into custody.

Reader comments at: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/deputies_14106___article.html/deputy_expletive.html#slComments

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Going thru the archives of the Northwest Florida Daily News reveals many gold nuggets of interest regarding Ray Sansom, this particular one in a poll conducted on December 4th.
This particular reader brings up many good points, including 'lack of notice,' but forgets to bring up the egregious case of convicted NW Florida Congressman Robert Sikes.

His corruption and greed was profiled nationally on CBS News' Sixty Minutes in 1979, when I was a senior in high school in North Miami Beach, when that program really attracted huge numbers of TV eyeballs, and before it seemed like every third horrible or weird national/crime story somehow involved someone in Florida.
As is true today.

I've highlighted in red the resemblance to Hallandale Beach's M.O.

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/poll_13269___article.html/sansom_florida.html?orderby=TimeStampDescending&showRecommendedOnly=0&oncommentsPage=2#slComments

gatorboy wrote:
YEA!!! Mr. Sansom has been "on the edge" of conflict of interest before when he was county commissioner and rammed through "Jay Odom's curve" which made Jay Odom millions and Sansom benefited greatly from that action. Look where his fancy office is now in FWB, Uptown Station. And guess who owns Uptown Station? Jay Odom. Also this latest payback for getting the college $25 million in one year and getting a part time job for $110,000 which is 30% more than the last guy that had that job and he is a Vice-President to boot so he is lined up to be President when Richburg finally retires and term limits boot him out of Tallahassee. That job was rammed down the College Trustees throats and wasn't even on the published adgenda --- that tells you something---right? He is running true to course like our other State Rep's from NWFLA. 
W. D. Childers of Pensacola is serving time now in Prison and he was President of the Senate plus a County Commissioner from Escambia County. Bo Johnson, another senate president from Santa Rosa County served his prison time for bribery and is now out. So guess Mr. Sansom will follow suit and has gotten the big head and played his politics like the good ole boys have done in the past so guess he will be headed to prison if he keep this up? It is a shame to our area that our representatives are so corrupt and can't keep their fingers out of the till. Mr. Sansom needs to straighten up and fly right and resign from this cushy payoff job. He knows better because his Dad is a preacher. Political power breeds greed and this is a great example. Thank God for term limits. The Congress needs term limits badly too. Look at Ted Stevens and William Jefferson, two crooks in the Senate and Congress....ugh!!! Mr. Sansom.....RESIGN.