The villains of District 5
From left: Michelle Spence Jones, Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Barbara Carey Shyler.
My column on the Miami District 5 madness is up on the South Florida Times website. A clip:
To review: The Miami election is barely two weeks old, and the winner and incumbent in District 5, Michelle Spence-Jones, has been driven from office. Gov. Charlie Crist suspended her after she was charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars in grant money intended for her community. It’s an all-too familiar story in Miami, which has a long history of political scandal. But it’s especially ugly given the outsized challenges faced by the neighborhoods that Spence-Jones used to represent. They include Overtown, Liberty City and Little Haiti, which face higher-than-average unemployment and crime rates, and lower-than-average economic development.
There are so many villains in this runaway catastrophe, so it’s hard to narrow it down to just five. But here goes.
Read the rest here. You might be surprised by who makes number one.
Also in the SFLTimes today: Crist still AWOL on Broward Commission District 9
Meanwhile, more names are popping up on the special election radar, with the buzz list including Patrick Range Jr., Rev. Richard Dunn (a sometimes friend, sometimes opponent of Spence-Jones’), Pierre Rutledge, who Spence Jones had appointed to the Orange Bowl Advisory Committee through 2008 and who is associated with the Miami-Dade School Board, and the two runners up on November 3rd, David Chiverton and Jeff Torain. Personally, I think that since it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that Ms. Spence Jones will win re-election (again), and given the potential to have her re-removed, and yet another special election, the city should just scrap the whole damned thing, save the $200,000, and allow the woman to return to her seat. If the people of District 5 are fine with having a commissioner facing trial while she’s supposed to be serving them? So be it. Let them have what they want (but no complaining, D5! No one’s going to want to hear it!)
Also, I’ve uncovered new details about this case, not seen anywhere else, which I’ll be rolling out soon. Stay tuned!
Comments
Leave a Reply
NOW PLAYING:
The Reid Report named Best National Blog in the 2010 Florida Netroots Awards! Thanks to all who voted, and congrats to all the nominees and winners! Full list of winners hereFollow & Friend
Adverts
Links
Finalist: Best Liberal Blog
Shop
ReidReport TwitterFeed- RT @TheReidReport #Obama bashes #Boehner, says GOP ‘holding middle class hostage’ http://bit.ly/dpQOHd
- Flashback: John ‘Bailout’ Boehner cries, begs colleagues to vote FOR bank bailout ... (major hat tip to Rachel @maddow) http://bit.ly/aHXe7R
- @maddow: the GOP voter turnout number is also misleading. Were there more Dem incumbents who ran unopposed? More competitive GOP primaires?
- Oops!/@quinnelk: Don’t Scare Us Like That, Joy: This headline at the ReidReport today did NOT make me feel good... http://bit.ly/9SdYEo"
- Say, have they called off the election yet on account of #charliecook?
- Tsunami watch: Boxer up 48/44 over Fiorina, Conway tied with Paul http://bit.ly/bASXbg #polls, #tsunamithis #vote2010
- CNN/TIME Poll: Sink up 7, Senate a dead heat http://bit.ly/aiIWIG #sayfie #flsen #flgov #pfla #tsunamithis
- #TeaParty Republicans trying to push Alex Snitker out of #FL Senate race? http://bit.ly/c2COBr #flsen #sayfie #pfla
- The president has added #GOP plans for Social Security privatization to the stump speech. Good idea.
- RT @TheReidReport (LIVE Video) The president’s remarks in Ohio http://bit.ly/cN8Yir (plus full text of the speech)
Watch Daily: The White House Press Briefing
Read Mark Williams' "Letter 'from the Coloreds' to Abe Lincoln