Watchdog Report: Sarnoff Finds Having Four Challengers Not a Piece of Cake
By Daniel A. Ricker,
Special to the SunPost
CITY OF MIAMI
“Disturbing,” is how one long time neutral observer of Miami City Hall described last week, that opened up with suspended Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito being fired Monday by a 3-2 commission vote, a budget workshop on Wednesday that had a sharp exchange with a Police union leader over proposed cuts and Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff (Net worth $2.08 million), and a regular commission and first public budget meeting that included a sharp verbal exchange between Grace Solares to the five year commissioner representing District 2 and punctuated the week. Solares is important because she and Sarnoff have been friends and allies over the years and in July 2010. She contributed $500.00 to the commissioner reelection campaign for a second four-year term this year. Further, Sarnoff from the dais discussed a previous night’s candidates debate. He noted he “attended a debate last night” and was “severely criticized” for all the money that was going to refurbish city parks and it “was considered a waste of taxpayer money,” he said from the dais. The maritime lawyer later in the day tried to correct the record again regarding some of the candidates and residents comments from the previous debate saying people can have their “own conclusions but not your own facts,” a phrase he made famous he said. In that case, people at the debate were claiming the Florida Marlins stadium only hired “one percent” of local labor when in fact the number of Miami residents working at the site was more like around 30 percent said Commissioner Frank Carollo to Sarnoff during the discussion where Sarnoff was trying to clear up the record. However, he may have crossed the campaign and ethics line because campaigning cannot be done from the commission dais, and other authorities will have to decide, but the meeting was taped and is on line at and one of his challengers, Kate Callahan Friday has filed a “complaint” with the Federal Elections Commission.
Sarnoff, who twice noted at the end of the first public budget hearing Thursday night at 9:15 p.m. that the city has saved $167,000 since fellow Commissioner Xavier Suarez (Net worth $81,131) was reelected unopposed after his only challenger withdrew from the District 4 commission race. The Miami Clerk said the races would cost $672,000 that included funding for one runoff and Sarnoff after five –years on the dais has a real race on his hands, and it is splitting his Coconut Grove voter base into different candidate camps. At the public debate at the Museum of Science, that Miami Commission Chair Wilfredo “Willy” Gort (Net worth $226,000) briefly attended but left after realizing the District 2 race candidates were what the audience wanted to hear from. The Watchdog Report asked people that attended the debate what they thought and was said, it was not pretty for Sarnoff as challengers Callahan, Michelle Niemeyer, Donna Milo, and Williams Armbrister hammered him.
Sarnoff is finding it is much easier to run against someone like then incumbent Commissioner Linda Haskins in 2006 where he beat her two-to-one even though his campaign war chest was dwarfed by the $750,000 Haskins had for her campaign supported by then Mayor Manny Diaz. In that race, he was the David versus Goliath but the tables are turned and when he won his first full term in 2007. The man changed and if you want to be appointed to some city board or organization you had to toe the line and if he told you to support something. You had better do it; if you don’t want some form of retaliation, people have told the Watchdog Report over the years.
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Thank you Brazilian tourists for coming to the Beach and spending your cash dollars for it is sending tourist tax revenues through the ceiling and this surging funding is one of the only bright spots in the South Florida economy.
PAST WDR: City Clerk’s office:
NOVEMBER 1, 2011 GENERAL ELECTION
The following individual(s) have submitted Form DS-DE 9 (Appointment of Campaign Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer and Designation of Campaign Depository for Candidates) Mayor (Mayor Bower’s Seat) Matti Herrera Bower, Steve Berke, David Crystal, Laura Rivero Levey*: Group IV (Commissioner Wolfson’s Seat) Jonah Wolfson; Group V (Commissioner Tobin’s Seat) Edward Tobin; Group VI (Commissioner Weithorn’s Seat) Deede Weithorn and Maria Carmen Meruelo.
County Ethics Commission study in 2008 on elected leaders benefits & salary: In the City of Miami Beach, City Code Section 2.02, Term and Compensation, establishes the compensation for the Mayor and Commissioners. Specifically, the City Code states: “The annual compensation for the Office of Commissioner shall be six thousand dollars ($6,000.00) and the compensation for the Office of Mayor shall be ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00); any increase in salary for Mayor and/or Commissioner shall require approval of a majority of the electorate voting at a City election.” Based on COE inquiry of the City Clerk, the total taxable compensation for the Mayor was $10,000 and $6,000 each for the City Commissioners in the calendar 2007. With regards to taxable annual expense allowances, the Mayor and Commissioners each receive a $6,000 taxable vehicle allowance. These funds are authorized annually via the City’s annual budget. Additionally, through its annual budget process, the City authorizes nontaxable expense allowances to its elected officials in the following amounts: Total nontaxable expense allowance for the Mayor in 2007 was $24,000. Total nontaxable expense allowance for each City Commissioner in 2007 was $18,000. Elected officials are also provided with a government-issued cell phone, which is paid for by the City on a monthly basis; therefore, there is no taxable cell phone allowance. Lastly, the City Clerk stated that neither the Mayor nor the Commissioners are provided with a government credit card or a public relations allowance.
Category: CITY, WATCHDOG REPORT
