The Grimm Truth

Where's The Accountability?

     Gabriella, a reader from Miami Beach, worries that professional accountability has become a fast disappearing trait. And she has bases her unhappy conclusion, in part, on her own personal experience working for the famously troubled Miami-Dade Housing Authority.

      It seems to me that NO ONE IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANYTHING ANYMORE and the authorities appear to be asleep at the switch... 

      Of course, we all have heard about the Madoff caper, but there are many more similar incidents.
We can start locally with the Miami-Dade Housing Agency for which I worked five years and retired August 2008 and whose scandal was reported by  The Herald in the summer of 2006.  The agency’s former director, Rene Rodriguez, who was 
responsible for awarding millions of  dollars for fraudulent projects, is honeymooning in Coral Gables as if nothing had ever happened.

      The recently uncovered Stanford mess was given approval -- against the advice of attorneys -- by several State of Florida employees one of whom is 
retired and teaching government at the University of Miami!  The other state employees and “regulators” (?) involved in the scandal claim they were in a deep stupor when all this was taking place...

      In a recent issue of the newspaper, we read that the psychological file of Seung-Hui Cho, the student perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre, was suddenly turned in by the then-director of the campus clinic, who had taken several student files home. He had not even been questioned by the  
authorities at the time of the event.

      Is it me or are we seeing a total breakdown not only of personal and professional accountability but also of any kind of follow up by the responsible authorities? 

 

In The Choice Between Basic Needs And Baseball, We Choose . . .

Jerry Marcus, a reader, with a vivid report from an overwhelmed  public hospital, captures the mad disconnect between a community with desperate, basic needs and a leadership ready to spend a half-billion dollars to build the Marlins a baseball stadium. He writes:

      Yesterday I took a friend who has a psychiatric illness to the Jackson Crisis Center because he seemed to be a danger to himself and to others.  We had to wait several hours in a small, poorly air conditioned room as police and fire rescue workers brought in a parade of mentally ill.  Many of them were handcuffed, filthy, and dressed in rags.  There were frequent outbursts and the need for police restraints as the interminable wait to treat numerous crises continued.

      A young male who had been waiting more than six hours for help shouted that he was going to jump off the nearest high building if a doctor did not see him.  He started using obscenities and an officer literally threw him out of the waiting room.

      After more than eight hours my untreated and ill friend gave up.  He remains a danger to himself and others and I feel helpless in trying to help this substantial segment of our society. 

      During this long wait I could not help but think of the wasted money and taxpayer expense that is being funneled into a multi-million dollar baseball stadium in Little Havana while so many injustices and suffering continue in our community.  It is obvious that our leaders have a great lack of compassion for the citizens they supposedly represent.  Building a baseball stadium that nobody needs and few people want rather than helping the truly needy is a travesty of justice. 

Canada Takes A Slighty Different Approach Than Miami

      Sex offenders, consigned to the under belly of bridges in Florida, are treated in a rather more civilized manner in Canada. A readers sent me this link from a 2007 National Public Radio report:

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=10298073&m=10298075

 

Contrast that to the July 21 NPR report on Miami’s 19^th century approach to the issue:

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106689642

I'm Not The Baby Daddy. To The Best Of My Knowledge.

With my publicist on vacation, I suppose I should issue the big denial myself:

I feel compelled to add my name to the list of obscure and semi-famous people who said they don't think so:

        I AM NOT, TO THE BEST OF KNOWLEDGE, THE BIOLOGICAL FATHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON'S CHILDREN.

       Last week, Jackson's good buddy and onetime South Florida restaurateur, wheeler-dealer and scarily connected man-about-town Al Malnik said he wasn't. And Jackson's dermatologist, Arnold Klein, offered up a rather qualified denial. "Not, to the best of my knowledge."

Me neither. I'm sure I'd remember.

For the record, I cannot vouch for any other Miami Herald columnist.   

Michael Invented Anti-Gravity Shoe; Leapt Past Thomas Edison

   The unending media coverage of the death of Michael Jackson only reinforced my sense that undeserving Hollywood celebrities have usurped the superstar status America once conferred on engineers, scientists and, especially, inventors. Until I stumbled upon U.S. Patent Number 5,255,452 granted to Michael J. Jackson and two other California inventors. When music critics described those Michael Jackson dance videos as "inventive," they had stumbled on a literal truth.

The abstract, on file at the U.S. Patent Office, describes:

Method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion 

A system for allowing a shoe wearer to lean forwardly beyond his center of gravity by virtue of wearing a specially designed pair of shoes which will engage with a hitch member movably projectable through a stage surface. The shoes have a specially designed heel slot which can be detachably engaged with the hitch member by simply sliding the shoe wearer's foot forward, thereby engaging with the hitch member.

---

Inventors:

Jackson; Michael J. (Los Angeles, CA), Bush; Michael L. (Hollywood, CA), Tompkins; Dennis (Hollywood, CA)

 

A link to the patent:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=MAUgAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0

  

Broward's Solution To The Tuttle Causeway Condundrum

The task force assigned to sort through the difficulties associated with the myriad of sex offender residence restrictions and offer up recommendations for the Broward County Commission has released a draft of its findings. It's a thoughtful compilation that ought to resonate beyond Broward and into Miami-Dade County, where overreaching statutes have created the homeless mess under the Julie Tuttle Causeway. To download the entire report:

 

Download Broward Task Force Draft Report

Or to read just the recommendations:

Broward Sex Offender & Sexual Predator Residence

Task Force Report

Page 26 July 2, 2009

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on our review of the available evidence, we respectfully submit the following

recommendations for policy which reflects criminal justice research and "best practices."

While some of our recommendations were unanimously agreed upon, others were not.

Our recommendations reflect the consensus of the task force based on majority vote.

1. It is clear that bus stops diminish housing availability within buffer zones to a literal

point of non-existence. We recommend that if a residential exclusion zone is passed,

it should not include school bus stops as a prohibited venue.

2. Based on data provided by the county's Planning and Redevelopment Division (p.

22), it is also exceedingly clear that a 2,500 foot zone as described in the existing

ordinance will exclude sex offenders from residing in the unincorporated areas of the

county. Because 24 municipalities have also passed 2,500 foot exclusion zones, few

options exist for sex offender housing throughout the county. This raises concerns,

not due to sympathy for sex offenders, but because research indicates that housing

instability is a consistent and robust predictor of absconding, probation violation, and

recidivism for criminal offenders in general and sex offenders specifically. Reports

from FDLE indicate a growing number of "sex offender transients" in Broward, and

many more in Miami-Dade County where homelessness resulting from residential

restrictions has caught national attention.

3. Residence restrictions regulate only where sex offenders sleep at night and do

nothing to prevent pedophilic or predatory offenders from frequenting places during

the day where they can cultivate relationships with children and access opportunities

for sexual abuse. Therefore, we recommend that the commissioners consider

enacting a child safety zone preventing sex offenders from loitering without a

legitimate reason in areas where children are present.

4. We recommend that in any ordinance that is passed, an exception be made for

offenders who established their residence prior to the passage of the ordinance (a

"grandfather" clause). Such clauses are commonly found in other municipal

ordinances. Because housing throughout the county is so limited, such a clause will

reduce the probability of homelessness and transience for RSOs who are already

living in unincorporated areas. The proposed end-of-lease grandfather clause simply

delays housing instability rather than prevents it. Grandfathering homeowners but

not lease holders represents differential treatment based on financial resources.

Since there is no reason to believe that current lease holders present a greater

Broward Sex Offender & Sexual Predator Residence

Task Force Report

Page 27 July 2, 2009

threat to the safety of children than homeowners, this differential treatment seems

not only unfair, but illogical.

5. We recommend that an exception be made (referred to as a Romeo & Juliet clause

in Florida statutes) for young adults with a single victim and who, at the time of the

offense, were under the age of 22 and committed a "statutory" offense with a

teenage victim no more than 4 years younger than the offender. While we recognize

that such behavior is unlawful, and that minors cannot legally consent to sexual

activity with an adult, we also recognize that such offenders are not typically

diagnosed as pedophiles and probably do not pose a significant danger to commit

future sexually violent crimes.

6. We recommend that commissioners strongly urge our elected state senators and

representatives to enact a statewide solution to sex offender management. The

problem of clustering is a direct result of the multiplicity of ordinances throughout the

state (at least156) which push offenders into areas with less restrictive buffer zones.

The best solution is for the Florida legislature to enact a uniform statewide

residential policy for sex offenders. We recommend that the county commissioners

adopt a resolution asking the legislature to create a statewide residence solution,

which should include a Romeo & Juliet clause as well as a grandfather clause. The

recommendation to the legislature should also urge the adoption of a uniform

statewide child safety zone provision preventing RSOs from loitering within 300-500

feet of a school, park, daycare, designated school bus stop, or other place where

children regularly congregate. We also recommend that the legislature review the

crimes that require registration and that Florida create a more refined, risk-based

classification and tier system of offenders that might, in some circumstances, lead to

individuals eventually being deleted from the registry but only upon meeting criteria

established by statute and requiring judicial review.

7. We recommend that commissioners strongly urge leaders from the League of Cities

to endorse a uniform county-wide ordinance. The problem of clustering is a direct

result of the multiplicity of differing ordinances throughout the county (24) which

push offenders into areas with less restrictive buffer zones. In the absence of

legislative reform, the best immediate solution is for city councils to agree to enforce

uniform residential policies for sex offenders throughout this county.

8. We urge leaders from the League of Cities to undertake an analysis of potentially

compliant housing in each municipality and amend ordinances to allow for

reasonable housing availability to alleviate clustering. Information designating

compliant residential locations should be provided to DOC probation, law

Broward Sex Offender & Sexual Predator Residence

Task Force Report

Page 28 July 2, 2009

enforcement agencies, and other case managers to assist RSOs in securing

housing.

9. We recommend that commissioners consider text amendments to land use plans to

allow residential units in industrial areas as a permitted use. The feasibility of

alternative housing options for sex offenders needs to be more fully investigated, as

any alternative housing would be subject to zoning variances and practical

considerations such as affordability and access to residential infrastructure (public

transportation, shopping, services, etc.). Innovative housing options are recognized

as a possible long-term solution requiring complex planning and development, and

therefore should not be considered as a singular alternative to our other

recommendations.

10. We support Mayor Ritter's letter to Governor Crist asking for leadership and

assistance in addressing the matter and suggesting a statewide or regional task

force to allow for uniformity of residence requirements.

11. Based upon concerns raised by the Broward Sheriff's Office and the State Attorney's

Office, we recommend that commissioners and the county attorney review the

language defining "temporary" and "permanent" residence in Ordinance 2009-22 as

"a place