Graham slams Legislature's environmental policies, USF Polytech

Former Gov. Bob Graham and former Sen. Lee Constantine criticized Florida's environmental policies and accused the Legislature of selling out to big polluters, at the University of Florida's Bob Graham Center for Public Service Tuesday night.

Graham discussed the accomplishments of the Florida Conservation Coalition, a group he formed in reaction to the "egregious" environmental policies passed through the Legislature in 2011. 

The coalition, which has several other environmental groups as members, helped take the teeth out of several key pieces of 2012 legislation that would have caused harm to the environment, he said.

Democrats try to recruit old, new faces to run against David Rivera for Congress in Miami-Dade

In a sign of Democratic struggles in Florida’s biggest county, Republican Congressman David Rivera’s main opponent dropped out, leaving no clear replacement to challenge the ethics-hobbled incumbent.

State Rep. Luis Garcia, who had struggled to raise money and accused top Democratic leaders of double-crossing him, left the congressional race for a Miami-Dade County commission bid at the urging of a top financier.

Garcia said he’s planning to leave the Democratic Party following a dispute with Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Steve Israel, who both recruited former Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas to jump into the race. Wasserman Schultz, a Weston Congresswoman, disputed Garcia’s suggestion that she was rude or mean to him. She added that she didn’t betray him.

Meantime, Penelas hasn’t jumped at the chance to get back into politics. There are no other big names weighing a bid, putting Democratic leaders in a bind.

“They’re going to revive a couple of political cadavers that have lost other elections,” Garcia said. “They missed a big opportunity to take that seat back.”

Garcia wouldn’t name names, but at least one perennial candidate is weighing a Rivera challenge. Joe Garcia, no relation, who ran unsuccessfully against Rivera and Rivera’s predecessor, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, said Tuesday that Garcia’s exit has “forced” him to reconsider seeking the seat.

“I’m more than thinking about it, because clearly there are very few people who have the name recognition and the team and the possibility to put a campaign together for a United States congressional seat in a few weeks,” he said.

Also being recruited: Gloria Romero Roses, a Southwest Ranches businesswoman who has been active in Ruth’s List, an organization aimed at finding progressive, pro-choice women to run for office in Florida. She did not return alls seeking comment. More here.

Obama camp, Dems swipe at Mitt Romney over space policy

After 60 Minutes took President Obama to task over his broken promises regarding the space program, the Republican National Committee piled on. Today, Obama's campaign hit back, pointing out that Republican Mitt Romney would be worse for the space program.

From a transcript of a call with Obama supporter and Cocoa Mayor Michael Blake said:

North Miami mayor used city soccer fields for free

North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre and friends have been regularly using the city’s athletic stadium for pickup soccer games without paying $38,000 in rental fees, The Miami Herald has learned.

City records provided to The Miami Herald show that Pierre reserved the use of the North Miami Athletic Stadium for private soccer practice 78 times from October 2009 to September 2011. Based on the city’s regular rates, the rentals would have cost around $29,000.

From September 2011 to January 2012, a private soccer club named North Miami Taxpayer’s Soccer Club reserved the use of the stadium 29 times racking up $9,000 in rental fees that haven’t been paid, according to records.

North Miami Taxpayers Soccer Club players confirmed that Pierre is a member.

Pierre did not return calls or text messages sent to his cell phone for comment. More from Nadege Green here.

Ousted Miami Beach official faces probe for handling of convention center project

The recently ousted Miami Beach official tasked with overseeing the city’s massive convention center redevelopment project is now a target of a criminal investigation, The Miami Herald has learned.

The revelation comes days after the city’s procurement director Gus Lopez suddenly resigned under the threat of termination.

On Saturday, City Manager Jorge Gonzalez told The Herald Lopez had been insubordinate and proved to be incapable of handling his duties. But Monday, as allegations of favoritism and questionable behavior flew, Gonzalez said city officials had been monitoring Lopez’s emails and had discovered “inappropriate” correspondence about the convention center project. Police Chief Raymond Martinez on Monday would only confirm an investigation had been launched at Gonzalez’s request related to “potentially inappropriate actions involving the procurement director.”

More from David Smiley here.

Scott, Bondi finish two-mile run for Special Olympics fundraiser

Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater ran two miles to raise money for Special Olympics Florida this morning.

They joined about 100 law enforcement officers, agency heads and disabled people in the final leg of the relay event, which is held in every Florida county and ends in Tallahassee with the passing of the torch to Scott. The relay raised nearly $2 million for Special Olympic competitions.

"I'm not worried about finishing," Scott said before the race, adding that he'd exercised on the elliptical this morning.

Atwater said he wasn't quite as in shape.

Miami-Dade commissioners urge Florida Legislature to take up 'Stand Your Ground' following Travyon Martin's death

Miami-Dade commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday urging the Florida Legislature to convene hearings on the controversial Stand Your Ground law invoked in the Feb. 26 death of Miami Gardens 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

The measure was put forth by Commissioner Barbara Jordan, who represents Miami Gardens, and co-sponsored by Commissioners Audrey Edmonson and Dennis Moss. It calls for legislative hearings and supports Gov. Rick Scott's task force convened following Trayvon's death after being shot by Sanford neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Zimmerman has not been charged.

Jordan and Commissioner Dennis Moss once again had packages of Skittles and a can of Arizona iced tea -- the items Trayvon had bought at a 7-Eleven before heading home -- by their microphones.

The resolution stipulates that, on Stand Your Ground, "the language of the statute is overly broad and inconsistently applied thereby creating difficulties for law enforcement officers and state attorneys to investigate and prosecute incidents when the law is raised as a defense."

There was no discussion about the measure from the dais, and no commissioners objected to its approval. There was also no mention of gun-related crime, including that violent crime and firearm crimes have declined in Florida between 2005 and 2010 -- and that murders and reports of justifiable homicides have increased, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Part-time Wasserman Schultz aide, Jewish Dem outreach leader joked about money-obsessed "Jewbags"

File this Washington Beacon report under the Perils of Facebook**:

The Democratic Party’s newly appointed Jewish outreach liaison is pictured on Facebook in a series of provocative photos with her friends holding dollar bills and referring to themselves as “Jewbags” and the “Jew cash money team!”

Dani Gilbert, who has been a staffer in the office of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), was recently appointed as the Democratic National Committee’s Jewish outreach liaison, according to her Twitter feed.Photos publicly available on her Facebook page depict her engaged in the kind of youthful displays that social media like Facebook and Twitter have made increasingly common and problematic for young Washington staffers.

In one photo, Gilbert is seen kissing paper currency of undetermined denomination. The caption at the bottom of the photo reads “JEWBAGS.” A comment left on the posting refers to Gilbert and a coterie of female companions as the “Jew cash money team.” Other photos depict Gilbert as a bit of a party girl, including one featuring an assortment of condoms.

Republicans are eating this stuff up. The Shark Tank political blog called Gilbert Wasserman Schultz's 'Mini-Me.' And on it goes.

**Note: the picture here is from 2006, underscoring the fact that puerile humor from the way-back can politically haunt you today.

 

Miami-Dade commissioners: Norman Braman 'bully' for targeting group of incumbents

Miami-Dade commissioners targeted for defeat in elections this fall have a message for Norman Braman, the man recruiting challengers to run against them: We are not afraid.

Four commissioners, speaking from the dais at a meeting Tuesday, were defiant in the face of the latest campaign by Braman, the wealthy auto magnate who bankrolled last year's recall against County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. Braman said last week he wants to create a slate of candidates he considers reform-minded to unseat longtime incumbents. He has already found one: state Rep. Luis Garcia, who will drop out of a congressional race to challenge Commissioner Bruno Barreiro.

"Norman Braman is a bully," Commissioner Dennis Moss said, starting off the comments against Braman. "At the end of the day, I know some folks in this community are afraid of him ... But I'm not one of those individuals."

"A bully thrives on fear, but once a bully understands that you're not afraid of him, they go and find somebody else to terrorize" Moss added.

Sen. Chris Smith starts his own Stand Your Ground task force, says Scott is moving too slowly

Sen. Chris Smith, frustrated by what he calls slow movement by Gov. Rick Scott in the wake of the shooting death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, is launching a task force to review the controversial law at the center of the case.

“Instead of waiting on the governor to act, I’ve decided to lead in the state of Florida,” the Fort Lauderdale Democrat said. “I’ve assembled a task force to look at the controversial Stand Your Ground law.”

Gov. Scott has created a task force to review Stand Your Ground, but has said the group will not convene until after the investigation into the Trayvon Martin shooting is completed.

Smith wanted faster action. His South Florida-based task force, made up of legal professionals, will hold its first meeting on Thursday at 4 p.m. at a Broward County library.

Smith said local judges, attorneys and tourism officials will present to the task force on Thursday, to show how controversial law—which allows people to use deadly force when they are threatened--has impacted the state.