Category Archives: Miami

Isaac Headed Straight for Us?

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

Bonus frisson #1: Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew (although so far I’ve seen nothing suggesting that Isaac should be anywhere as bad). It’s just a couple days over 20 years since I first arrived in Miami. We had a pretty rude welcome from Nature.

Bonus frisson #2: If Isaac keeps going it might hit Tampa around time that the GOP coronation of Mitt Romney is scheduled. Should that happen, though, I doubt I’ll be seeing Pat Robertson explaining this as a sign of divine disapproval of the GOP. Or will someone actually link it to the selection of a protestant-free ticket?

I’m due to be home late Friday, so if all goes on schedule this shouldn’t impact my trip, and I get to hunker with the family.

Posted in Miami | 1 Comment

I Voted

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

I voted today around 9am. I was the 15th voter in my precinct, which given that the polls had been open since 7am, and most voting happens in the first two hours, lunch hour, and the last two hours, does not suggest a real impressive turnout. But then again, my precinct is one in which there are relatively few partisan offices on the primary ballot this year, and basically none of those are likely to be close contests except maybe, can I dream?, the challenge to Erik Fresen in the GOP primary. Not that I have great hopes there.

I learned from the poll workers that they do a whole-day shift, from 5:30am setup to post-7pm close. That’s a long day.

Posted in Miami | 1 Comment

Downballot Recommendations for the Aug 14 Miami-Dade Primary

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

Figuring out who to vote for downballot is a lot of work. The judicial part is especially hard for voters — even for a lawyer like me who isn’t very plugged into the local scene.

My rule of thumb is to vote to re-elect incumbent Judges unless there is a strong reason not to. That bar is amply met in one race (vote FOR Diana Gonzales and against Pando); otherwise I’m voting for the incumbents. The more difficult cases are the open seats.

For Circuit Judge, that would be Groups 15, 47 & 49

In Group 15 I prefer Robert Coppel, a former PD with extensive trial experience; the other candidate sounds bad to me, not least for the endorsement by the Christian Family Coalition.

In Group 47, Alex Labora (MBA Wharton ’83; JD U.M. ’82) has a wide range of experience (he is also the husband of sitting Drug Court Judge Deborah White-Labora); Maria de Jesus Santovenia (JD U.Penn ’88) has been working as an assistant city attorney in Miami and North Miami Beach. The Herald prefers Santovenia. According to the Herald’s questionnaire she spent much more of her own money on the campaign, and also has more civic endorsements. They both seem like serious candidates. She’ll likely win, and I’m OK with that.

In Group 49 pits ex-Miami City Commissioner Victor De Yurre (JD St. Mary’s University School of Law [Texas] ; LL.M Tax, UM) against Teresa Mary Pooler (JD UM). Both are experienced lawyers; De Yurre has political and extensive civil law experience; Pooler has a criminal law background. On the other hand, De Yurre’s political career had extensive smoke (but no fire) when it came to corruption – he was investigated over and over … but always exonerated. The Herald prefers Pooler; the New Times points to De Yurre’s ownership of a troubled business. How you vote on this one probably depends on how you feel about De Yurre (or even if you remember him!). Pooler is not endorsed by the Christian Family Coalition, De Yurre is…so I guess it’s Pooler.

County Court

Group 1
Patricia Marino-Pedraza (incumbent). The CFC endorsed Marino-Pedraza, but I’m leaning to vote for her anyway. That said, I wasn’t impressed by Marino-Pedraza’s husband’s attempt to get her opponent, knocked off the ballot. And she has a relatively high (20%) of lawyers rating her unqualified.

Group 10
The CFC endorsed Diana Gonzales. (So did the Herald.) Vote for her anyway. Pando should go.

Group 20
Fleur Jeannine Lobree is the incumbent, and well-regarded.

Group 24
Andrea Wolfson is the incumbent. The CFC endorsed Wolfson, as did the Herald. Fellow lawyers rate her highly. Easy choice.

Group 27
Ivonne Cuesta (JD Nova ’01) vs. Jacci Suzan Seskin (UM ’02). The Herald endorsed Cuesta over Seskin, a nurse turned PD, citing Cuesta’s exprience of 75 trials. IMHO ten years since law school is on the light side for a judge, although we often settle for even less around here. On the other hand, Cuesta has been nominated for a judgeship four times by the Judicial Nominating Commission, which counts for something. And she has a higher rating from fellow lawyers. So Cuesta.

Group 28
Tanya Brinkley (JD UM ’95) vs. Enrique Yabor (JD “Ole Miss” ’99) (CFC endorsed). Herald-endorsed Brinkley has a wider experience, and impressive endorsements. She’s been nominated by the Judicial Nominating Commission nine times (is that a record?) And she isn’t Yabor. No contest.

Group 33
Teretha Lundy Thomas (incumbent) (and the challenger is bad).

Group 40
Dan Cohen (incumbent)

My Downballot Palmcard
(clip and save!)

29 State Attorney: KF Rundle

Circuit Judges
79 David C. Miller (incumbent)
81 Robert Coppel
83-84 Pick ’em (Labora = 83; Santovenia =84)
86 Pooler
88 Marino-Pedraza (incumbent) (?)
89 Gonzales (!)

County
92 Lobree (incumbent)
95 Wolfson (incumbent)
96 Cuesta
98 Brinkley
101 Thomas
103 Cohn (incumbent)

Property Appraiser
106 Garcia

Pit Bulls
501 No

Posted in 2012 Election, Miami | 2 Comments

I’m Back (Herein of the Downballot in Tuesday’s Primary)

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

I’m back (temporarily). Almost half the messages on my answering machine were robocalls from the Gimenez for Mayor campaign.

I really pains me that I’m going to vote for this man, who seems very anti-worker, but the alternative is worse.

Similarly, I’m going to vote to re-elect Katherine Fernandez Rundle as State Attorney, despite being quite underwhelmed by the performance on public corruption cases over the years. But again, the alternative is worse.

I don’t get to vote against Erik Fresen, my local state rep (District 114), who has a contested Republican primary. This water-carrier for gambling interests does not deserve your vote if you have one in that primary.

I do get to vote against Senator Nelson if I want to, and I do, but the problem is that his opponent would be roadkill in the general election. So it’s probably Nelson or nothing.

I don’t get to vote in FL-26 congressional, but I’ll be rooting for Joe Garcia.

But then there’s the down ballot.

The Herald has endorsed Carlos Lopez-Cantera for property appraiser (perhaps because his wife works for the paper?), but Lopez-Cantera’s career in the state house and his chumminess with Rick Scott does not make me a fan. I think I’ll vote to keep the incumbent, Pedro Garcia.

This will probably get me hate mail, but I will vote No on 500 — which is a vote to retain the pit bull ban. Don’t like ’em, don’t think we need more of them.

Looking at the sample ballot for Tuesday, I see a ton of Democratic Party offices are up for election. First I’ve heard about it. How on earth do I get information about how to vote on these?

I may write up something about the judges tomorrow if I have the time. But in case I don’t, be sure to vote line 89, for Diana Gonzalez as Miami-Dade County Judge; this is vote to unseat Ana Maria Pando, who misused official letterhead to help a campaign contributor. In a poll of local attorneys, 60% (!!!) voted Judge Pando unqualified. 60%!

Posted in Miami | 2 Comments

No Kidding

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

Local politics gadfly, “Ladra,” in the course of fulminating about voter suppression in Hialeah, turns to fulminating about people surprised at voter suppression in Hialeah:

Hellllooo? Do you not read Political Cortadito? Do you think I’m kidding? I’m not even exaggerating most of the time.

via Intimidation at JFK starts early in early voting | Political Cortadito.

Yes, she is the blogger Hialeah deserves.

Posted in Blogs, Miami | Comments Off on No Kidding

Creating Miami’s Future as a Technology Center

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

If anyone can pull of the trick of turning Miami into a communications technology center, it’s probably Manny Medina (and the smart people on his team).

Thus, this excerpt from his profile in today’s Herald is the sign of something that could be A Very Big Deal:

Q: You’re working with local leaders to initiate a not-for-profit Tech Conference of the Americas in Miami. When will it happen? Can you tell us what you’ve got in mind? How do you think it will help the region?

As I attended technology conferences in San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, etc., I was always amazed how any one of them would attract from 100,000 to 250,000 participants. Some conferences actually transform the entire city.

I began to ask why we couldn’t do this in South Florida. The answer was always that we could not compete with Silicon Valley, the Research Triangle, etc. My view is that we do not need to compete, we need to use our number one asset — that we are the undisputed capital of Latin America for everything except technology. Therefore, why not launch a Tech Conference in South Florida to serve as the technology bridge between Latin America and the rest of the world?

Circumstances today create the perfect storm for us to do this. The economic meltdown in Europe and the slowdown in North America are making Latin America substantially more attractive for technology companies. At the same time, Latin American enterprises and governments have an insatiable appetite for the transfer of this new technology.

The conference has to have three main attributes: It needs to be substantive. In other words, tackle real issues facing the industry today like cloud computing, cyber security, big data, analytics, etc.; it needs to be a great networking event; and lastly, it must be fun. I could not think of a better venue than South Florida.

If we think of Art Basel’s impact in our community, I am convinced that making South Florida the Tech Capital of Latin America could have as big if not a bigger impact. The idea has been overwhelmingly embraced by local leaders. We have already secured a few hundred thousand dollars of funding. The goal is to have the first annual conference in the Spring of 2014. Over the next few months, we will be reaching out to the broader community to invite everybody to join us and help make this annual conference a major success for our community.

I hear that the conference has reserved space for 2014.

Posted in Miami, Sufficiently Advanced Technology | Comments Off on Creating Miami’s Future as a Technology Center