Miami Civics Presentation and Resource Guide

The first OGM Civics Presentation was just completed this past weekend. It was a great event. We're planning another event soon. Stay tuned for the announcement.

In the meanwhile, check out the Miami Civics Presentation and Resource Guide below:

What urban planning means to me and my Miami 21 experience (so far)

Roos Lane

I keep hearing that “Miami 21 is a disaster.” I remember campaigning in the City of Miami in 2009 when the commission approved the Miami 21 zoning ordinance right before that November election. It sounded strange then and as it has taken me 4 years to catch up to what the new zoning code actually allows.

Miami 21 had a lot of critics and cheerleaders. One such cheerleader and respected urban planning expert UM Dean of Architecture Elizabeth Plater-Zyber is now stepping down. What this means going forward is unclear to me. I always thought the “New Urbanism” movement in urban planning circles was meant to provide more protection for local neighborhoods from aggressive developers. I can’t see that Miami 21 does anything of the sort. Every land use activist (aka neighborhood protectionist) from Coral Way to Coconut Grove all have horror stories to share of how Miami 21 is being used as a way to develop urban in-fill spaces in residential communities, which is parlance referring to allowing high-rise, residential/commercial structures (mixed-use) adjacent to single family homes (talk about encouraging peeping toms).

From the EyeOnMiami article, I read an interesting comment that makes the case that zoning codes like Miami 21 are more suited to agrarian communities where you have a lot of community input in development. My dad built a lot in Delaware and everyone had a say in what he eventually built there... they named a street after him. 

Roos Lane and Kenton, Delaware

Returning to Miami 21, the only reason why real estate development in the City of Miami is so difficult compared to easy Delaware is because there is so much more secrecy and backdoor politics. Unfortunately, we have an aggressive developer-class in the City of Miami (not to mention the rest of South Florida) and low involvement from the common class in issues of urban planning. So I am saddened by the loss of even one New Urbanism (urban planning) activist like Elizabeth Plater-Zyber (whether you liked her or not).

I will share my personal, horror stories regarding Miami 21 throughout this week and why it negatively impacts jobs and the livability of Miami. One story discusses the fiasco of T6-8-O zoning designation all along Coral Way that is leading to enormous building constructions. Another story is the trouble with no restrictions to allowing Transit-Oriented Developments around the Metrorail stations along US1 going out a half-mile radius. My last story is what I think about the destruction of the traditional commercial spaces like the Coconut Grove entertainment district and the Wynwood Art District (with accompanying industrial area) because of the over-development at Midtown.

Horror, destruction and zoning… Only in the City of Miami do these words together make any sense.

Further Response to the North Miami Election

The former North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns lost in a run-off election to Lucie Tondreau earlier this month is a way that was incredible and somewhat unbelievable at least from a political science stand point. It doesn't matter if Tondreau herself was involved in a voter fraud scheme but the numbers show that something strange occurred to generate the vote totals we saw.

Burns is now suing to have Tondreau removed as mayor not because of voter fraud but because Tondreau didn't live in North Miami at least a year in order to establish the proper residency requirement. It is the first time to candidates challenged on the basis of their residency.

However, voter fraud is a perennial issue in Miami-Dade County. It is an issue that cannot be ignored even though for Kevin Burns it is expedient to bypass.

I write more why voter fraud in North Miami is a bigger problem people in the city must confront or accept that this will be a regular part of their elections from now on:

Kudos to Kevin Burns for going after residency, but he shouldn’t have punted on Voter Fraud

Investigating voter fraud is simple to do in concept but difficult to accomplish. First off, you need people who know who to ask the right questions of just to figure exactly what happened during the election. Next, you need to figure if anything that you know happened was illegal and then determine whether or not it was enough to change the results of the election. Determining if fraud was committed, who did it and why is a daunting task (unless Lucie Tondreau herself was directly involved that is). Adding to the difficulty is that in North Miami, Lucie Tondreau won with more than 800 votes so figuring out how 800 people committed voter fraud is very challenging. 

This is why Kevin Burns is challenging the results of the election by going after the matter regarding Lucie Tondreau’s residency... 

Read more at: http://www.votersopinion.com/?p=9969

Ron Paul Miami becomes Open Government Miami

It's no secret that my activism began from my support of the presidential campaigns for the retired Congressman Ron Paul. I wrote a piece for the DailyPaul.com, a leading Ron Paul supporter site, describing in better detail what I want to accomplish with Open Government Miami:

The vacancy left behind with the Ron Paul Campaigns will be filled with a journey for activists to establish responsible, public policy initiatives. We are the pressure that makes the change. 

This is a labor of love: Six years ago I began a journey of discovery into the bowels of Miami's Banana Republican Politics. Today, I find myself a lot more introspective and have found out that most of the problems in today's politics begins with mistrust. Mistrust and government tend to go hand and hand, no? But this mistrust comes because of The People's general ignorance and miseducation which leads them to mistrust everyone's motivations. Rather unite, we fracture and crumble. 

This dangerous ignorance starts from a lack of understanding of an individual's role in society. They see themselves as a unit rather than a member of the whole, individually expressed. We are a product of our society after all. 

There is a willful and very deep ignorance that people have toward government. Too many people have abandoned trying to learn about government because our political system is "broken" (a straw man argument). But they give up on the institution without realizing that there is none other that ties us all together as strongly. So I tell people, "It's the only way we can stay involved in each other's lives. And the only way we can figure out how to do business together, too." 

Remember, government has an enormous role on every decision we make from the moment we wake up to the moment we lay down to sleep. Government cannot be ignored, it won't let you. 

Open Government Miami is designed to relate educational opportunities where you can learn how to become a civic and political activist (they are NOT the same thing!) and hopefully make great friends and have great experiences. Plus, I will let you in on juicy bits of knowledge of how elections and the public policy are used regularly to enrich a few key industries here while leaving the rest of us lagging behind (i.e. urban blight, a weak business climate, water pollution and many other such issues).

Read more: http://www.dailypaul.com/289455/ron-paul-miami-becomes-open-government-miami

Two "FREE" Events to Take Advantage Of

There are two events this week that I want you to consider attending:

Rothbardian Circle Miami featuring Dr. Walter Block

Cost: Free; sponsored by Mr. Luis Rivera

When: Wednesday, June 19th, 2013 at 6:30 pm (up to 11:00pm)

Where: Hampton Inn Suite (near Brickell), 6th floor EGRET Room

Address: 50 SW 12th St, Miami, FL 33130

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/120253768174807/

Civic Activism Empowers Political Action

Cost: Free; sponsored by Open Government Miami

When: Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 10:00 am (up to 1:00pm)

Where: Simpson Park Meeting Hall (near Brickell)

Address: 55 SW 17th Rd Miami, FL 33129

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/476148892474268

You may ask who puts on events that feature world-renowned Economics Ph.D. and experienced activists detailing their years of experience and knowledge, read more at the attached links or just find more for yourself by attending!

The Voter Fraud Story You Haven't Heard

Voter fraud has been in the news with scandal from the campaign of now-Congressman Joe Garcia and just yesterday the same fraud committed by campaign aides of City of Miami Commissioner Francis X. Suarez who is vying for the Mayor's seat this November.

Real voter fraud is much more organized and conspiratorial then the Internet schemes of these two related voter fraud scandals. Real voter fraud stories are rarely ever heard about because the fraudsters completely got away with it.

Voter fraud usually comes in 5 ways:

1. Voter Registration Fraud
2. Absentee Ballot Fraud
3. Illegally or Improperly "Assisting" Others to Vote their Absentee Ballot
4. Vote-Buying
5. Hacking Voter Machine or Vote Counting Database

There are few thoughts to figure out which kind of fraud happened and who perpetrated it:

1. Voter Registration Fraud usually occurs by "changes of address" schemes to register voters who live outside the voting district to participate in the election (such as out-of-towners, homeless, public employees, etc.. The real residence of these voters can be proven by real estate tax searches, corporation records and other easily accessible public databases.
2. Absentee Ballot Fraud usually occurs in several ways such as casting absentee ballots stolen from mailboxes and requesting absentee ballots without permission (with or without an improper change of address). Rumors can indicate this happening and so can any reports made to authorities. Since this type of fraud is done in combination with voter registration fraud and "change of address" schemes then it can be detected in the same way.
3. Illegally or Improperly "Assisting" Others to Vote their Absentee Ballot occurs regularly when absentee ballots are cast by the infirm, incapacitated and elderly who cannot vote by themselves (or otherwise protest their ballots being marked without permission). Rumor can offer details regarding how and who ran this scheme. Analysis of voting patterns can point groupings of voters residing in institutions such as group homes or assisted living facilities that can further investigation.
4. Vote-buying is popular because it is cheap and done during Election Day or Early Voting that drives droves of registered voters by bus to a voting location in exchange for $10-$20 (i.e. $2,000 for 200 votes). The only way to know if this happens is when people speak about it happening (word of mouth). Rumors will offer names of those organizing this scheme. Details will offer clues that can establish who were paid to vote against the list of voters who cast ballots. Analysis of voting patterns among lower quality (lower propensity) voters can indicate this scheme from happening.
5. Hacking Voter Machine or Vote Counting Database is rarely done except in tight elections or else it will be detected by voter polling prior to the election but most especially by exit polling. On rare occasion, the reporting of election results can be so compromised that vote tallies can be completely switched out. This type of fraud involves people who have access within the chain of custody involving ballots, electronic voting machines and the voter count database (which means election volunteers, staff and the third-party vendors involved).

Usually you can only detect the type of fraud being committed well after the election is over and certified and the voter history is made available publicly. However, if you are aware of how to rig elections you can catch it in the midst of it happening or just warn voters of this happening.

Rumors, gossip and even campaign finance reports can help you pin-point the type of fraud and using voter history to determine particular voting patterns that occur in each type of voter fraud.  

We can also narrow the suspects by knowing who are the local ballot brokers and the usual suspects for voter fraud. We can also figure out who these people are who committed fraud by reviewing who stands out in the campaign finance report as well as identifying any PACs or third-party groups such as religious, civic or governmental organizations (like CRA or a Development Authority) associated with them.

Keep tuned in to this blog and I will share more info about voter fraud specifically how it gets done and how to stop it.

Something funny happened in North Miami @ Votersopinion.com

I wrote an interesting piece about potential voter fraud in the recent City of North Miami Election. It is a story of ups and downs, colorful personalities and impossible vote totals. You have to read it to believe it.

Thanks to Stephanie Kienzle at Votersopinion.com for publishing my post. She is holding a magnifying glass on North Miami and North Miami Beach politics and is a partner in revealing how to make government "OPEN".

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Yes, this has to do with mayoral contest in North Miami. No, it is not another post about “Coco Douce” or about the devil hexing candidates for mayor. 

This other story has to do with the victory of Lucie Tondreau, the recently sworn in mayor of North Miami, over the former mayor Kevin Burns. The North Miami election was very busy with the mayor and 2 city council seats having to go to a run-off election. Ms. Tondreau was swept into office with 833 votes (about an 11% margin). This margin for victory has never been seen before in North Miami politics. 

Maybe Lucie Tondreau is that popular. Maybe North Miami voters really wanted something different than Kevin Burns. Maybe this was just great timing. But something was troubling me about the results and it was mainly this: 

Burns had a near 400 vote (over 5%) advantage to Tondreau after the regular election. How did Tondreau manage to pull off a swing of more than 1,200 votes in her favor to defeat a popular, former mayor?

Read more at: http://www.votersopinion.com/?p=9893

A Short Manifesto

Six years ago I began a journey of discovery into the bowels of Miami's Banana Republican Politics. Today, I find myself a lot more introspective and have found out that most of the problems in today's politics begins with mistrust. Mistrust and government tend to go hand and hand, no? But I mean the mistrust people feel toward each other and the division it creates.

There is a very deep ignorance that people have regarding government. Too many people have abandoned trying to learn about government because our political system is broken. But they give up on the institution without realizing that there is none other that ties us all together as strongly. So I tell people, "It's the only way we can stay involved in each other's lives. And the only way we can figure out how to do business together, too."

Remember, government has an enormous role on every decision we make from the moment we wake up to the moment to lay down to sleep. Government cannot be ignored, it won't let you.

I am starting this blog to generate attention to my personal pet peeves about government especially my local government here in the Magic City of Miami where money disappears faster than greenscape is replaced with concrete. Other cities fascinate me like Miami Beach, the only place I have ever heard that makes more money from tourist dollars than property taxes (why do they pay property taxes then?).

While on this blogging journey I will attempt to relate educational opportunities where you can learn how to become a civic and political activist (they are NOT the same thing!) and hopefully make great friends and great experiences. Plus, I will let you in on juicy bits of knowledge of how elections and the public policy are used regularly to enrich a few key industries here while leaving the rest of us behind (i.e. urban blight, a weak business climate, water pollution and many other such issues).

Keep reading. I hope not to disappoint.

Yours in the faith that humanity will always overcome the savagery that its government employees commit.