Governor Crist calls for statewide grand jury investigation of South Florida corruption

[seafan]

Just another day in Florida---Broward County in particular. Look out, Jeb. You live pretty close to Broward.




Crist calls for statewide grand jury investgation of South Florida corruption

By Michael C. Bender
October 14th, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist is holding a press conference right now calling for a statewide grand jury to investigate political corruption in South Florida and around the state. Crist said he has removed 30 public officials from office around the state since he’s been governor.

“A recent rash of crimes committed by public officials in South Florida has led to a crisis of confidence among those who have elected them to office,” Crist said. “Today, I have petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to impanel a Grand Jury to investigate these crimes, bring indictments and provide specific recommendations to address fundamental problems within the system that may be cultivating a culture of corruption.”

Read the petition here.

FBI undercover operation shakes up Broward's political power class



At the heart of Broward County's power structure is a web of relationships: longtime friends, spouses and political allies in roles that could conflict with the public good. LINK



By Scott Wyman, Brittany Wallman and Peter Franceschina
October 6, 2009

The FBI's long-running undercover operation to ensnare corrupt elected officials, lobbyists and fundraisers is sending ripples of fear washing over Broward County's political and power class.

So far, charges have been leveled against three Democrats — a county commissioner, a School Board member and a former Miramar city commissioner — and a well-connected Republican fundraiser.
At the heart of Broward's power structure is a web of relationships — longtime friends and political allies in roles that could conflict with the public good.

Lobbyists socialize with elected officials, who in turn make decisions that affect taxpayers countywide. Politicians moonlight as lobbyists, wielding their influence with other elected officials. Their spouses lobby or hold politically connected jobs.

.....

These days, though, the free-flowing liquor and Alaskan king crab served up at a soiree just might be part of an FBI sting. That was the case last December when undercover agents enticed School Board member Beverly Gallagher to invite other politicians and power brokers on an Intracoastal yacht cruise.

Then, two weeks ago, federal prosecutors unsealed charges alleging three public figures each sold their offices in separate schemes for thousands of dollars.

Gallagher was charged with taking $12,500 in kickbacks to influence a vote on a $71 million construction contract. Broward Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion was charged with helping to set up a scheme to launder about $900,000 through the Bahamas and accepting $23,300 in bribes. Former Miramar City Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman, a party-boat guest, was charged with fraud, extortion and bribery involving $5,840 in payoffs.

A separate grand jury last week indicted Hollywood ophthalmologist Alan Mendelsohn, who allegedly funneled millions of dollars to local and state political campaigns while skimming more than $350,000.

Mendolsohn is also accused of paying $87,000 in bribes to an unnamed former elected official.

.....

The Alan Mendolsohn indictment is related to this corruption investigation in Florida, and South Florida in particular. And it 'could reverberate throughout Tallahassee':

The arrest of prominent opthalmologist (sic) Alan Mendelsohn could have reverberations throughout Tallahassee because of his connections to both Democratic and Republican politicians.

Much of the initial focus has been on his connections to Gov. Charlie Crist, but Mendelsohn's reach doesn't just end there.

For example, consider the list of lobbyists employed by Mutual Benefits - the company at the center of the probe that triggered Mendelsohn's arrest - at the time period cited in news accounts.

In 2004, the roster of lobbyists include Pete Antonacci, James Blosser, former Republican Party of Florida chairman Van Poole and Russ Klenet, the husband to Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter. Antonacci is a well-known attorney and former deputy Attorney General who represented Noelle Bush during his legal troubles. Blosser is a well-known Fort Lauderdale attorney and a one-time pioneer for President George Bush.

Reporter and blogger Bob Norman has written extensively about the Mutual Benefits case for several months now and has raised questions about Crist's actions as Attorney General. The feds, however, have told the Miami Herald that an investigation has cleared both Crist and current U.S. Sen. George LeMieux.

School Board's Kraft: Husband severing tie with lobbyist

By Kathy Bushouse
October 13, 2009

School Board member Stephanie Kraft said Tuesday that her husband worked as an independent contractor since late 2007 for a company owned by Neil Sterling, one of the school district's biggest lobbyists now under scrutiny as part of the federal investigation into Broward government corruption.

The contract between Sterling and attorney Mitch Kraft was set to expire this year and won't be extended because it's "just not worth it," Stephanie Kraft said in an interview. Mitch Kraft was hired to do legal work for SRG Technology LLC, a company founded by Sterling in August 2007 that is registered to Sterling's Fort Lauderdale home address, according to state corporate records.

Stephanie Kraft said that the job had nothing to do with her position as a School Board member and that the two started working together after Sterling sought legal advice from Mitch Kraft. His work for SRG Technology included writing contracts and agreements, doing research and setting up meetings with potential clients, she said.

.....

"There's no conflict, no impropriety, no crime here," she said.

But Stephanie Kraft did not seek guidance from the Florida Commission on Ethics on whether her husband's job could create a conflict for her on the School Board. Rather, she relied on an opinion Sterling sought from Tallahassee attorney Mark Herron, as well as from a 2007 ethics commission opinion for Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter.

The commission told Ritter there was no conflict of interest in her voting on issues affecting clients of a lobbying firm that employed her husband, Russ Klenet, because Ritter's vote would not create any special gains or losses for Klenet.

Stephanie Kraft said she was confident that if the ethics commission found no conflict in Ritter's case, there would be no conflict in her case.

"I know ethically I am fine," she said. "I know legally I am fine."

Florida law states that elected officials cannot do business with any entity in which they, their spouse or children has a "material interest."

.....

Ex. Sen. Mandy Dawson says feds have quizzed her about committee chairmanship

By Gregory Lewis, Jon Burstein and Josh Hafenbrack
October 6, 2009

With federal agents and a grand jury investigating corruption in Broward County, former state Sen. Mandy Dawson, D- Fort Lauderdale, on Tuesday said she had been contacted and questioned about how she came to head an influential health policy committee of the Florida Legislature.

"I have no idea if I'm under investigation," Dawson told the Sun Sentinel. "I don't have a lawyer. I don't feel the need."

.....

Former Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, crossed party lines to appoint Dawson, a Democrat who represented a district stretching from Fort Lauderdale to Palm Beach Gardens, to lead the committee in 2006.

It was unclear if the questioning of Dawson was related to an ongoing public corruption investigation centered on Hollywood eye doctor and influence peddler Alan Mendelsohn, a major political fundraiser arrested last week. Mendelsohn raised more than $2 million in contributions and used the money not only to ply politicians, but also to pay a mistress and bankroll his children's education, prosecutors allege. His indictment also alleges he gave $87,000 to an unidentified "public official" from 2003 to 2006.

Dawson said she knows Mendelsohn, but that she never accepted money from him.
"Of course I know Mendelsohn," she said. "Health care has been my whole career."
Dawson cut the telephone interview short, saying she was in a hurry to see a relative in the hospital.

.....

Pruitt said Tuesday he appointed Dawson because she had "a great track record on health issues."

.....

Dawson, though, also had a history of missed votes during her 10-year career. Her tenure in charge of the Senate's health policy was also troubled.
In 2007, as Dawson took over the committee, she missed more than one-third of the Senate sessions. She sponsored an expansion of the popular KidCare health program for children, but it died when she went missing at a key juncture in the negotiations.

In giving her a committee leadership role, Pruitt gave Dawson an influence rarely enjoyed by capitol Democrats, who have been Tallahassee's minority party since the 1990s. Usually, senior Democrats are only given vice-chairman positions, a ceremonial post with no authority. But as chairman, Dawson controlled the flow of health legislation through her committee, deciding which bills got a vote.

During Pruitt's two-year tenure as Senate president, Dawson was one of only two Democrats to chair a policy-writing committee -- along with the Legislature's longest-serving member, Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, who was chairman of a governmental operations committee.
Pruitt declined to speculate on why federal authorities would be interested in a Senate committee appointment. Federal authorities haven't contacted him, Pruitt said.

Pruitt is another real GOP winner. Interestingly, as Florida Senate President, he recently resigned abruptly from politics on August 4, 2009.



Now, back to the Broward corruption:



Contributor #1: Mark Ginsburg, Broward medical lab owner

By Paula McMahon and Josh Hafenbrack
October 2, 2009

Mark Ginsburg, the owner of a Fort Lauderdale medical lab, is "Contributor #1" in the Alan Mendelsohn indictment, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Ginsburg, who owns Nationwide Lab Services, has ties to lobbyist Russ Klenet, the husband of Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter. The two own a 63-foot yacht together.

Klenet represented Ginsburg in a five-year battle in Tallahassee over a state law that blocked Ginsburg from penetrating the kidney dialysis market. Ginsburg -- referred to not by name, but as Contributor # 1 in the federal indictment handed down Wednesday -- hired Mendelsohn to gain influence in the Legislature, prosecutors say.

Bruce Udolf, a Fort Lauderdale defense attorney, confirmed Friday that he is representing Ginsburg.

"My client is a witness who's cooperating with the government, and under the circumstances we can't say anything more," he said.

Here's an excerpt from a story by Sun Sentinel writer Scott Wyman back in January on the Ginsburg-Klenet connection and the legislative battle:

Ginsburg, whose lab is situated on McNab Road in Fort Lauderdale, wanted to break up the domination of the dialysis business by three giant competitors. News reports at the time said the three companies owned most of the state's dialysis labs and clinics and sent most of their blood samples to labs they owned.

Doctors generally are barred from referring work to any business they partly or wholly own. One exemption to that law allowed doctors who treat dialysis patients to use their own labs.

In 2002, Klenet described the company's efforts to eliminate that exemption as a "David and Goliath battle." He said the change would break up a monopoly and prevent abuse. Opponents, though, said the change was unnecessary and that the state had adequate controls against kickbacks or overbilling.

One recurring theme in all of these stories is the name of Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter and her power lobbyist husband, Russell Klenet.


On October 7, the news reported that Stacy Ritter's father was arrested for pointing a gun at her.

Former Tamarac City Commissioner Ed Portner, 84, was arrested Tuesday night after pointing a gun at his daughter, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office report.

Portner, who is running for Tamarac mayor, has been upset that his daughter endorsed his opponent Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco.

.....

Here is how the night unfolded, according to the BSO report and Klenet:

Ritter came home from a County Commission meeting and, shortly after 8 p.m., heard the doorbell ring. It was her father.
``She opened the door and he proceeded to point a gun at her. It was a pretty terrifying couple of minutes,'' said Klenet, who was not home at the time.
There was a brief struggle, the BSO report said, then Ritter convinced her father to let her get a bottle of water. Ritter took the opportunity to run out the garage door.
She ran several blocks to the home of friend Mike Moskowitz, Klenet said. Portner was arrested at his home.

Portner admitted to threatening Ritter, according to the BSO report. He faces charges of armed burglary and aggravated assault. However, Klenet said he doubted his wife would press charges.

.....

Somehow, the reason given for Ritter's father's motivation seems a bit flimsy, when viewed in the context of the massive corruption swirling around his daughter and her husband. Maybe that *little mess* is not too helpful for his mayoral campaign?



So, today, we learn that US Representative Robert Wexler is stepping down after 19 years of service to accept a position as President of the Center for Middle East Peace.



And guess who is salivating at the opportunity to seize Wexler's old seat:


Stacy Ritter.



Ritter sees an opportunity in Wexler's seat

Posted by Amy Sherman
October 14, 2009

Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter is on an airplane this morning -- she had wanted a vacation after the fiasco with her father pointing a gun at her last week. But it seems Ritter can't escape the news.

Ritter's name is among those at the top of the list who may run for Robert Wexler's seat in Congress. Her husband Russ Klenet says that Ritter is "seriously considering it'' but waiting for Wexler to make his official announcement today about his resignation.

Parkland Mayor Michael Udine said he will run for Ritter's seat if it opens up. School Board Member Stephanie Kraft could not be reached for comment regarding whether she would run for the county seat. Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook said he would not run for Ritter's seat and plans to run for Ari Porth's seat in the Legislature when it opens up in the future.

(SunSentinel.com / November 18, 2008)
County Commissioner Stacy Ritter is married to prominent lobbyist Russ Klenet, whose clients have included several area cities and ES&S, which the county bought vote-tabulation equipment from.


Here is her super-lobbyist husband.



(SunSentinel.com / November 18, 2008)
Russ Klenet is a prominent lobbyist married to County Commissioner Stacy Ritter. Klenet's clients have included several area cities and ES&S, which the county bought vote-tabulation equipment from.




Let's head off the potential *Stacy Ritter for US Rep* candidacy at the pass. We absolutely can find a better Representative for our state.




She'll probably be too busy with the grand jury anyway.

[seafan]

1. Now in Miami Herald: Crist calls for grand jury on public corruption

Crist calls for grand jury on public corruption

BY MARC CAPUTO and JAY WEAVER
October 14, 2009

Responding to a ``rash of crimes'' by public officials, Gov. Charlie Crist announced Wednesday that he wanted to empanel a statewide grand jury to root out corruption.

But while Crist talked tough about the need for reform at a press conference, he refused to discuss his close ties to indicted political player Alan Mendelsohn, a Broward eye doctor who had once falsely claimed he could bribe Crist.

Mendelsohn, who has pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges, funded attack ads against at least one Crist gubernatorial opponent in 2006, held fundraisers for the then-attorney general and later persuaded Crist to write a personal letter to the University of Florida to admit Mendelsohn's son to medical school.

Crist made Mendelsohn a member of his gubernatorial transition team in 2007.

``What I can air out for you is the concern this administration has for a number of cases. It doesn't center around one case at all,'' Crist said when asked about Mendelsohn.
``Since I have been governor, unfortunately, I have had to remove over 30 people from public office,'' Crist said. ``That's almost one a month. And it's obvious to me that something's wrong with the system.''

The big problem: Money, said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida, a good-government advocacy group.

``To run for office, you have to raise so much money, too much money,'' Wilcox said, ``and the ones who want to give it are special interests whose bottom line is to influence public policy.''

Wilcox said that, with such big money at stake, it's inevitable that questionable activity surfaces.

Crist has set fundraising records, pulling in $6.7 million in contributions since announcing his U.S. Senate candidacy in May. He is scheduled to appear Oct. 30 at an Arizona fundraiser with that state's former governor, Fife Symington, who was convicted in 1997 on federal fraud charges. His conviction was overturned and President Clinton later pardoned him.

Aside from Mendelsohn, two other Crist fundraisers have drawn scrutiny:

• Harry Sergeant III, Crist's college fraternity brother and fundraiser, employed a foreign national who allegedly gave illegal campaign contributions to Crist through an intermediary listed as ``H.S.'' in a federal indictment.

• Sergio Pino stepped down in 2006 as Crist's campaign finance chairman amid a grand jury probe into whether he raised funds illegally. Pino was never charged.

.....

Governor Crist's hands are not clean.


This grand jury will be busy for a long time to come. Maybe they'd like to call in Jeb Bush as well.

[dmr]

2. When people here ask what's wrong with Florida ---

well, here is one very big answer! Corruption!

I lived in South Florida for 20 years, and can't tell you how many times I said that Florida made no sense to me. Decisions made, legislative or not, seemed counter-productive to what the citizens needed/wanted.

As the old saying goes, it's not what you know, but who you know, and how much money you have, or how much for which you're willing to sell your soul.

I'll never forget; I will never forgive Coup 2000. I don't doubt that some of this corruption was part of that Coup. What a payola that must've been for some.