Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo may have given the elderly residents a domino table to play on during these last city elections, but a lot of us know that these people have a lot more serious issues that need to be addressed.
The lack of air conditioners has been an issue for years, but there are more serious health risks they need taken care of.
And Alex Dominguez, who lost the District 3 race against Carollo last month, thinks maybe they need an attorney.
Still shell-shocked with the deplorable living conditions he saw while campaigning at Robert King High Towers and Haley Sofge Towers — the two public housing units that have long been the center of many absentee ballot operations across from the shiny, new Miami Marlins Stadium — Dominguez shot off a letter to Miami-Dade Public Housing Director Gregg Fortner last week, demanding some basic improvements.
“These elderly residents are experiencing the following: mold around all areas of the building both inside and outside, cockroach infestation, chipped paint, no air conditioning, grills of air conditioning units missing or fallen off where bir
ds are now nesting in them, non functional plumbing and leaks, electrical issues with outlets, security gates malfunctioning, etc.,” Dominguez wrote.
“Another huge issue is the amount of mentally ill patients who should not be living there by themselves and require supervision at a hospital or assisted living facility where they can be cared for properly,” Dominguez continued, adding that he has met with the association president several times.
“She has provided me pictures as well documentation of all the issues surrounding these four buildings,” Dominguez said.
“In the past, letters have been written by local officials as well as some news coverage from Channel 6 that have reported these issues. Suffice to say, nothing has been done. I am emailing you this letter to give you notice that unless this situation is rectified within the next 30 days, the residents of these four buildings are going to file a class action lawsuit here in the State of Florida led by my attorneys,” the pharmaceutical salesguy threatens.
“This gross neglect of our most defenseless people in our community cannot continue in our city. Your office has had more than enough time to fix the situation,” calling it a “lack of caring and humanity at the county level.
“I would strongly encourage action being taken immediately so that this situation does not spiral into a larger issue which does not benefit anyone. I will not accept another bullshit excuse or runaround like ‘we’ll look into it’. These residents are breathing bird nests infestation (a serious health risk) as we discuss this. You guys can do better…I expect to hear from you as soon as possible.”
It’s kind of ironic that the guy who lost the election is the one speaking up for these voiceless people. Where is Carollo on this? Ordering another domino table?
Where are the other electeds who supposedly serve these viejito voters who become oh so important only when absentee ballots drop?
Fellow blogger Al Crespo documented some of the issues in an October video and also wonders where Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, who said he had addressed the issue “administratively” back in February, when NBC 6 did a report on the living conditions there, talking to residents like Efron Cotero, who said his respiratory problems developed since he moved in, and home inspectors like Julio Perez, who said the mold in Cotero’s home is unsafe.
“Now, when Stephen Ross needs a favor from you, you don’t have any problem jumping to it and doing it,” Crespo says, referring to the Miami Dolphins owner who gave the commissioner money for his race and who wanted to fund improvements to his stadium, including a roof.
“But Bruno, these are your people,” Crespo said. “If it hadn’t been for these people voting for your ass, you wouldn’t be a county commissioner. So don’t you think you owe something to these folks. I do… The only time you see politicians come into these buildings is pretty much during election time or on holidays.”
And boy is he right about that. But hey, it’s close to Christmas. Maybe we can get their attention at the holiday party.
Crespo also calls on Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, who just got swept back into office with no opposition — even though he spent enough money to seem like he was in a real race (more on that later) — and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Not So Golden Boy” Gimenez. Gimenez, he recalls, ran on a bunch of rhetoric about making the county a place his children and grandchildren would be proud to live in.
“Well, don’t you think you need to do something for these old people… you mean to tell me that you can’t get a couple of county employees with some steam cleaning equipment to get up here with some buckets and clean that mold off that building?”
Crespo, who calls Carollo a “bottom feeder” for having paid for that domino table from his campaign account, says that the lack of A/C forces some of the elderly residents to sleep with the windows and doors open, making them easy prey for burglars and worse.
The NBC 6 report said it is causing several people respiratory issues. They have notes from their doctors to prove it.
I have an idea: Why don’t we tell these people to withhold their absentee ballots until they get A/Cs and some of the health risks — the mold and bird feces in particular — taken care of.
I bet that gets some of these electeds moving.
Well, that and the lawsuit that is, hopefully, coming.
Miami voters forgotten post election; live with mold, bird caca added by Ladra on
View all posts by Ladra →
