Pet’s Trust campaign hits snags in Sweetwater, West Miami

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In their drive to get the Miami-Dade Commission to pass a tax hike that was approved by voters in 2012 to fund the no-kill Pet’s Trust intiative, the organization that got the measure on the ballot — the measure since ignored by Mayor “By Poll” Carlos Gimenez and eight commissioners — is going around asking cities to support their cause.

And so far, they’ve got 12 municipal resolutions in their favor.

Oooops. Make that 11.

Ooooooops. Make that 10 and one so-called “wimp out version.”

That’s because Sweetwater took back it’s unanimously-passed measure and West Miami wrote its own resolution with much softer language. And it could be to appease their representative commissioners, Jose “Pepe” Diaz and Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa, respectively, who were both once mayors of those municipalities, also respectively.

An item approved by the Sweetwater Council at their meeting earlier this month was rescinded about an hour later after the commission reconsidered it. Several sources told Ladra that someone from Commissioner Diaz’s office contacted the commission president and told him that Diaz had been misrepresented in comments made by Pet’s Trust Founder and Director Michael Rosenberg.

Rosenberg told Ladra that all he said was what Diaz said at a July 2013 meeting, where he said, among other things “It is about the voters going out and saying ‘enough is enough’ with an issue, standing tall, and going over 70% in favor of supporting their animals.”

Then he voted against it. Sosa did too, after saying that they were there to “make sure we accomplish what the voters voted for.”

Is that what Diaz says was a misrepresentation?

Anyway, the unanimous approval of a resolution urging the county commission to adhere to the people’s will and levy additional taxes of about $10 per $100,000 of taxable value was, basically, overturned 6-1. The only dissenting vote was the sponsor, Commissioner Orlando Lopez, who said it was unfair to go back on the vote since the Pet’s people had left — they thought it was a done deal — and couldn’t defend themselves.

The response: It was unfair to Diaz who wasn’t there and couldn’t defend himself if they didn’t give him an opportunity.

Diaz did not return a call to his office. But Olga Vega in his office confirmed that someone from the office spoke to someone on the commission to get it reconsidered.

“It was overturned because the commissioner wants the opportunity to speak at the next commission meeting about this issue,” Vega told Ladra. “We did have staff present, and through staff his message was communicated.”

The item will come up at the June meeting.

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  Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Pet’s Trust, Rebeca Sosa