Campaign contributions show same ol’ special interests
There is a safety hazard on U.S. 1 at 37th Avenue and Ladra can’t believe it hasn’t caused any accidents yet.
It’s a billboard for the re-election campaign of Miami Commissioner Sabina Covo, who won a special election in February to replace Ken Russell, who resigned to run for Congress then lost the primary. And it says she is “fighting corruption.” And “delivering results.”
TV commercials say she “exposed corruption” and “held the powerful accountable.”
Just how exactly is she doing any of that? By attending the Celia Cruz exhibit opening at the Tower Theater and legitimizing the historic venue’s takeover by Commissioner Joe Carollo, who a judge found liable for violating first amendment rights to the tune of $63 million? Or is it by getting campaign contributions from some of the same people who give to Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who was arrested on public corruption charges like bribery and money laundering?
Read related: Miami Commissioner Sabina Covo disappoints, faces seven challengers
Covo got a $5,000 check for her Dream Miami political action committee from the Bercow Radell law firm on June 7. ADLP got a $5,000 check from the firm for his PAC, Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade County, exactly a week later. OKO Group, which is a real estate development company, gave $10,000 to the Dream PAC in January and $35,000 to Diaz de la Portilla’s PAC in June. Additive Strategies, a business consultant firm on Brickell, gave $3,000 to Covo in January and $50K to ADLP in May.
The most recent report filed last week shows she also got a $15,000 contribution from Suntex, a marine operator in Texas that ADLP is trying to get a contract for on Rickenbacker. Other shared contributors include Adler Development, Edgewater Management, Bayside Marketplace, and former commissioner Marc Sarnoff‘s PAC, Truth is the Daughter of Time, which gave Covo’s PAC $20,000.
Nobody will believe that Sarnoff did not check that off with ADLP and/or Carollo first.
Both Diaz de la Portilla and Covo also got a contribution from Becker Boards, the company hoping to get LED billboards approved for downtown Miami. Commissioners voted against the ordinance to allow such signage and Covo said she would return the $15,000 check she got from them for her PAC. Her consultant, Christian Ulvert, confirmed to Ladra that the contribution had been returned earlier this month, which is why it is not reflected in the campaign report.
But did she return the $20K she got from Sarnoff or any other lobbyists working on their behalf?
Read related: Sabina Covo leads Miami District 2 candidates in campaign fundraising
She still has a bunch of money from almost every single lobbyist in town and other special interests, including a lot of real estate development money. More than $200,000 in the last three months has almost doubled her warchest.
When asked what she had done to fight corruption, Covo only said what she intends to do: Campaign contribution reforms modeled after Miami Beach (which still has loopholes), a requirement to post lobbyist meetings online, and the creation of an Inspector General’s office that is independent from the city manager, mayor or commission.
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“This was recently implemented in Miami Beach and it’s time that Miami does the same,” she told Ladra.
So what has she delivered on in terms of fighting corruption. Nada. She hasn’t even commented on the tree removal at Maurice Ferre Park, which Carollo is itching to develop with a gym and other amenities.
The achievements over the last eight months she listed include providing protective and educational signage for the Morningside bird rookery, establishing a process to plant native plants in the swales, creating a sports and rec advisor board, moving to permanently pedestrianize Fuller Street in Coconut Grove.
Oh, and she co-sponsored urging the county to purchase Bird Key for environmental preservation.
So the billboard claim is false. She is not fighting corruption. She’s planting trees and providing educational signage. That just doesn’t sound as good on a billboard.
Commissioner Sabina Covo billboard boasts fight vs corruption — what fight? added by Ladra on
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