Vote Zapata: Because bullies have no place on the commission

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One of the closest local races to be decided Tuesday is the county commission contest in district 11, vacated by Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez in his failed bid for mayor.

And it shouldn’t be this close. Because one of the candidates is a respected and experienced leader on a national level who has served in the Florida House and can bring some depth and freshness to the county board while the other is a bully cop who refuses to answer legitimate questions, has his opponent’s arch nemesis fund scandalous attack pieces and turns to guerilla campaign tactics and intimidation.

We do not need people like Miami-Dade Police Det. Manny “The Heavy” Machado on our county commission to bully residents and get who-knows-whose agenda on the table. And I’m not saying that lightly. I welcome fresh blood into our political arena. It just can’t use excessive force and expect to muscle its way into power. Let’s put it this way: Former State Rep. Juan Carlos Zapata didn’t so much as earn my support as Machado earned my distrust and doubt.

Let’s go step by step. Here is someone who hired Absentee Ballot Queen Sasha Tirador and then fought with her and then lied about it (now she works for the other side in classic Sasha fashion, but more on that later). Then he runs away from Ladra at several events before finally pretending to answer legitimate questions at a Kendall Federation of Homeowners Association meeting with a monotone line over and over again, in stalwart defiance and self-righteous refusal. Nice start. He also aligns himself with State Rep. Frank “Socks” Artiles, who we all know has ethical challenges of his own, who is aligned with the flying monkeys of Tallahasee and finances some of the ugliest attack pieces Ladra has seen through his PAC, Voter’s Response, which paid for the mailers and also $7,000 worth of design by Steve Marin, Machado’s campaign guy.

Well, Voter’s Response — which is also involved in a few races in Tallahassee — is really gaming lobbyist David Ramba‘s PAC. But Ramba also serves as treasurer and registered agent for Artiles’ public PAC, Veterans for Conservative Principles. The guy’s a Marine, as he will tell you each and every time he can. Curiously enough, Voter’s Response, which Republican Frank Artiles is using to attack Zapata and say he has supported Democrats (read: Katie Edwards in her bid against him two years ago), has more than $300,000 in contributions — about a third of it’s near million dollar bankroll — from Florida Mainstream Democrats. File that under things that make you go hmmmm. (And, yes, more on that later).

Artiles hung out with Machado for just a few seconds at early voting last Friday before he saw Ladra and took off. At least he said hello, shook my hand and gave me a peck on the cheek. Machado wouldn’t even shake my hand. Does that kind of petty crap seem like what we want from our elected officials? God, I hope not. He also stayed parked in pole position — the last candidate any voter saw before the 100-yard demarcation line — while Zap worked the crowd and told jokes. One woman said he was funnier than Jay Leno. Really? I could use a joke, Representative.

Let’s go back to the mail pieces, which are not funny. Seven of them arrived in one home in one day last week. Seven. Including a three-part mini-series. Two more arrived the next day. They call him a bad Republican and suggest he did not support Marco Rubio‘s senatorial bid. All paid for by Voter’s Response. And they would have to be. Machado has no money in his account. Zapata has collected more than half a million in contributions while Croqueta has $92,000, including $18,000 that he loaned himself. Doesn’t anyone else except the PBA want this guy to get elected? We’ll go through those finance reports more closely later since there are some questions as to whether or not Machado can count. Another reason why he may not make a good commissioner.

Besides thwarting questions, another reason is that he is a bully who sent one of his supporters — his attorney or his P.I, someone named Sean or Shawn — to follow me around at early voting and take pictures and video tape me as I spoke to voters, in an effort to intimidate them from speaking with me. I had visions of Glen “The Goon” Rice, who did the same thing at early voting in Hialeah last year. Machado even refused to ask Mr. Cameraphoneman Enforcer to stop after both I and Actualidad Radio host Lourdes Urbieta, who was there with her son and had inadvertently walked into the frame to chat with me a bit, asked him to intervene and cease the scare tactics. Shameful behavior from a man who wants to represent the people.

Need another reason? Ladra and some Republican leaders have heard reports that the Hispanic Leadership Fund, a PAC that Artiles works with alongside gypsy conartist Vanessa Brito (who is usually a stalwart Democrat), took money from the Mitt Romney campaign to stump for Machado. I wouldn’t put it past him. Here’s a guy who planted one of his own staffers or volunteers with an old Zapata shirt and an Obama sign at an early voting site (more on that later). Talk about underhanded. Okay, maybe that is a little funny. But it’s no laughing matter if they are diverting funds from the presidential campaign to fund an old grudge match. A Republican gadfly that talked to Ladra told her she went to the South Dade offices (near Artiles district office) and saw people with Machado shirts heading out to canvass. But when Ladra surprised Artiles there on a recent Saturday, there were no Machado shirts to be found and the phone bank was strictly pushing Mitt (could be that, by then, everyone from Republican Party superwoman Marili Cancio to one of the Jeb Bushes had complained about it). Artiles also told Ladra those Machado-clad people were canvassing for Romney and that he had nothing to do with the PAC other than serve as a volunteer. But he admitted to helping Machado because, he said, Zapata is a scumbag. What he really means, inside, is that Zapata is a worthy opponent who beat him in state house races twice — in 2004 and 2006. And Artiles is still holding a major grudge.

If you didn’t read the Miami Herald story last month about the ugly campaign that centered around Zapata’s old arrest for allegedly bringing steroids into the country when he was 20, maybe you got an email from someone named “Juan Rodriguez” (read: Frank Artiles) who blasted lots of important people who Ladra will not name (you know who you are; wink, wink) with the link to the story. They are really trying to make the most out of an old, if questionable, arrest and a situation with his parents for which he is not to blame. Know why? Because they have nothing else to promote about Machado. He’s a bully with no experience who is going to be a stand-in for Martinez, wh0 doesn’t want to lose total control. What can Croqueta campaign on?

That’s why Machado refused every invitation to debate Zapata, one time before the KFHA, even before the famously fair Michael Putney, who did interview Zap but got a decline from the detective. That’s why Zapata has the endorsements of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Anitere Flores, State Reps. Jeanette Nuñez and Carlos Trujillo as well as the Miami-Dade Firefighters and the Miami Herald. He also got the expected endorsement from Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, which maybe doesn’t mean so much now that Our Not So Golden Boy mayor, who maybe is also the Not So Bright Boy, endorsed Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi, another known bully who should not be in office.

Manny Machado does not deserve to be a county commissioner. In fact, it would be dangerous to elect him. One have to be willing to deal with criticism and answer questions, to be accountable, in order to represent the people. You can’t intimidate, threaten and bully others to get your way.

Learn that first, and maybe run again later.