Miami-Dade County commissioner and husband arrested on grand theft charges

Associated Press ^ | 4-22-02

[Oldeconomybuyer]

MIAMI (AP) --

[Semper Paratus]

Miami-Dade government corrupt?
Not news.

[Henchster]

Hmmm. AP, Miami-Dade, corruption, no mention of party...

MUST be a DemocRAT!

[a_witness]

Hmmm. AP, Miami-Dade, corruption, no mention of party... MUST be a DemocRAT!

Miriam Alonso is a Republican.

[Henchster]

YIKES! Who would have thought AP would have missed that opportunity?

It really does sound like the whole Miami-Dade political machine is greased with corrupt lube.

[Amore]

As I recall (pre-1994) at the Commission level in Miami, Republican/Democrat labels didn't mean much. She is Cuban, so she would be a Republican. As I also recall, and maybe Clemenza can shed some light, she has never been a good Republican politician. I can't remember the specifics, but the minute I saw her name, I though, "ick, bad person, good riddance."

[Spell Correctly]

Not every Cuban is a Republican.

[Amore]

Yes, I know, of course that's so. But the reality in Miami is that the overwhelming majority of Cuban politicians are going to be Republicans.

[Spell Correctly]

I don't believe that's the case. The Mayor of Miami is a Cuban, and a Democrat. There are other high-level Democrat politicians in Dade who are Cuban as well.

[Amore]

Again, granted there are exceptions, but I stand by what I said. I lived in Miami for 8 years in the 80's & 90's, so I AM a little familiar with how the city works. Now, if you live or recently lived in Miami, or if Clemenza (who I believe lives in Miami and who I believe is also Hispanic) contradicts me, I am willing to reconsider. I don't pretend to be infallible.

[Spell Correctly]

And keep in mind, the most corrupt of the Dade County corrupt, Steve Clark, was a Democrat.

[Spell Correctly]

I am infallible :)

I grew up in Miami, but have been gone for 13 yrs.

[Amore]

the most corrupt of the Dade County corrupt, Steve Clark, was a Democrat.

Ah, now there's a designation which could be debated for hours. There are so many worthy candidates, and so many have been added in the years since you left.

[SR71A]

It really does sound like the whole Miami-Dade political machine is greased with corrupt lube.

Government breeds corruption like garbage breeds flies. The most we submit to the "Mommy State", the more we will hear about this. Voting becomes meaningless when all the choices we are given are thieves jockeying for a share of the swag.

[Clemenza]

As I said before, Alonso is a RINO, along with three of the five other Republican County Commissioners (Miami-Dade has Seven Democrats and Six Republicans on the County Commission). Bruno Barreiro (Little Havana on through downtown to Key Biscayne) is a staunch conservative. Alex Diaz de la Portilla (Kendall and Westchester) is more moderate, but still decent. Other than those two, the County Commission is a dumping ground for the grafters of both parties. Again, the decent polticians (along with a few scumbags) tend to gravitate toward state offices rather than the County Commission or Mayor's office.

BTW: I'll take bipartisan corruption in Miami-Dade over Democratic Socialism in Broward and Palm Beach any day of the week.

[Clemenza]

RINO and a moron who has won largely based on contributors and weak challengers. Since I have a REAL job in the private sector, I never desired to challenge her.

BTW: The only office I ever ran for was the Miami-Dade Republican Committee. Despite the fact that my name was on the lower part of the ballot and that I did ZERO campaigning, I still received 58 votes out of 6,200 cast!

[Spell Correctly]

It's amazing the level of corruption in Dade. This is nothing new, this goes back to the days of Flagler.

[Amore]

Thanks, glad to see my recollection of Alonso as no-good was accurate, even though I couldn't recall precisely WHY I thought that.

[Clemenza]

It's amazing the level of corruption in Dade. This is nothing new, this goes back to the days of Flagler.

Julia Tuttle, Meyer Lansky, Janet Reno, Alex Penelas...