Ooops...not the best idea FOP!

[url]http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/18/2122315/gables-police-union-is-behind.html/url]

03/18/2011 Miami Herald
Gables police union is behind flier attacking commission candidate

By Tania Valdemoro
The Miami Herald

Earlier this week, some voters received the first attack ad of the Coral Gables election in their mailboxes.
The ad featured a large photo of candidate Brad Rosenblatt with the slogan “Another deadbeat candidate out of a paying job.” It mentioned Rosenblatt’s troubles stemming from 2000: “an embezzlement arrest, personal bankruptcy and unpaid bills.”

Rosenblatt, 35, is one of six political newcomers competing for the open commission seat being vacated by longtime Commissioner Wayne “Chip” Withers.

Keith Donner, a political consultant working for the Coral Gables Fraternal Order of Police, produced the ad. The police union has endorsed Gonzalo Sanabria, one of the six candidates running for the Withers seat. The police union has also endorsed incumbents Mayor Don Slesnick and Vice Mayor William “Bill” Kerdyk Jr.

The flier represents the first time that a third-party organization, in this case, Donner’s electioneering communications organization, has sent ads to influence voters before the April 12 municipal election. Voters received the mailer on Monday and Tuesday of last week, days after news reports on WPLG Channel 10 and The Miami Herald highlighted Rosenblatt’s past financial problems — including his bankruptcy and the arrest.

Rosenblatt has admitted to filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2002 and being arrested on a charge of second-degree grand theft in September 2000. Rosenblatt, 24 at the time, pleaded no contest to the charge. He paid restitution and was placed on probation. He was not convicted – a fact that the mailer omitted.

John Baublitz, the president of the Coral Gables Fraternal Order of Police, confirmed that his union had contributed to Donner’s group, known as The Accountability Project, for the mailer. The statewide group has raised $98,000 and spent $93,757 since it was formed in August

“We asked him [Donner] to help us during this campaign,” Baublitz said.

Donner said the flier provided accurate and factual information culled from news reports and public records – and is a well-established form of political communication.

“It’s an issue that everyone is talking about,” said Donner, who has run previous campaigns for Commissioner Ralph Cabrera and Miami Beach Commissioners Saul Gross, Jerry Libbin and former Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn.

Rosenblatt’s former business partners, Richard Olsen and his son, Christopher, have said Rosenblatt bounced hundreds of checks at Channels International Magazine, a lifestyle magazine he published with the Olsens. Richard Olsen was a major investor in the venture.

While he was at the magazine, Rosenblatt also ran a courier business called Delivery and Logistics.

Richard Olsen said Rosenblatt transferred money from the magazine to both Delivery and Logistics and his own personal bank account. Rosenblatt said it was standard operating procedure to write company checks to company officers or to cash for expense reimbursements. He said the Olsens were partners in Delivery and Logistics and that he was allowed to move money between that company and the magazine. The Olsens deny that.

This week, Rosenblatt said the flier has distorted his past.

In an e-mail he sent to supporters and voters on Wednesday, he wrote, “I was innocent of the charges. I was never found guilty of any of the charges against me. That’s because they were based on false, vindictive tactics used in a business dispute.”

Richard Olsen said, “That’s an absolutely ridiculous statement.”

He continued: “The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office reviewed the evidence and brought charges against him. When he filed a civil suit against us, the judge threw it out. I’d be happy to meet him at any public forum and go over the evidence and the cases with him.”

Rosenblatt blasted the mailer, saying it was part of a smear campaign against him that is disgusting.

“This is not the kind of behavior we like to see in the City Beautiful,” he said.

The State Attorney also said a certain patrol major/former IA LT did no wrong as well.
:devil:

lol, looks like the S.A. needs a refresher course in law.


The State Attorney also said a certain patrol major/former IA LT did no wrong as well.
:devil:

I wish the dummies would voted john is as FOP prez are happy. I for one voted for Gibbons...........he had balls and a brain. :cop: