07-30-2008, 02:09 AM
The Watchdog Report contacted the city’s media contact Kelly Penton again last week asking for a comment from Mayor Manuel “Manny” Diaz about where he got the $400,000 or so in cash in 2007 and as of the publishing deadline Sunday night, there has been no response again. In my message this week, I indicated that I was not asking for launch codes here and as one prosecutor said. It is a legitimate question asked by a legitimate news entity and the lack of response actually raises further questions. Diaz is now in the national eye and it is surprising given this leadership position that he is declining to answer a fairly simple question. Here is what has been written in the past weeks concerning the issue. >>> I ran into Penton Friday night and she acknowledged s he had gotten the e-mail and would ask Diaz about the matter. In last week’s Watchdog Report, I examined his cash on hand over the years and I would not have made such a big deal but the increase is more than noticeable. He could have gotten the extra money from the real estate deal he did with former city Manager Joe Arriola and Commissioner Johnny Winton and another man who has since passed. However, Arriola in past e-mails said they made very little on the deal, especially given the hassle that followed in the press and with the ethics commission. Here is what was in last week’s report prompting this request for disclosure.
Should Miami residents be concerned with Mayor Diaz’s over $500,000 in cash, up from $113,000 in 2006 and $97,000 in 2004?
Miami M ayor Manny Diaz’s surge in reported cash to over $500,000 as was reported last week in the Watchdog Report surprised me for Diaz as mayor is paid $150,000 per year and his staff says he works almost exclusively in his public capacity. The mayor when he was first elected told the Watchdog Report he would be doing very little regarding his private law practice Diaz & O’Naghten. The mayor in his 2004 financial disclosure lists a $1.97 net worth and the only outside income came in from the law practice and from Monty’s Holdings, Inc. but the outside income amount is not listed.
In his most recent disclosure, the net worth rose to $2.44 million and besides the outside income listed in the past. He now also lists the law form of Lydecker, Lee, et. al. along with Miami Air International (an airline), and Financial Services, Inc. where he is providing financial counseling. The mayor does not have to list how much income is coming in from these entities but he must be doing well outside his elected office for such a jump in cash, which in 2004 was listed at $97,000. and through Dec. 2006, his cash on hand was listed at $113,000 for that20year. Richard Lydecker was the attorney that represented Diaz in front of the county’s ethics commission a few years ago after the mayor, commissioner and manager bought a house in the South Grove together. Diaz was hit with a fine and a scathing letter of reprimand by the ethics body back then. Lydecker, a former prosecutor argued that Miami residents should be grateful to have such a mayor as Diaz. He noted in his argument to the commission the mayor was giving the best years of his legal life for the city, spending less time with his family and friends and that train of thought only ended when ethics commissioner Seymour Gelber said “this is outrageous,” regarding the rational of the attorney’s argument. >>> Diaz was recently elected to head the national mayors conference frequently talks about transparency in government, and in this case, with over a year to go in his term. He should consider filling in the dollar amounts coming in from these outside sources of income to reassure taxpayers who thought they were getting a full time mayor after his salary was bumped substantially a few years back to the current level. The reason for this possible concern is that elected leaders many times are much better off when they do not have outside activities and one needs to only look at ex Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne now serving a sentence in federal prison.
Should Miami residents be concerned with Mayor Diaz’s over $500,000 in cash, up from $113,000 in 2006 and $97,000 in 2004?
Miami M ayor Manny Diaz’s surge in reported cash to over $500,000 as was reported last week in the Watchdog Report surprised me for Diaz as mayor is paid $150,000 per year and his staff says he works almost exclusively in his public capacity. The mayor when he was first elected told the Watchdog Report he would be doing very little regarding his private law practice Diaz & O’Naghten. The mayor in his 2004 financial disclosure lists a $1.97 net worth and the only outside income came in from the law practice and from Monty’s Holdings, Inc. but the outside income amount is not listed.
In his most recent disclosure, the net worth rose to $2.44 million and besides the outside income listed in the past. He now also lists the law form of Lydecker, Lee, et. al. along with Miami Air International (an airline), and Financial Services, Inc. where he is providing financial counseling. The mayor does not have to list how much income is coming in from these entities but he must be doing well outside his elected office for such a jump in cash, which in 2004 was listed at $97,000. and through Dec. 2006, his cash on hand was listed at $113,000 for that20year. Richard Lydecker was the attorney that represented Diaz in front of the county’s ethics commission a few years ago after the mayor, commissioner and manager bought a house in the South Grove together. Diaz was hit with a fine and a scathing letter of reprimand by the ethics body back then. Lydecker, a former prosecutor argued that Miami residents should be grateful to have such a mayor as Diaz. He noted in his argument to the commission the mayor was giving the best years of his legal life for the city, spending less time with his family and friends and that train of thought only ended when ethics commissioner Seymour Gelber said “this is outrageous,” regarding the rational of the attorney’s argument. >>> Diaz was recently elected to head the national mayors conference frequently talks about transparency in government, and in this case, with over a year to go in his term. He should consider filling in the dollar amounts coming in from these outside sources of income to reassure taxpayers who thought they were getting a full time mayor after his salary was bumped substantially a few years back to the current level. The reason for this possible concern is that elected leaders many times are much better off when they do not have outside activities and one needs to only look at ex Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne now serving a sentence in federal prison.