04-21-2010, 04:52 AM
Fred Grimm Article - Miami Herald 4/20/2010
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/20/1 ... d-its.html (http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/20/1587633/cleanup-squad-needs-to-guard-its.html)
Cleanup squad needs to guard its credibility
By FRED GRIMM
fgrimm@MiamiHerald.com
Miami's new public-corruption squad was bent on cleaning up City Hall. Can you imagine a more depressing development for a newspaper columnist?
For years, Miami government has been a scandal story factory, churning out splendid tales of bribery, kickbacks, nepotism, hinky real estate deals, mysterious zoning changes, dodgy elections, corrupt accounting. A columnist could back his old Nissan to the city hall door, pop the trunk and load up on weeks' worth of outrageous material.
Along comes newly elected Mayor Tomás Regalado and his public-corruption police unit, threatening to shut down the works -- and undo my very way of life.
Terrified columnists waited as Regalado's Raiders stalked their first, scandal-infested target. Admittedly, some of us were taken aback, and slightly relieved, learning that this specially chosen unit, Miami's version of the Untouchables, had unleashed its manpower and awesome law enforcement expertise to investigate a stolen bicycle.
AN ODD PURSUIT
Not just any bicycle, mind you, but a $321 Sun ``Drifter,'' a Chinese-made retro beach cruiser. But still . . . a snatched bike seemed an odd pursuit in a town where crooks had made off with entire elections.
The case of the purloined Drifter suffered from another unsettling characteristic -- no one had reported it stolen. The bike was a going-away present for departing Mayor Manny Diaz begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting from his staffers. A few uncharitable skeptics suggested that an investigation of an unstolen bicycle, costing the city far more in man hours than the original value of the bicycle, might have had something to do with the new mayor's grudge against the old mayor.
Not that I (as the suspected owner of another unstolen bicycle) would dare suggest Regalado's Raiders were indulging in low-down political theater. But after the public-corruptions squad sandbagged the FBI at an April 8 press conference celebrating hinky arrests in a wildly embellished blow against Miami's ``culture of corruption,'' a piqued special counsel to the U.S. Attorney suggested something similar was afoot. Alicia Valle wrote to the city, warning of ``an overriding prohibition against DOJ officials participating in political events or events that can be perceived as political.
`RATIONALE IS SIMPLE'
``The rationale is simple,'' Valle stated. ``One of the reasons we can effectively do public corruptions cases is precisely because we are viewed as not being influenced by politics.
``When this office or the FBI start participating in local politically motivated events, or events that can be perceived as political, then we run the risk of losing our credibility.''
Valle noted that the city cops had failed to warn her that one of the arrests celebrated at the press conference had already been tossed by the equally perturbed Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. Valle had learned of the mess via a story by The Miami Herald's Charles Rabin, Jennifer Lebovich and David Ovalle, who had compiled a list of public-corruption squad pursuits notably void of public corruption.
Regalado's Raiders ought to reread Valle's letter, substituting Miami Public Corruption Unit for ``the FBI'' and consider ``the risk of losing our credibility.''
It may be too late. I've heard the squad's now investigating reports that someone from City Hall stole Regalado's Raiders' credibility -- making a getaway on a Drifter beach cruiser.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/20/1 ... d-its.html (http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/20/1587633/cleanup-squad-needs-to-guard-its.html)
Cleanup squad needs to guard its credibility
By FRED GRIMM
fgrimm@MiamiHerald.com
Miami's new public-corruption squad was bent on cleaning up City Hall. Can you imagine a more depressing development for a newspaper columnist?
For years, Miami government has been a scandal story factory, churning out splendid tales of bribery, kickbacks, nepotism, hinky real estate deals, mysterious zoning changes, dodgy elections, corrupt accounting. A columnist could back his old Nissan to the city hall door, pop the trunk and load up on weeks' worth of outrageous material.
Along comes newly elected Mayor Tomás Regalado and his public-corruption police unit, threatening to shut down the works -- and undo my very way of life.
Terrified columnists waited as Regalado's Raiders stalked their first, scandal-infested target. Admittedly, some of us were taken aback, and slightly relieved, learning that this specially chosen unit, Miami's version of the Untouchables, had unleashed its manpower and awesome law enforcement expertise to investigate a stolen bicycle.
AN ODD PURSUIT
Not just any bicycle, mind you, but a $321 Sun ``Drifter,'' a Chinese-made retro beach cruiser. But still . . . a snatched bike seemed an odd pursuit in a town where crooks had made off with entire elections.
The case of the purloined Drifter suffered from another unsettling characteristic -- no one had reported it stolen. The bike was a going-away present for departing Mayor Manny Diaz begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting from his staffers. A few uncharitable skeptics suggested that an investigation of an unstolen bicycle, costing the city far more in man hours than the original value of the bicycle, might have had something to do with the new mayor's grudge against the old mayor.
Not that I (as the suspected owner of another unstolen bicycle) would dare suggest Regalado's Raiders were indulging in low-down political theater. But after the public-corruptions squad sandbagged the FBI at an April 8 press conference celebrating hinky arrests in a wildly embellished blow against Miami's ``culture of corruption,'' a piqued special counsel to the U.S. Attorney suggested something similar was afoot. Alicia Valle wrote to the city, warning of ``an overriding prohibition against DOJ officials participating in political events or events that can be perceived as political.
`RATIONALE IS SIMPLE'
``The rationale is simple,'' Valle stated. ``One of the reasons we can effectively do public corruptions cases is precisely because we are viewed as not being influenced by politics.
``When this office or the FBI start participating in local politically motivated events, or events that can be perceived as political, then we run the risk of losing our credibility.''
Valle noted that the city cops had failed to warn her that one of the arrests celebrated at the press conference had already been tossed by the equally perturbed Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. Valle had learned of the mess via a story by The Miami Herald's Charles Rabin, Jennifer Lebovich and David Ovalle, who had compiled a list of public-corruption squad pursuits notably void of public corruption.
Regalado's Raiders ought to reread Valle's letter, substituting Miami Public Corruption Unit for ``the FBI'' and consider ``the risk of losing our credibility.''
It may be too late. I've heard the squad's now investigating reports that someone from City Hall stole Regalado's Raiders' credibility -- making a getaway on a Drifter beach cruiser.