Thursday, November 1, 2018

Who Owns Laura Cattabriga?


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SourceCattabriga Latham
Developers160
Out of Town152
Village Contractors80
North Bay Village Residents619
Murder Suspects10
Scorecard as of October 19 finance reports shows that Cattabriga is leading in donations from Village Contractors, Land Developers and Murder Suspects, while Latham is attracting most of his donations from North Bay Village residents, not suspected of murder. 

Two Random Lobbyists Contribute to Cattabriga, One a Murder Suspect

For some reason, both Michael McDeirmaid of North Miami and North Miami Beach and Seth Gordon have taken an interest in North Bay Village Government and have donated $250 each to Cattabriga.  

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Seth GordonMiami$250Lobbyist
McDearmid & AssocNorth Miami$250Lobbyist

I guess that's okay.  It's just donations.  I mean it's not like they're suspected of murder or anything. 

Oh wait, one of them is according to the Biscayne Times 

In 2000 Gordon himself was yanked from the campaign staff of State Attorney Kathy Rundle after Miami-Dade homicide detectives informed her that Gordon remained a suspect in the 1975 murder of his first wife. (Gordon was never charged and has denied any involvement in the crime.)
Well, still, Seth Gordon did stand by former North Bay Village Jorge Forte who went to jail for municipal corruption so at least...hmmm.

Village Contractors:

In Miami Beach, it is against the law for the vendors and contractors to contribute to their boss's campaigns.   

In North Bay Village, NAH.  Contractors and Vendors are expected to open their wallets and Cattabriga has gone all out to get donations.  

Here is the list of people who make money off the Village who have been moved to contribute to Cattabriga for some reason ($) along with their interest and other items of note.

Sorted by Amount (Decreasing)

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Ron BookMiami FL$1,000No RFPLobbyist
Ron BookMiami FL$1,000No RFPLobbyist
Carlos PeninCoral Gables$500Village ContractorCap Gemini
Okeechobee LandfillPompano Beach$500Village Contractor
Waste Management
Jose InfanteCoral Gables$300Village ContractorSFM
Neil KodsiNorth Bay Village$250No RFPLegal Services
Dave RabenNorth Bay Village$250No RFPLegal Services
A & A CommunicationsHollywood FL$250Listed agent Norman Powell Village AttyLegal Services

Special note:  Ron Book donated through two businesses he owns - isn't that cute?  And he got a $40,000 contract with no RFP and no bid.  

Contractors and Vendors who Cattabriga owes:  $4,050 plus the extra help like water bills and overlooked business taxes.  

Now the Developers

First of all, let's be super clear.  Cattabriga's political consultant, Strategic Campaign Consultants, is owned by Mitch Edelstein, who ran all of Mayor Kreps' campaigns and who represents virtually every land developer in North Bay Village, not to mention from 2013 - 2017 lobbied for North Miami Beach strip clubs alongside Village Attorney Norman C. Powell.  He is listed as a vendor on Cattabriga's campaigns and much of the nastiness is typical of his campaign style.  

Here are the Developers and their reps who are donating generously to Laura Cattabriga:  

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National Construction ServiceFort Lauderdale$1,000
Land Development
RG FiferMiami Beach$1,000
Land Development
Superior DrywallHialeah$1,000
Land Development
Brick Village 79 LLCMiami FL$1,000
Land Development
Isle of DreamsExempt$1,000
Land Development
Gabriela GholinaMiami, FL$1,000
Land Development
Marlina ApfelbaumMiami, FL$1,000
Land Development
P & O Global TechMiami$1,000
Land Development
Truth is the Daughter of TimeMiami$1,000
Land Development
UBS Financial ServicesHartford CT$1,000Land Development
Bradley BelcherJupiter FL$500
Land Development
Ashmandy KitchenHialeah$500
Land Development
Miguel BarbagalloCoconut Grove$500
Land Development
Deborah WrightBrooklyn NY$500
Land Development
Deborah CitrinMiami Beach$250
Land Development
Citrin and Walker ATTYMiami Beach$250
Land Development

Developers who Cattabriga owes:  $12,500 

Biggest and Be$te$t Contributor:

Laura Cattabriga herself.  

Cattabriga has "loaned" herself a cool $15,775 for a job that pays like $12,000 per year.  Now she might be expecting to pay herself back from leftover campaign funds but that's going to be a stretch.  The odd thing about loans is that it's hard to see the source of the money so I'll just leave this here.  

Local Residents:

A few, 6 to be exact if we don't count Cattabriga.  The biggest one is Mary Kramer, wife of Commissioner Jose Alvarez for $1,300.   



But Wait - What About Latham?


Well, here's the breakdown by category:

Developers - $0
Village Vendors and Contractors - $0
Murder Suspects - $0
Self - $5,000
North Bay Village Residents - $10,150 (should be more next report) 19 total reporting. 

But Won't Cattabriga Recuse Herself When The Issues Come Up?

No.  She has stated that she believes that she has to vote on everything in spite of the usual ethics requirement to recuse yourself when you're being profitable.   In fact, Cattabriga made it a point to "explain" that to her opponent when he said he would recuse himself.  It's not true of course.  But she's clear she's a votin'.  

Surely there must be something good?

Well, yes.  Cattabriga is an honest politician, not like those that take money and then scupper away from their sugar daddies.  So far she has rewarded the village attorney, the village lobbyist (Ron Book) with no bid, no RFP contracts in spite of the Charter provision that says anything over $15,000 needs to be bid with an RFP.   No law holds her back.  

And already she's voted to grant up to 400 foot height limits to the developers.  

And remove the parking covenant to clear the way for a storage facility (another one) on the Causeway.  

Cattabriga - she stays loyal to the people who show her the money.  

Kevin Vericker
October 31, 2018






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