Archive for: ‘November 2013’
Mayor Philip Levine claims mandate and presents goals
Image from MBTV
Newly sworn in, Mayor Philip Levine wasted no time on Monday to claim a mandate from the public and outline his goals for the coming term.
“I was humbled by the 14% margin of victory and the mandate without a runoff that you the people of Miami Beach gave me,” he said during his inaugural speech. “You didn’t whisper about change you shouted.”
“I have to listen to that, we have to listen to that loud voice. And I pledge to follow your clear mandate,” said the mayor.
Levine beat his chief rival, Then-Commissioner Michael Gongora, 50.48% to 36.4% during the November 4th General Election. All other races went to a runoff election two weeks later.
Now elected, Levine outlined a list of “very-important issues” he would like to tackle right away.
Flooding:
Levine wants to create a new standing sub-committee to tackle the issue. Commissioners, he says, would devise “short, medium, and long-term solutions” to the ever present flooding problem.
Miami Beach Convention Center:
“We all agree, we may not need something so mass, something so large,” said Levine. “But I think we all agree that this convention center must be renovated, must be state of the art.”
(more…)
New Miami Beach Commission sworn in
Image via MBTV
It’s official: The new Miami Beach Commission has been sworn in and in power.
If you’re not going: Go to the Book Fair this weekend.
A small plea to those who don’t intend on going:
Go to the book fair.
Wonder aimlessly.
Pick a panel at random.
Or pick one that sounds remotely interesting. You can’t lose with so much talent crawling around this weekend.
Rick Scott gets booed in Orlando
Is it super polarized in Florida already or is it just around Governor Rick Scott?
This week in a simple photo opp announcing Orlando’s new Major League Soccer expansion team, the ‘Jobs Governor’ got jobbed when he was relentlessly booed.
The jovial crowd got vicious when organizers announced Scott wanted to say a few words. Judging from the accompanying YouTube video, whatever polite ra-ra-ing the state’s chief executive had intended on spewing was not welcomed. The boos trounced his statement, and knowing he was beat Scott yanked himself from the spotlight.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get the dignity of just walking off stage. He had to stand there, in all his shame, grinning and bearing it in front of a hostile crowd who wanted blood. Even the worst of Open Mic-ers get to run off and drown their sorrows privately, perhaps even on the house by way of a sympathetic bartender.
Luckily the night was one of celebration in Central Florida, as they became a two-team city. Scott gratefully lost himself in the crowd.
Can Scott expect more of this has he mounts his right-wing re-election campaign? Are the polls that have Charlie Crist in double digit leads against Scott manifesting in public?
Or is it too early, and Orlando City Lions fans just democratic at the polls?
Either way: funny video.
Miami Beach votes out incumbents in runoff
The incumbents are out.
Miami Beach voters have chosen to go a different direction, electing Joy Malakoff and Michael Grieco over Mayor Matti Bower and Commissioner Jorge Exposito. Two weeks ago, voters choose Philip Levine over Commissioner Michael Gongora.
Micky Steinberg was also elected in an open seat over Elsa Urquiza.
About 16% of registered voters turned out for the runoff election, with 7,239 ballots cast.
The most surprising result involved the unknown Malakoff defeating the well-known Bower with nearly 60% of the vote. After initial defeats, Bower became a powerhouse at the polls, winning 14 years of office. Those many years of service were probably what did in Bower, more than Malakoff’s campaigning. Bower was the figurehead at City Hall during one of the most turbulent times in Miami Beach history.
Even the most apathetic of voters, which Beach voters are NOT, need at least one election cycle and weak challengers to forget such negative headlines.
Exposito didn’t fare so well either, earning 46.33% of the vote in the runoff. That’s only a point higher than he received during the general election. Grieco seems to have picked up Dave Crystal’s supporters. Or as Crystal may fume, Grieco picked up his. (And his talking points, Crystal has said.)
Of course Levine’s figurehead-candidacy, money, and endorsements of most of his fellow Custin-Candidates played a big role in exposure and a call to action for voters towards the like-minded Malakoff and Grieco.
Levine did not endorse fellow Custin-Candidate Urquiza, nor included her in a publicized ‘friend-raiser.’ She told Newshole[DOT]info that she has never been part of a so-called slate or part of any Hispanic vs anti-Hispanic campaigning.
“I stand on my track record, service and experience,”said Urquiza.
Urquiza lost to Steinberg 46.94% to 53.06%.
SunPost: Bad Blood at the Voting Precinct
By: Frank Maradiaga for Miami SunPost
CANDIDATE ACCUSES HER OPPONENT’S CAMPAIGN MANAGERS OF HARASSMENT AND VERBAL ABUSE AT THE POLLS.
Campaigning can be a nasty ordeal as this cycle in Miami Beach has proven. So too can be sign holding.
As residents head back to the polls this weekend and on Tuesday to decide the winners of the runoff, one candidate spoke with the SunPost on how ugly it can get outside of a voting precinct.
Elsa Urquiza says she was verbally abused multiple times by Micky Steinberg’s campaign managers while they all stumped for votes in the first election. Urquiza and Steinberg are now locked in a head to head runoff.
“There were actually many incidents,” Urquiza said. “The people involved were the Micky Steinberg people, and the two of them claim to be their campaign managers.”
Urquiza identified Jeremy Kozyak and David Carcache Guzman as the central actors.
In one instance Urquiza says Guzman came up really close to denounce her integrity.
“He came up to me, touched me with his shoulder to my shoulder, and called me a ‘corrupt old woman’, and called me trash in Spanish,” she said.
“He said it was about time the residents got rid of corruption in Miami Beach, and that I was a corrupt old woman,” said the candidate. “Very very close, to an inch of my face.”
Read the rest at The Miami SunPost
Google maps Florida’s beaches; Florida pays $120,000
Photo by VisitFlorida
Agoraphobics rejoice, the beach is coming to you -sans all the sandy people.
After four months, every slouchy corner of Florida’s ocean-front goodness has been recorded for the eventual perusing of anyone with a browser and questionable time on their hands.
This week concluded the painstakingly thorough capturing of Florida’s 825 miles of beaches in images for Google Maps. The enterprise was a partnership between Google and VisitFlorida, the state’s tourism and marketing arm, that will produce an interactive first-person view of Florida’s famous natural attraction.
And by partnership we mean Florida put up $120,000+ to use Google’s 360 degree cameras, and the search engine giant agreed to pay the Sunshine State a token amount to buy the pictures. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Google will pay $1,000 for the detailed pictures of all the state’s coastline.
The state would have gotten more had they accepted just ONE share of Google stock; currently at $1,032.47.
Mindy’s Micro-Menu – Thai Chicken Soup
Photo by: Mindy G.
Editor’s note: Mindy is a dedicated elementary school teacher, a children ministry director, is involved in after school programs, a staunch volunteer for various causes, and cooks most of her own meals; she doesn’t have time for fluff or long word counts. Just the heart of the beast.
This week: Thai Chicken Soup.
It’s good-ish. Don’t know that it will go in the regular rotation, but it’s decent.
Kind of a chicken soup with sweet notes to it .
__Mindy G.
Mindy’s Micro-Menu – Thai Chicken Soup recipe used.
