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NUMBER 57A - JULY 8, 2018
LOURDES BLANCO SUES THE CITY FOR REFUSING TO PAY HER, AND ALONG THE WAY RAISES SOME VERY INTERESTING QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE MIAMI SPORTS AND ENTERTAINEMT AUTHORITY (MSEA)
On May 9th I wrote a story about the failure of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez to hold a meeting of the MSEA board, and of the claim made by City Manager Emilio "Colonel Klink" Gonzalez at the March 8th Commission meeting that, "Last week some information was brought to my attention regarding some possible discrepancies in accounting, financial procedures..," involving MSEA. (You can read that story by clicking HERE.
Since then things have been happening. Suarez did call a meeting of MSEA Board where little of consequence was discussed, and the Independent Auditor did conduct an investigation, although the report of that investigation seems to have disappeared into some bureaucratic Black Hole that would tend to support a claim that this is one report that some people inside City hall doen't want seeing the light of day.
But above and beyond that, Lourdes Blanco, the Executive Director of MSEA who prompted the investigation because of the allegations of financial discrepancies that she made, has thrown 2 new hand grenades into the room.
The first one was a May 22nd letter to Mayor Francis Suarez's Chief of Staff alleging that the Mayor, and the MSEA Board was refusing to provide her with instructions or guidance on depositing checks from Linden Services, one of the two lease holders of the city's property on Watson Island.
Here is her letter:
The second hand grenade was the lawsuit that she filed against the city for their refusal to pay her for the months of April and May.
In my 9 years of doing this I've never encountered a situation where a city employee, either on the job, or having been fired, was not paid.
This is a first, and it raises serious questions about what is really going on inside of City Hall and what do the politicians like Francis Suarez fear from the release of the Independent Auditor's Report, or from Lourdes Blanco's allegations about "financial discrepancies?"
Inquiring minds want to know, because this is Miami, Bitches!
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There's been a lot of talk in the last year or so about supporting your local media. I think that I'm not only a part of the local media, but what I do is as much, or more important in making folks aware of the misbehavior of public officials in this community than what any of the supposed "real media" does.
Today's stories are another example of that. You'll not find the information in any of the stories below in any other publication, TV, Radio or social media website.
When it comes to standing up against the abuses and chicanery committed on an almost daily basis by politicians in Miami, the Crespogram has been the only voice who has consistently called for honestly, transparency, accountability and a stop to the screwing of taxpayers by these politicians, and backed it up by shining a light that reveals what they've been doing behind closed doors.
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Al Crespo
689 NE 92nd Street - 10G
Miami, FL 33138