It's an election year so you know what
that means. People doing business with the Miami-Dade County are
making sure they grease up the political campaigns of their favorite
incumbents. That's how a quid pro quo works at County Hall.
Commissioners vote in favor of their generous pals, even if it means
screwing the public.
You just have to scan the finance reports for
the reelection campaigns of Bruno Barreiro and Barbara Jordan -- who
did not respond to inquiries left at their campaign and commission
offices -- to see how the skeezy system works.
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On April 25 of last year, Barreiro received $500 campaign donations each from real estate developer Masoud Shojaee and three of his employees. Three companies the builder owns also kicked in another $1500 to the commissioner's reelection drive this past September 26. Two months later, on Nov. 11, Shojaee bundled $3,000 for Jordan. In October, Barreiro and Jordan were among ten county commissioners who voted to grant a special use permit to Mexican cement conglomerate Cemex to blast for limestone rock on land owned by Shojaee despite objections from neighboring farmers and environmentalists, who are now suing the county. Shojaee did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Shojaee is not the only developer showing gratitude to Barreiro and Jordan. This past July 19, commissioners approved Barreiro's request to allocate a $3.7 million grant for the construction of an affordable housing project in Little Havana being built by the Related Group of Florida. Less than a month later on Aug. 2., Barreiro got $6,500 from a corporation owned by Related Vice-President Alberto Milo and 12 companies listing the same corporate address as Related's at 315 S. Biscayne Blvd. This past Dec. 30, Milo and two Related Group entities gave $500 each to Jordan, who voted to give Related the $3.7 million.
Like Shojaee, Milo didn't want to talk about the donations.
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