Jim Defede: It's all about
turnout on Tuesday.
Linda: Says she is more qualified. Has highest integrity in the STATE. She
came into the City six years
ago and says she, "turned the city around", regarding the budget. She is
concerned about pensions and
saving the tax payers money.
Marc: Lived in Grove 20 years. Lives and works in the
Grove. Says it is not about money. Anyone can
do the accounting. "It's about people." He doesn't like the fact that, "This
government dictates to the people."
"It is not Miami Inc. -- it is the City of Miami."
Marc believes code enforcement was pulled from NET offices. The City
centralized it.
Linda says NET should have code enforcement, also.
Linda: in a May 4, 2006 - in a Sun Post article, Marc
said he loves Mercy Hospital project and he says
there is nothing wrong with neighbors taking money from project. When he
went to Grove Isle, he said the
opposite. Marc responds that Linda is deceiving people and he is totally
against neighbors taking money
from developers.
Marc: he has never voted in favor of Mercy project. He says it is out of
scale and he was the president of the
Village Council and did not have a vote at the time, but the vote would have
been against the project.
Defede: Marc got 34% of the vote, Linda got 26%.
It's important to get out and vote on Nov 21, 2006 -- this Tuesday.
Marc: Says police are paid too little, City of Miami police are being
poached by Miami Gardens dept.
which pays much more. Says money is already in budget. Says to get rid of
"consultants" and start paying
the police. $27 million was paid on consultants last year -- through
lobbyists. Stop the bonuses to city employees.
Linda: Marc is clueless. Capital improvement dollars pay for the
consultants.
Grapevine comment: Who cares where the money is
coming from . . . $27 million for consultants?
Linda says pension costs need to be reduced and money
for police and fire can come from that.
Marc: Why do City employees have pensions of 60% after only seven years of
service?
This is wrong. The City is not contributing to the pensions correctly. City
needs a "rainy day fund"
for pensions.
Linda says Marc flip flops. Says he wanted to increase the pensions, now he
doesn't.
Jim Defede: This is a very
bitter campaign. Even during commerical breaks it goes on.
Do they regret the tone of the race?
Marc: Let's just talk about issues. Linda doesn't do that.
Linda: Marc has one of the biggest blogs going, smearing Linda.
Regarding Seth Gordon and Home Depot, Linda says, fundraiser last night at
Pericones
was not sponsored by Seth Gordon. Says the emails that went out are
"forged". She is not
taking money from Seth Gordon. She does take money from Max Milam. Max Milam
supports Linda.
Says she would not allow Home Depot in C1 Zoning if
she was on City Commission at the time.
Marc says Seth Gordon showed up at both fundraisers, he was at the
Greenstreets fundraiser for
Marc (to check things out) and Marc is on Seth's email list, and the email
did come from Seths' own
email account about the Pericones fundraiser.
Marc knows Steve Marin (the lobbyist), but he is not campaigning for Marc.
Marc only asked him
about some voting procedures.
DeFede: This is a fight between Manny Diaz and Joe
Ariola. (Marc and Linda are the puppets).
Linda: Marc was at a fundraiser at Joe Ariola's house with Steve Marin. And
Steve was introducing him to everyone.
Linda: She is her own person and will not do what Manny Diaz wants only
because he is Manny Diaz.
She is a person of her own mind.
Marc: Joe Ariola is not supporting Marc. If that was the case, Marc would
have tons of money, more than Linda's campaign.
Linda: Joe Ariola is very abusive to her.
DeFede: Ariola says Linda is mentally unstable and
brought in a psychologist because of her crying jags.
Linda: Never had a psychologist come in and she did cry because of Joe
Ariola's abuse.
Developement:
Marc: Condos must go. Zoning needs to be observed. City of Miami goes with
waivers for all these
developers. A mitigation fee.
Linda: City has
not handled the growth problem properly. The 1990s changes in zoning code is
the cause
of a lot of problems. She favors Miami 21, thanks Mayor Diaz for that. Says
Biscayne Blvd. heights were
down-zoned. She says density belongs downtown. That is where it belongs.
Affordable housing:
Linda: We are losing affordable housing because of the property appraiser.
He is not doing it properly.
Arguing goes on now. They insult each other. Jim
Defede turns the microphones off.
Marc: Says Linda flip flops. If she is an accountant, she should not keep
changing numbers. He says
there is no affordable housing in Miami.
Marc says we should all Google Marc and Linda and see their records on line.
End of show, arguing and debate. :)