#1114-9 Jerry Libbin Elected Miami Beach Commissioner SunPost article dated December 1, 2005 iris six-paint-plan items to discusior. at the City Employees and Kestaurant Employee; International
Commission iu the nest four mrnths. The plan t~niod') and the Teamsters Local -69, hate also
addresses issues such as speeding up neighbor- formed the Strong Communities GOali(IOn god spent
hood improvement pro;ecis: wcigh;ng all the tens of thousands of dollars getting in&rrmatinn out
options with FPL for preventing power omagcs after ahcut Annumiab~s campaign, although - to the
hurricaoea (e-g-. bury'iug the cahfes and ecamining SunPosfs knowledge -the group dit' not send out
the ronditions of utihn poles;: getting more life- anr!hing reproachful of Libbin or his campaign-
euards on the beach. having the cite contribute a One of the Civic League mailers (written in
~msll sum directly In public schools to fund non- Spanish) claimed. `...i; 91es.Annunt;ato gets his
rryuired programs such as phy>ical education and way', the vin' u[ Miami Bead. could see the elimi-
o.;lnlral,arts studies; creanng a world-class adtur- nation of important services. vital for our citizens
.~.I campus and auracrne more international art of advanced age-` ll ev'eu claimed ;hat, at a recer,~.
vents like di't Basel; and ileaning up the ciq's public meeting, Annml;:iato said ggcernment is
streets and sidcvv:d ks. not responsible for elderly sec cicec: it then nes0.;-
fusr dav< befare the runoff election- nvo dis- tared that if Annunziatu were elected. there might
p_raging anti-Anrunzlaro mcd;ers were sent out by be no more affordable housing, or food. Social
au Hlectionecring Communic;ttien; Orgunizntion Seeurin~ and special victims' assistance ero;rams
(ECO) called the Miami Reach Civic League, chaired for the elderly.
by Ricky Arriola. son of Mivni Gn- `;tanager Joe The odler moiler loucited on ccr,de i~ues-
Arrioia and president of Inktel Direct Corp_ a "vcarning'~ elderly residents that Annumiato could
.Miami-based direct be responsible fcr raised
marketing firm- {ECOs rents and m~aintenancc
can collect unlimited fees if elected.
funds and, in some 'n addition, [; : Cinc
cases, don't have to z ~'~~ ~#~~ ~~, yys~`,F Lea ue had helpers mak-
report contributions ~ ~^
ing pealed phone -ails
'.
"
`
~
~
and expenditures untd a,;. ~_~,~
to sc~r^71 eldt rk resi-
~_~ s4-~"' ~~.
"'
~ '
~~
lungafter d;e election is
der s in i~ti:tml Bench.
'
~
over, although the Givrc "s ~~ ~~
~~~ ~' ~~
"fhtc even unlittmgh~
League report was avail ~ called Vice-:Alawr Matti
able as of Tuesdat.) g~ Herrera 6owcr, an
In the ECO file, the ~ 9nnunziato scpporter.
Civic League's head 1'
~~?~~ `
t
he
were tellin
me
~,y
a*.,,
;
}
g
quarters is based at 4>0 that .Mex was doing a
Miami Bea he ~~a=~ .re... ,erry LibG? „ete4r ,,, h's ~vne, Payuel, atfie Porge Tuesoay nigh Shortly afterfinAing Alton Rd. #3994 (the - ~~~~ ~~~~~„q ~~ ~~ tar, pag _f lies acct that
s
out he had won the electron Photo by Mftchell Zachs thagialPhotos.com address of [fie Philippe ~
he wa gc.lna take aw a?
Starck-dcigne~l Icon „~. ~~,cx ~ ~g `~-~~ r_~ ;f. affordable hou-mg :cod
' condo). hl an e-mail to all tha t m^an, i! . a
the SunPost, .Arriola ~ , r"~~~~xr~ ~?r~ q° '~` ~' hoc b, to:-rihle tarn
~
^ ^
~~~~
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ said he has been a s
paign ~ 'he said 'That's
Miami Beach resident ~a.,~i'~ a~~~~~~~'~~n dirty. 1 even asktd w-hat
~ for six tear and is the} vt done in the past
"concerned about (the] ~~ mr .,d,Fx ,,,:.e or i ow I .paid join or
cinsfuture~ ~ parnupac, liar thee
~~~~ ~~~~ The Gvic Leagrie, cowdntatsyer^u.
which raised $13,500 "1 don t lutovc why they
(with such contribu- were doing this for
C lions as $5,000 from car dealer .Alan Potamkin, Libbin. but it must be a pro-dove!opulent issue.
®~~~~~~~~~~ $9,000 from the Greenberg Traurig lave firm, $2500 It's not as if the commissioners can rea'ay take
from Berkowitz Development Group Inc. and 51.000 away elderly services - thaCS mnsth: a federal
from restaurateur Mark Sovka), was not formed thing. The worst port is that the elderlc get cen~
€ai#£i~rr.drK `a~~a"~:~~k~:~;a ~~w~',~~s~a, a~5~~~ -`~':_ ~. until late November and its mailers targeted a cnr-
vial (and quite vulnerable) Miami Beach con- worried about it. so it's very sad that they did this
to the older people. I understand that the can?-
p, ~. t
r ~
? "
~
~
~~
~
~ stitueney: the elderly - more specifically the paign a the camp~fgn. but coo should h ~ to win
>
' m-' P, ,~
.
'
f.a _
~ s (~
.
= Hispanic, mostly Spanish-speaking, elderlc. 9rriola, based nn tour merits instead of resorting to such
however, informed the SunPost the information was blows to the community.'
sent out in English as well. Added dnnunziato- `Titer were only tar¢eting
By Omar Sommereyn5 "Our election communications were in bo!h Hispania because they kr;ew the Hispanic cote
English and Spanish, and incidentally, I am Cuban- turned out fur me. -_ I didn't ezactl; mean tl?at goc-
.~nerican. so I am especially concerned about issues ernment is not responsible in helping the elderlc.
Taking the lead with a mere 313 cotes. 53-vent- runoff elections - a 9.07 percent total turnout.) that may effect Isic] this segment of the popula- They took it out of context- 1 actually said that gor-
otd Jerry Libbin, a financial planner ~.viBl Over at The Forge Tuesday night, Libbin, a former lion." he wrote in the e-mail °At the end of the dag ernment should give cih- [av dollan and federal
lnterSecurities, Inc, on 7Ytesdav won the 19iami member of the city's Planning Board and former what we want is to have the best leadership possible HL'D dollars to organizations dedicated to ah~eady
Beach Commission scat held by lose Smith_ oar- president o(North Beach Development Corporation, for p1iami Reach. In this year's election that was providing sen~iccs to the elderly."
rowly beating his much-younger opponent m the w'as celebrating his victory with high-end hors- Jerry Libbin." At The Forge, Libbin insisted he didnt approve of
runoff election, 25-year-old Alen Annunziate. a local d~oeuvres and cocktails; surrounded by most of the Interestingly, one of the largest condo manage- or condone any of the mailers. "lThe ECO] was
state trooper. city- commissioners, including Saul Gross, Luis moot groups in Florida, the Continental Group Inc., formed b} some of my supporters." he said- `But it
Like for the general elections, the voter turnout Garcia. Richard Steinberg and Simon Cruz, as well contributed 55,000 to the Civic League- It should be was kind of in self-defense because it seemed like
for the Miami Beach runoff was very low. There were as City Manager Jorge Gonzalez- noted that this company has been in conflict with evert candidate had supporters forming these F.COs,
only 4,038 votes cast out of 43,469 registered voters. '1'm very appreciative of the tremendous support the Service Employees International Dnion (SEIO) like Fontana and <lnnunziato." (toe Fontana, a
Of these, 2,110 (>2.66 percent) went to Libbin and from aft the people that worked so hard on my cam- Local 11, which has been trying to unionize Beach commission candidate who finished third in
1,597 l47 34 percent) went to Annmlziato. (In paign." hr commented. `I'm now excited to finish it Continental Group's condo workers and endorsed the November IS election round, was supported be
Miami, Miami Beach and Hialeah, a meager 14,033 off and get to [he people's work." Annunziato in hopes that he might huiher their the ECO Concerned Voters of Miami Beach, ',vhich
out of 1>4,6?3 people voted in the November 29 Libbin added that; as promised, he'll try w bring cause. SEIL'; along with L'NITE HERE ("Hotel circulated negative flyers ~ . -
~.~:--~ - , ~ ri
Diaz-Supported
Candidate Wins Miami
Commission Race
By ~;nni? Vazquez
Referred to by her opponents as flavor h1anm•
Diazs girl. Michelle SpenceJones Celebrated her vic-
tory lute Tuesday nisht after beating her opponent,
the Reverend Richard P
llunn H, for the District
i seat n^ ;he Miami
City Commission
At her campaign
headquarters iu Liberty
Gityt Spence-Jones, 38.
learned she won dlP
rote 5? percent to
ihmn's v3 percent.
Shc celebrated her
win alongside friends, family- and supporter includ-
ing hfavor Uiaz. ''.in Mana,er loo Arriola, C.i:v
Commissioner Joe ianchez and ~hami-llade Count
Gommssioner Barbara Garev->huler, whom she
re`erred to as her mentor.
The tumour for the victory party° was smalh jwt
like the turnout for the
race, which attracted just
12 percent of the district's
registered voters.
But from the street,
one would never guess.
Alongside campaign
headquarters in a lar;e
white canopy- beneath the
stars. applause- cheers.
and hip-hop music fea-
turing Spence-Jones's campaign theme sung blasted
oot from nc~ syeakers
Thr new- cin~ commissioner took the mia~ophone
Libbin Captures Beach Conernission Seat
several times to say she was honored and humbled to
be a public servant.
"So mam people counted me out," she said. "I
have no words to express how I feel. I just want [o
keep doing what I've been doing this whole campaign
and that is teaching people end uniting people."
Diaz, who announced that he and several ether
city officials at the celebration endorsed Spence
Jones at a yarn last week, took to the stage smiling.
"1 ant so proud of Michelle and her team." he said
over a loudspeaker. "Change is not coming. ehange is
here tonigin_ 1 haven't seen this rvpe of enthusiasm m
a lung time.`
On the other side of low n. Dunn. ~i5, and his sup-
portcrs were quietly eaCng at a popu;ar Overtotvn
restaurant called Peoples Barbeque.
Despite his lass. Dunn seemed in high spirts.
"I gave it my hest." he said. `But the results were
no[ in me faeor."
Drum said he uvuld not run again for office, bm
n°orid remain aitivc in the communin through his
ministrc He is a reverend at fatiledral of Hope
Church in Miami Gardena lu 1996 he sen~ed as at:
intenm ciR commissioner after M1liller Dawkins was
arrested by the FBI and later convicted of taking
830.000 in bribes.
llunn's future plans also include eo[:finuing
his education at the lntPr i)ontination
Theological Center in Atlanta. C, a- and ohtaini t2
his doctorate degree. (llunn has a maser's
degree in theology.)
Although Dunr. is a strong critic of the macor.
he shared the same political agenda as Spence-
Iones~. more jobs, more affordable housing and
better race relations.
But Spence Junes- wtlo will now fill the seat held
by the late.irthur E. Teele, amassed more in cam-
paign contributions.
Dunn said he raised 560.000 to Spence-Jones
$18Q000. There were Car snore banners and >igns
emblazoned m cheery red with Spence-Jones' face
than with Dunn's. There rrere also mama more
Spence-Jones' supporters like Ladorne Franklin
Rap wearing campaign shirts.
Franklin Ras, 44, was at the victory yarn too
Shc says she had been promoting Spenrz-)ones
since the polls opened at 7 a m.
'] voted for her because (know- she can make a
difference in our communitg" she ssid
Spence Jones will be representing the areas of
Osermwn. Little Haiti. Spring Garden. Buena 1.>ta,
si'ynwood and pars of Lihertc qn
about both Libbin and Annunziato. Fontana later beat- He said he had no regrets. His supporters,
endorsed Libbin.) including Mayor David llermer and County
Libbin also pointed out that the t:n°ic League Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, were all hanging out
filed its report before the runoff eiecnoq while the. at Monty~s, drinking beer and munching on fried
Strong Communities Coalition doesn't have to file food. "Near time, Nex!" and "Good run, man'~-
untilmuch later because a registered with the stale some supporters said as they passed by to pat
and will, supposedly: be active in area: other then Annunziatu on the back
Miami Beach- when asked whether or not he thought the Civic
The Civic League EGO was only created mt League mailers might have affected the election
November 17. right before the runoff and, as of resins, Mnunziato replied, "None of that matters
this deadline, the group only sent ou[ mailers and now. t ran an excellent, clean race on the issues.
made phone tails attaching Annmlz(ato, while the Jerry was successhd and deserter the support of the
Strong Communities Coaltrion seat qut infurma- communin in doing a eery difficult job. Ito sure
uonal mailers about the issues the latter candidate he's up to the task."
was pushing. .Ma}~ur Deemer echoed this point of slew- "41ex
sfter the runoff results on'fucsduy, Ar,nunziato, eau dye bey[ campaign he could and he should hold
who led an anti-Bavlink canpaign last November his head up high," he said "But 1 weltome Libbin
and is a metnher of hP rt}'s liPnPl a1 Obligation [o the commfsston
Bond O~entgh, Committee liddt seem h'~o down- nlez unrunziato, let;, oecame teary eyed shortly after addressing his supporters at Monry's on South seam Tuesday night as
.. votns carte sfi!I being counted. Plato by Mitchell Zachs / MagiczlPhotos.com ~ -
~J$~ vv~J
CORRECTi101i5: Due to a production error the by-line of Tiffany Rahle}' fur t
dte same issue Randy Abraham was not credited for the Aspnnara (lfficial5 Ui:
Abmtt eras not idea@ficd as the work of photographer Spencer fuaick The ima,~
~a 4Rf"a.u ~~~)fw
a'rm`s. i'r% r t a . r ?<:.s fc~7va .~€+t:€~;`:°`
. ___.o-.~~.--.~....................w.•vwo)...,un+r. vim wgwmvs ~wr7,~WmW~UnU 1•N ~aMdY, NBW IMK
~ ~I,I
Miami Commissioner~lect Mictteee Spence-.ones