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Citty Atorney's LTC 424101-2008 re: Ethics Commission's Final Reporta o~7~ ~ ~ 7 a n m !~^JAPJ''BE~;CH OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY JOSE SMITH, CITY ATTORNEY NO. LTC # 424101-2008 LETTER TO COMMISSION TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission Jorge Gonzalez, City Manager FROM: Jose Smith, City Attor y DATE: April 24, 2008 SUBJECT: Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics On October 17, 2007, the Miami Beach City Commission passed Resolution No. 2007-26700, requesting that the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust investigate a campaign flyer which negatively depicted candidates running in the 2007 City of Miami Beach's General Election, in violation of the County's Fair Campaign Practices ordinance. The City also requested that the Ethics Commission investigate an e-mail of a purported "poll" of voters which implied that the poll figures originated from the City. Attached is the Ethics Commission's Final Report. JS/mem cc: Robert Parcher, City Clerk Enclosure OFFICE OF THE INDEPENDENT ADVOCATE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMISSION ON ETHICS & PUBLIC TRUST REPORT OF INVESTIGATION K #: 07-124/ K07-139 Investigators: Manuel W. Diaz, Sylvia Batista ................................................................................................................................. On October 17, 2007, the City of Miami Beach City Commission unanimously passed Resolution No. 2007-26700 (the "Resolution"). The Resolution requested the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust (COE) investigate certain campaign literature (the "flyer") which depicted candidates running in the 2007 City of Miami Beach General Election (the "election") as a "Barbie" doll, "Tellatubby", and "Dora the Explorer" in violation of the County's Fair Campaign Practices ordinance. The City of Miami Beach (the "City") further requested that the COE investigate an e-mail of a purported "poll" of voters (the "poll"). The e-mail implied that the poll figures came from the City. Investigation: Prior to the Resolution, COE investigators had initiated an investigation based on information from local newspapers and City of Miami Beach Public Information Officer Nanette Rodriguez. COE Investigators were in the process of conducting research and interviews as to the origin of the flyer and the poll. The investigation was assigned number K07-129. Subsequent to the Resolution, the Advocate closed case number K07-129 and initiated a new case under number K07-139 thereby merging the existing investigation with the investigation requested in the Resolution. The Flyer The flyer was purportedly mailed out by an organization known as "Citizens for a Sound and Balanced Miami Beach." The return address on the flyer was listed as 636 51 Terrace, Miami Beach 33140. A copy of the flyer has been made part of the case file. Investigators determined that "Citizens for a Sound and Balanced Miami Beach," which took credit for the flyer, is not registered as a political committee with the State of Florida Division of Elections, Miami Dade County Elections Department nor with the City of Miami Beach Clerks office. The flyer was mailed using regular postage stamps rather than a postage meter therefore, COE Investigators were unable to identify the origin of the flyer. The return address on the flyer, 636 51Terrace, Miami Beach 33140, is not a valid Miami Beach address. The Poll In a telephone interview on 9/14/07, City of Miami Beach Information Officer Nanette Rodriguez confirmed that the City had not commissioned the poll which she had received at her City e-mail address which had also been delivered to numerous recipients by Georgina Gellman (gellmang(a~gmail.com). On the same date, Rodriguez provided COE investigators with copies of several e-mails concerning the e-mailed poll, including one from Miami Beach political consultant Randy Hilliard to Miami Herald reporter Tania Valdemoro attributing the poll to Miami Beach vendor and alleged behind the scenes political consultant Frank Pintado. Oddly, Hilliard's e-mail to Valdemoro reflects that it was sent to Valdemoro on 11113/07, two months afterValderomo allegedly forwarded the same e-mail to Rodriguez. Mr. Hilliard did not cooperate with this investigation and we were unable to explain this inconsistency. COE investigators were provided with copies of the following e-mails, including the e-mail containing the poll from Georgina Gellman: From: Frank Pintado To: undisclosed recipients Date: 9112107 Subject: FYI -Poll's Numbers From: Georgina Gellman To: None cited Date: 9/13107 Subject: City of Miami Beach Elections From: Deede Weithorn (candidate) To: Miami Beach Residents Date: 9/14/07 Subject: Miami Beach denies taking poll The above e-mails have been placed in the investigative file. 9127107 Interview -Frank Pintado, Manager Standard Parking 1700 Meridian Ave, Miami Beach, Florida. Pintado advised that he is a supporter of Commission Candidate Luis Salom. Pintado denied having anything to do with the preparation of the poll. He acknowledged that he had received the poll by e-mail, but did not recall who sent it to him. Pintado explained that the poll looked authentic and he forwarded it to several of his friends and associates. Pintado advised that he had deleted all his previous e-mails concerning the poll. COE Investigators re-interviewed Pintado on 11/15/07 concerning the flyer and the poll. Pintado denied having anything to do with the preparation of the flyer. He advised that he did not receive a copy of the flyer by mail. He acknowledged seeing the flyer in either the Miami Herald or the Miami Sun Post. Pintado was shown a copy of the e-mail containing the poll and again stated that he received the poll via e-mail. He did not recall the name or the e-mail address of the individual who sent him the poll. Investigators showed him a copy of the e- mailed poll, and he clarified that he did not forward the e-mail that he received, but had cut and pasted the information on to a new e-mail he created using his g- mail account. Pintado voluntarily pointed out to investigators that the e-mail from Georgina Gellman did not state that the poll was conducted by the City, but rather stated that the numbers were from the City. Pintado stated that he does not know who Georgina Gellman is. Pintado stated that he forwarded the poll to a number of his friends. He recalled that he sent it to Scott Robbins, Jonathan Fryd, Randy Weinberg and Jimmy Resnick. Investigators contacted Mr. Fryd. He advised that he did not remember receiving the e-mail from Pintado. He told Investigators that he did not know Georgina Gellman, nor did he recognize the name George Wallace. Investigators contacted Mr. Weinberg. He advised that he recalled receiving many e-mails during the time prior to the election. He remembered receiving the poll. He also advised that he recalled receiving e-mails from a George Wallace during the same time frame. He does not remember the exact content of the e- mails, but he remembers that they were election related. He does not know who George Wallace is, nor does he recognize the name Georgina Gellman. Investigators contacted Jimmy Resnick. He does not recall receiving the poll, nor does he know a George Wallace or a Georgina Gellman. Investigators contacted Scott Robbins. He recalled receiving the e-mail from Pintado. He recalls reading it and deleting it. He does not know George Wallace or Georgina Gellman. Randy Hilliard was sent a contact letter, a-mail and was called several times by COE investigators. Hilliard never returned the messages left by COE Investigators. 2/11108 Interview -Charlie Safdie- owner Penta Communications Inc. Safdie acknowledged that he was a political consultant for a number of candidates who ran for office in the 2007 Miami Beach General Election and the subsequent run-off election. Safdie advised that he was aware of the flyer and the poll that was allegedly distributed by the City of Miami Beach. Safdie stated to COE Investigators that he had nothing to do with the preparation or the distribution of either the flyer or the poll. Google Subpoenas The COE issued a subpoena to Google Inc. for subscriber information for gellmang(a~gmail.com. The following information was provided by Google.com: Email Subscriber name Secondary email Date/time created GMT aellmang(a~gemail.com Geor ina Gellman cmbnews mail.com 25 Jul 2007/1:09pm Google was contacted to clarify the terms used in their response to the subpoenas. The Google representative explained the following. E-mail - is the a-mail address requested by the subscriber. Subscriber name - is the name provided to Google by the subscriber. Google does not verify the accuracy of the name. It requires no identification. Secondary a-mail- When the subscriber requests a g-mail address, he or she is required to provide a valid e-mail account so that the information concerning the g-mail account can be sent to them. It is also used to contact the subscriber if there is a problem with the g-mail account. Date/time -the date and time when the g-mail account is created. Investigators determined that it was necessary to subpoena subscriber information for cmbnews(a~gmail.com~. The following was provided by Google in response to the subpoena. Email Subscriber Name Secondary email Created On /GMT cmbnews email.com Geor e Wallace f intado aol.com 21 April 2007/8:22 m cmbnews3 mail.com Geor e Wallace cmbnews mail.com 21 April 2007/8:38 m Me ers214 email.com Geor e Me ers cmbnews( a~gmail.com 25 July 2007/1:26pm cmbnews1 mail.com Geor e Wallace cmbnews mail.com 21 A ril 2007/8:33 m Kanter9 mail.com Peter Kanter cmbnews mail.com 23 Jul 2007/10:38 m cmbnews05 mail.com Andrea Lowell cmbnews mail.com 4 Jul 2007/12:16am Pelliot4 mail.com Elliot Peter cmbnews mail.com 23 Jul 2007/11:14pm cmbnews9 mail.com Geor e Wallace cmbnews mail.com 21 A ril 2007/8:53 m Teahe4(a~gmail.com Barbra Tache cmbnews( a~gmail.com 23 Jul 2007/10:35pm Kaufmanjerr y~a~gmail.com Kaufman Jer cmbnews ~gmail.com 23 Jul 2007/10:45 m Burk.jope4(c~~ gmail.com Joe Burk cmbnews mail.com 23 Jul 2007/11:17 m cmbnews8 mail.com Geor e Wallace cmbnews mail.com 21 A ril 2007/8:50 m Mosle 90 mail.com Stephen Mosle cmbnews( a~gmail.com 25 Jul 2007/1:07pm Cmbnews6 mail.com Wallace eor e cmbnews( c~amail.com 21 A ril 2007/8:46pm n.stein20(a~g mail.com Nelson Stein cmbnews Ca~gmail.com 23 Jul 2007/10:54pm Cmbnews03 mail.com Michael S ear cmbnews( a~gmail.com 3 Jul 2007/ 1:23am Johnbrodsk 5 mail.com John Brodsk cmbnewa (a~gmail.com 23 Jul 2007/ 10:41 m Silver.ron01( a~gmail.com Ron Silver cmbnews (~gmail.com 25 Jul 2007/1:12 m COE investigators surmise that "cmbnews" is an abbreviation for "City of Miami Beach". Glick? mail.com Mark Glick cmbnews mail.com 25 Jul 2007/1:15pm Paul.miller6 mail.com Paul Miller cmbnews mail.com 23 Jul 2007/ 10:57 m__ Cmbnews10 a(~,gmail.com Geor e Wallace cmbnews(a~gmail.com 9 May 2007/ 7:50pm Chronology A ril 21, 2007 cmbnews mail.com created b f intado alo.com Jul 25,2007 ellman mail.com created b cmbnews mail.com Se tember 12, 2007 Pintado e-mail to undisclosed reci Tents. Se tember 13,2007 Gellman a-mail to Nannette Rodri uez Se tember 13, 2007 Miami Herald news article on the oll Se tember 13, 2007 Gellman mail.com discontinued Se tember 27, 2007 First Pintado interview October 17, 2007 Resolution November 15, 2007 Second Pintado interview November 29, 2007 First Goo le sub oena December 24, 2007 Second Goo le subpoena Investigators sent certified letters to the candidates in the election asking if they had any information as to the origin of the flyer or the election poll. Each candidate was asked to contact the investigators directly. The candidates listed below responded to the COE letters: Mayor Mattie H. Bower - Stated that she does not know who prepared or distributed the materials. Rafael Herman -contacted investigators but failed to leave return telephone number. Former Commissioner Simon Cruz -Stated he does not know who prepared or distributed the materials. William B. Smatt -Stated he does not know who prepared or distributed the material. Luis Salom -Stated he does not know who prepared or distributed the materials. Commissioner Jonah Wolfson -Advised that he does not know who prepared or distributed the materials. Linda Grosz -did not respond as of March 19, 2008. Former Commissioner Michael Gongora -did not respond as of March 19, 2008. Elsa Urquiza -Advised that she does not know who prepared or distributed the materials. Frank Kruszewski -did not respond as of March 19, 2008. Commissioner Deede Weithorn - Advised that she does not know who prepared or distributed the materials. Highlights and Findings: 1. On September 14, 2007, COE Investigator Batista contacted Nanette Rodriguez, Public Information Officer for the City of Miami Beach. Ms. Rodriguez provided a copy of an e-mail that she received at her office dated 9/13107. The e-mail contained a copy of the poll indicating that the sender, Georgina Gellman, (gellmanq(c~gmail.com) had received the poll numbers from the City of Miami Beach. 2. Investigators were unable to locate anyone named Georgina Gellman. 3. In addition to the e-mail from Georgina Gellman, Ms. Rodriguez provided an e-mail dated 9/12/07, originally sent to her by a Miami Herald reporter, which showed that Frank Pintado had sent the poll via e-mail to undisclosed recipients. 4. Investigators interviewed Pintado, who denied any knowledge about the flyer or the poll. 5. The COE issued a subpoena to Google Inc. for subscriber information for gellmang(a~gmail.com. Google responded with the subscriber name Georgina Gellman and a secondary email of cmbnewsCa~gmail.com. 6. According to Google the e-mail address gellmang(a~gmail.com was discontinued on September 13, 2007 by Google for a violation of the "Terms of Agreement" by the subscriber. The Google representative was not able to provide any specifics as to the type of violation. In his opinion, the subscriber was probably using the account to distribute "SPAM" to a large base of recipients (over twenty). 7. The COE issued a subpoena to Google Inc. requesting subscriber information for cmbnews(a~gmail.com. Google responded with the subscriber name "George Wallace" and a secondary e-mail of pintad .aol.com. 8. Previously COE Investigators had e-mailed Frank Pintado at fpintad(c~aol.com and he replied from the same a-mail address on the same day. 9. Investigators were unable to identify the individual(s) responsible for preparing and distributing the flyer. 10. The e-mail address gellmanq_(a~gmail.com can be traced to Pintado's e- mail address fpintadCa~aol.com.