The saga of absentee ballot fraud continues in Miami-Dade County.  Blogger Elaine de Valle of Political Cortadito has been hot on the trail of the Hialeah boletera, Daisy Cabrera, and has smacked State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle pretty good for ignoring the problem that, in Rundle’s own words, “has been going on far too long already.”  It seems that the “person of interest” closely tied to the head boletera, Al Lorenzo, worked on Rundle’s campaign, but she was obviously unaware of the problem until after she was elected.  I’m just saying.

All that aside for now, Ms. Cabrera’s title as The Queen of Absentee Ballots is being challenged.  It appears there’s a new Queen in Town by the name of Noucelie Josna.  Ms. Josna even had business cards made up so that everyone in South Florida running for office know exactly whose ring to kiss.

And, believe me, this Queen sure does get around.

According to Campaign Treasurer Reports, Noucelie Josna cleaned up this election season.  Check out the following payments made to her:

1.  United States Congresscritter Frederica Wilson, the one with the ugly hat obsession, paid Ms. Josna the sum of $2,500.00 on June 22, 2012.  She won her election.

2.  Miami-Dade County Commissioner Barbara Jordan, who doesn’t understand the concept that we have two Senators in Congress and not just one, paid Ms. Josna the sum of $3,000.00 on July 24, 2012.  She won her election.

3.  State Representative Barbara Watson paid Ms. Josna the sum of $2,000.00 on June 1, 2012, $500.00 on June 11, 2012, $1,250.00 on June 30, 2012, $1,000.00 on July 27, 2012, and $20.00 on August 1, 2012, for a grand total of $4,770.00.  She won her election by 13 votes.

All three ladies ran on the same slate.  All three ladies live in the City of Miami Gardens and are obviously close acquaintances and I’m told are also neighbors.  All three ladies paid “Independent Political Consultant,” a/k/a The Queen of Absentee Ballots, quite a bit of change to get elected.

Furthermore, Noucelie Josna, the Queen of Absentee Ballots, hails from Miami Lakes, a mere hop, skip and jump from Hialeah, the apparent Ground Zero of the alleged Absentee Ballot Fraud ring starring Daisy Cabrera and Al Lorenzo.  I wonder if they run in the same circles.  Hmmm…

Let’s look at these three ladies and their claims to fame.

Congresscritter Frederica Wilson cries “racism” or “discrimination” over every single issue from black unemployment, to the Trayvon Martin case, to why no one is permitted to wear hats on the floor when Congress is in session.

Commissioner Barbara Jordan is inclined to hire admitted criminals to run her campaigns.  As reported by the Miami New Times on April 26, 2012 in Barbara Jordan’s Sister Who Defrauded the County Is On Her Campaign Payroll, “In 2006, Walker was charged with a felony of organized scheme to defraud. Detectives found that Walker had indeed submitted false tax returns to the empowerment zone trust. The returns stated Walker lost $8,190 in 2000 and $7,176 in 2001. In reality, Walker had earned more than $100,000 in each of those years, most of it in lobbying fees. Three months after she was arrested, Walker paid back the loan. In 2007, she pleaded guilty in exchange for receiving a withheld adjudication, which spared her from a felony conviction on her record. As part of the agreement, she had to abandon her lobbying practice and assist public-corruption prosecutors by “detailing her knowledge of and participation in the business of governmental relations in south Florida.” Walker was sentenced to six months of house arrest and three years of probation, which she completed.”

Business as usual, I guess.

Meanwhile, Barbara Watson of Miami Gardens defeated former North Miami Beach Councilman/current State Representative John Patrick Julien by 13 votes after the manual recount.  According to a recent article in the Miami Herald, Mr. Julien is contesting the results of the election.  He claims that Noucelie Josna “approached him ‘wanting thousands of dollars’ to deliver the absentee vote.”  Mr. Julien turned her down, so Ms. Josna went to his opponent who was only too happy to get in bed with a boletera.  Isn’t that special?

Not surprisingly, it would seem that Barbara Watson has no problem consulting with shady characters to get herself elected.  As suspicious as it is to pay The Queen of Absentee Ballots almost $5,000.00 for the “delivery of the absentee vote,” Ms. Watson also paid the sum of $2,000.00 to one Dante Starks for campaign assistance.  Dante Starks, a former police officer and the former Chief of Staff for former Miami-Dade Commissioner Dorrin Rolle, got himself arrested in Opa Locka with the then Vice Mayor Terence Pinder (yes, THAT Terence Pinder) back in 2007, as reported by the Eye on Miami.

According to Mugshots Online, the illustrious Mr. Starks was arrested on July 24, 2007 for:

Compensation/Reward for Official Behavior/Unlawful
Conflict of Interest/Contingency Fee Agreement
Conflict of Interest/Illegal Lobbying
Illegal Contingency Fee/Agreement (2 counts)
Illegal Lobbying (2 counts)
Unlawful Compensation (3 counts)

His bond was $24,500.00.

If Ms. Barbara Watson’s known associates include the likes of Dante Starks, palling around with boleteras must come naturally.  It’s certainly no stretch, especially when the payments are a matter of public record.

If John Patrick Julien’s challenge is unsuccessful, the residents of North Miami Beach will be stuck with Barbara Watson as our State Representative.  In that case, strip clubs will be the least of our problems.

As I reported in Rep. Barbara Watson: The Party of No, not only is her home and heart squarely in the City of Miami Gardens, but she obviously has a bone to pick with the City of North Miami Beach.  While serving her last term, the only legislation she brought forth was House Bill 0411, which would have forced our water department to reduce the state approved fees it charges to customers outside our city limits, i.e. the City of Miami Gardens.  If that Bill hadn’t died in committee, the water rates of every resident of NMB would have been raised to make up the difference.

Let me remind you that our water department is our investment and our number one asset.  Our tax dollars built the water department.  Our tax dollars continue to pay for the maintenance and repairs of the water department.  Our utility is legally allowed to charge a 25% surcharge to customers outside our city to help pay for our investment.  Yet Barbara Watson would have you believe that “we didn’t build that” and that Miami Gardens should share our wealth.  Nice.

On top of that failed piece of legislation, Barbara Watson did pretty much nothing in the two years she represented her district.  She didn’t even bother campaigning in North Miami Beach or North Miami, so imagine how much more nothing she’ll do on our behalf in the next two years.  Her Miami Gardens crony, who represents us in Congress, went to Washington to show off her hat collection.  Luckily, her other BFF Barbara Jordan, doesn’t represent us at the county level.  But Miami Gardens sure cleaned up in the election last week.

Apparently so did the new Queen of the Absentee Ballots, Noucelie Josna.

Considering that the City of Miami Gardens seems to be competing with Opa Locka for the title of Biggest Little Corrupt Town in South Florida, our best hope is that Barbara Watson will continue to ignore North Miami Beach for the next two years.

Let’s also hope that something will be done about absentee ballot fraud soon.  Until that problem is fixed, your vote will be just as good as Barbara Watson’s is in Tallahassee – null and void.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”