This is the sordid tale of North Miami Beach EX-mayor Myron Rosner’s fall from grace.  We all know he was arrested on September 20, 2012 for (at most recent count) four felonies and five misdemeanors.  Until today, I didn’t know the background of the case or why he was charged with those particular crimes.  Now, we’ll all know.

According to the Statement of Facts in Support of Arrest Warrant signed by Detective Luis Rodriguez of the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Public Corruption Investigations Bureau, on May 25, 2011 he was assigned to investigate Myron for “unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior and violation of election laws within the jurisdiction of Miami-Dade County and the State of Florida.”  On that day he met with the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics Investigators Kennedy Rosario and Breno Penichet, who had received a complaint from the State Attorney’s Office about “numerous violations alleged to have been committed by former North Miami Beach Mayor Myron Joel Rosner.”

The Statement of Facts goes on to describe Myron, his former position, and his occupation.  It also addresses the company known as Martin Outdoor Media, Incorporation, which is the business that supplies advertising bus benches and bus shelters throughout North Miami Beach, as well as other municipalities.  Martin Outdoor Media, or MOM as referred to by the Statement of Facts, was awarded the bid from NMB in 2004 and again in 2009, which will run until 2014.

Detective Rodriguez also discovered that “MOM has a business relationship with R&D Printing & Design, LLC, (R&D),” which is the company that MOM uses to print the advertising for the bus benches and shelters.

The previous day, May 24, 2011, Assistant State Attorney Breezye Telfair, Detective Rodriguez, COE Investigators Rosario and Penichet, met with Scott Martin of Martin Outdoor Media and his attorneys for a little chat.  At that meeting, Mr. Martin “provided a sworn statement concerning the business transactions between MOM, R&D Printing, and Myron Joel Rosner” regarding…

THOSE FREAKING “HAPPY HOLIDAYS” BUS BENCHES!

Sorry for screaming, but yeah, those damn bus benches that caused me such grief and many sleepless nights are FINALLY being addressed!  YOU GO, DUDES!

Okay, now where was I?

Turns out that despite the fact that Myron’s “disclaimer” on those “Happy Holidays” bus benches stated that they were “Independent Expenditures not paid with City Funds,” good old Myron partially paid for them OUT OF HIS CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT!  Unfortunately for Myron, THIS IS ILLEGAL!

Until now, we had no way of knowing how Myron REALLY paid for that advertising since there are no public records of private contracts.  Although Myron claimed that these pretend “Happy Holidays” sentiments were, ahem, not campaign material (can you say “Yeah, right?”), and that he actually paid for them out of his own pockets, the investigation dug up a dirty little secret that Myron would have loved to keep hidden from prying eyes.  The investigation uncovered the fact that Myron paid R&D the sum of $450.00 (which is in itself an outrageously small amount) for the print advertising, WITH A CHECK FROM HIS CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT!  Myron also had the chutzpah to report this expenditure on his Campaign Treasurers Report as a campaign expense, when it was clearly not a campaign expense.  At least, according to Myron.

Unfortunately for him, according to the investigating and arresting agencies, as well as the State of Florida, when you claim something as a campaign expense on your Campaign Treasurers Report, it had better damn well be a campaign expense.

Detective Luis Rodriguez determined that “the utilization of campaign funds by Myron Joel Rosner, to pay for personal advertisement, constitutes Grand Theft from the Myron Joel Rosner Campaign Account in violation of Florida State Statute 812.014(2)(c), a third degree Felony; and Illegal Expenditures/Campaign in violation of Florida State Statute 106.19(1)(d), a first degree misdemeanor.”

OUCH!

But, wait!  There’s more!

The “Happy Holidays” signs were supposed to run from November 18, 2010 through January 15, 2011, at which time Myron contracted MOM to advertise his election campaign signage “at a standard political rate of $4,500.00 for the privilege to advertise for a span of one month on its bus benches.”  This would have covered the period of February 15, 2011 through March 15, 2011.  As we all know, Myron started his bus bench campaign advertising on February 1, 2011 and was forced to take them down on April 12, 2011 (within hours of my outing his scheme in PRICELESS!)  Obviously, Myron managed to stretch his “span of one month” into almost two and a half months, without offering payment for the additional time.

As for the $4,500.00 payment, the investigation also uncovered a scheme cooked up by Myron to “swap checks” with MOM, whereby Myron agreed to allow Martin Outdoor Media to deposit the $4,500.00 check under the condition that it turn around and “issue a $4,500 check from MOM made payable to a Political Action Committee (PAC) named “Citizen’s United.”

Does that name ring a bell?  Citizens United for Truth and Equitable Government, Inc., is laughably the company that Myron once formed, which he used in a lame attempt to report code violations on residents in North Miami Beach in order to use the “Everyone Does It” defense in his own code violation hearing.

In other words, Myron was trying to strong arm Martin Outdoor Media into “swapping” the money he was paying for campaign advertising in exchange for a donation into his own Political Action Committee.  Smells like extortion to me.  But, I could be wrong.

Just as I had suspected back then, the Statement of Facts noted that Myron directed Martin Outdoor Media to keep the “Happy Holidays” advertising up until the very day that they could be legally replaced with “Re-Elect Mayor Myron Rosner” advertising.

Only, he didn’t want to pay for any of it.

The investigators determined that for the extended time period of the “Happy Holidays” bus benches, Myron squeezed $1,398.39 out of MOM for free advertising.  This caused the investigators to determine that this “violation constitutes an Unlawful Compensation or Reward for Official Behavior in violation of Florida State Statute 838.016(2), a second degree felony.”

But, wait!  There’s more!

Under oath, Scott Martin stated that he “agreed to Myron Joel Rosner’s contract terms based on the fact that he was “scared of losing” MOM’s city-owned bus contract.  Scott Martin further stated that he has never been “shaken down like this” and he feared Myron Joel Rosner’s Mayoral position and the fact that Myron Joel Rosner is married to a judge.”

Mr. Martin reiterated Myron’s insistence on the “swapping checks” scheme, and that “Rosner never intended to pay for the” advertising.  Mr. Martin stated that Myron claimed “he was running for higher office,” which Martin “understood the statement as a threat to submit to Myron Joel Rosner’s demands or suffer business financial losses.”

Nice guy, that Myron, eh?

The investigators determined that the total cost of Myron’s bus bench campaign advertising should have cost him $11,352.48, less the $500.00 “in-kind donation,” or a total of $10,832.48.  According to the Statement of Facts, this is considered an illegal contribution (way over the legal maximum of $500.00), and that Myron’s “actions constitute an Unlawful Compensation or Reward for Official Behavior in violation of Florida State Statute 838.016(2), a second degree felony; Accepting an Excess Contributions in violation of Florida State Statute 106.19(1)(a) and Failure to Report Contribution in violation of Florida State Statute 106.19(b).”

As if those violations weren’t enough, the investigation revealed that Myron’s check to Martin Outdoor Media, originally written on January 25, 2011, would have bounced since there weren’t enough funds in his campaign account on that day to cover the check.  His issuing of a worthless check “violated the standards established under F.S.S. 832.05(4), a third degree felony” and that he “extended a campaign check with insufficient funds in violation of Florida State Statute 106.11(4), a first degree misdemeanor.”

To make matters even worse, Myron also paid two campaign workers (a husband and wife) with one check.  The investigators determined that “by comingling payments for campaign employees, Myron Joel Rosner Knowingly Falsified a Campaign Expenditure in violation of Florida State Statute 106.19(1)(c).”

Under oath, Detective Luis Rodriguez stated these are all the reasons Myron got his ass arrested.

As a completely unrelated aside, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Detective Rodriguez when I was interviewed by him on another matter, and I can tell you he’s just as drop dead gorgeous as former NMB City Manager Keven Klopp.  Um, Dwight who?

Okay, I just had to say that.  (Ladies, never say I didn’t take one for the team.)

There are several other documents I have reviewed, which discussed even more lurid details of the case known as The State of Florida vs. Myron Joel Rosner.  There will be future blogs, but for the time being you’ll just have to be patient.  Trust me, there’s more!

What I will mention now is a short blurb from the deposition of Scott Martin by then Assistant State Attorney Joe Centorino, who asked if Mr. Martin had ever had a government job.  Martin stated that when he was about 20 years old he worked one day for the Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department.  The transcript reads:

“Q: One day?
A: Yes.
Q: What happened?
A: I didn’t like it very much.
Q: A short – you had a short public service career there?
A: Yes.  Yeah.
Q: Okay.
A: After I saw my first rat, I was grossed out.”

I can’t say I blame him.  I’d probably quit, too.

In Myron, Mr. Martin encountered his second rat.  At the time he probably should have quit while he was ahead.

Gotta give a shout out, though, to Scott Martin for coming forward, telling the truth, and doing the right thing!

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”