As hard as it is for me to imagine, there are people out there who don’t like to be in the spotlight.  They just want to live their lives quietly, under the radar and as anonymously as possible.  I’m obviously not one of them.  On the day that I meet my Maker, I want to have made some type of lasting impression.  I’d like to be remembered for making a positive difference in the lives of others.

Or at the very least, being feared and despised by dirty politicians.

Yeah, that’ll work, too.

I do realize, however, that the vast majority of people would rather not be noticed.  Obviously, those people should not run for public office.

Anyone who decides to become a politician should expect that they will forever live under a microscope –  their every action analyzed, scrutinized, questioned and publicized.  If you decide to throw your hat into the public arena, be prepared to kiss your privacy goodbye.  It’s the nature of the beast.

Obviously, corrupt politicians have more to worry about than the ones who have principles (and somehow manage to retain them once in office).  I should mention, though, that in State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s Miami-Dade County, it’s actually harder to be an ethical public servant than it is to simply give in to the rampant corruption that has become the norm here.

Nowhere is this culture of corruption more apparent than in the City of Sweetwater.  For an excellent history of this depraved little hamlet, you must read Random Pixels May 28, 2011 and December 8, 2011 blogs, Sweetwater…still dirty after all these years, Parts 1 and 2, respectively.

Today’s article in the Miami Herald, Sweetwater commissioner complains to police about reporter’s work, shows that some things never change in the burg that RP dubbed the “seedy version of TV’s Mayberry.”

According to the article, Sweetwater commissioner Isolina Maroño took offense to Channel 41 America Teve reporter Erika Carrillo’s making inquiries about an ongoing embezzlement investigation regarding the commissioner’s daughter-in-law, who also happens to work for the city.  As the Herald reporter noted, “in Sweetwater the lines separating family, employees and elected officials are blurry.”  Not so coincidentally, her daughter-in-law’s husband is also the former mayor.  Blurry lines, indeed.

The commissioner had the chutzpah to file a report against Carrillo with the Sweetwater Police Department, which refused to investigate this non-crime.  Channel 41’s management defended the reporter’s actions and has her back.  Erika Carrillo told the Herald, “In this country there is freedom of expression and of the press and, though officials may not be comfortable with the information we run, our job is to present a balanced report.”

Commissioner Isolina Maroño appears to be one of those politicians who squirms under the microscope.  When she was contacted by El Nuevo Herald about this latest dust up, Maroño refused to speak stating, “I don’t know how you dare to call me.”

WTF?  How DARE a reporter call her?  La Reina del Sweetwater is obviously under the impression that all this silly little First Amendment nonsense was beneath her royal self.  It certainly doesn’t apply to her!

It also doesn’t apply to the nepotism that seems to be rampant in Sweetwater.  The investigation that reporter Erika Carrillo was looking into involved the city’s purchasing of trucks for use by employees “from a fund that cannot be used for that purpose.”  As the Herald article reported, one of the trucks was slated for the godmother of the commissioner’s daughter-in-law’s child, who just happens to be the director of human resources of Sweetwater.

Um, yeah, about that.  Keeping track of all the familial relationships in this city might require a flow chart.

In retrospect, Random Pixel’s description of Sweetwater as “a seedy TV’s Mayberry” was almost too kind.  This latest scandal in this corrupt little city reminds me of a soap opera even more twisted than Twin Peaks.

Sweetwater has packed more corruption into its less than a square mile of territory than all the other municipalities in our corrupt County combined.

When it comes to corrupt politicians, elected officials in Sweetwater have set a standard by which all others can can only dream to aspire.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”