In a perfect world, liars, cheaters and criminals would never run for office, much less win elections. If voters were more concerned with ethical conduct than name recognition, we wouldn’t have so many corruptocrats with their hands in our pockets.
But, we do not live in a perfect world, and far too often voters are forced to choose between the lesser of two evils.
Fortunately, the Democrats of State Senate District 38 will have the rare opportunity to finally elect someone in the August 30, 2016 primary with a completely spotless record as their representative in Tallahassee – Jason Pizzo.
In the general election on November 8, 2016, the winner will face Philip J. Brutus, who dropped out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent. It’s important to note that Brutus has already been fined eighteen times by the Florida Elections Commission between 1999 and 2014, and in January of this year by the Florida Commission on Ethics.
Considering his history of elections and ethics violations, Philip Brutus should be easily beatable in the general election. Then again, considering the cast of characters vying to win the Democratic ticket, there’s always the chance that he’ll face an opponent with as many, if not more, black marks as he has.
If voters truly care about being represented by an honest, ethical, fiscally responsible state senator, and one who isn’t a criminal, the choice is pretty clear. The only candidate in the race with absolutely no skeletons in his closet is Jason Pizzo.
But first, let’s look at all six of them.
He works runs hard for the money
Two of the candidates in this race, teacher Don Festge and perpetual candidate-slash-lobbyist Kevin A. Burns (who only jumped in when Gwen Margolis exited the race) are currently in the midst of foreclosure proceedings.
While foreclosure lawsuits are not always an indicative of a person’s true character, it still raises questions of fiscal responsibility. Mr. Festge might have a very reasonable explanation for his situation.
In Kevin’s case, however, the inability to pay his mortgage is hardly the least of his problems.
Burns has been sued well over a dozen times for the non-payment of loans, resulting in several judgments against him for hundreds of thousands of dollars, none of which will most likely ever be paid. He is currently still defending yet another lawsuit from 2014 by H & H Autohaus, Inc.
In addition, Kevin Burns also has a long history of violating elections laws every single time he runs for office.
Thanks to a loophole in state law regarding the filing of Campaign Treasurer’s Reports, he has never been forced to account for tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations he received in his last two campaigns. To this day, no one has a clue where his donations came from or how he spent the money. Chances are he will do the same this time around.
If voters are looking for transparency and fiscal accountability in their state senator, believe me, Kevin Burns is NOT your man!
On Pace to Out-Crazy Daphne
When it comes to outright corruption, however, any candidate would be hard pressed to top Daphne Campbell‘s record. Her long history of fraud, corruption, criminal activity, and her schizophrenic-like behavior, is legendary in South Florida. I won’t recap here, but please read Daphne Campbell: Unbalanced, unhinged and unfit for duty for all the gory details.
But even Daphne is being given a run for her money by a candidate whose dastardly deeds are eerily reminiscent of the mortgage scam that landed former North Miami Mayor Lucie Tondreau in the hoosegow for five and a half years.
An article published yesterday in the Miami New Times, State Senate Candidate Anis Blemur Repeated Accused of Ripping Off Real-Estate Clients, is an eye-opening exposé of a man who ran once before in 2014 for State Senate, and who also applied for the position of City Manager in North Miami.
By all accounts, it appears that North Miami dodged a bullet by just saying “no” to Anis Blemur, who appears to have a very shady history indeed.
According to the New Times, Blemur “characterizes himself as an entrepreneur, economist, and financial coach. But court records and documents provided by Alexandre paint a picture of a man in deep financial straits who has repeatedly taken advantage of trusting real-estate clients.”
The reporter interviewed five individuals who gave Anis Blemur money to purchase houses for them and they all claimed he never delivered. Blemur conned a total of $288,000.00 altogether from these five “investors,” and despite court orders against him, he has only repaid about $15,000.00 of the debt. In all five instances, Blemur was supposed to have purchased homes or investment properties for his clients, but ended up spending the money “on personal items,” according to one of his victims. In one lawsuit, plaintiff Marie Santil accused him of “criminal misconduct.” Although he promised her a return on her “investment” of $60,000.00 with interest, the only check she received from him was $3,400.00 – and it bounced.
In one instance, Blemur took $70,000.00 from an Illinois doctor, Jean Alexandre, who is also a former Haitian ambassador to the United Nations. Blemur never purchased the property on behalf of the doctor, nor did he return the money. Instead, Blemur had the audacity to ask Dr. Alexandre “if he could use the money to fund his [2014] campaign.”
Anis Blemur has yet to repay the $70,000.00 to Dr. Alexandre, who told the New Times, “The guy is a fraud and a crook. He deserves to be in jail.”
In all five cases, Blemur denies any wrongdoing, chalking them up to “bad business deals.” In some instances, he flat out denies that the money he received was to purchase homes or other real estate.
One Hollywood couple even gave him $93,000.00 toward the purchase of a $200,000.00 home, “with the understanding he would pay for the rest with cash and then deed the property to them and collect their mortgage payments.” According to the complaint, “Blemur himself took out a mortgage on the home for a different price than agreed upon and, instead of transferring the deed to the Jeans, tried to get them to sign a lease for the property.”
Like Lucie Tondreau, all of Anis Blemur’s victims are Haitian, who traditionally are loathe to complain to authorities when they’ve been taken advantage of – especially by fellow Haitians. It’s surprising that Blemur’s victims came forward at all.
And like Lucie Tondreau, Blemur counted on his victims’ naiveté about real estate investing, such as Marie Santil, who told the Miami New Times that “he pressured her into making an agreement to funnel the money into an ‘investment’ arrangement in which she would be repaid with interest.” In her complaint she wrote, “There are several problems with the investment document of which Marie was unaware, and she was not sufficiently sophisticated in such matters to realize that Blemur was continuing his criminal misconduct and practices and he should not have been trusted to create the document he was asking Marie to sign.”
Shady real estate investing is not Anis Blemur’s only business. Despite not being a Certified Public Accountant (his license is pending), he also prepares tax returns for clients, most of whom are from the Haitian community.
A client of his we will call “Ms. X” because she wishes to remain anonymous, contacted me with allegations that he stole part of her tax refund. She provided me with a copy of the tax return he prepared for her, which shows she was entitled to a refund of $1,841.00. Ms. X asked Blemur to have her refund directly deposited into her bank account and provided him with the bank’s routing number and her account number, as required on lines 75b and 75c of her 2015 Form 1040 tax return.
Instead of providing the woman’s bank information, Blemur typed in “BANK PRODUCT APPLIED FOR.”
According to Ms. X, she told me that when she signed her tax return, she simply did not notice that he neglected to insert her banking information. Just like the “unsophisticated” real estate investors who trusted this licensed real estate broker, when Ms. X hired Blemur to prepare her taxes, she assumed he would do the right thing.
She then paid Blemur $300.00 to prepare her taxes, and when she finally received her refund, IN A GIFT CARD, she only received $1,606.00, or $235.00 LESS than what she was owed by the Internal Revenue Service.
Concerned about the integrity of her personal and banking information, Ms. X then filed a Form 14039 Identity Theft Affidavit with the IRS just in case Anis Blemur would try any further shenanigans.
We can only wonder how many other “unsophisticated” clients Anis Blemur has ripped off.
The New Times article pointed out that in addition to being an apparent con artist, Anis Blemur is also a deadbeat tenant. The landlord of his North Miami office has initiated eviction proceedings four times so far for the non-payment of rent.
And yet, he wants you to trust him to represent your interests in Tallahassee!
The lobby hobby
Which brings me to candidate Michael Góngora, who became a Miami Beach Commissioner in 2006, lost his seat in 2007, but was again elected in 2009.
Góngora also campaigned to be the “first openly gay mayor” in 2013 but lost to Philip Levine. He then decided to throw his hat into the ring for State Senate District 38 after Gwen Margolis was forced to step out of the race.
His earliest mishap of record is that he was arrested for drunk driving in 2002, but he’s managed to stay out of jail since then.
While serving on the Miami Beach Commission, he bumped heads with his own city attorney and the Miami Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust for the right to have the law firm he worked for, Becker & Poliakoff, lobby city officials. He lost both battles.
His apparent confusion about ethics also cost him his re-election bid in 2007.
In the meantime, an even bigger scandal erupted during his second campaign when the owner of Club Madonna accused Góngora of being “a liar and an extortionist,” according to the Miami New Times.
The strip club owner Leroy Griffith claimed that Góngora promised to get him a fair hearing before the Miami Beach Commission in his effort to “overturn a ban on adult entertainment venues serving alcohol” while offering fully nude entertainment. In exchange, Griffith claimed that Góngora extorted donations from him. Griffith also alleged that Góngora sent his “right-hand-man,” Randy “Prince of Darkness” Hilliard, who demanded to be hired as Club Madonna’s lobbyist if he wanted Góngora to get him a hearing before the commission.
The New Times Article reported, “Multiple checks were cut. An ethics committee investigation found that Góngora didn’t report the contributions, and he paid a $2,000 fine for the indiscretion.”
But, strangely, that’s the only wrongdoing the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust cited him for. The allegations of extortion were not so mysteriously dispensed with by the Commission, and eventually by the Florida Bar to which a complaint was filed, and extensively blogged about, by independent journalist David Arthur Walters in 2012.
Needless to say, Michael Góngora is not as squeaky clean as he’d have you believe.
And finally, an ethical candidate!
Which brings me to Former Assistant State Attorney Jason Pizzo, who miraculously has never been arrested, has no criminal record, or been the subject of any ethics, elections or bar complaint.
Nor has Mr. Pizzo ever been in foreclosure or declared bankruptcy.
The biggest “complaint” against him is that he’s got enough money to finance most of his own campaign. Pizzo was also criticized for not being a registered Democrat until recently, and for not voting in the 2012 presidential election.
Jason Pizzo told the Miami Herald, although he has been a lifelong Democrat, he registered as “no party affiliation” while he was a prosecutor in the State Attorney’s Office in order “to be completely impartial.”
In response to the second accusation, Mr. Pizzo explained that the day before the 2012 election, “he was threatened after prosecuting a juvenile offender,” and immediately flew his family to stay with relatives in New Jersey, while he was forced to hide out in hotel rooms until the threat was over. Getting to the polls that day was understandably the last thing on his mind.
Jason Pizzo stated that his decision to largely self-finance his campaign is avoid the risk of owing any pay-for-play favors.
Good for him!
District 38 residents deserve a state senator who works for them and not for the benefit of special interest groups.
In a really strange twist (in an even stranger election), neither Kevin Burns (the “first openly gay” mayor of North Miami) nor Michael Góngora (the wannabe “first openly gay” everything else) received the prized endorsement from SAVE Dade, “the electoral arm of leading South Florida LGBTQ advocacy organization SAVE.”
Despite the kvetching from the two “openly gay” candidates, apparently, SAVE Dade is a lot more discriminating with its political endorsements than, say, the Dade County Police Benevolent Association, which unfortunately has a habit of endorsing criminals and other miscreants, such as State Rep. Joe Geller, Opa-locka Mayor Myra Taylor, and former North Miami District 4 candidate/carpetbagger Carline Paul. The PBA just endorsed Daphne Campbell again, so there’s that.
In addition to SAVE Dade, Jason Pizzo has also received endorsements from:
- SEIU Florida
- American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Florida
- Teamsters Local 769
- Florida Planned Parenthood PAC
- United Faculty of Miami Dade College
- Northshore Democratic Club
- Representative Barbara Watson
- Aventura Mayor Enid Weisman
- Sunny Isles Beach Vice-Mayor Jeanette Gatto
- Sunny Isles Beach Commissioner Jennifer Levin
- Sunny Isles Beach Commissioner Isaac Aelion
- Sunny Isles Beach Commissioner Dana Goldman
- North Miami Beach Commissioner Barbara Kramer
- Surfside Commissioner Michael Karukin
- Surfside Commissioner Daniel Gielchinsky
- Bay Harbor Islands Councilwoman Kelly Reid
- Village of El Portal Councilmember Harold Mathis
- Miami Shores Councilmember Ivonne Ledesma
- Bal Harbour Commissioner Seth Salver
- Bay Harbor Islands Councilmember Isaac Salver
- Pastor Carl Johnson, 93rd Street Community Baptist Church
- Rev. Dwayne A. Richardson, Greater Love Full Gospel Baptist Church
- Pastor Steven Caldwell, New Providence Missionary Baptist Church
- Pastor Greg Thompson, New Harvest Missionary Baptist Church
- Pastor Keith Butler, Logos Baptist Church Pastor
More importantly, voters should educate themselves on Jason Pizzo’s campaign platform to improve District 38 for all of its residents. Please read about his common sense plans for economic recovery, public transit, crime prevention and the environment. You can also sign up for email and text alerts from his campaign.
One important issue near and dear to my own heart is the prevention of cruelty to animals. The Facebook page, Animal Advocates for Pizzo – Florida Senate District 38, has information about Pizzo’s plan to “implement extraordinary actions to change the welfare and protective legislation for animals.”
When you get to the polls, keep one thing in mind. If you like your corrupt politicians, you can keep your corrupt politicians.
But if you want an honest, ethical, fiscally responsible and scandal-free representative in Tallahassee, the only clear choice is Jason Pizzo.
Stephanie
Stephanie Kienzle
Is there a private e-mail I can contact you
I emailed you.
Pizzo is beyond reproach
Honestly, I thought twice before bothering to comment, because no one cares what an irrelevant shill hack blogger like Stephanie Kienzle has to say, anyways. In light of Mayor Phil Levine’s sharing this on Facebook, I felt compelled to respond.
Pizzo is a fake Democrat who has never displayed a hint of civic engagement in his life. It’s not that he just didn’t vote in 2012 because “his life was threatened” (who is buying that bullshit anyways?). He hasn’t voted in ANY elections since 2008. Stephanie knows this, but deliberately omits it because she’s a hack wannabe pundit carrying water for Pizzo.
Moreover, Michael Gongora has been endorsed by Equality Florida, the preeminent LGBT rights advocacy organization in Florida. Prominent members of SAVE’s board have come out and publicly endorsed Michael and a number of their biggest fundraisers are considering cutting SAVE off for their sellout move. Everyone in the know knows that Pizzo secured SAVE’s endorsement through his consultant, Christian Ulvert, and some conveniently timed financial contributions. He essentially bought his endorsement and SAVE has lost a ton of credibility for it.
As a lifelong resident of Miami Beach, I’ll be voting for Michael Gongora, a committed public servant who’s been on the forefront of a ton of civic issues, from LGBT rights to the environment to public education. The police and firefighter unions, future mayor Michael Grieco, Richard and Micky Steinberg, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, prominent Beach activist Frank Del Velchio, among others, have come out for Michael Gongora. im with them.
John Rosen
Mayor Levine posted the blog on Facebook? Cool.
Thanks for reading my “hack” blog.
Good for you John Rosen, and I’m for PIZZO. Michael Gongora is nothing more than a typical unethical politician who tried to EXTORT money from a business owner in Miami Beach. If he did THAT, goodness knows what else he has done that he didn’t get caught for. And goodie, goodie for the other politicians that support him..zzzzz
And if all you got, John Rosen, is the fact that he hasn’t voted since 2008, double zzzzz. Jason Pizzo was a dedicated prosecutor, getting the “bad guys” off the street. He has literally seen the needs of all communities while being in the heart of the most vulnerable. He has the tenacity, the brains and the gumption to get things done in Tallahassee. He’s afraid of no one and doesn’t owe anyone anything. Unlike the rest of the wannabees (minus one innocent bystander) all these guys and gals want is the title, the perks and added business for their pockets.
May the best man win. Heaven forbid it’s the woman running in this race.
Looks like you struck a nerve in a member of the gay community. They easily get upset when you point out defects in the character of one of their own. Like its really a BIG DEAL that a gay or transgender organization endorses Gongora. They equate that to an endorsement from the teachers union or the police benevolent association. If 10% of the total population is gay, that means that 90% of the population isn’t and could care less about a gay organization endorsing anybody. Sometimes endorsements are a double edged sword.
I am always amazed when someone responds on your blog yet they claim they don’t read it and they claim its a shill publication. Like they are going to lower themselves just one time to write in YOUR blog, Huh!
Gongora is the reason a gay flag was put up at Miami Beach City Hall, a public building whose management should not be giving preferential treatment in the flying of a gay flag from it. Like the Confederate Flag is offensive to some people, so is the gay flag flying from a public building, yet Gongora or the gay community will never see it that way.
I believe in EQUALITY….for EVERYBODY.
Ms. Kienzle
I had decided to ignore your racist and anti-Haitian rants for quite a while because frankly, neither I nor the people who will vote for me care about your biased opinion. What you do so well is drive-by mud slinging, masquerading as informational blogging. Anything for a buck. As they say, “Money talks, Bulls@#” walks.
I don’t know you and have never met you. Yet, every chance you get, you attack me with the most vicious barrage of hate filled vitriol that can only be motivated by your seething anti Black and anti-Haitian sentiments. If you got paid to genuflect and kiss Jason Pizzo’s ring, do that and be merry. But do not bring me into that mix. If in the other hand, you are interested in a true discourse, I dare you to expose all the facts. You should have enough honesty to say that you are the person who filed this most frivolous complaint against me. There has never been any foreclosure judgments entered against me as you fallaciously wrote in that complaint. Two judgments were entered against my ex-wife for properties she had purchased in her own name and executed mortgages for. I did not execute any of these mortgages. You must truly be blinded by your anger to assume that otherwise innocent errors in a Financial Disclosure were due to unethical behavior. And what would that have gained me? It could not and did not win me the race. Yet you march on with your ridiculous logic as though I would have gained something from under reporting my net worth. You don’t have the courage to say that I have never committed any of these acts you accuse other elected officials of committing. At least, I voted in every race since 1985 and am not afraid of big money in search of a Senate seat and insignificant bloggers to buy. I decided to settle with the Ethics Commission simply because I did not need the aggravation. But, I don’t owe you any explanations. I am responding only because some of your readers may see through your mercenary veneer.
One thing I know is that you set out to destroy my reputation because you hate strong and successful Black men, especially if they are Haitian-Americans. But I can assure you that little minions like you can never destroy me, your lackey and pseudo journalistic gyrations notwithstanding. If God be with me; no one, and certainly not you, can be against me. God does not like ugly. What you are doing is ugly. Then again, I can understand because that’s vintage you.
Lastly, I will not care to respond to any other sub par analysis you can conceive of to push your sorry blog forward. I am ready to take go toe to toe with whoever wins the primary. I will win because, again, my core voters not only do not care about you or what you write, they know what I stand for and the hope I instill in their children. And in my community, parents are proud of what I accomplished as an immigrant child in this country. While you are bent on tearing me down for the reasons I stated above, many in my community celebrate my accomplishments. And while your support may be for sale to the highest bidder, my supporters’ votes is not and I will be the next Senator of District 38, whether you like it or not.
Peace Profound
P. Brutus
For your information, I do not get paid a penny for my blog. In addition, I am not anti-Haitian, I AM ANTI-CORRUPTION! I have supported more Haitian candidates than anyone you know. Your accusations are ridiculous, but you are entitled to your opinion. Thanks for reading my blog.
I think Mr. Brutus is mad at you Stephanie no one will vote for him. On the streets the word is out what you are saying is true and its from the Haitian people in my area. So word gets around.They wonder how he can still be an attorney with his record unless he is a snitch.
I get the impression he’s mad at me, too. Oh, well.
He also accused me of running for office in North Miami Beach, which I have never done. I’ve never run for office anywhere. Ever. I never plan to, either.
So there’s that.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What can you expect from a lying thief. He will never win mark my words.
J Rafi Muniz. Take a hike. You don’t know what you are talking about. For each alleged Haitian you assert hates me, I will produce 100 who would tell you off. I don’t know what your beef is. But, I ask you too, to come out of the shadow with anything you have on me and let’s duke it out in an open forum or a court of law. And I am a snitch now. Perhaps you have no clue as to the meaning of that word.I will not be intimidate by hacks of your ilk.
Oh, come on! A pissing contest now? Mr. Brutus, this childish behavior is really unbecoming. I suggest you just stop now before you continue making a fool of yourself.
On second thought, nah. Keep it up. People are seeing exactly the type of person you are. That will certainly help voters make their decision in November. Thank you for showing your true colors.
OMG! Ooops! “True colors?” Was that racist of me???
LOL GTFO!
Yiu are so aniti corruption
If you are so knowledgeable and are anti-corruption, I dare you to point to one instanced where I committed any act corruption.
Dude, dude, dude. You really need to chill. Your eighteen fines from the Florida Elections Commission is obvious proof that you committed corruption in the form of elections violations. You may not like the word “corruption,” but not filing your campaign reports on time fall under that umbrella. Maybe it’s not as bad a form of “corruption” as, say, lying on your financial disclosure forms, for example. But it’s still “corruption” nevertheless. It’s the same thing as being a little bit pregnant, you know? In the end, the outcome is the same.
As for your your being upset that I’m the one who filed the complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics, for which you were found guilty, does it really matter who filed the complaint? Just because it was filed by a blogger, does this mean you’re only a little bit guilty? (See note above about being a little bit pregnant.)
And, finally, Brutus. You are are spending way too much time obsessing over a single paragraph in a blog that was about everyone else in the Democratic race for SD38. This bog was not even about you. In fact, in all the blogs I have posted in the past six years, this was only the second time I even mentioned you. In both instances, you only made a cameo appearance, if you will.
In other words, you’re not that important.
You are, however, a bully. That’s quite apparent. You have the nerve to threaten to sue me for pointing out facts, yet you have no qualms about falsely accusing me of racism and being anti-Haitian. In case you aren’t aware, Mr. Smarty Pants, you just committed libel and defamation of character. In fact, I could sue you if I wanted to. But, I don’t do stupid shit like that because I know it’s not true and I couldn’t care less what you think of me. And quite frankly, as I said, you’re just not that important.
But, hey. Do keep up your wild and crazy ranting. You’re only proving what everyone is saying about you. I find it rather entertaining.
Please sue me for calling you a racist an anti-Haitian hack. I would love to defend against that suit. But I will sue you if you don’t retract the false attacks levied at me and if you continue to allow people to accuse me of stealing just because I push back against your crap. And,yes, here we go again. I am a bully now. whenever people stand up for their rights and push back against hacks like you, the convenient reaction is usually :”you are a bully”. You are the one who bullies people. Your blog’s very existence depends ob how many people you bully a day. But you are also a hypocrite because you pick and choose who you will bully based om whether they are subservient to you. I know for a fact that you are in possession of some very important documents that prove that some of your elected official friends have committed criminal fraud. But, because they are your friends, you stay clear of exposing them.
And for your information, Corruption is defined as follows:
1. The act of corrupting or state of being corrupt.
2. Moral perversion, depravity.
3. Perversion of integrity.
4. corrupt or dishonest proceedings.
You know and I know that if my conduct exhibited any of the foregoing , you would have run to Joe Centorino and Kathy Fernandez-Rundle to see to it that I get charged.In fact, if I am so corrupt, why don’t you pay them a visit and ask them to investigate my alleged corruption?
Lastly, I don’t talk about your husband, ex-husband, boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend. You have no business talking about mine. But then again, it goes to show you that your attack against me is so shallow that you have to try to invade my privacy and allow hacks to sully my name to to appear to have some basis for your vitriol. I tell you one thing though, I hope you never find yourself at the receiving end of false and unsubstantiated accusations and having to respond to blogs that seek to perpetuate the same. You will find it quite sobering
PhillipmJ. Brutus
I don’t sue people for name calling or bullying. Unlike you, I have really thick skin.
I also don’t need to file complaints with the ethics commission or the SAO just because you are a schmuck.
I also don’t have to “sully” your name. You’re doing a pretty good job of it all by your lonesome.
Do carry on. It’s quite amusing. You must be a lot of fun at parties.
Hey, wait a minute! I just realized your ex-wife is Yolly Roberson, right? Damn! She was my rep years ago and one of the classiest and best looking women I’ve ever met. How did you manage to let her get away? I guess she wasn’t too impressed with your type of “strong black man,” huh? I’m not the only one, dude. Just saying.
He is a friend of mine. I am doing some Homework ! Great person. Good American !
Ms kinzle. You are not an anti Haitian, your Anti Corruption politician like Phillipe Brutus. This man don’t have no character what so ever beside all Haitian know not to trust him. Keep in mind every year the city of north Miami organize immigration outreach for free. He should be a shame of him self, his a thieves, his anti Haitian for taking the Haitian community for granted. Phillipe Brutus his a cancer in the Haitian community they no him, he will never be elected for any seat. Yes I’m a Haitian American, and I’m anti Haitian politician corruption.
You are obviously one of my enemies. I would ask you to step away from the shield provided by this blog to face me. You know damn well that that cement situation is a lie and I sued the radio station that allowed the defamation ti take place. I am putting Stephanie Kienzle on notice that your remarks are defamatory and unless she repudiates them forthwith,l willcsue her. And if you have enough courage. Show your face and I will sue you too.
And Ms. Kienzle, you so conveniently left out if your drive-by attack that every single fine levied against me had to do with late filings of campaign finance reports. In fact, I was fined even when my campaign was inactive and I had not raised any money. I wish you would return to elective politics to be at the receiving end of such attacks. Then again, the voters of North Miami Beach rejected you so many times, you finally got the point. And as I said in the previous post, my voters will, similarly, reject you and your warped logic.
Peace Profounbd
P. Brutus
And you conveniently left out the fact that, while you falsely accuse me of being anti-Haitian, I just happened to support North Miami Mayor Smith Joseph, Councilman Alix Desulme, Police Chief Gary Eugene, Commander Emile Hollant, Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime, North Miami Beach Council candidates Ketley Joachim and Michael Joseph, as well as all the people of the Haitian community who have been ripped off by corrupt politicians and others who try to take advantage of them.
So much for your ridiculous accusation that I am “anti-Haitian.”
But, again. Thanks for your comments and thank you for reading my blog.
I don’t read your stupid blog. I just responded because you mention my name. The sub par quality of your rag is of no interest to me. I am going to send you a formal request to retract the unfounded accusations of some shadowy characters that accused me of stealing. I hoe you have a lawyer. It would behoove you to forward that notice to him or her when you get it.
It’s one thing to talk about ethical lapses. But when people make such serious accusations, you, you repulish them at your own peril.
Wow Brutus for someone who doesn’t read Steph’s blog, you sure respond a lot. You must sit by your computer waiting for the next comment to be written about your sorry ass so you can promptly respond.
You’ve been in the limelight many times over the years trying to get your foot in the political door. Thank Jesus the majority of electors always choose someone else, as they will in this election, because you are a born loser. Your demeanor is unfit for public office. You’re better suited working for a solid waste company like Jerry’s Septic Tank or Vito’s Sanitation Company. At least there your bully attitude would be met with the appropriate level of physical response.
Hey! Maybe there’s a job opening at Marc Cooper’s MC Waste Services! Just a thought.
Dude, hellooooo! I never ran for office. What are you talking about? Apparently you’re confusing me with someone else.
Mr. Brutus,
As a long time reader of this blog I can confirm that the author is neither a racist nor anti-Haitian.
There’s also all those other baseless accusations that you pulled out of nowhere, with the sole evident intent to smear and vilify a private citizen that just raised an opinion about your (true and verifiable)record as public ?servant?.
For your information, when you decide to run for an elected public service position, you are subject to public scrutiny. If you cannot deal with that, you should not run.
By the way, there’s NOTHING positive about being fined for the same offense, eighteen times!!
Your choice to make unfair and false accusations when confronted with FACTS about your own behavior as elected official, that you refuse to own your transgressions and that you exhibit such low class publicly, demonstrate that you are not worthy of representing anyone.
Some people just don’t like facts. Especially when they’re recorded among the public records. Oh, well. Not my problem. You are so right about politicians thinking they are above public scrutiny. It always shocks them when they get caught doing stupid stuff and can’t understand why, as in Brutus’ case, folks make such a big deal about silly little things, like holding politicians accountable for their actions. Go figure.
Go ahead and pile on the vitriol. Knock yourselves out. But mark my word, unless this blogger removes the unsubstantiated lies attacking my character, I will take her down. Ms. Kienzke, you are warned. That post about my stealing money form a person who wanted to buy cement is a lie and you have an obligation to take it down. To be forewarned is to becfirearmed.
Firearmed?
You will not sue. If you had the common sense, the intelligence or the decency required for it, you would have consulted with your lawyer before making such threats.
Let me enlighten you a bit:
As a public figure, to successfully sue for defamation you would have to prove to the court:
1- That the allegations are false
2- That there was MALICE in the publication, which means “published with either knowledge of falsity or in reckless disregard for the truth”.
Good luck with that.
Now let me tell you about SLAPP.
SLAPP means “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.”
Guess what? By making threats to “take her down”, you may have just opened the door, just a little bit, to be sued back for SLAPP. Google is your friend. Do a little search, baby. Or ask your lawyer.
But who am I to make you stop? Just keep digging yourself out of the hole you’re in.
Sounds like Brutus is watching too many “Law & Order” episodes. “I will take you Down” is the most frequently used expression by the actors portrayed as the bad guys in the series. I guess Brutus identifies with them, except he’s a bad actor.
I have no problem with her writing about the facts. What is troubling about her Modus Operandi is the fact she assumes that everyone is a crook and calls into question my ethics and integrity without any knowledge of the facts. She lied about saying that I had foreclosure judgments entered against me and never once thought that perhaps I may have made a mistake. In addition, you say she is not anti Haitian, perhaps you should ask her whye she conveniently decided not to delve deep in the fiscal mess created by CRA money waste under Kevin Burns’ terms a s Mayor. Ponder on it.
No sir.
The State Of Florida Commission On Ethics found you in violation of the law for failing to report those real estate properties.
This is a settled matter and a public record.
You agreed to the Commission’s findings so now you don’t get to deny it.
And you don’t get to make threats against citizen journalists that report about it.
Please show me where I said you had foreclosure judgements against you. Do you have a reading comprehension problem? I wasn’t talking about YOU!
Secondly, if you were a regular reader of this blog, you’d know I have gone after Kevin Burns for years. Ask him if you don’t believe me! The irony is that he never threatened to sue me because I’ve always backed up my claims with evidence. Kevin may have had a lot of ethical and financial lapses, but at least he’s not an idiot or a bully.
Plus, he can read. So there’s that.
Phillipe Brutus, shut the fuckup. Ms. Kienzle, honestly you are the voice for the Haitian community. Phillipe Brutus is another Donald Trump, a big time liar, a thieve, the Haitian community will never make that mistake again voting that piece of shit,,,,, ask him next time.
I will not dignify this crap with a response. All I will say is that is if I stole your money, go to the State Attorney, the Florida Bar and get a lawyer. I dare you. You can’t because you know what you are doing is a hack job and this lousy blog is rhe only medium that would let you post such crap. As I said before, come out of the shadow. Let’s duke it out in court. Using expletives only exemplify your level of intelligence.
If you are so serious in your accusations, come out of the shadow. Stop hiding. Brightness burns all lies. Let’s go to court. And as you know, I sued the hacks who broadcast the lies you are repeating here. and the alleged victim as well. As soon as we find her, we will serve her with process.
Nice article good to have the information. While I do not live in that district many of my friends do. I will pass on the information and tell them to check out your blog. We need to get rid of all the dirty politicians that keep ripping the community off.
Stephanie Kienzle
Voters Opinion
As I advised in previous posts, this is to advise you that allowing two individuals to make very serious and false allegations attacking my character and integrity is libelous. As you know, one accused me of creating a fake company to sell cement and robbed a lady of $80,000.00. Since you are so familiar with reading court records, I invite you to read the pleadings contained in a pending Defamation lawsuit entitled Phillip J. Brutus v. Ernst Jean Louis, Imatek Communications, Rothschill Anderson, Jr., Salande Joseph a/k/ Salande St-Fleur. Case No. 2015-12695-CA-34. The case is pending before Judge Rodney Smith of the Miami-Dade Circuit. You will, hopefully have enough decency to show to your readers the documentary proof in the file showing exactly where that lady’s money went and that her own brother in law accused her of lying. You will, I trust, realize that everything that idiot mentioned is false. You will also realize that I did not create any company to sell cement and I don’t sell cement
Another hack made a wild accusation that I am a thief without a scintilla of proof as to what I stole and from whim I stole it. These statements are false and lobbed by shadowy characters who clearly have a bone to pick with me. Your publishing these posts represents a serious act of defamation of my character. By law, you are as responsible for publishing these words as the person who uttered them. Pursuant to Fla. Stat. 770.02, I am giving you a formal notice that unless you retract these false statements within the time allowed by law, I will file a lawsuit against you and these shadowy figures. I will seek court order to force you to disclose their identities and email addresses to find their places of residence or employment for purpose of serving them with process because they will be sued as well.
As I said, it’s one thing to talk about what you perceive is ethical lapses in connection with a political campaign. It it is another and quite serious thing to allow your blog to be used as a vehicle to smear people’s characters in the vilest of ways. Lastly, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY!!!
Phillip J. Brutus
Apparently, you have trouble with reading comprehension. Those comments were edited to remove the potential libelous accusations, which may or may not have been unfounded. I am not a party to those accusations, and they were removed.
Mr. Brutus,
Have you ever heard of something called “the Streisand effect”? I suggest you look it up.
You see, your desperate effort to prove that you are not a crook kinda spiked my curiosity. I did read your complaint, “Case No. 2015-12695-CA-34” against so and so, and I found a few interesting details.
By your own admission, PBA Consulting, LLC, a corporation for which the registered agent was:
BURTUS, PHILLIP J
1125 NE 125TH STREET, STE 250
NORTH MIAMI, FL 33161
In other words, YOU, despite the spelling mishap.
Well, according to your own admission, your corporation entered into “a contract to sell the CEMENT to Salande Joseph a/k/a Salande St-Fleur”.
This is by your own admission, written in black and white in your complaint, and is definitely in contradiction with your above statement: “I don’t sell cement”. Well, not anymore, I guess.
Or … sorry, ok, ok, Phillip Brutus don’t sell cement. PBA consultants, LLC does, or used to, or did that one time. Or whatever.
The fact, as stated in YOUR OWN COMPLAINT, is that PBA consultants, LLC, of which you are the registered agent(or were, since it was so conveniently dissolved), entered into a contract to sell CEMENT, but never actually delivered said cement.
You can whine all you want, but it was your contractual responsibility to see this transaction through. You wanted to play middleman, but were too incompetent. Now you want to wash your hands and to silence the victim(s) of your failure to deliver.
I don’t know if you are a crook, but it sure looks like it.
But a liar, that one you are.
Yes sir.
You are a liar.
Whoa! Ricardo, dude, you just slayed!
You really have to come join the VotersOpinion research team! We can’t pay you, but we have a lot of fun rummaging through closets and airing dirty laundry. Plus we eat a lot of pizza. Whaddaya say? Are you game?
I am game, and I love pizza.
And there’s more, Stephanie.
The more I read, the closer I get to the certainty that Mr. Brutus is indeed a crook, and that his defamation complaint is nothing but a smoke screen to cover his participation in the cement scam.
His position is basically that PBA Consultants, a corporation, is the one liable for the balance in the cement deal, and not Philip Brutus.
Such argument may work to get him off the hook financially, I don’t know, but it demonstrates moral turpitude.
It also seems obvious that he is taking advantage of fellow Haitians who don’t really know how to play the system. If, instead of going to the radio, they had sued him in court for breach of contract, then this whole story would be different.
One thing is certain: I would never do business of any kind with Philip Brutus. I would never allow him to befriend me, my family, friends or acquaintances.
And especially, I would never vote for him, and I will tell everyone I know to please not vote for him.
Politicians don’t usually threaten to sue anyone for defamation of character because mud-slinging in campaigns happens all the time. Besides, most politicians don’t have any character to defame in the first place, so they won’t waste their money or the court’s time on such frivolous lawsuits.
The real irony here is that while he accused me of defaming him, he had absolutely no problem calling me a racist and anti-Haitian.
In addition to lack of character, most politicians also lack the self-awareness gene. If they had any, they probably would stop running for office.
Just saying.
very entertaining
Isn’t it, though?
So odd that he’s going bat shit crazy over a single paragraph in which I merely posted public records. Can you imagine how off the chains he’d be if I posted an actual opinion about him? Have you ever seen anything like this from someone who is supposed to be a public official? I’m dumbfounded. Entertained, yes. But, still…
@Brutus, Im back and I will attempt to address “why you shouldn’t run anymore and your previous campaign missteps ….. Just work on being a decent lawyer!
#1 Yes, you had another term to serve in the Florida House when you choose to run against an incumbent County Commissioner. Which, if you check history, the only BCC members to lose have done some pretty bad things while in office. At the time of your race against Rolle he was still a relative neophyte without the exposure of his key role (no pun intended) in the demise of JESCA. He actually went on four years later,2006 to defeat Lucie Tondreau, prior to his 2010 defeat to the current BCC member Monestime. Only Commissioner Hawkins lost as a sitting BCC member to Katy Sorenson in 1994(?) when he was charged with sexual harassment of his female employees. So, to beat a sitting BCC member is generally not going to work unless the BCC member is severely tainted, and Rolle wasn’t tainted in 2002. A run against Rolle was a political waste-should’ve stayed in Tally! What happen on Haitian Radio was a result of money, which is part of the vast advantage of a sitting BCC member. You were a young darling with a better than average reputation as a State legislator, but you and your community desperately wanted a BCC seat and the numbers and circumstances weren’t there. You lost pretty miserably! Bad Call #1
#2 In your ill-fated run for a vacant congressional seat you did beat Scott Galvin who was a sitting Councilman in North Miami. I don’t recall whether he gave up his seat to run. But I don’t recall Scott having lost again. Then he has not wondered about the political map seeking any and every seat he feels he can qualify for. Scott has maintained a consistency in choosing to be a City Councilman. He has evaluated his options and chosen to run where he can win. How about his record of three (3) victories and one (1) lost. 75% is a pretty good record. The fact that Dr. Moise spent $2million to attempt to defeat Wilson, shows its not all about the money, but maybe its how you spend it when you have it and the quality and “honesty” of your campaign team. The same community that was united against Rolle actually beat Rolle on the third try. Had Monestime faced three other Haitian Americans in his race against Rolle, he would have lost, just as you, Yollie (sp), Marliene (sp) & Rudy lost to Fredericka. So the strategy of four (4) Haitian Americans in a race is not a good one, because since you left the Florida House. Haitians American candidates aren’t getting many votes outside of their community. So too many Haitians Americans in a split-race community to win is a……… BAD CALL #2
#3 Florida Senate District 33 Special Election. Yes, you came close to a “third” term State Representative, that had already beaten two soon-to-be Mayors. A third term State Representative that had pretty much taken a straight line political career. Councilman, Vice-Mayor, State Rep. and now State Senator. Yes, he did out raise you by 4 or 5 to 1. And he only won the AB votes. Maybe, you should learn to do a better job of raising more money, because that pattern seems to be a big cause in most of your five (5) loses. Smarts & intelligence (S&I) don’t win elections, alone. Hard work, raising money, having a quality set of people helping you and choosing the right race will go a lot further than S&I. and this race was within weeks of losing to Fredericka Wilson! BAD CALL#3
Philip, I’m tired of writing right now. Maybe I’ll analyze your other race and why you lost to incumbent Barbara Watson at a later date. Didn’t you also run for County Judge once ?
You know what I think?….Many of these wannabees who keep entering elections with little money, do it for the money they take in in the form of campaign expenditures. I have studied many a CTR and notice the ridiculous amounts of money spent on workers and then there’s the gas and trips to fast food. The workers are making exorbitant amounts of money and in a local muni election you know damn well there is no proof of what they are doing out there. This is my hypothetical on the big spending for the do-nothing so called “campaign worker”… The candidate pays the campaign worker $500.00 for so called canvassing. After the candidate writes the check they go with them to the bank where the campaign worker cashes their check, then the campaign worker turns around gives a large share to the candidate, keeps their small portion and that’s how the game is played. You can actually make some good side money running for office. It’s one big joke! And when a candidate is late with their CTR filing and never turn them in, no big deal to the candidate. They pay a fine which is small potatoes considering all the money they ripped off their supporters for. You know the supporters that think their hard earned money is going to a worthy cause, such as the candidate who will fight for them.
Yep voters….think real hard about the money you give and think real hard about the candidate you support. And for a hobby, look up a CTR of any given candidate and laugh your ass off at some of their expenditures. If you really want to know how good a candidate will be if elected to office, check out how responsible they are with their campaign donations and how they spend their campaign monies.
I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of serial candidates who run in as many elections as possible, yet many of them don’t seem to have serious campaigns. It certainly does appear that they run for office simply to collect donations instead of getting a real job. Remember Jean Marcellus’ last two campaigns? Just saying.