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I ran into this stuff a while ago and never did make much sense of the subtle intricacies of Florida politics. But the dirt seems to go very, very deep. http://www.newtimesbpb.com/issues/2004-03-04/news/feature_print.html
Originally published by Broward-Palm Beach New Times 2004-03-04
Gov. Jeb Bush will likely be pulled into a federal grand jury investigation of the North Broward Hospital District, the $800 million-a-year, tax-subsidized public health powerhouse that serves as one of his chief political fiefdoms.
The grand jury is looking into a project by the nation's sixth-largest public hospital system, which runs four hospitals and numerous clinics, to build a $30 million medical office building in Fort Lauderdale. The deal is marked by apparent insider dealing and an estimated $100 million of inflated profits for a few well-connected businessmen, including Bush supporter Austin Forman, a scion of the county's most prominent family. . . .
To understand the connection, one must follow not only the money but the legislation. And all roads in this imbroglio lead to William Scherer, who, as the district's general counsel, oversees $5.5 million in NBHD legal work, $3 million of which goes to his law firm, Conrad and Scherer. . . .
It also isn't clear whether James Blosser's governmental consulting firm had a role in the veto. Blosser is a business associate of Scherer's and a top-tier supporter of the governor and the president. The district pays his firm, Poole, McKinley, and Blosser, $72,000 a year to lobby the governor and legislature in Tallahassee. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1090180438131
Elections Supervisor Rapped for Hiring Lawyers With Bush Ties 08-30-2004
Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes is facing sharp criticism for her decision to hire a law firm with close ties to the Republican Party to represent the nonpartisan supervisor's office in the upcoming elections.
Snipes, who was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush, hired the four-lawyer firm Blosser & Sayfie in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., several months ago to represent her in any election-related litigation.
Name partner Justin Sayfie is a former spokesman for Gov. Bush and currently is co-chair of the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign in Broward County, Fla. The other name partner, James Blosser, was the local finance chair for Jeb Bush's 1998 gubernatorial campaign and is a top fund-raiser for President Bush's re-election campaign. http://www.newtimesbpb.com/issues/2004-10-28/news/norman.html
October 28, 2004
The touch-screen voting machines aren't accountable. The chief vote counter in Broward County was handpicked by Gov. Jeb Bush, who proved his brother-borne bias in 2000. Glenda Hood -- the new, improved, and possibly even more vote-absorbent Katherine Harris -- lurks in Tallahassee. . . .
None of this makes sense. How did Broward, a crucial Kerry bastion where Democrats outnumber Republicans almost two-to-one, wind up in such shape? Why would the Dem-dominated County Commission spend more than $20 million for machines that scare the dickens out of its people? How on Earth did Brenda Snipes, who is surrounded by the most rabid and unscrupulous band of GOP opportunists imaginable, come to be the Supervisor of Elections? . . .
It's a troubling combination: Snipes is steeped not just in Republicans but in a group well-known for violating the public trust. Also closely aligned with Snipes is NBHD General Counsel William Scherer. You might remember Scherer -- a co-chair for the governor's campaign and a fundraising Ranger for the president's campaign -- from the 2000 reelection fiasco. He's the charming fellow who started yelling on live television during the recount and had to be removed from the Broward County Courthouse. In March, Snipes hired Scherer's law partner, W. Earl Hall, as treasurer for her campaign. Hear this again: The so-called Democrat running the elections office hired a Republican activist's law firm to run her campaign.
Scherer works closely with NBHD lobbyist Jim Blosser, who is perhaps the most influential Republican powerbroker in South Florida. Blosser's law and lobbying firms are loaded with former Jeb Bush officials, including former spokesman Justin Sayfie. http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ContributorsAndPaybacks/pioneer_profile.cfm?pioneer_ID=886
Lobbyist Justin Sayfie was a political assistant in the early 1990s to a Miami developer named Jeb Bush. From 1995 to 1998, Sayfie represented other landownders seeking development permits through the Miami office of corporate law and lobby firm Greenberg Traurig (see Jack Abramoff and James Miller). Governor Jeb Bush hired Sayfie back in 1999 as a speechwriter and media director and later appointed him deputy policy director.
Sayfie, who edits a Florida political newsletter called the Sayfie Review, left that Bush administration in 2001 to lobby for Poole McKinley and Blosser. The firm claims three Bush Pioneers (see James Blosser and Van Poole). Sayfie reported 11 Florida lobby clients in 2003, including Accenture, the Seminole Tribe, several local governments and hospitals and JM Family Enterpriese. http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/7/17/142735.shtml
Saturday, July 17, 2004 2:24 p.m. EDT 'Centigrade' Web Site Counters Moore's 'Fahrenheit'
A new Web site, www.centigrade911.com, has been created to present alternative views to Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11." . . .
The site includes articles by both liberals and conservatives who have identified errors, omissions and deceits in Moore's film. . . .
Web site creator Justin Sayfie says, "I created the Web site so that people interested in the truth about President Bush and the war in Iraq would have a single Web page where they could easily access links to articles that debunk Moore's film and challenge his credibility."
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