Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain...

You all remember that scene from the Wizard of Oz, don't you?  It's when Dorothy and her crew discover that the Wizard is nothing more than an ordinary man operating a machine from behind a curtain...

There are those who say that that is precisely what's going on in the City of Miami, if you buy into this theory, the elected officials are nothing more than pawns that are controlled by powerful lobbyists and influence peddlers.  Some say that one of the most powerful men "behind the curtain" in the current Regalado regime is a fellow named Armando Gutierrez, our friend Al Crespo goes so far to call him the "phantom mayor".  From Al's website...

"Armando Gutierrez, bon vivant, uber-lobbyist, campaign manager to Tomas Regalado, and considered by many to be the Phantom Mayor of Miami.
Since becoming Mayor, Gutierrez has seldom been far from Regalado’s side - as evidenced by the above photo where he is getting out of the Mayor’s SUV..."

Whatever the case may be, there's no denying that Mr. Gutierrez has some level of influence within the City of Miami and there's no doubt he's definitely part of Mayor Tomas Regalado's inner circle.  Mr Gutierrez is also known as the go to guy in Miami if you're looking to get elected for any kind of position, be it city, county or state wide, some elected officials have even gone so far as to say that in order to run any successful campaign, Mr. Gutierrez and his cadre of associates and their respective companies have to be on your payroll.

So what's this got to do with anything?  Why are we restating the obvious again?  While I really don't buy into this "phantom mayor" theory, I can't discount the influence Mr. Gutierrez has within the City of Miami, especially in all Regalado related matters.  One of the most contentious issues of Mayor Regalado's tenure to date has been the ongoing war between his former police chief, Miguel Exposito and his administration over the alleged illegal gaming machines that are littered throughout the city which ultimately ended with the police chief being fired.  Now, if you buy into the theory that Mr. Gutierrez is the "phantom mayor" of the City of Miami, an enemy of the mayor by default is an enemy of Mr. Gutierrez, correct?  

Take a step back for a moment and revisit that three judge panel that heard and ultimately ruled against ex Chief of Police Miguel Exposito's appeal to get his job back a few weeks ago.  While I sharply criticized one of the judges for her less than stellar record on the bench and was about to write another diatribe about the other two judges on that panel, let's put all that aside for the time being.  For the moment, let's operate under the theory that Mr. Gutierrez is indeed the "phantom mayor" and is "the man behind the curtain" that's running the city.  During the weeks before former police chief Miguel Exposito's appeal was to be heard, there were some strange scheduling conflicts going on, the hearing kept getting bounced back between courthouses and judges until we ended up with the hearing taking place at the Justice Building before judges Hirsch, Manno-Schurr and Lindsey.  What's the big deal, three random judges to hear an appeal, right?  Remember, we're operating under the phantom mayor & influence peddler theory here, a quick glance at the campaign finance records of two of the three judges presents an interesting clue as to what may have gone on at this hearing...

Well spank my ass and call me Charlie!  Two of the three judges that heard the Exposito appeal employed Mr. Gutierrez as a "consultant" during their campaigns for circuit court judge!  As you can see in the bits outlined in red, both Valerie Manno-Schurr and Milton Hirsch paid Mr Gutierrez and his companies $15,000 each.  

Now, if you believe that Mr. Gutierrez is as powerful as people say he is, is it too far fetched to believe that the judges returned a favor to Mr. Gutierrez and his associates in the city by ruling against Exposito?  Nah, that shits crazy, nobody would believe anything as outrageous as that!  There's no way a sitting judge would sell their soul and return a favor to a man that allegedly helped them get their seat on the bench, right?  that would never happen, especially in a place like Miami...

Former City of Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito loses round one in his bid to get his job back...

I'm sure you've all heard by now that former City of Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito has lost his appeal to get his job back before a panel of three circuit court judges.  The opinion was written by none other than circuit court judge Valerie Manno Schurr, check it out...


Expositio Circuit Court Decision


That's all well and good, I don't necessarily agree with the courts findings and I'm sure former chief Exposito will be taking his case to a higher court.

Valerie Manno Schurr

So how about the judge who wrote this opinion, the honorable Valerie Manno Schurr?  From what I've been able to glean from various sources, her rulings have been reversed by higher courts in 45% of her cases that have been appealed.  You have to ask yourself, what kind of judge gets nearly half of her rulings that are taken to appeal reversed?  Does that seem like the hallmark of a judge that knows what shes doing?  Take a look at some of these excerpts from various appeal court rulings against Manno Shurr and judge for yourself...

“the trial court violated a clearly established principle of law and departed from the essential elements of law by indefinitely staying this action.”

Nice.

“There is no competent evidence on either ground adopted by the trial court to support its conclusion..."

LOL.

“trial court abused its discretion...”

DOH!

“we conclude that the circuit court appellate division departed from the essential requirements of the law and deprived State Farm of due process.”

Isn't that special considering that part of Exposito's appeal hinged on "due process"?

As if all that weren't enough, here comes the icing on the cake, everyone remember the two foster kids that were adopted by the Barahona family that were tortured by their foster parents where one sibling was found dead on the side of the road bathed in acid while the other was on the verge of dying? These poor kids suffered untold beatings at the hands of their foster parents, when their biological family tried to take the kids away from their foster parents before the gruesome roadside incident that we all watched unfold on TV, guess who was the judge who denied their pleas and kept the poor kids with their foster parents? You guessed it...

Judge Manno-Schurr denied the children a chance at a safe, normal life when she turned away pleas in 2007 to adopt the twins from their biological uncle and aunt, Isidro and Ana Reyes. Ana is the sister of the father of the twins. They told Judge Manno-Schurr that they could take care of the children, and provided references and financial statements to prove their worthiness.
Yet, Judge Manno-Schurr said no, preferring to keep the siblings in the foster care of the Barahonas. The DCF says that decision was “based on an incorrect assumption by all professionals involved in the case that it would be harmful for children of this age to experience a change in parents.”
When asked why Judge Manno-Schurr didn’t listen to the Reyes couple, their attorney, Steven Grossbard, said, “That is a piece of the puzzle that is not clear to me to this day, and I find it somewhat troubling.”

I guess you can tell by now that I'm somewhat disappointed by the courts ruling in the Exposito case, disappointed but not surprised. Considering the track record of the judge heading the panel, I expected no less. No worries though, I'm sure considering former Chief Exposito's tenacity and Judge Manno Schurr stellar record on appeal, Expo will be back again, take my word for it.