And now, a few words from Mayor Dickhead...

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Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine - who's affectionately known around these parts as "Mayor Dickhead" - sent out an email blast to his constituents this morning calling their attention to an article in this week's issue of the Miami SunPost:

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

This week's Miami SunPost covers the topic of the proposed 50-story tower at the corner of 5th Street and Alton Road. I commend the Miami SunPost on providing the public with objective and unbiased news coverage concerning the proposed development.

Last week, the City Attorney issued a legal opinion stating that under the City's Charter a property owner may not increase the size or density of a proposed development by transferring or shifting development rights from one property to another without approval by a public vote.

We will continue to take a holistic view of Alton Road by promoting responsible development that does not overburden our current infrastructure.

Click here to access the City Attorney's opinion and here to read the Miami SunPost article.

Sincerely,

Philip

Somehow Mayor Dickhead got a hold of the SunPost's PDF files ... even before the paper hit the streets, or before the article was posted on the SunPost's website.

The "objective and unbiased" SunPost article Mayor Dickhead refers to in his email was written Michael Sasser, who has been with the paper in one capacity or another since 1996.

So, let's take a look at some of Sasser's "journalism," shall we?

Here's how Sasser described Miami Beach Commissioner Ed Tobin in a Jan. 30th piece on the SunPost's website: "Tobin is a third-generation Miami Beach resident, the son of Beverly and Leonard Tobin. The elder Tobin was many years ago, a Miami Beach constable. This set an early example for Ed in terms of ethics and community involvement, and was a powerful influence on the course of his career."

And here's how Tobin describes himself on his website: "Ed Tobin is a third-generation Miami Beach resident, the son of Beverly and Leonard Tobin. The elder Tobin was many years ago, a Miami Beach constable. This set an early example for Ed in terms of ethics and community involvement, and was a powerful influence on the course of his career." 

The plagiarizing Sasser, uses much of his "objective and unbiased" piece to attack the Miami Herald's reporting on the Fifth  Street and Alton Road project: "Despite media reports to the contrary – reports that allegedly reflect the language in a developer’s press releases – a 50-story development isn’t coming to the corner of Alton Road and Fifth Street anytime soon."

Sasser quotes Mayor Dickhead as saying, "You would think the the media [Herald] would at least look and see what the zoning is there and glance at the City Charter before, unfortunately, regurgitating a press release."

Sasser then devotes the rest of his piece "regurgitating" many of  Levine's previously reported talking points. 

It's almost as if Mayor Dickhead wrote the piece himself. Or at the very least, looked over Sasser's shoulder as he wrote it.

Sasser writes that unnamed "readers and activists" have long considered the Herald's Miami Beach reporting, "erratic," and that "activists" - again unnamed - "complained" that the Herald's reporting on the Miami Beach convention Center was being manipulated.

from "Terror Tower," by Michael Sasser,
Miami SunPost, March 27, 2014.

So much for Mayor Dickhead's opinion of "objective and unbiased news coverage."

The SunPost, Mayor Dickhead? Is that the best you can do?

March 27 - Miami SunPost Alton Road Terror Tower article by Michael Sasser - by Random Pixels blog