HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdditional Back-up DocumentsWIFREDO (WILLY) GORT
COMMISSIONER- DISTRICT 1
August 10, 2012
Ms. Pam Bondi, Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
The Capital PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Subject: Distribution of the 300 Million Dollar Settlement Funds
Honorable Attorney General Pam Bondi,
Let me begin by commending you on your outstanding work in this case and the resulting settlement,
CITY HALL
3500 PAN AMERICAN DRIVE
MIAMI, FLORIDA 33133
(305)250-5430
FAX (305) 2E0-5456
I would like to appeal to you in assisting one of the most affected communities in South Florida, The City of Miami. Under the
settlement the state of Florida was awarded $334,073,974,00 Dollars. In the body of the settlement that applies to the state of
Florida Section132-5 paragraph 2 It appears to give discretion as to the distribution of funds to the attorney general. In
addition, in exhibit "8" B-3 identifies permissible uses for the funds" Such permissible purposes for allocation of the funds
include but are not limited to, supplementing the amounts paid to homeowners under the Borrower Payment Fund, funding
for housing counselors, state and local foreclosure mediation programs, legal assistance, housing remediatlon and anti -blight
projects, funding for training and staffing of financial fraud or consumer protection enforcement efforts, and civil penalties."
The City of Miami has been one of the most affected cities nationwide and one of the most in the state of Florida if not number
one. The City of Miami is currently going through a crisis across the board compounded with the affects of the wave of
abandoned property that continues to increase the blight. The City of Miami Is aggressively trying to address this Issue, with an
anti -blight project, but there is a cost associated with this effort. In order to curtail the spreading of blight resulting from
abandoned properties the city has created "Operation Clean Sweep" for securing abandoned property and demolishing unsafe
structures. The City has been demolishing the structures with great success, This effort has curtailed crime, eliminated
abandoned structures, and provided for safer neighborhoods ultimately mitigating blight. The city has had the same issue, as
other severely affected areas such as California, the monies for these efforts run dry.
I would like to bring this for your consideration as you proceed to allocate the monies for the State of Florida and consider our
residents going forward.
o "Willy" Gort
loner, District 1
City of Miami
71 r
d
rrc; r 7 ritTr'''i—tir'
V 8
f.!
10121 q - Acid 1+1 oil a 1 Bco.k -ap -Doc um eni-s
Castaneda, Frank
From. Diaz, Placidn
Sent: Friday, October 18.2D12 11:28AM
To: ChianzMaria J
Cc. Bru, Julie; Go¢ VVifredo (Commissioner); Cashanwda. Frank; Cauanova, Christina M.
Subject: RESOLUT|ONRE{3.
Attachments: FINAL LETTER TO PAM BONDI.pdf
The commissioner would like tosponsor aresolution urging the Attorney General and/or the Legislature toact onthe
settlement that was reached with the banks. The letter that |amattaching contains the verbiage and specifics for the
resolution. We want to emphasize that the money is needed by the city of Miami and that in the body of the settlement
that curing blight is one of the specific uses allowed. These monies could be used under operation clean sweep and
fund demolitions, securing ofproperty, etc. The attached letter was sent bythe commissioner prior but nunified
statement bythe City ofMiami will emphasize the urgency.
There was an article in the Herald this morning in the local page (10B) that you may want to peruse. It mentions how
other states have already put the money to work while Florida has yet to do so.
The commissioner would like to see if we could have it ready for next commission meeting and he would introduce it as
a pocket item.
Please let me know.
,�/�~�i,�� ��.
������� Diaz
Executive Assistant
Commissioner Wifre n (Willy) Gort
District
City nf-'Aliam/
City Hall
35VVPan American Dr.
Miami, F|33133
305J50.5430
pdiaz@miamigov.com
Submitted into the public
record inconnection with
item NA.2 on 10'25-12
QwxighkS. 0anie
City Clerk
Rehwinkel Vasilinda, whose district includes a huge portion of the state
employees who work in the capital city, said she would propose that state
' Castaneda, Frank
From: Diaz, Placido
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 4:31 PM
To: Castaneda, Frank; Gort, Wifredo (Commissioner)
Subject: Fwd: Article, below, FYI. Thanks, Doug
See below
Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Diaz, Placido" <pdiaz@miamigov.com>
Date: October 24, 2012 11:54:58 AM EDT
To: "Gort, Wifredo (Commissioner)" <wgortamiamigov.com>, "Castaneda, Frank"
<FCastanedagmiamigov.com>
Subject: Fwd: Article, below, FYI. Thanks, Doug
The below article is critical for ur pocket item in urging the attorney general to abide by the order
and use the monies from the settlement to cure blight not for pay raises and some legislators in
Tallahassee are apparently attempting.
Plaz
Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
From: Doug Bruce <dougbruce@hdbruce.com>
Date: October 23, 2012 8:44:42 PM EDT
To: "Placido Diaz (pdiaz(miamigov.com)" <pdiaz@miamigov.com>, "Clarence
Woods (CWoods(&,ci.miami.fl.us)" <CWoodsici)ci.miami.fl.us>, "Arscott, Chelsa"
<carscott@miamigov.com>
Subject: Article, below, FYI. Thanks, Doug
BONDI: MORTGAGE FRAUD SETTLEMENT NOT FOR RAISES
By DAVID ROYSE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, October 23, 2012....Attorney General Pam
Bondi vowed Tuesday that money the state gets from a national mortgage -fraud
settlement will go to consumers, not to pay raises for state employees as one
lawmaker has suggested. .6, .0
▪ .4-
m -
• 41
''I think we'd all love pay raises, but that's not what this money is for,' Bondi said 0. 0 ci 0
in response to questions about a proposal made earlier in the week by Rep.
.0
Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee. 2 2 ao
O a 3
— o 0c:3
-0 ,-,
4.) i.. ._c
E 8
_0
= 4,
0 ,_
iti
employees get a 7 percent raise in the upcoming legislative budget using a $334
million cash payment the state recently received from the national mortgage -
foreclosures settlement.
Federal officials and the states negotiated the $25 billion settlement with the five
largest mortgage servicers, who were accused of unscrupulous handling of
mortgages in foreclosure. Part of the settlement is required to be spent on
borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure between 2008 and 2011, but
Rehwinkel Vasilinda said some of it can be used for other purposes. She noted
that Georgia has used its settlement money for other purposes than helping
foreclosed homeowners.
"It has been six years since Florida's state employees had their last raise and
during that time the Consumer Price Index has increased by 15 percent, which has
further degraded the purchasing power of our already underpaid state employees,"
Rehwinkel Vasilinda said in announcing her proposal.
A 7 percent raise for all state employees would cost about $487 million.
Rehwinkel Vasilinda said if the money were available through higher revenue,
lawmakers should find a way to pay for the increase anyway, even if it doesn't
come from the settlement.
Bondi said she would resist any effort to divert the settlement money away from
the borrowers who were victims of bad acts by the mortgage industry.
"It will not be used for pay raises if I have anything to do with it," Bondi said.
--END--10/23/12
Submitted into the public
record in connection with
item NA.2 on 10-25-12
Dwight S. Danie
City Clerk
2