HARVEY BUSCH: A MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE OF SORTS

The SIB Reporter received several responses in support of Harvey Busch, who is running against Commissioner George “Bud”Scholl in Sunny Isles Beach. These comments are from (1) Tony LoCastro, who currently serves on the City Advisory Committee (CAC) with Mr. Busch; (2) Bob Welsh, who ran unsuccessfully for commissioner in 2010. Mr. Welsh also serves on CAC and the executive board of Concerned Citizens(CCNED); and (3) Janet Cini, President of Concerned Citizens along with Mr. LoCastro and Mr. Welsh
who jointly run CCNED and the Democratic Club.  (Click here to see these parties’ long-standing ties to Concerned Citizens and Democratic Club: CONCERNED.CITIZENS.ETC ). Their comments appear with the corresponding article for you to read and all seem to be variations of the same theme – empty, flawed arguments and outright distortions against Commissioner Bud Scholl on the one hand; and a desperate attempt to prop up a fast-sinking candidate on the other hand.  All in all, the support from CAC, CCNED, and the Democratic Club boils down to the support of three overlapping individuals.

We at the SIB Reporter try not to make general statements without backing them up.  We will not only state that others’ statements are flawed or distoring.  We will show you.   So, let’s look at some of the flawed arguments and distortions in the aforementioned comments and how they compare to facts:

THEIR CLAIM: Commissioner Scholl cannot properly balance his private and public
sector commitments and he is not around as much as Mr. Busch’s supporters think
he should be.

FACT: Our records check with the City Clerk reveals that Commissioner Bud Scholl has missed only 4 of 132 meetings scheduled since Commissioner Scholl took office in 2007.  That’s 97% attendance. Are they really raising this as an issue? Perhaps Mr. Busch and his associates are trying to distort the facts (again) by including, without proper clarification, non-mandatory informational agenda meetings. These meetings are intended for information only but often lead to deeper discussion of issues before a televised commission meeting. Commissioner Scholl has stated that he finds this inappropriate and has chosen to address staff directly in answering his questions on agenda topics before commission meetings and then push for full discussion of all items of interest at the televised meetings which can be viewed by the public.

THEIR CLAIM: Harvey Busch would add diversity to the Commission and better represent senior citizens.

FACT: Commissioner Scholl has advocated for senior citizens during his tenure. For
example, he was the only commissioner who supported doubling the budget for the
Senior Program run by Dennis Stubbolo and Roz Brezin in the preliminary budget
meeting this summer. Furthermore, Commissioner Scholl announced four long-term goals for his second term, which includes establishing a location for seniors to gather on a regular basis. We fail to see how replacing Commissioner Scholl with a senior citizen would render different or better results.

THEIR CLAIM: Commissioner Scholl claims to be solely responsible for the City’s
accomplishments.

FACT: Commissioner Scholl has advocated and contributed, as all commissioners do. To
our knowledge, there have been no publications or public statements stating that Commissioner Scholl is a one-man-show. We invite Mr. Busch’s supporters to
produce an example supporting their claim, and we will gladly discuss it here.

THEIR CLAIM: Commissioner Scholl represents the developers, not the people. That is why he was the only Commissioner to vote against making the temple a historical site. (Side note: this claim was made by a person giving the name Linda Schlof, whom we strongly suspect to be Mr. Harvey Busch’s daughter, and who may not even be a Sunny
Isles Beach voter).

FACT: Harvey Busch spoke in the March 1, 2012 Special Commission Meeting in favor of the Chateau Condominium project with required variances of significant consequence
to adjacent property owners. Commissioner Scholl voted against the project trying to protect the rights of the adjacent property owner from the egregious variance. Additionally, Harvey Busch’s recent campaign report shows that he accepted a $500 contribution from Kobi Karp, the most prominent lobbyist / architect in South Florida with ties to Sunny Isles Beach. To be clear, it is not our position that there is something wrong with garnering business or developer support. However, there is something wrong with accusing others of what you are doing yourself (especially through a third party).

FACT:  Commissioner Scholl’s vote to NOT give the temple a historical  designation was a vote IN FAVOR OF THE TEMPLE.   Commissioner Scholl did not want the City to
compromise its land use regulations in support of what was an apparent dislike for the Rabbi. Since this meeting the City has faced inquiries from the Department of Justice and other lawsuits regarding the mistreatment of the Temple designation process and the Rabbi. Bud Scholl was the only Commissioner who tried to prevent the City from getting exposed on this issue and spending tax payer dollars on unnecessary litigation. We encourage you to see the video of the September 2nd, 2010 commission meeting, arguments, and vote which can be viewed in its entirety on the www.sibfl.net website. You can also find articles on this issue in our archives.

OUR CLOSING THOUGHTS:

Mr. Harvey Busch has the support of three individuals who run various organizations in Sunny Isles Beach.  And these same individuals seem to be speaking in one distorted voice.  At the same time, that voice is strangely silent on its candidate’s bankruptcy.  We believe this is a critical issue that Mr. Busch must address.