REALITY CHECK AND INFLUENCES OF CORRUPTION

This is a political advertisement paid for and approved by Sandra Downs (NPA) for Sheriff.

I had hoped that I could run a positive campaign and avoid turning my campaign into an exploration and exploitation of my experiences of being persecuted by MCSO.

If elected I had hoped to clean up the corruption at the top levels. It wasn’t to exact revenge, the damage has already been done to my family and cant be undone. I had hoped to prevent it from ever happening again to another family or individual in this county. I had also hoped to convince the citizens and deputies that a Citizens Review Board was necessary in the Sheriffs Department, as an oversight should be available to citizens and law enforcement employees as well. The corruption is at the top levels. I believe many good and valuable deputies have been discriminated against, denied promotions they deserve and have had to follow orders that were not lawful, though they were misled into believing they were.

There is evidence to support links between corruption in the Department and former Commissioner David Rice and his son Major Mike Rice. Salaries and commissions to them are in excess of $500,000 per year from documents I have seen. They appear to control entirely who is hired and fired at MCSO. There appears to be a link between them and Attorney David Paul Horan. It appears that Mr. Horan’s influence extends into Planning commissions, affordable housing, etc.

Sheriff Rick Roth is a wonderful person we all agree. However, he stated to me in 2005 that he couldn’t control his deputies. So who did? He also referred to Becky Herrin on the radio as doing a wonderful job when speaking about transparency and Internal Affairs. But Sheriff Roth knows this was completely misleading and deceitful. Becky Herrin is not in charge of Internal affairs. A wife of a Captain in the Department is in charge of Internal Affairs. This is a conflict of interest and appears it is a violation of nepotism and other laws. Why didn’t Sheriff Roth expose this fact? There are so many questionable violations and breaches of public trust of this kind at the top levels.

There is an outcry in this community to clean up corruption, but when you launch a campaign to do so, the accusations are immense. If the citizens really want this corruption to end, then they have to be willing to investigate the claims that are made that indicate it. And they have to go out and vote for those individuals that would end it.

I am beginning to understand that in order to gain or maintain credibility, I will also have to defend myself against false accusations. I will attempt to address them one at a time in depth on this website. There are concerns about what my family members have been accused of, and I can only say that by the end of this campaign you will understand more than ever, what impact corruption can have, and how far it extends.

Several people have asked, “Can a sheriff deal with corruption of local officials?” I will tell you that most corruption involves crimes, whether it be white collar crime or others. There has been an extension of laws to prosecute these criminals, and remedy is available now more than ever. But people have to come forward and report these crimes, and they must feel safe in doing so. They cannot fear retaliation or persecution. I’m afraid in the Keys, they do have fear and many stay silent. They also have to trust the State Attorney to prosecute these offenses, and I think its apparent that Mark Kohl has to go for that to happen.

In 2004, I reported the Chair of the Republican Party’s parents for destroying 8000 sq ft of mangroves on our state owned lands. Carey Goodman’s parents ruined our state property so they could have a “better view” from their 3 story home. The Goodman’s wrote in an e-mail to DEP that they “hoped this would be the end of Sandy.” What does the end of someone mean to you?

The fines for destruction could have been hundreds of thousands of dollars. What do you think money means to these people? The rich value it immensely. And the Goodman’s are very rich. They also raised more money for the Republican Party than has ever been raised before in Monroe County. Who were the recipients of this money? Check the republican line-up. Sheriff Roth, State Attorney Mark Kohl, former Commissioner David Rice, Commissioner DiGennaro, Commissioner Dixie Spehar, Commissioner McCoy, etc. All of the powerful positions are controlled by the Republican Party. What do you think would happen to someone who reported the Goodman’s, the source of all the Republican Party’s money they need for their campaigns?

Well, you can’t imagine. I’m lucky I’m alive. My son was not so lucky. His death is not how it was reported. Nothing is as it was reported. I will tell these tales, I will provide the documents and the proof and you will be a believer after I am finished. This corruption has to stop first with the Sheriff’s Department. Nothing good can happen until that situation is corrected.

When there is no law, selective enforcement, false arrests or criminal activities, then citizens lose all respect for and faith in the law. They will not come forward to report violations. They will live in fear. Without citizen involvement the law can’t work. To prosecute, there needs to be cooperation from the citizens. The citizens have to report it and show up as witnesses. If witnesses aren’t protected, there will be no witnesses. Therefore there will be no prosecutions, save the few derelict ones that don’t correct the real problems.

I am very concerned about the future of the keys. All of the corruption is intertwined. Give me a chance and I will stop it. I have more experience in legal matters than some lawyers. I may not have a degree in criminal justice but this does not mean I have no knowledge. Degrees do not equate competency, they only create an illusion of competency. If you study the law for years as I have, you understand it quite well. There are on line degrees that you can get, but there is no way to check if you actually did the work. I understand that is the type of degree Capt. Peryam has, an on line degree. Things are sometimes not as they seem at first glance. We know from living in the Keys, that sometimes a windy day is not just a windy day, it is a Hurricane.

Contact Sandy Sandy@sandyforsheriff.com