Election Central

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

Election Central .....

Circuit Court Group 49. Richard Hersch now has an opponent. (ht to 5:48 pm).

Attorney Victor De Yurre, a member of the Florida Bar since 1977 has filed to run against Mr. Hersch. Many of you will remember Mr. De Yurre from his previous life in politics. He first ran for the Miami City Commission in 1987 against incumbent Commissioner Joe Carollo. He defeated Carollo and served on the City Commission from 1988-1995.

Like most politicians elected in our city, De Yurre attracted his share of controversy. In 1991, New Times did one of their many stories about De Yurre. The City of Miami was on the verge of bankruptcy, (so what’s new), and De Yurre had spent the taxpayers money on lavish trips out of the State and Country. De Yurre had taken nine trips in 1990, cultural missions is what I think they call them, to places like Italy, Washington DC, Seattle, San Francisco (supposedly to see programs for homeless people), and Brussels, among some of the places.

The trip to San Francisco must have been anything but eventful. I say that because, in 2002, New Times did a feature story called: “What Did You Do In The War On Poverty”? In the story they interviewed several past members of the Miami City Commission and they asked them each that exact question. When they got to De Yurre, he responded: “I can't put my finger on anything now. I can think of global things, like funding low-income housing projects. We also had those façades on Eighth Street, Overtown, and Liberty City -- injections of money that helped people spruce up places. I can't think of any individual thing I did. I really can't think of anything else I could have done.”

As a lawyer, De Yurre appears to have a solo practice in the downtown area. I have no idea what type of law he practices. I believe he has a son, Anthony, who is also a lawyer. Anthony works for Pathman, Lewis, and is involved in the political scene and is a mover and shaker in the community in his own right.

I would imagine that De Yurre could prove to be a formidable opponent to Mr. Hersch -of course, if Hersch happens to get tapped by Governor Scott to one of the three open Circuit Court seats, then he won’t have to worry about running for Judge again until 2014.

I also reported on November 21st on this BLOG that Fleur Lobree has drawn yet another opponent.

ELECTION CENTRAL ..... GROUP 20 COUNTY COURT

JUDGE LOBREE DRAWS YET ANOTHER OPPONENT

On October 12, 2011, on the Justice Building BLOG, I reported the following:

And the newest filing has someone challenging newly appointed County Court Judge Fleur Lobree:

William Pena Wells; (he is the attorney that caused much discussion on this blog on the issue of his being suspended by the Bar for three years as the result of his criminal conviction).

The newest candidate:

Michelle Alvarez Barakat. Ms. Barakat has been practicing law since 1999. She worked for the Florida Bar in lawyer regulation. She now practices in a two person firm with her husband, former ASA Brian Barakat. According to her web site, her practice concentrates on criminal defense and commercial litigation.

JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS UPDATE:

We are waiting to hear from Governor Scott on several appointments:

Circuit Court open seats include: Judge Ivan Fernandez, Judge Amy Steele Donner, and Judge Robert Scola. Six names sit on Scott's desk for the Fernandez seat and the Donner seat. The JNC has not yet selected the names to replace Scola. Expect two new Circuit Court Judges to be named sometime during the week before Christmas.

Donald "DJ" Cannava
Miguel de la O
Richard Hersch
Norma Lindsey
Deborah White-Labora
Angelica Zayas

County Court open seat: Judge Rosa Figarola. The Governor has five names on his desk. Expect a new County Court Judge to be named around the same time as the two new Circuit Court Judges.

David Alschuler
Tanya Brinkley
Donald “DJ” Cannava
Ivonne Cuesta
Steven Lieberman


Cap Out .....