Update: Check out the online bio of Miami Laker reporter David Snelling, who was removed from the political beat after he wrote an unflattering story on Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Nancy Simon.
By Carlos Miller
Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Nancy Simon was hoping to prevent fellow Lakes residents from learning that she was being investigated for a felony, so she drove around town and collected as many issues of the community newspaper, The Miami
Laker, that she could get her hands on and stuffed them into her car.
For her efforts, she was rewarded with a lengthy article in The Miami Herald describing her actions as well as how she was able to manipulate the publisher of a local newspaper, not to mention the fact that she is being investigated for practicing real estate without a license – a third-degree felony.
Chances are, she won’t be showing any houses in the near future.
The Herald article exposes how Simon was able to use her influence to manipulate The Miami Laker by having them remove reporter David Snelling from the political beat. In fact, she got them to stop covering politics altogether.
The story Snelling wrote was buried on page 19 of the Laker. He basically stated what he had learned from a segment aired by long-time WSVN-TV investigative reporter Carmel Cafiero called “Lawmaker or Lawbreaker. (Click link on left to read transcript or video below to view the incriminating segment).
Snelling’s journalistic mistake was that he didn’t call her asking for comment, but nothing in his report was untrue because it is all backed up by public records and magazine ads as well as the fact that she admitted everything in the TV interview.
But despite this, the Miami Laker announced it would no longer cover politics in the suburban municipality in northwest Miami-Dade, even though it has done just that for several decades.
This decision must have been made after their most recent issue, which profiled Simon with a favorable front page article describing how Simon “in seven years has been dubbed the people’s voice”.
That positive article will not likely reach the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Tallahassee, which has been investigating Simon since July when two Miami Lakes residents filed a complaint against her.
Miami Lakes residents need not worry about their hometown rag no longer covering politics (or the fact that they don’t even have a website) for they now have Miami Lakes Politics Exposed, a local blog that proclaims to have “All the proof regarding the Nancy Simon issue,” including documents that prove Simon was trying to sell houses without a real estate license. The blog doesn’t seem to have Spell Check however.
Simon, who was just elected vice mayor last November, has hinted that she would run for mayor next year. But only if The Miami Licker keeps its promise to not write any more negative stories about her.
If you would like to voice your displeasure to Nancy Simon (or if you would like to buy a house), feel free to contact her at 305 979-7252.270
