if I hadn’t been doing this for 6 years and become innured to the blatant way that the “real news media,” led by the Miami Herald and the local Anglo TV stations consistently go out of their way to keep critical information from the citizens of this community I might have actually been shocked by the way that all of these news outlets refused to follow up on my original story detailing how Raquel Regalado had committed Homestead Exemption Fraud by claiming to live in a house that she hadn’t been living in while living in a house owned by Gema Pampin, a convicted medical heralthcare fraudster, who I revealed was also committing Homestead Exemption Fraud while Regalaso was her tenant.

Regalado after all is running to be the strong Mayor of Miami-Dade County, a job that involves the managing of $7.1 BILLION in taxpayer money, and that fact alone should have been more than enough to interest or concern the Miami Herald and the TV stations to at least assign an intern to independently investigate the documented allegations that I made.

Even more than the issue of Regalado’s competence is the question of her own honesty and integrity given that in recent weeks she has mounted a strong effort accusing current Mayor Carlos Gimenez as being corrupt and dishonest, and who according to her spokeswoman Elaine de Valle, “has institutionalized corruption at County Hall.”

Unfortunately, Miami does not so much operate like other major American cities as much as it operates as a giant cesspool of corrupt politicians – including Regalado’s father, Tomas Regalado, the Mayor of Miami, who has really “institutionalized corruption” during his term in office – and who have been supported and coddled by a lazy and negligent news media and tolerated by a population that is woefully ignorant of the levels of corruption and malfeasance that constitutues much of what passes for civic governance in Miami.

Even in Jacksonville, which for some is considered a portion of South Georgia, the wife of a State Representative who termed out and is having his wife run to replace him – think of Marc and Teresa Sarnoff – earned an article in the Jacksonville Times Union when she got tagged with Homestead Exemption Fraud several days ago.

I cannot explain why no one in the local news media bothered to go to the 7th Floor of the County building anytime since after my story broke to do an actual public records request for documents related to my allegations, but I was out of town when I posted my original story, and once I got back and squared myself away, I went to the Property Appraiser’s Office yesterday afternoon, and with a level of professionalism I don’t often encounter in my dealing with government officials was provided with documents that revealed that both Raquel Regalado and Gema Pampin had been investigated and found to have committed Homestead Exemption Fraud.

Pampin had been sent a letter on August 1st, notifying her of this fact, and  Regalado had not been sent a letter because the records indicated that she no longer owned property in Miami-Dade County that could be attached with a lien.

After I told the folks at the Property Appraiser’s office that that was no longer the case because her father had Quit Claimed 10% of his house to her, along with the other 90% to her brother Jose, the officials indicated that they would correct their files and notify Raquel Regalado that she owed the county $3981.78, and that she has 30 days to pay, or face a lien being placed on the house.

Here are those two letters.

So now, it’s official. Raquel Regalado committed Homestead Exemption Fraud and because of this she should resign, or be forced to resign if she won’t do it voluntarily from the Value Adjustment Board, because it’s absolutely crazy to have someone whose been caught engaging in Homestead Exemption Fraud sitting on this board making decisions on other people’s property tax bills.

Let’s see after this documented evidence how many of the local news media decide that one of the top two candidates for Mayor is still not guilty of Homestead Exemption Fraud or worthy of a news story?

It’s definitely Miami, Bitches!