Vetting Miami Mayor Manny Diaz

Posted: Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:28 AM by Mark Murray

From NBC's Chuck Todd
Earlier today, we mentioned how some are concerned that Hispanics might be shut out of high-profile cabinet positions. Well, First Read has learned that Miami Mayor Manny Diaz is in the vetting process for two potential posts: HUD and Transportation -- with HUD apparently the job offer he's most likely to get. If Diaz is tapped, he'd be the first major Hispanic pol to get a nod for a cabinet post.

Still, quite a few key Hispanic supporters of Obama have been concerned by the lack of Hispanics being considered for some of the higher-profile posts.

Interestingly, George W. Bush's first HUD secretary -- Mel Martinez -- also was a Florida Cuban pol who headed a major metro area. Martinez is now senator of Florida.

*** UPDATE *** A potential problem for Diaz at HUD? NBC's AJ Goodwin flags to our attention a Miami Herald investigation about Miami's public housing mess. According to the paper, the city and county tore down much of the public housing with promises to replace it with better options. But much of the new housing was never built, and what was built was not filled in a timely manner.

In the end, HUD ended up taking over the county-run Miami-Dade Housing Agency in April 2007, saying it "demonstrated a pattern of financial irresponsibility and mismanagement." And last summer, Habitat for Humanity came to Miami to build affordable housing on the land the local government had failed to re-develop.

Per the Herald, "Diaz acknowledged problems in the housing program but said he inherited them and has worked to put safeguards in place, such as creating penalties for affordable-housing developers who sell city-subsidized land for profit. 'Everybody makes mistakes,' he said. 'But if you look at that record and if you contrast it to where the city was before I got here ... I think that's a good news story.'"

[CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the Miami-Dade Housing Agency as the Miami Housing Authority.]

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Comments

Speaking of positions, I hope David Shuster is considered as one of the potential hosts on Meet the Press. He's great.

But I sure miss having Keith around this week. I wonder what his take is on the bail out.

Pat, Boston, MA (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:36 AM)

LMAO...this is one of the reasons Dems have had trouble connecting with the majority of America...this feeling that every ethnic group deserves a seat at the table

Rick, NC (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:36 AM)

Have you ever been to Miami? The worst public transportation system in the nation.

just google "MetroFail" (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:38 AM)

While I personally support Bill Richardson for Secretary of State, given his progressive views about education expressed during the primaries, I think he would make an excellent Secretary of Education.

I hope both the Obama team and Richardson are able to see his potential in that position. The nation needs real leadership in education, and it may require as much finesse as any problem awaiting the new Secretary of State.

avrds, Montana (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:41 AM)

Where is the gay or lesbian cabinet appointment? (Seriously)

Chuck in Seattle (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:42 AM)

First the political transition process is going to take time to complete. The most qualified individuals will earn positions. Regardless of who they are, the real judgements are going to be made on, what they know. America has endured 8 years of an imcompetent Bush-Cheney Government. Bush made many of his political position decisions in haste, and whether if unqualified people they were his political friends or not. Now look where the Bush political picking philosophy has put our nation?? Obama will make his selections in a Presidential fashion, and will make sure they are properly qualified. That is fact!

Rock,Janesville,Wisconsin (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:43 AM)

The statement that "If Diaz is tapped, he'd be the first major Hispanic pol to get a nod for a cabinet post" is not 100% true. Henry Cisneros - former Mayor of San Antonio - was tapped by the Clinton administration the be HUD Secretary.

Ross Rocketto, St. Louis, MO (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:47 AM)

It's so interesting to me that these self described Obama "supporters" or "life long Democrats" are suddenly on here complaining about Obama's choices, or why Dems are doomed. This is obviously the new tact of the kooked-out repubs who lost their seat at the table, so are going to pretend to be us, as whining, crying liberals. What THEY don't understand is that we TRUST our President Elect, Obama, and though many of us on the far left would prefer some more striking choices, we KNOW that nothing will get done unless we push first from the middle. We will have time for fundamental changes in energy, environment and civil rights, but first we need to get the majority on our side. We will, and we will prevail. But beware of these pretenders --they are trying their darndest to throw us off course!! Hang tough Libs--the best is yet to come!

LB, Virginia (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:51 AM)

It would be nice to have a Latino prescence in the Cabinet
But, getting qualified, effective people is the big thing
Besides, Janet Napolitano is a Latina who may be headed to DHS (where I work)

Much better than Chertoff (to say NOTHEING of Bernie Kerick)

The economic team will be the 'make or break' selections for Obama

Hopefully, he won't select people responsible for the current mess like Larry Summers or Timothy Geither who were BOTH DE-REGULATORS

De-Regulation gave financial institutions enough rope to HANG US (not themselves)

Let's find new leadership for our economy

MSierra, SF (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:53 AM)

And there is a lot of Hispanicsin the Bush Administration? Oh please! I hear a lot of complaining about who Obama's choosing for his Administration/cabinet, WHO CARES about what nationality/color/ethinicity the people are as long as they get the job done.

And, I am quite sure there will not be a lot of blacks in his administration either.

Mia in Miami (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:54 AM)

Mello Out folks at MSNBC. Give the prez-elect some breathing room.

Chuck Todd for Host of Meet the Press!

John Farrell

John Farrell Hamilton, MA (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:54 AM)

I am a huge Obama supporter and I said weeks ago that Obama needs to give Bill Richardson a high-ranking job. He took a lot of flak for endorsing Obama, plus he campaigned like crazy and helped deliver New Mexico. The hispanics voted overwhemingly for Obama and he has to show his appreciation by rewarding Bill Richardson.

Oscar, Rio Vista CA (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:55 AM)

I get it - the Hillary Clinton story is getting boring, so the new narrative is "Hispanics are concerned".

Predictable, but sad.

Here is a suggestion for tomorrow's narrative:

"Media bored and addicted to drama - Seeks replacement Clinton/Palin stories to avoid withdrawal pains"

P.S. Hispanics know that it is important to get the RIGHT candidate, not just A candidate . . . anybody remember Mr. Forgetful, AKA Alberto Gonzalez? You betcha!

Nashville_fan (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:56 AM)

Put Richardson in as SOS! "NY Times" reporting this morning Clinton-Obama staffers may be at each other over leaks. We don't need more of the Clinton drama. Let Hillary do her good work in the Senate, have Reid give her a higher post and stop all the "National Enquirer" like nonsense.

No Bubba Admirer, Little Rock, AR (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:56 AM)

president elect obama has plenty of cabinet offices to fill. he will have representation of america and it's diversity within his cabinet as promised.

as for the media retread theory of appointments by mr. obama, i suggest that this is a provocative narrative the media is pushing to maintain interest and ratings at a time that political news is limited.

there have been 5 post filled out of so many yet to be appointed. it is also early in the process. earlier than ever before. let let the president-elect fill out at least half his cabinet before accusing him of change being just a slogan.

this man (president-eect obama)has proven to be a forward thinking politician with a depth of understanding as to where the people and this country are at. he is not going to change his formula to success when it is most needed.

let's be patient, not hasty in our opinions. let's not be manipulsted in our thinking by a negative narrative that is being pushed by a few in the media. we have been positive in our thinking of mr. obama. let's noy give in to cynicism and negativity now. that is what the bush administration used to get us in that mess. it will take positive support for mr. obama to get s out of this historical mess.

remember what happened in president clinton's campaign problems when he had inexperienced people in crucial areas. better yet remember or research what happened to president carter.

breathe deep and let this person we picked to straighten out president bushes mess put his team together. i think we are one the verge of witnessing a great 2 term presidency begin to evolve and take place.

ace (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:56 AM)

>>>Still, quite a few key Hispanic supporters of Obama have been concerned by the lack of Hispanics being considered for some of the higher-profile posts.
==========
At the risk of potentially agreeing with Rick, NC (since I pretty much know where his bigotry is coming from), I have to ask this of the Hispanic community. Have any of you ever heard of "tokenism"?

Yes, it would be nice to create the most diverse cabinet you can get, but the goal should be to get the BEST PEOPLE regardless of race. Bush gets credit for having a diverse cabinet, but most of those "minority" appointments (with the probable exception of Rice and Powell) were mere token appointments to low-level positions, and were quite ineffectual in influencing policy. Personally, I'd rather have a well qualified White person as, say, Secretary of Defense than an incompent African-American or Hispanic (speaking as an African-American).

When do we get to this magical place where people are "judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character"?

61 Days Until Inauguration Day!
http://jawillie.blog.com

jawillie, Philadelphia, PA. (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:58 AM)

Has anyone thought about the possibility that Biden and Hillary would switch places in 2012? VP Hillary and SOS Biden?

Chris, Dorr MI (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:00 AM)

Napolitano for Homeland Security, Pritzker for Commerce Secretary, Diaz for Transportation -- business as usual in Washington. People with no practical background being put into technically challenging positions. Going to law school does not make you an expert in all things. Looks like deja vu all over again with all the Clintonities getting back into the saddle......

Lucille (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:01 AM)

Al Franken is closing the gap !!
The start of the Minn recount is going well !!

Sorry, Norm !!

'...By day's end, with about 18 percent of the vote recounted, Coleman continued to lead Franken -- but by only 174 votes, notably narrower than the unofficial gap of 215 votes at which the recount had begun. Franken's gain owed much to a swing of 23 votes in the Democratic stronghold of St. Louis County -- the result of faintly marked ballots and older optical scanners that failed to read the marks.

The figures represent a Star Tribune compilation of recount data reported to the secretary of state and gathered by the Star Tribune...'

MSierra, SF (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:04 AM)

Manny Diaz is probably OK but Hillary is not going to let Bill Richardson do much more than push a mop. I wonder who Hillary will pick for Energy Secretary as her and Bill will be running the show from the back room. I thought I spent the last two years cleaning that mess up in the name of change. I hope Hillary lets Obama get inaguration day under his belt before he has to pay her campaign debts.

Elmer, Seattle (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:05 AM)

Wow, Miami is the poster child for Housing gone bad and terrible public transportation. What a disaster. This rumor can't be true.

The guy has been married 4x to boot. I don't think Obama would want to hang around a low life like this guy.

Alex Rodriguez, San Mateo, CA (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:05 AM)

I see your point Rick from NC, that is why America overwhelmingly voted for McCain/Palin. Very astute observation on your part.

Kevin, Chicago (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:05 AM)

LMAO...this is one of the reasons Dems have had trouble connecting with the majority of America...this feeling that every ethnic group deserves a seat at the table
Rick, NC (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:36 AM)
******************************************************
Actually Rick, this is why you neo-cons failed so miserably. You fail to remember or are too dumb to understand that America is a representative government and we don't really care for the government only representing old, rich white folks from the south. Maybe you were under your rock on November 4th and did not notice that the MAJORITY of this country agrees with me and not you. George Bush agrees with you though!.........what is his latest approval rating?

Mark,Seattle (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:06 AM)

Even if he doesn't get appointed Sec. of State, Gov. Richardson would be a great choice for Sec. of Interior. Then, if P-E Obama gets re-elected, Sen. Clinton can step down so she can run for president in 2016, and Gov. Richardson can take over at State.

Dave in Omaha (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:07 AM)

You guys need to ell morning Joke that it's ok to have a bias opinion to the right . But does he have to be so damn Bitter and clinging to Bush's bottom.

JoeScarb is a douches bag (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:09 AM)

Repubs are not any different. Mel Martinez, Alberto Gonzales as AG for what reason were they chosen?

Concerned Citizen (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:09 AM)

Pat - Boston

I agree, David would be great. I hope they don't choose David Gregory.

stephanie, ft. pierce, fl. (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:10 AM)

You know, I don't think there are enough women filling the Cabinet posts since we make up 50% of the American public... and what about Asian? Where are they being considered? And what about American Indians? And... Let's get real here. Do you have to be of the same race to represent your constituency? That's not possible since every part of the country has a mixture of backgrounds and race.

It's time to find the best and brightest and most qualified to fill the positions. Will we ever be able to put race behind us???

JustThinkin (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:14 AM)

I am with Pat on "Where in the world is Keith Olberman", and when does he come back. David is great too!!

Tibe, Rochester, MN (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:14 AM)

For Rick,
Did you miss the election we just had? Dems WON! A majority of America! Not just one ethnic group, but ALL, including yellow, black, brown and white. And NC as well. Get over it. This is a multi-ethnic country now.

Max (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:15 AM)

Hey Rick from NC..... LMAO! The DEMS have trouble connecting with the majority of America? Where were you on November 4th? It seems that that Republicans were the ones who were having connection problems. Maybe when they pull their heads out of the sand, they can regroup and get with the program. Every ethnic group DOES deserve a seat at the table. At least they do in OUR house!

Lori, York, Pa. (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:17 AM)

LMAO...this is one of the reasons Dems have had trouble connecting with the majority of America...this feeling that every ethnic group deserves a seat at the table
Rick, NC (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:36 AM)

-----------
Or perhaps its because the Dems can read the Tea Leaves, and they know that within a short time, the so called majority you speak of, will become the minority population wise, while current ethnic minorities will become the majority. Face it, we're a pluralistic society, and Dems see it, and that's why they won big time!

pat huntington ny (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:17 AM)

Pat Boston Ma:

I would like to second your recommendation for David Shuster. Along with being a Hoosier, he is one of MSNBC's best contributors. While I'm at it, why isn't his picture along side Andrea Mitchell, or Kelly O'Donnell here on FR. He truly is an anchor without a anchor position. He is far better than David Gregory and should be considered for Meet the Press.

Ron Indiana (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:21 AM)

Bill Richardson will be the Secretary of State.

Sharon (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:22 AM)

Throughout his campaign, Obama has shown great skill and instinct in choosing the right people. He always manages to get the best person for the job. I see no reason to start doubting now.

Ellisa Henley, Burns, TN (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:22 AM)

I believe Manny Diaz should not any position in the Obama administration. A man who has been fined for being hugely unethical for doing business with his fellow Commissioner and City Manager, for having been part and parcel of a $7 million dollar fire fee scandal, for having provided provided, through one of his law firms, legal services to the tune of $80,000.00 in fees to a Commissioner being investigated for bribery, and then, forgave the fees. I could go on forever in telling the world how unfit is Manny Diaz for any position in the Obama Administration, except of for being sweeping the streets of Washington, D.C., with a broom.

Grace Solares, Miami, Florida (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:25 AM)

What about Bill Richardson...the MOST FAMOUS Hispanic? There are even a lot of Republicans...ie, a Republican family member down here in Florida, who LOVE Bill Richardson. I just hope Obama gives him something worthwhile.

Barbara C. - Fort Lauderdale, FL (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:28 AM)

What's HUD?

confused (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:31 AM)

Why don't obama appoint palin in his cabinet? Is he sexist or something?

Michael Furlong, Long Island, NY (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:31 AM)

The article stated that if Diaz is selected, he's be the first Hispanic to assume a national cabinet position. Mel Martinez, Carlos Gutteriez and Alberto Gonzales anyone?

mm (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:32 AM)

Well in response to my "good" friend above: "LMAO...this is one of the reasons Dems have had trouble connecting with the majority of America...this feeling that every ethnic group deserves a seat at the table"

Well, it's hard to imagine anyone out there who hasn't noticed yet, that a growing percentage of America, and OMG... it is a " growing MAJORITY, understands it. America is not changing, but has pretty much CHANGED already. It's not the America of twenty or even tens years ago in most aspects. the New America has grown up.

As you may imagine, in the near future (In your lifetime)America looks less and less like the old 20th century America you might have known at one point. And it will continue to keep changing more and more. It's the natural state of the world. However, that doesn't mean, we can't get along or continue being a great country. It simply has CHANGED my friend! And that's just the way it is.

Johnatan Hernandez (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:33 AM)

There has been fraud and corruption in Miami for years - particularly in public housing and transportation (MIA overbudget; Metrorail). Although a lot of the problems are attributable to Miami Dade county government, no City of Miami official should not be trusted with taxpayer dollars.

James, Coral Gables, FL (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:34 AM)

LMAO Just pointing out that maybe you missed the election results. We had no trouble connecting! White House Both houses of congress and quite a few state level wins . Just a friendly reminder to you :-)

Mike Shaull Sandusky Ohio (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:35 AM)

WHAT A JOKE!

What are Diaz' qualifications for either job, OTHER than he's Hispanic??

Miami has one of the WORST public transportation systems I've ever seen. It hasn't improved in the 15 yrs I've lived here, and DEFINITELY not on Diaz' watch.

As far as housing & urban development, the Miami HUD operation was recently placed under direct Federal control, due to rampant CORRUPTION & MISMANAGEMENT.

NO TO DIAZ at the Federal level...

Benita Argos, Miami, FL (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:35 AM)

First hispanic? What about Attory General Gonzales?

Jack (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:37 AM)

As a black conservative and one who supports Obama morally and financially, I need to see more diversity - qualified whites, blacks, hispanics, Indo-Asian Americans, and Native Americans in the new government. If not I will be the first to pull the rug...

Jamal Randolph (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:38 AM)

Rick - NC -

That's exactly what Bush did - wny is this problem specific to Dems?

Jack (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:38 AM)

One of the major failures of the Corzine administration was that he tried to satisfy ethnic groups rather than hire the best person for the job. It's one of the reasons he will lose to Chris Christie in November.

Mike Kehoe, Wall, NJ. (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:42 AM)

I voted for Obama. I live in Miami and Manny Diaz has sold himself 20 times over to the devil and all the big developers. That's why Miami, after Las Vegas, has one of the wosrt housing markets. Manny Diaz is as corrupt as as they can get. If he is appointed, can't wait to oust Obama in 2012!!!!

Carol, Miami, Florida (Sent Thursday, November 20, 2008 11:43 AM)

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