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5 November 2013
Michael Murawski, Advocate
MIAMI DADE COUNTY COMMISSION ON ETHICS AND PUBLIC TRUST
Press Inquiry: Does Commissioner Deede Weithorn have a Conflict of Interest?
Dear Sir:
Deede Weithorn, a commission for the City of Miami Beach and a certified public accountant employed
by a public accounting firm, signed the 2012 federal income tax return of Green Square, Inc., a
Subchapter S corporation whose manager and one-third partner is her brother-in-law, Victor Weithorn.
Green Square has held a periodically contract for the management of the citys tennis facilities for over a
decade.
Commissioner Weithorn has recused herself from public discussions and voting on the renewal of the
contract, asserting that she had obtained an opinion that to do so would not be prohibited by formal
ethical standards. I have not seen such an opinion, and understand that a relative may be a brother-in-
law by definition in certain ethical regulations.
Green Square has been negligent or willful in not filing the financial statements required by the contract
with the city, and the city negligent or willful in tolerating that and other breaches of the contract, to the
extent that the doctrine of laches implies that there is really is no contract with the city, but that the
documented and undocumented employees and officers of Green Square are in effect employees at will
of the city.
A commission meeting was held on 11 September 2014 to consider bids on the contract. Green Square
was 4
th
or last on the list of bidders, and its proposal was defective while the others were not defective.
All the bids were rejected as defective in what Commissioner Gngora characterized as a sneaky move
to keep the contract with Green Square on a month-to-month basis and then return to waive the
procurement process or rig it in favor of Green Square. Commissioner Exposito spuriously argued that all
the bids were defective, and his vote was crucial in effecting the rejection of all bids. He later said
(hearsay) that he cast his vote as he did because he was afraid that if he went against the Green Square
faction then Commissioner Weithorn would not endorse his candidacy for commissioner. He did not say
(hearsay) that he held her express proxy. She later acknowledged her endorsement of Commissioner
Exposito.
Now, then, Commissioner Weithorns behavior may very well have been ethical. She has already said
that even if she did not recuse herself from considering Green Square matters, she has an opinion that
her conduct would be ethical. Problematic here is her engagement as the contractors tax accountant,
and whether or not county and state law is prohibitive.
112.313 Standards of conduct for public officers, employees of agencies, and local
government attorneys.
MIAMI MIRROR TRUE REFLECTIONS
Page 2 of 2
(1) DEFINITION.As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, the
term public officer includes any person elected or appointed to hold office in any
agency, including any person serving on an advisory body.
(7) CONFLICTING EMPLOYMENT OR CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP.
(a) No public officer or employee of an agency shall have or hold any employment or
contractual relationship with any business entity or any agency which is subject to the
regulation of, or is doing business with, an agency of which he or she is an officer or
employee, excluding those organizations and their officers who, when acting in their
official capacity, enter into or negotiate a collective bargaining contract with the state or
any municipality, county, or other political subdivision of the state; nor
Several members of the public have expressed an interest in the answer to the Question, as to whether
Commissioner Deede Weithorn has a conflict of interest in respect to Green Square, and they certainly
have a right to know. However, they refrain from asking the question of the authorities because they
fear retaliation from the authorities. I myself have been defamed and threatened with a SLAPP suit by a
high city official for simply asking questions and reporting his responses to same.
I ask the Question for the public as a member of the independent press, and hope you will consider it as
a Press Inquiry rather than a Complaint since I simply do not know the answer. You may very well
produce a previous opinion on the matter which I shall make available to the public.
Sincerely,
David Arthur Walters
Independent Journalist
Cc: Joe Centorino, Director
Attached
2012 Tax Return, Green Square, Inc.
DepartFlent mthe TI13aSW)'
Internal: ReY8I1ue 5eMce
U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation
... Do not nle this form unless the has flied or Is
attaching Form 2553 to elect to 6. an S corporatJon.
... Information about Form 11208 and tt8 separl-te Instructions Is at wwwJrs.govlfonn1120s.
3
F c I ndar 2012
H Ched< if: (1) BFinal return (2) BName change (3) 0 Addres, change
(4) Amended retum (6) S election termination or revocation
I Enler the number of shareholders who were sharehokfers durfng any part of the tax year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....
or ae year or 8xyear tnnmg
en
A S elocllon 6fTectlve date Name o number
OS/24/2002
TYPlO
GREEN SOUARE INC 02-0548715
B Business acUYlly COde Number. street. and room or suite no. If a P.O. box, see Instructions. E Date Incorporated
OR
08/2412001
PRJNT
P.O. BOX 615
C Check it' Sen. M-3 City or town, state, and ZIP cooe F Totel assets (see Instructiona)
at"""ad
n
MTl'.MT I>O'''(",U
PI. "l"l'''lQ
$ 3 777
G Is the corporation electing to be an S corporation begInning with thIs
UVes LxJNo If "Yes." atlach Form 2553 if not already filed
Clutlon Include only trade or busIness Income and expenses on lines 1a through 21 See the instructions for more information
Fonn 11205 (2012)
1a Gross receIpts or sales
00
1. 706 366.
b Returns and allowances lb 6300
E
c Balance. Subtract line 1bfrom line 1a
o o.
1c
705 736.
2 Cost of sold (attach Form 1125-A) 2
91 949.
0
o.
"
3 Gross profit. Subtract Une 2 from line 1c. 3
613 787.
. o . .
4 Net gain (Io.s) from Form 4797, line 17 (aUach Fonn 4797) . 4
5 Other Income (loss) (see Instructions - attach statement)
..
5
6 Total Income !loss\. Add line. 3throuoh 5 o. o' 6
613 787.
7 Compensation of officers .
. . o .
.
7
;n
Salaries and wages (leas emptoyment Cfedlts) .
8
56 034.
c
8
0
o . .
.
..
9 Repairs and maintenance 9
3 783.
'"
,
10 Bad debts
.. .. .
10
,g
11 Rents 11
47.992.
..
.
'Ii
b Investment interest 9Jq)eOse.
12b ,
" section 59(e)(2) expendlures
(1) Type _______________________ (2)Amount
12.(2) $
c
d Other deductions (see Instructions) .Type 12d
138 Lowlncome housing cre<!lt (sectI0l142())(5))
138
b Lowlncome housIng credit (other).
13b
!!
e Qualified rehablJltation expenditures (rentat real estate) (attach Form 3468)
13.
...
d Other rental re.1 est.te cre<!lts (s.. Instructions)
Type ______________________
13d
!!
u
l!
General category ,
14.
0
,
Other (atlach slalement) 141
.,
. .
u
Deductlons arrocated and apportioned at shareholder Jewl
.c:
l!
e
9
Interest expense 14g
..
c
h Other.
14h
.!!'
.
! Deductions allocated and apportioned at corporate level to fOfetgo souice Income
.. ,
0
...
I Passive category 141
J
General category .
14J
k Other (attach statement)
.
14k
Other Informatlon
I Tot.1 foreign (axes (check one): o Accrued
.
141
m Reduction In taxes avallabfe for credit (aUach statement) .
.
14m
n Other forefgn tax information (attach statement) ":::-:i
15. Post-1986 dept"ecJaliion adjustment
.
15.
"
b Adjusted gain or loss
15b
.
eJ
e Depletion (other than oil and gas)
15.
d 011, gas, and geothermal properties gross Income,
16d
"1(.0(
"'-
all, gas, and geothermal properties - deductions
158
I Other AMT items (attach statement) 161
..
168 Taxexempt Intere8t Income.
18a
c
...
b Other lax-exempt Income .
16b
.. c Nondeductible expenses
16
d DIstributions (attach statement if requwed) (see
16d
Depreciation $ ______________
a DeprecIation $ ____________________
b
Travel and entertaInment $________
----------------------------
----------------------
7 Add linea 5 and 6
4 Add flnea 1 through 3.
12 737
Income (lOBS) (Schedufe K,lIne 18). Une4 los& Iina 7
12 737.
Schedule M-2
.
(a) Accumulated
adjustments aceotInt
(b) Other adJuatme.,ts
account
(e) Sharenoklers' undlst1buted
taxable Income previously taxed
-86
1 Balance at beginning of tax year
2 Ordinary Income from page 1, fine 21
3 Other addlions
4 Loss from page 1, Ilne21
6 Other reductions. .
6 Combine Ilnes 11tlrough 5
7 Olstributlons olher fIlan dividend dlstributlons
8 Balance al end of tax year. Subtrect line 7 from Hne 6
-99 460.
f- --"'1.. :.'.-:.., .. , 2
foo:
723.
Fonn 1120S (2012)
'SA
2C1<1W 1.000
68903U 3307 02/25/2013 21:03:09 V12-3.1F 02-0548715
Form n-ZS:-A
Cost of Goods Sold
(Rev. DOc6mber2012)
OMS No.
Departm&nt of the Treasury
Attach to Form 1120. 1120C, 1120F, 11208, 1065, or 1065B.
Internal Revenue Sef\lice "Information about Form 1125.A and its Instructions Is at www.lrs.govHorm1126a.
Nam.
Employer kftnQftcation number
GREEN SOOARE INC. 02-0548715
1 Inventory at begInning of year
. . ... . .
..
. .
. . ..
1 1 530.
2 Purchases ...
. . . .
2
4n 7
01
3
Cost of labor.
.
..
. .
. . .
3
4 Additional section 26:lA costs (attach schedu",).
. ..
...
. . .
4
5 Other costs (BltllC/1 schedule) .
. . . . . . . . .
..
'sEE. Sl'I\l'EtolENl' . .3.
5
51
6 Tolal. Add IInas 1 through 5 . . . ................
6 93 479.
7 Inventory at end of yea-
................. . ................
7
1 .
8 Cost of goods 'old. Subtract line 7 from line 6. Enter here and on Form 1120, page 1, line 2 or the
appropnate line of your tax return (see Instructions) ... . . . ................
8 91 949.
9a Check all methodS used for valuing closing InventOlY
(0 (1q Cost
(6) tj lower ot cosl a market
(iTO other (Speclty method used and attach BJqllanBtlon) ------------------------------------------a---
b Check If there was a wrltedown of subnormal goods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....
c Check If the LIFO Inventory method wss adopted thiS tsx year for eny goods (If <hacked. ettach Form 970). . . . .,.
d If the LIFO inventory method was used for this tax year, enter amount of closing Inventory computed
under LIFO................. LJ!.9d!!...J__,--r-__---,_,-_
If property Is produced or scqutred for resale. do tha rules of section 26:lA apply to the entity (see Instructions)? .
f 0 Yes CiJ No
Section references are to the lntemal
Revenue Code unless otherwise noted.
General Instructions
Purpose of Form
Use Form 1125-A\0 calculate and deduct
cost of goods sold for certain entities.
Who Must File
Filers of Form 1120. 1120-C. 1120-F.
11205, 1065, or 1065-B, must complete
and sttach Form 1125-A if the applicable
entity reports a deduction for cost of goods
sold.
Inventories
Generally. inventories are required at the
beginning and end of each tax year If the
production, purchase, or sale 01
merchandise Is an income-producing
factor. See Regulations section 1.471-1. If
inventories are reqUired, you generalfy
musl use an accrual method of accounting
for sales and purchases of inventory Items.
Excaptlon for certain taxpayers. If you
are s qualifying taxpayer or a qualifying
small business taxpayer (de1lned below).
you can adopt or change your accounting
method to sccount for Inventorlable items
in the same manner as malerlals and
supplies that are not Incidental.
Under this accounting method. inventory
costs for raw materials purchased for use
in producing finished goods and
merchandise purchased for resale are
deductible in the year the finished goods or
merchendise are sold (but not before the
year you paid 10r the raw materials or
merchandise, if you are also using the cash
method).
If you account for inventoriable items in
the same manner as materials and supplies
that are not Incidental. you can currentlY
deduct expenditures for direct labor and all
indirect costs that would otherwise be
Included in inventory costs. See the
Instructions fOi lines 2 and 7.
For additional guidance on this method
of accounting. see Pub. 538. Accounting
Periods and Methods. For guidance on
adopting or changing to this method of
accounting, see Form 3115. Application for
Change In Accounting Method, and Its
Instructions.
Qualifying llJxpayer. A qualifying
taxpayer is e taxpayer that. (a) for each
prior tax year ending after December 16.
1998, has average annual gross receipts of
$1 million or less for the 3 prior tax years
and (b) its bus/nes.1s not a tax (as
defined In section 448(d)(3)). See Rev.
Proc. 2001-10. 20012I.R.B. 272.
Qualifyingsmall business taxpayer. A
qualifying small business taxpayer Is a
taxpayer that, (a) for each prior tax year
ending on or after Decamber 31. 2000, has
average annual gross receipts of $10
million or lesa for the 3 prior tax years. (b)
whose principal business activity is not an
Ineligible activity. and (c) whose business Is
not a tax shelter (as defined in section 446
(d)(3. See Rev. Proc. 2002-28, 2002-18.
I.R.S. 815.
Uniform capitalization rules. The uniform
capitalization rules of section 263A
generally require you to capitalize. or
Include In Inventory. certain costs incurred
in connection with the following.
The produclion of real property snd
tangible personal property held in Inventory
or heid ior sale in the ordinary course of
business.
Real property or personal property
(tangible and Intangible) acquired for resale.
The production of real property and
tangible personal property by a corporation
for use in its trade or business or In an
activity engaged in for profrt.
See the discussion on section 263A
uniform capitalization rules in the
instructions for your tax return before
completing Form 1125-A. Also see
Regulations sections 1.263A-1 through
1.263A-3. See Regulations section
1.263A-4 for rules for property produced In
a farming business.
For Paperwork ReductIon Act Notice. see Instructlons.
JSA
2X40122.ooo
689030 3307 02/25/2013 21:03:09 V12-3.1F
Form 1125A (12-2012)
02-0548715