MIAMI VA

2005: I began work at the Miami VA (view VA acceptance letters) and hired subcontractors.  All subcontractors agreed to the ordinary business "pay-when-paid" contract arrangement.  This means that I am not obligated to pay my subcontractors until I receive payment from the government.  After the work began, I complained and voiced objections to deplorable conditions I observed at the VA.  Veterans were being housed in moldy, filthy facilities (pictures below), and treated with unsanitary equipment, similar to conditions later discovered at Walter Reed Hospital.  (You may recall that the Miami VA was in the news last year for using unsanitary tools while performing colonoscopies that led to the spread of HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C among Veterans.  Perhaps if my complaints had been taken seriously in 2005, those Veterans would have been treated with safe, sanitary equipment.)  As a result of my persistent complaints, I fell into disfavor with government officials; and payment for my work has been withheld. At this time, I am still awaiting payment for the work done at the Miami VA Hospital.

2007: I filed a federal lawsuit.  The amount of my claim against the federal government is significantly larger than what is owed to my subcontractors.  I am confident that we will prevail; and as soon as I receive payment, every subcontractor will be paid in full.  I have already made the specific numbers available to the press.

My experience with Veterans at the Miami VA Hospital thrust me into political activism.  I began contacting government officials, including my own congressional representative Robert Wexler, trying to find someone who would intervene on behalf of our Veterans.  I repeatedly encountered either disinterest or resistance.  Because no one else would do it, I have become an advocate for Veterans; and that's why I'm running for Congress right now