It’s been a while since we had a good recall, right?
Temporarily stalled by a “technicality,” an alleged attempt to boot Mayor Daniella Levine Cava from office was revived this week faster than you can say caravana anticomunista.
The increasingly noisy effort is led by none other than Alex Otaola, the YouTube firestarter who sees communists the way some people see potholes: everywhere, and all the county’s fault. He also lost a mayoral bid against Levine Cava last August, getting in third place with almost 12% of the vote, which seems like a lot. Until you count ’em and realize 250,000 people voted against him.
Is this just sour grapes?
Read related: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava crushes challengers in re-election
The planned recall, which hasn’t really technically begun, briefly hit a speed bump last week. Supervisor of Elections Alina García took to social media to announce that the county clerk couldn’t accept the recall petition as submitted because her office couldn’t provide the format.
“Residents recently attempted to file a petition to recall the Miami-Dade County mayor but the Clerk’s office cannot approve the form of the petition because the county code still requires the petition to be in a format determined by the former Elections Department — an office that no longer exists,” Garcia wrote, trying to be cheeky.
“While our office is now an independent constitutional office, the county code has not yet been updated to reflect this change, through no fault of our own,” she wrote. “Since taking office in January, we have been working with the county to resolve this issue so citizens have a clear and lawful way to petition their government.”
She said that her office had already provided the same form that the old Elections Department. Which, like, seems logical. The process didn’t change. Just the person in charge. But she said that she needed a “formal agreement with the county that authorizes our office to carry out these duties.”
She thanked Chairman Anthony Rodriguez for putting it on the Dec. 2 commission agenda. “We are hopeful that this will finally resolve the issue so voters can fully exercise their rights without interruption,” Garcia wrote.
Except it wasn’t on the agenda yet. Ladra looked. It was later added to the agenda in the form of a resolution sponsored by Commissioner Oliver Gilbert to “clarify” that the elections supervisor is, in fact, allowed to do the job she already thought she was doing.
And like that — poof — the problem evaporated. Unanimous vote. Crisis averted. The petition lives to fight another day.
Barby Rodriguez, the chief of staff for County Clerk Juan Fernandez-Barquin, — and daughter-in-law to Congressman Carlos Gimenez — said the office would get back to the petitioner “with a response shortly as to whether the petition is approved or not as to the form.” Once it is approved, Otaola — who formed a political action committee called Recall Cava in October — has to collect about 61,000 signatures.
Read related: Mayoral wannabe Alex Otaola wants to bring McCarthyism to Miami-Dade
The ballot question is simple: “Should Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava be recalled?” To the point, but unnecessarily brief.  State law limits the number of words in a recall ballot question to 15 for the title and 75 for the text. This petition question has left 66 words on the table.
State law also does not require a reason for a municipal mayoral recall. Remember when former Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Alvarez in 2011? There was no reason stated then either.
That recall effort against Alvarez — and former Miami-Dade Commissioner Natasha Seijas — began in September 2010 after the county passed a budget that raised property taxes by as much as 14% and increased the salaries of county employees by a total of $132 million. A whopping 88% of the voters unseated them.
This recall feature the same budget complaints after Levine Cava closed a $400 million hold in the county coffers during budget season.
One almost wonders if the little detour was performative. After all, wouldn’t all the former elections department functions automatically become part of the SOE’s purview? Is there anything else we haven’t thought of? The only two speakers at Tuesday’s meeting were there to urge commissioners to approve the measure. And the effort got more ink in the past few days than it ever had before. Nobody outside Otaola’ echo chamber knew there was a recall effort.
And the petition filed Nov. 21 by attorney Ricci Carabeo of VPP Law Firm, on “behalf of his client” just happens to be in the right form. How did that happen if the elections supervisor couldn’t provide him with the form before Tuesday?
The change.org petition was started by Mercy Perez, who was also one of the speakers Tuesday, more than seven month ago. It’s got more than 4,600 signatures — totally symbolic because they have to sign on paper and some are not even Miami-Dade voters.  But make no mistake: this show belongs to Otaola, who opened a political action committee in October named Recall Cava.
Otaola may have finished third in last year’s mayoral race, but he didn’t exactly fade into obscurity. Why would he? He’s got 475,000 YouTube subscribers — more than 19,000 people watching live on a random weeknight — and a very engaged base that treats “Hola Ota-Ola” like it’s the gospel according to San Alex.
And now those followers are being told it’s their civic duty to remove La Alcaldesa from office before the communist apocalypse arrives. Or before Eileen Higgins becomes mayor of Miami. Otaola, who helped push Bryan Calvo to mayoral victory in Hialeah, is backing former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez in the Miami runoff and had one of his famous caravans to support Gonzalez Saturday.
Or before Afghan refugees storm Coral Gables. Because Otaola took the tragic shooting in D.C. involving an Afghan man and somehow used it to attack Levine Cava for welcoming Afghan refugees to Miami-Dade three years ago.
Read related: Bryan Calvo breaks the Hialeah machine, wins mayor’s race outright
Local Democratic strategist Christian Ulvert, Levine Cava’s longtime campaign consultant, wasted no time reminding everyone that Otaola was “rejected by 88 percent of voters” in the 2024 election. According to Ulvert, this is all a “deeply flawed and miscalculated political stunt” by someone who is “not a serious leader.”
He also called Levine Cava “a popular leader” with “deep love and respect” from voters, which is probably why she won her re-election with a solid 58% of the vote in the first round. But its also exactly the kind of thing political advisors say right before the panic texts begin.
Ladra’s not saying Otaola is right. Let’s be clear: his politics are a spicy stew of fearmongering, Trump cult identity, and the kind of Cold-War-era communist hunting that would make McCarthy blush.
But he isn’t irrelevant. Not even close.
This is a man who can snap his fingers and send dozens of flag-waving SUVs clogging up intersections. He can turn an unfounded rumor into a talking point. He can drive 20,000 people into a livestream on a Wednesday night. There are elected officials — plural — who take him seriously. Commissioner Senator Rene Garcia was quoted in the media hinting he might be supportive of the recall.
“I too, have had some issues in reference to some of the park funding that we see, and I have been asking for information, that we are yet to receive that,” Garcia told NBC6 Miami. “So if I am one Commissioner that is struggling, there may be others that are doing the same.”
Of course, everybody says he wants her office. There are at least three other current commissioners looking at it, too. You know who you are.
Otaola and his team must get signatures from 4% of the registered voters in Miami-Dade County, about 61,000 signatures. They have an unlimited amount of time to collect them, but once they are submitted and verified, a recall election must be held within 90 days.
The petition is almost certainly going to be cleared for takeoff by our Republican Supervisor of Elections, who some say was elected to stop all Democrats from moving forward in Miami-Dade.
Whether Otaola gets the signatures is another matter. Sixty-thousand-plus verified voter John Hancocks is no joke. Ladra doubts that half he has that many registered voters in his subscriber list.
But what’s undeniable is this: Alex Otaola has built a real political machine out of a YouTube show, and county hall is paying attention — even if they pretend they aren’t.
The recall may be a stunt. But the movement behind it? Not as easy to dismiss as some Democrats would like.
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Three days of early voting for the election runoffs in Miami, Miami Beach and Hialeah start Friday and end Sunday. Election Day is Tuesday. After that, we will have a new mayor and new commissioner in Miami and new representatives in the other two cities.
But the races in Miami, where almost 13,700 voters have cast mail-in or absentee ballots as of Thursday, are the main attraction.
In the mayoral contest, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins — who just gave up three years on her seat to run for the top job in Miami — is facing former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who sued the city to get the elections back on in the first place after commissioners voted to move it to 2026 (and extend their terms by a year).
Read related: Eileen Higgins heads into partisan Miami mayoral runoff with momentum
Higgins is the front runner and is poised to become Miami’s first female mayor — following her BFF Daniella Levine Cava‘s historic election as Miami-Dade’s first female mayor. We may soon have two La Alcaldesas.
Turnout is below 8% as of Thursday. But let’s be clear: Without Gonzalez, nobody would be casting ballots in Miami right now.
Ladra thinks he could have won if he hadn’t gone hyper partisan. Gonzalez will be kicking off the early voting weekend Friday at a “Keep Miami red get-out-the-vote” rally at Little Havana’s venerable Versailles restaurant, sponsored by the Republican Party of Miami-Dade and featuring Sen. Rick Scott and Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar.
Also on the ballot is the commission race in District 3, where Joe Carollo is termed out. His baby brother Frank Carollo, who held the seat for eight years before Joe, is running against political newcomer Rolando Escalona, the manager at the popular downtown Sexy Fish. This one is more of anyone’s guess. Frank Carollo — who famously does not get along with his brother — has the name rec. But Joe lost the mayor’s race even in his own district, indicating voters may not want four more years of a Carollo.
And Escalona, for a newbie, has a lot of political support, including the same Higgins machinery run by consultant Christian Ulvert. So, let’s not underestimate him.
Read related: Miami Beach commission runoff: Two women, one seat — and the city’s future
In Miami Beach, you have the uber partisan race between longtime City Hall staffer Monica Matteo-Salinas, who has worked for two city commissioners, and MAGA-backed lawyer Monique Pardo Pope, the daughter of a Hitler-loving cop-turned-serial killer executed in Florida by lethal injection in 2012 who she calls her “hero” on social media that has since been scrubbed. She is also backed by the Christian Family Coalition, which is kind of a double whammy.
Behind Matteo-Salinas you have Commissioner Alex Fernandez, one of Matteo-Salinas’ former bosses, and Commissioner Laura Dominguez — both of whom won re-election rather easily Nov. 4.
“Monica is exactly the kind of leader Miami Beach deserves — compassionate, capable, and committed to doing what’s right for our residents,” Fernandez said. “She understands the seriousness of government and the respect our residents deserve.
“Having worked directly with Monica, I’ve seen firsthand the years she spent helping people navigate City Hall with compassion and integrity — fighting for families, schools, safety, and the character of our city.”
Dominguez echoed Fernandez’s confidence in the single mom and PTA veteran’s ability to serve effectively.
“Monica Matteo-Salinas has earned the trust of our community through her years of service, her compassion, and her results-driven approach,” Dominguez said. “She knows Miami Beach and our potential. Monica is exactly the kind of voice we need on the City Commission: experienced, empathetic, and focused on the issues that matter most to our residents.”
Who does Pardo Pope have, besides Daddy cheering on from Hell? Commissioner David Suarez, whose brother-in-law was arrested in the wee hours of Election Day last month — driving an unregistered golf cart that reportedly belongs to Suarez — after being caught on video removing Dominguez campaign signs and replacing them with developer’s favorite Fred Karlton’s.
Oh, and the bigots at the GOP and CFC, which might as well merge into one at this point.
Still, very few people are interested. Only 3,435 people have voted via absentee or mail-in ballot so far, according to the supervisor of elections website. That’s just over 8%.
Read related: Bryan Calvo breaks the Hialeah machine, wins mayor’s race outright
In Hialeah, where there are two open council seat runoffs, we have less than 5% turnout, with only 3,741 absentee or mail-in ballots received so far.
Gelien Perez, who worked for the city’s Human Resources Department, got 40.5% of the vote Nov. 4 and faces Jessica Castillo, who works in medical insurance sales and came in second with 36% in the Group 3 race. Perez was investigated by the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics & Public Trust, which concluded that there were signs she used her city position to benefit her private real estate business. Several of her real estate clients were also city employees under her supervision and, during that period, received substantial raises.
Now, that’s a great marketing plan.
In the Group 5 race, university student William “Willy” Marrero — the only candidate on Mayor Jacqueline García-Roves’ slate who didn’t lose Nov. 4 — got 25% of the vote in a five-way contest and faces land surveyor Javier Morejon who got just over 23%. This will likely be a close race. The difference in the first round was just 235 votes.
Morejon was chairman of the Hialeah Beautification Board and former vice chairman of the Miami-Dade County Historic Preservation Board. Marrero has served as an intern for Miami-Dade Commissioner Rene Garcia and as the administrative assistant to Hialeah Councilman Luis Rodriguez, who was re-elected Nov. 4. He also serves on the city’s centennial committee. The 21-year-old Florida International University student could become the youngest councilman elected ever, taking the record away from Mayor Elect Bryan Calvo, who was elected a commissioner at age 23.
“That’s okay,” Calvo told Political Cortadito. “Records are meant to be broken.”
Calvo also told Ladra that he has endorsed Perez, who was on the slate with mayoral candidate Jesús Tundidor, and Marrero, who was the interim mayor’s ally, in the two races. “I sat down with all four of them,” Calvo said. “I thought it was important to be conciliatory with the other camps. And out of the candidates there, I think these two are the best ones.”
For a full list of hours and locations for early voting, go the Supervisor of Elections website.
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
 
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SB 700 takes aim at Alligator Alcatraz shenanigans
Florida lawmakers may finally be waking up and smelling the cortadito.
After years of the governor stretching “states of emergency” like chicle viejo to move money around with zero oversight, Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith has filed SB 700— a bill that basically says “oye, enough of the permanent emergencies already.”
And make no mistake: this bill, filed Tuesday, has Alligator Alcatraz written all over it. In neon letters. Visible from the Turnpike.
Because what better reason to rein in emergency powers than the largest, most expensive, most secretive, most environmentally disastrous boondoggle Florida has cooked up in decades?
That’s right. Ladra is talking about the infamous, billionaire-sized swamp headache known as Alligator Alcatraz, the “temporary” migrant concentration camp that was built on an “emergency” order that just kept being extended… and extended… and extended… while the state signed enough no-bid contracts to make every lobbyist in Tallahassee salivate like a hungry pitbull.
Read related: Daniella Levine Cava finally takes a tougher stand vs Alligator Alcatraz
Under SB 700, a governor can’t just keep renewing an emergency forever — or for two years, or three, or however long it takes to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars into politically connected contractors. One year. That’s all the guv gets. ¡Y basta!
The bill says:

Any state of emergency renewed by the governor expires after one year.
After that, the only way to keep it going is a two-thirds vote of both chambers.
And the Legislature has to put a firm end date — before the next regular session ends.
Oh, and if lawmakers pull the plug? The governor has to immediately issue an order ending it.
AND he can’t declare a “substantially similar” emergency right after to get around it. Bravo.

Let’s remember how we got here.
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared an “immigration emergency” and, with that magic wand, bypassed standard procurement rules — you know, the boring democratic, open, transparent ones — and green-lit a massive detention camp in the Everglades on the Dade-Collier airstrip.
Within days — not weeks, not months, days — the state signed an avalanche of contracts:

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…Because Miami-Dade needs another committee
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced last month that she’s forming yet another advisory committee — this one to help the county celebrate America’s 250th birthday in 2026. Because if there’s anything this county loves more than ribbon cuttings and slogans, it’s a shiny new task force stacked with political appointees.
They’re calling it the Miami-Dade 250: We Are America Celebration Advisory Committee, which is already a mouthful and sounds like something cooked up after a long branding session and an even longer cafecito break.
The mayor says Miami-Dade has “a unique story to tell — one defined by unity, resilience, innovation, and shared values.”Ladra will pause here so readers can stop rolling their eyes.
Sure, Miami-Dade has a story to tell. Several, actually. Whether this committee will tell the real one — the messy, complicated, sometimes scandal-sprinkled version — remains to be seen. But don’t hold your breath.
According to the press release, the committee will “guide and elevate” the county’s participation in the national Semiquincentennial. Say that five times real fast.
In practice, that probably means a long list of meetings, subcommittees, planning retreats, and PowerPoints before anyone decides whether we’re getting a parade, a mural, a hashtag, or all three.
Read related: Miami-Dade budget restores 100% funds to non-profits = self preservation
The new group’s homework assignment includes drafting a countywide plan, coordinating with state and federal partners, encouraging civic engagement (good luck), hunting for money, and making sure Miami-Dade’s efforts align with whatever the national commission is doing. In other words: bureaucracy meets birthday party.
And who gets a seat at this table? Nine appointees selected by:

The mayor
The county commission chair
The League of Cities
The Legislative Delegation
The School Board
GMCVB
HistoryMiami
AFL-CIO
And a youth representative, presumably to prove this isn’t just an adults-talking-to-themselves exercise.

“It’s an opportunity to celebrate our history, while showcasing our community’s incredible diversity and the values that unite us,” La Alcaldesa said in a Facebook video post. “To ensure Miami-Dade’s full participation in this milestone… the committee will bring together civic and community leaders from across Miami-Dade to help guide the preparations for this historic year.
“Its members will play a key role in developing a comprehensive, countywide plan for events and initiatives that honor our history and celebrate our patriotism. As the gateway to the Americas and one of the most dynamic communities in the nation, Miami-Dade County perfectly captures the spirit of unity, resilience and progress that define America.”
Read related: Financial finesse? Miami-Dade budget shortfall disappears in final version
The mayor’s office will staff the operation and start corralling appointees in coming weeks. The first meeting is set for January 2026 — because nothing says “sense of urgency” like launching a committee six months before the anniversary year actually starts.
Look, Ladra isn’t knocking the idea of celebrating America’s 250th birthday. It’s a big deal. But Miami-Dade has more pressing issues — you know, like housing affordability, transit that never arrives, and the small matter of sea level rise licking our toes — than figuring out which county department gets to cut the “We Are America” cake.
Still, Levine Cava gets to send out a nice press release, everybody gets to feel patriotic, and maybe — maybe — we’ll get a celebration worthy of the milestone.
Or at least a commemorative logo. We’re really good at those.

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City Hall politicos must be starting to sweat
The citizen-driven overhaul of Miami’s busted political structure — the one the commissioners hoped nobody would pay attention to — is picking up steam. Stronger Miami, the political action committee formed earlier this year to put three major charter reforms on the 2026 ballot, announced this week that they’ve already collected more than 15,000 petition signatures from registered Miami voters.
That’s more than halfway to the 20,500 they need by this summer. And, believe me, City Hall is officially on notice.
This momentum comes right after voters last month overwhelmingly passed Referendum 3, creating Miami’s first-ever Citizens’ Redistricting Committee — something the commissioners did not want because, well, they prefer drawing their own electoral safety nets.
Read related: Miami Voters get it right on the fine print referendums: Yes, No, Yes, Yes
“Miami voters made their voices undeniable this November,” said Mel Meinhardt of One Grove Alliance, who has basically become Miami’s accidental good-government mascot after the city’s illegal 2022 gerrymander carved Coconut Grove into political confetti. One Grove is one of several community organizations in the Stronger Miami coalition.
“Fifteen thousand signatures and counting shows a city ready to turn the page,” Meinhardt said.
En otras palabras: People are tired of the five-headed political hydra running the city like their own private fiefdom.
The proposed charter amendment would bring exactly the kind of changes electeds would never put on the ballot themselves:

Expand the City Commission from five to nine members. Smaller districts. More representation. Less concentration of power. Also fewer opportunities for the infamous Three-Vote Mafia to cut deals in the dark.
Move city elections to November of even-numbered years. Higher voter participation. Lower costs. Fewer sleepy, manipulated 20% turnout races where commissioners get elected by their neighbors and donors’ employees.
Create real, enforceable redistricting standards. No more Franken-districts drawn around donors’ properties and commissioners’ future ambitions. The newly formed independent committee would actually have rules this time.

Commissioners had a chance in September to put the election year change on the Nov. 4 ballot — but it wasn’t as important as they made it seem when they didn’t get an extra year out of it.
Read related: City of Miami election year change won’t make November ballot, after all
There’s still a question about the election calendar move to even years. Does that extend the terms of whoever is sitting those chairs when the switch happens? That’s what Commissioner Damian Pardo wanted to do — give himself and Joe Carollo and Mayor Francis Suarez an extra year in office — when he proposed and passed moving this year’s elections to 2026. Thank Ochún (and Emilio González) that a judge set them straight: This kind of change has to be approved by voters.
And it looks like they may get the chance. Stronger Miami has more than half the signatures and have until the spring to get the rest if they want to put it on the 2026 ballot.
Back in April, Ladra told you how Stronger Miami launched this petition drive after the federal court ruling that shot down the city’s illegal 2022 redistricting maps. The judge not only tossed the maps — he slapped the city with marching orders to create a fair process going forward.
That ruling created the seed. The petition is the fertilizer. And City Hall’s arrogance is the sunshine.
Josh Kaufman, statewide organizer at the ACLU of Florida and Stronger Miami’s field general, said the quiet part out loud: “Voters are demanding a City Hall that truly represents them. With 15,000 signatures already collected, it is clear the movement for a stronger and more democratic Miami is only growing.”
Miami hasn’t expanded representation since it was founded. Yet the city has exploded in population and complexity. We still have five commissioners for 460,000 people — about 90,000 residents per commissioner.
Most well-run cities have half that ratio.
Read related: Petition aims to add Miami commission districts, change election to even years
But why change a system that works… for the politicians?
As Anthony “Andy” Parrish — PAC chair, watchdog and professional Miami BS detector — told Ladra once: “The solution to the pollution is dilution.” And baby, Miami has industrial-grade political pollution.
Parrish even suggested requiring commissioners to work out of district offices instead of that future Taj Mahal at Melreese. Imagine commissioners having to face actual residents on a daily basis. ¡Qué horror!
Increasing the commission to nine seats aligns Miami with the governance structure of other large metropolitan areas like Atlanta and Minneapolis, ensuring the city’s leadership reflects its diverse population. It also “lowers campaign costs for newer candidates to emerge, diluted concentrated power and makes local government more representative, and it makes it easier for city of Miami residents to have access to their city commissioner,” according to the Stronger Miami website.
Let’s be clear: this success will not go unnoticed. Miami commissioners love concentrated power like developers love variances. They are not going to sit back while residents take away their cozy little 3-vote empire. If history is any guide, we can expect dark money PACs and scare tactics, a barrage of bad texts, disinformation campaigns, whispers about “outside groups” and maybe even a last-minute “alternative” proposal designed to confuse voters.
Because nothing terrifies a Miami commissioner more than actual democracy.
The takeaway here is that 15,000 signatures isn’t just momentum — it’s a warning shot. Miami voters are awake. They’re angry. And they’re organizing.
Stronger Miami still has a mountain to climb, but they’ve already accomplished the thing the commission thought impossible: making real reform look inevitable.

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