Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla was arrested Thursday on money laundering and political corruption charges — including unlawful compensation, bribery and criminal conspiracy — after a yearlong investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Broward State Attorney’s office.

These charges do not stem from the shakedown of the Rickenbacker Marina operator (more on that later) or the COVID gift cards that went missing for months or the ghost employees in Diaz de la Portilla’s office. No. These charges reportedly stem from a commission vote last year to basically give Biscayne Park away to a private school whose lobbyist paid for the commissioner’s accommodations and a vacation, among other things, and served as his baby brother’s judicial campaign fundraiser.

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Nobody knows where it came from. Nobody remembers any discussion about it. It wasn’t on any of the slides in the presentation of the Coral Gables 2023-2024 operating budget at Wednesday’s first public hearing. It wasn’t in the draft budget presented to city commissioners and the public in July.

But tucked into the $258 million city budget is a hefty pay raise for the mayor and commissioners.

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Coral Gables Mayor Vince “Sore Loser” Lago is still upset about having both his commission candidates trounced in the April elections. So he keeps cutting newly-elected Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez — who was once a Lago ally — out of photographs he posts on social media. And he keeps ignoring them at public events, like ribbon cuttings, pretending they aren’t there.

“I have a business. I am a single mom. So when I take time out to go to an event, to a function and you don’t acknowledge it, it’s disrespectful,” Castro said at the meeting, calling the mayor out publicly.

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Three commissioners opposed him on firefighters and tax rate, too

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The residents of Little Gables, an enclave of unincorporated Miami-Dade nestled in North Gables, are voting right now on whether or not they want to be part of the City Beautiful, paying taxes into Coral Gables and getting services — most importantly police and fire — from Coral Gables.

It came as a surprise to at least one city commissioner that those steps were already taking place — and that ballots — which apparently only have a “yes” option — have to be in by Oct. 9. There is a community meeting about it on Sept. 27 at the city’s new police and fire headquarters, 2151 Salzedo St.

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