Now it’s getting interesting.
Coral Gables Commissioner Kirk Menendez filed paperwork Wednesday to run for mayor against incumbent Vince Lago, the egomaniac that he’s been battling for the last 20 months on the dais, setting the City Beautiful voters up for a gut-wrenching, nasty election. Menendez knows that Lago, who has raised and spent at least $1.4 million through his political action committee, is going to get ugly. Or uglier, as it were.
But he’s had it.
“I gave him every chance to mend fences and bring our community together,” Menendez told Political Cortadito about his decision to challenge the Lago. “But as time went by, I lost hope that he could redeem himself.”
Menendez, who won his first commission race in 2021 in a field of five, was going to run for re-election against a Lago recruited and backed candidate named Richard Lara, a big shot attorney for a radio giant who is likely to run against someone else now for the open seat. Las malas lenguas say Felix Pardo is considering. Coach Kirk, as Menendez is familiarly known, shifted his attention to the mayoral seat Wednesday. He promised to “bring civility, stability, and selfless leadership in a continued commitment to prioritizing the voices of residents.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago gets shut down, censured by 3 he disparaged
“As we celebrate our centennial, the future of Coral Gables is as bright as it has ever been. I remain steadfast in my commitment to the values and ideals that define our Coral Gables community,” Menendez said in a statement. “This is an exciting time for our residents, as our City Beautiful embarks on its journey into the next 100 years. I ask for your support, so that together, we can preserve and protect the way of life that makes Coral Gables so special.”

Menendez is also known as Mr. Coral Gables because of his longtime community activism, including a stint as chairman of the city’s parks and recreation advisory board, and deep roots in the City Beautiful. He volunteers at St. Theresa School, Church of the Little Flower, Knights of Columbus and the Gift Meal Project. He grew up at the Youth Center before it was the “War Memorial Youth Center” and later became a beloved soccer coach. He is currently president of the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center Association.
These credentials will serve him well against Lago, who may be better funded but is quickly losing support among voters because of his political attacks and constant complaining on the dais. The mayor has taken sour grapes to a whole new level. That might be why his fundraising has slowed down dramatically, raising less than $10,000 for both his PAC and his campaign account (which has $169K total) since June. According to the most recent campaign finance reports, Lago’s PAC, Coral Gables First, has about $110,00 left from its $1.5 million total raised.
It may not really matter. As evidenced by the last election, where Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez beat the mayor’s handpicked candidates — which were better financed — Gables voters are not easily bought. Menendez himself beat the better funded candidate backed by Lago in 2021. These local elections are driven more by the issues dividing the community — development, traffic, annexation. This year, we’ll add the hostility at City Hall, where the mayor — who almost got into fisticuffs with the city manager in a conference room earlier this year — has made multiple public records requests through real or imaginary proxies in vendetta battles with the three commissioner who don’t carry his water.
Read related: Vince Lago tries to sneak election date change into strategic plan via committee
Lago has already used his PAC money to go after Castro, Fernandez and Menendez. His camp sends regular text messages to Gables voters questioning his colleagues’ motives and calling them incompetent. Sour, sour grapes.
He’s also spent some of his political capital on a failed petition effort to put three referendum questions on the Gables ballot, one of which would move the election from April to November. He realized, after the last election, that hardcore Gables super voters are harder to fool than the general election voters who show up for presidential or state races and pay no attention to micro local politics.
Lago has been poison on and off the dais. On the dais, he is the master of gas lighting, accusing the three commissioners who have butt heads with him of creating political drama when it is he who turns everything into a fight. Off the dais, he’s gone on radio and television programs to disparaged his colleagues and their family members. Last October, Menendez moved to censure the mayor during a commission meeting. He got the censure approved 3-2, with only Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson — the mayor’s only ally who has recently shown signs of wavering — voting against the censure.
In April, let’s see if Menendez can get voters to censure Lago.
It’s going to be interesting.
The post Kirk Menendez runs for Coral Gables mayor against city bully Vince Lago appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust found probable cause that a civilian employee at the Miami Beach Police Department exploited his position and violated the outside employment sections of the county’s conflict of interest code.
Clifford Sparks, the former supervisor of the Crime Analysis Unit, was found to have used his position to facilitate an introduction between lifelong friend and business partner Richard Jerome, owner of Crime Suppression Technologies, and the police department “with the goal of developing a software program for MBPD’s record management system, creating a potential financial benefit for himself,” said a statement from the Ethics Commission last month.
A complaint was filed by the city of Miami Beach Inspector General Joseph Centorino and after a joint investigation with the COE, Sparks admitted to using his subordinates to test CST software during work hours and basically reporting to Jerome, not the chief, “devoting between 15-20 hours per week, including city work hours, in furtherance of CST’s software development,” the statement reads.
He not only worked on the project himself, he also ordered equipment on the city dime to test the project and ordered subordinate employees to test equipment related to that project while on city time.
Sparks also failed to file forms disclosing outside employment and the nature of work being done during two tax years, as required by the county’s Conflict of Interest Code.
For all of this, Sparks — whose last known salary at the city of Miami Beach was $106,000 a year — was fined $1,500 and given a “letter of instruction,” which basically says “don’t do it again.”
The whole investigation began in February when four female civilian employees of the crime analysis unit came to the city’s Office of the Inspector General to file complaints against Sparks, a former police officer who was their supervisor. They accused him of  sexual harassment and misuse of city resources in connection with private business activity.
Some called it his “get rich quick” scheme.

“During the initial and several subsequent meetings with the OIG, the complainants provided details on both matters, including personal observations and experiences, as well as documents such as texts, departmental purchase records, photographs and related material,” wrote Inspector General Joseph Centorino in his report.

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The Miami-Dade Commission on Tuesday will consider purchasing a warehouse property on Northwest 25th Street for $17 million in order to provide future parking and/or a staging area for future construction at Miami International Airport.
The seller has already provided the four tenants at the property — including a luxury car rental business — with a notice of termination of their leases and will reportedly pay for the demolition of existing buildings within six months of purchase, according to a county memo prepared by Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Morales.
“The Property is east of MIA and is intended to be utilized by the Aviation Department for any compatible land use such as parking, or as a lay down yard (i.e., construction staging area), which is a designated area where materials and equipment can be stored and used in connection with a construction project, ensuring the project begins on time and managed more efficiently,” Morales says in his memo, adding that the zoning (industrial-heavy manufacturing) allows for the proposed uses, “including surface and/or structured parking.”
Miami-Dade Aviation has several big projects in the pipeline, including the $400 million cargo facility and the $270 million redesign of the Central Terminal — the first $40 million phase of which coming — and there is already limited space on the airport campus to stage the construction.
Read related: Miami-Dade could give design of $270 mil MIA project without a second look
“The acquisition of this Property will allow the Miami-Dade Aviation Department to utilize the land for parking or as a construction staging area to better organize and facilitate the implementation of its capital improvement portfolio. The Property could also be used for any compatible land use that meets MIA’s demand for global air travel and air freight cargo or for operational purposes,” Morales wrote.
Two state-certifieid appraisers provided appraisals of the property came in at $17 million and $17.2 million, but Miami-Dade Property Appraiser records show that the three parcels at 3901 and 3975 Northwest 25th Street and 3900 Northwest 26th Street, have a combined market value of $11.9 million. The larger parcel has a market value of $10.5 million and the two smaller parcels, which are now used for surface parking, are a combined $1.4 million.

It wouldn’t be the first time the county (read: taxpayers) pay a higher value for a property. Recently, the commission voted to purchase the La Quinta Hotel on U.S. 1 to use as housing for senior homeless, paying $14 million, or $4 million over the appraised value. Commissioners Daniella Cohen Higgins and Rene Garcia voted against it.
The seller of these three parcels has disclosed that there is some contamination on the 150,000 square foot property, Morales said. An initial report by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department’s civil environment engineering division reported no immediate areas of concern, based on the proposed uses. But the county can conduct a more thorough environmental study, he added.
In the memo, Morales says the company is based in Delaware — which is always a red flag — but Florida Department of Corporation records show it is based in Denver, with an address at a co-working, shared office space. MIA at 25th Street is apparently a partner company with Prologis, the largest industrial property owner in South Florida, which is listed as one of the tenants at the Denver address.
District 6 Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera proposed the item on the agenda. Several attempts to reach him Monday were unsuccessful.
 
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With more than 56% of the vote, Miami Lakes Commissoner Josh Dieguez changed his title to mayor last week, beating Vice Mayor Tony Fernandez in a runoff where almost 19% of the registered voters turned out. He will replace Mayor Manny Cid, who was termed out and lost a bid to unseat Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava without the need for a runoff.
In the Nov. 5 election, neither won the majority and some observers say it was because a plantidate Yuniett Gonzalez, a political newbie who had previously given to the Dieguez campaign, got 11%, just enough to force the runoff. As usual, political shenanigans paid off.
Read related: Miami Lakes plantidate forces mayoral runoff: Josh Dieguez vs Tony Fernandez
Dieguez, 35, also just ran a better campaign. An attorney, he is a former member of the rock blasting task force and his messages on public safety, fiscal transparency, traffic mitigation, flooding and infrastructure support, and protecting green spaces were more focused. Fernandez, a business owner, had a simpler message of “people over politics” and keeping the village status quo, which just fell flat.
“I did my best,” Fernandez told the Miami Laker. “It wasn’t in the cards, but you know, on to bigger and better challenges.”
Bigger and better challenges? Good luck with that. Maybe the voters were right.
“It feels great to be the mayor of the town I grew up in,” Dieguez was quoted as saying. “It’s a real honor and a dream come true. I’m looking forward to use that time to focus on the things that make Miami Lakes special and will focus on infrastructure and constituent services.”
The race was pretty even when it comes to campaign funding. According to campaign finance reports, Dieguez raised $85,000 to Fernandez’s $81,000 and spent $74,500 to his $66,000 during the campaign.
 
 
The post Josh Dieguez solidly wins Miami Lakes mayoral runoff race with 12-point lead appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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The hand-wringing process of replacing or rebuilding the Miami-Dade County garbage incinerator that burned down in Doral in February of last year has been long and messy.
It was supposed to be decided in September. Then they put it off until after the election. In November, they put it off to this Tuesday. But the mayor has already requested a 90-day deferral of the matter — after the future president weighed in. We haven’t seen her memo explaining her reasons yet.
Let’s review the events of the last few days.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, whose staff previously recommended, based on a paid study, unused county land across the Urban Development Boundary and close to the city of Miramar — which threatened to sue — seemed to have changed course last weekend and recommended the county rebuild the waste-to-energy plant right where it burned down. It’s the cheapest, fastest option.
Miramar celebrated. Doral booed.
Last week, president elect Donald Trump, who owns the Trump National Doral golf resort, one of the city’s biggest properties, apparently weighed in through his son, Eric Trump, who had lunch with Commissioner Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez and the family’s local lobbyist, Felix Lasarte last week, according to the Miami Herald. Bermudez, the former Doral mayor, who has been leading the fight against the Doral location.
Read related: To keep a new Miami-Dade garbage incinerator away, get ready to pay
Bermudez told Juan Camilo Gómez at Actualidad Radio Monday morning that he had also talked to developer Armando Codina, a habitual political campaign contributor who built Downtown Doral and was also concerned.
Doral’s current Mayor Christi Fraga is over the moon.
“This deferral for an additional 90 days is a clear testament to the power of our collective action,” she wrote in an email blast Sunday. “The united efforts of our community, including input from community leaders and organizations like Trump National Doral, have put significant pressure on the county mayor to reconsider her recommendation and proposal. This demonstrates our city’s strength and determination to protect the health, quality of life, and future of all who live, work, and enjoy Doral.”

The city had planned to bus residents to the commission meeting Tuesday to object to the $1.5 billion plant being rebuilt there.
County commissioners had previously asked both the cities of Doral and Miramar what is was worth to them to keep the incinerator away. They basically tried to create a bidding NIMBY war.
It’s weird to see the Trumps on the same side as people like former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell, a onetime Democrat candidate for Congress who now advocates for the Sierra Club, and environmental activists that have asked the county to be more creative and think beyond burning garbage. Principally, they want Miami-Dade residents — who produce at least twice as much trash as anywhere in the country — to recycle more, reduce their waste and, get this, compost.
In November, Commissioner Eileen Higgins successfully passed a resolution to phase out the use of single-use plastics and styrofoam in all future county contracts and county-run concessions.
Higgins had an item about composting on Tuesday’s agenda, but it has been withdrawn. A report from the Department of Regulatory Resources (RER) and Solid Waste Management (DSWM) identified some immediate actions the county could take to advance and promote composting, but warned about possible contamination of the Biscayne Aquifier.
Still, there are things that can be addressed right away.

A zoning code amendment to exempt commercial composting operations on farms from requiring public hearings, to streamline the approval process
An Environmental Quality Control Board (EQCB) Class Variance Order to provide for administrative approvals for composting operations on properties without public water or sewer systems
An evaluation of how composting projects would compete with existing solid waste management systems

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