Miami is a fast paced community with a rapid fire news cycle. Our blog keeps you current on the most important issues affecting the tax payers of Miami-Dade county. Read, share, comment, and as always let us know what topics you want us to tackle.
Annette Taddeo vows to keep fighting; ‘I don’t need a title to get shit done’
After a surprisingly hard loss Tuesday to Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, an upbeat Sen. Annette Taddeo blasted the Florida Democratic Party and vowed to keep fighting for South Florida’s needs.
“I don’t need a title to get shit done,” she told her supporters after conceding defeat. And she read a text message that her daughter sent voters earlier Tuesday before the election ended.
South Miami has new mayor Javier Fernandez and 2 new council members
The council in South Miami changed significantly Tuesday when a new mayor and two new council members were elected. Mayor Javier Fernandez, a former state rep, and Council members Steve Calle and Lisa Bonich were sworn in on Wednesday.
Former Mayor Horace Feliu was rejected by voters once again — for the fourth or fifth time — giving Fernandez 63% of the vote. The new mayor is seen as someone who can bring energy and ideas and, importantly, someone who listens to the residents and will champion their priorities.
Republicans beat Democrats across the board in Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade voters painted the town red Tuesday when ballots counted showed that Republican candidates had won all but one local partisan race.
The only exception: Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who handily beat her opponent, Jesus Navarro, with 71% of the vote.
Miami-Dade Commission races — a tale of two counties for Districts 2 and 6
Marleine Bastien and Kevin Marino Cabrera won their respective races
The last two new Miami-Dade Commissioners to be elected Tuesday couldn’t be farther apart on the political spectrum.
Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio, together again, as friends not foes
Parade of who’s who in the Florida GOP poured praise on ex POTUS
Could mayoral veto of Miami-Dade commission’s ugly UDB vote survive?
Same 8 commissioners who approved the application could override
Attorney: South Miami candidates could have taken more campaign $$
Less than two weeks before Election Day, South Miami City Attorney Thomas Pepe issued an opinion last week that the city’s $250 limit on campaign contributions was null and void. It has been since July, 2021.
That’s when the state legislature passed a bill that not only pre-empted municipalities from restricting contributions to less than the state limit of $1,000 per person or entity, but also retroactively scrapped any limits already set. The South Miami $250 contribution limit was passed in 1991.
Miami Lakes Optimist Park $20M bond referendum cost in croquetas
Miami Lakes has a $20 million general obligation bond referendum on the ballot to renovate and improve Optimist Park, which has a port-a-pottie and enough chronic flooding to cancel multiple baseball games.
Vice Mayor Jeffrey Rodriguez, who has been out at early voting every day to push a yes vote, gets the prize for the best campaign ad this cycle. And it’s not really an ad. It’s a graphic he posted on the Facebook I Love Miami Lakes page. But it’s a good one.
On fourth try, Miami-Dade Commission approves huge project beyond the UDB
The fourth time was the charm for the developers of the South Dade Logistics and Technology District, a 380-acre industrial and office park proposed on what used to be farmland — just over the Miami-Dade Urban Development Boundary.
They got the necessary 8-4 supermajority, instead of the 9 votes they would have needed if the vacant seat left by the removal of Joe Martinez was filled. But lobbyist Jeffrey Bercow et al can thank two commissioners in particular: Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz — who fought tooth and nail for them from the beginning — and Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who changed her vote from no to yes in exchange for (read: under cover of) getting some environmentally endangered lands in return.
Heated Senate race goes nuclear as cubanitas clash, attack each other
The heated race for an open Florida State senate seat in District 38 has gone from warm to nuclear as both candidates take turns stinging each other and pointing fingers at each other like mosquitas muertas.
For weeks, they campaigned on their own merits. Republican Alexis Calatayud, campaign manager and onetime legislative aide to former State Rep. Vance Aloupis, stressed her experience with the Florida Department of Education for the last two years, including during the pandemic. Democrat Janelle Perez, who once interned for Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, stressed her experience as a mom, cancer survivor and business owner (her family owns Doctors HealthCare Plans) with an intense interest in healthcare access.
