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.
Miami-Dade District 2 bunch has a lot of passion; two candidates stand out
All six candidates in the Miami-Dade District 2 race are experienced public servants or civic leaders and any one of them would make a good county commissioner. But two candidates stood out for the right reasons Thursday in The Miami Foundation’s forum: Wallace Aristide and Joe Celestin.
These two — a former principal of Miami Northwestern who is now principal of ITech magnet and a former mayor of North Miami — showed a real grasp of municipal government, budgets and issues. They answered questions with details and authority, passion and conviction.
Retiring Miami-Dade School Board chair sends governor a parting gift: ‘Pfft’
A week after banning two sex ed books, the board approves them
Three Miami Beach candidates line up to fill vacant Mark Samuelian seat
Last week, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and Commissioners Ricky Arriola and David Richardson came to their senses (read: were shamed into it) and switched sides, voting to actually have a special election within the November ballot to fill the vacancy left by the sudden death of late Commissioner Mark Samuelian, instead of appointing a lackey.
This week, we already have three well-known hopefuls who want to take Samuelian’s place.
Miami Beach voters have six questions on Aug. 23 ballot — and 2 new PACs
Voters in Miami Beach will have to wait until November to vote for a person in the special election to fill the vacancy left by the sudden death of late Commissioner Mark Samuelian. And the really good questions, like what to do with the historic Deauville Hotel (more on that later) will be taken to voters in November.
But there are six referendums on the August primary ballot in Miami Beach to swap land for a new community health center, change residency requirements, make it harder for developers to increase density and easier for owners of apartment hotels to convert to 100% long-term residential.
Boring forum does nada to help voters pick from 4 in Miami-Dade D6 race
When did we decide that forums were better than debates? And why? Spoiler: They’re not.
The first commission candidate forum put on by The Miami Foundation was boring enough that Ladra recommends a recording, if they have one, but only for anyone having trouble getting to sleep. Yawn.
Misleading mailers and inferred endorsements abound as election nears
Several candidates try to fool voters with photos and fake ‘voter guides’
Renier Diaz de la Portilla uses brother’s PAC to attack with lie in judicial race
Judicial races are different, everybody says. They are more civil. They aren’t as vitriolic as state or county races in South Florida, where candidates are “communists” and investigations are exaggerated or made up altogether.
Well, maybe they were different — before Renier Diaz de la Portilla decided to run against an incumbent non-Hispanic judge.
Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo posts extreme views, promotes ‘big lie’
You sort of expect to see this kind of post on Facebook by radicals or Proud Boys or something. But not from the elected mayor of Miami-Dade’s second largest and Florida’s sixth largest city.
Yet, Esteban Bovo‘s campaign instagram account posted this extremely radical image last week on the account’s story.
Marco Rubio fights back vs aggressive Val Demings in dueling video ads
By now, everyone has seen them. Congresswoman Val Demings, presenting a very real challenge to Sen. Marco Rubio, has released a pair of TV commercials that show she’s getting aggressive in this race.
The first ad positions the Democrat, a former Orlando police officer and chief from 2007 to 2011, as the law and order candidate. Demings walks across a timeline with photos of her 27-year law enforcement career and says she will fight against “bad ideas” like defunding the police.
Eugene Flinn tries for Palmetto Bay mayor a third time with rematch
Former and founding Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn will run for the village’s top seat again, challenging current incumbent Mayor Karyn Cunningham in what amounts to a rematch.
Cunningham beat Flinn with 61% of the vote in 2018 when he was the incumbent. It was his second stint on the job, after he snatched it from former Mayor Shelley Stanczyk in 2014. Once again, he says, the current mayor just isn’t up to snuff and he wants to “get our village back on track.”
