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Man found dead under controversial Palmetto Bay bridge under construction
Village leaders and worried residents in Palmetto Bay sounded the alarm last year when Miami-Dade County chose Magnum Construction Management to build the controversial bridge that crosses over a canal that breaks up 87th Avenue at 164th Street. After all, MCM (former Munilla Construction Management) was one of the contractors involved in the awful Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse over Southwest 8th Street in 2018, which killed six and left an indelible mark on the rest of us forever.
“This is a direct threat to the safety of our families and our community,” wrote Mayor Karyn Cunningham in a mass text to residents, informing them of a special meeting she had called. “As your mayor, I’m fighting to stop this dangerous project,” Cunningham’s text read.
Lots of people thought she was exaggerating and playing politics as a fierce critic of the bridge.
Read related: Miami-Dade picks FIU bridge builder for 87th Avenue bridge project
But this week, a man was found dead under the 66-foot expanse under construction at connecting 164th Street and 87th, the victim of what authorities say was an “industrial accident.” No foul play is expected. NBC6 Local News reported that the man was found in a pool of water with his shirt off on the construction site.
Without having the full information yet, Cunningham issued a statement Friday that doubled down on her position and asks the county to halt the project in mid construction.
“I’m writing to express concern over the incident that occurred on March 25 at the location where the SW 87th Avenue Bridge is being built over the C-100 canal, here in Palmetto Bay,” she wrote on a message posted on the village website.
“As we previously reported on our social media, a fatality occurred that day at the construction site. So far, we have learned that deputies from the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene shortly after 1 pm to find an unresponsive adult male beneath the bridge area. The person was pronounced deceased on scene. An investigation ensued and is currently underway. According to the Sheriff’s Office, preliminary findings point to an industrial accident and no foul play is suspected. A final determination on the manner and cause of death will be made by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner.
“Our Village Council has been concerned about the safety of this project for quite some time. On August 8, 2024, we called a Special Council Meeting shortly after learning that the contractor selected by Miami-Dade County to build the bridge was the same company whose subcontractor was found to be responsible for the 2018 FIU bridge collapse that took the lives of six people. The purpose of the public meeting was to discuss safety concerns and issues surrounding the project, which were then voiced in a comprehensive letter sent to the Inspector General and county officials. That letter addressed potential misconduct, ethical breaches, and violations of state and county law that we felt constituted genuine safety concerns for our residents and our community. We asked county officials to consider pausing the project until these concerns were addressed, but despite our best efforts, construction of the bridge was allowed to proceed.
“After the death of the worker at the construction site, we feel that our concerns for public safety were justly warranted. Our Village Council and staff join the community in mourning the worker who lost his life, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family. And, as the investigation into his death continues, we once again urge the county to consider a comprehensive assessment of the project, evaluating all associated safety concerns that pose a potential risk not only to other workers on the site, but possibly to our residents as well.
“Given the magnitude of this project, we feel that no amount of oversight is too great to ensure the public wellbeing.”
Of course, Cunningham never wanted the bridge to begin with.
Read related: Danielle Cohen Higgins earns distrust with surprise revisit to 87th Ave bridge
The construction of the bridge was approved by a majority of the county commissioners, against the village’s official wishes, in 2021, after hearing from more than 130 people at a county TPO meeting. Mostly those north of the bridge were against it and those who live south were in favor. The county’s Department of Transportation and Public works began the process last year. But residents have continued to protest along the way.
Ladra reached out to the office of Miami-Dade District 8 Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, who started championing the bridge soon after her appointment to the board, but Political Cortadito has not been able to connect with her staff at the time of this late Friday posting.
Check this space for updates.
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Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago camp uses Jesus image to hit Kirk Menendez
Bringing political campaigns to an all new low — or is it a new high? — a Coral Gables supporter or supporters of Mayor Vince Lago posted a photo on social media earlier this month that morphed the face of Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who is running against the incumbent for mayor, with an image of Jesus Christ.
The message beneath the post by Aesop Gables, a known surrogate for Lago: “Whoever has the Kirk, has life; whoever does not have the Kirk does not have life.” It cites the book of George. Merrick?
Was this mocking Menendez’s strong faith and longtime active involvement in the church? How does this help the Lago campaign? Is the incumbent mayor appealing to people who hate Christ?
Whatever the message was, it has backfired some. Las viejitas in Coral Gables (read: senior voters) are clutching their pearls. The shocked reaction forced the Lago campaign — not Lago, but the campaign — to issue a statement denying association to the image. But it seemed really like a self-promotional plug. Not an apology or even a disassociation.
“The Vince Lago campaign strongly condemns the use of religious imagery for political attacks,” his handlers posted on social media. “Mayor Vince Lago is a proud Catholic, as is his family. His faith is personal, not political. His daughters attend Catholic School, and like many in our community, he believes faith should unite, and not divide.
“Let’s keep this campaign about the issues that matter to our residents,” the post read, listing the issues that really don’t matter to many or maybe most residents, “… not cheap shots and religious attacks.”
All he had to do was make a phone call. Because the one who made the cheap religious attack was Aesop Gables, a blogger long known to be a strong Lago supporter and surrogate. It would be insane to think that Aesop posted that image of the Kirk Christ without Lago’s permission or, at the very least, knowledge.
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Coral Gables candidate Richard Lara has not voted in the city since 1999
Before Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago hand-picked attorney Richard Lara to run for city commission, in an effort to try to get his majority back with a third guaranteed vote, Lara was not at all involved in city politics. He hasn’t served on any boards. He never spoke before the commission, until he announced his run for office last year in a tacky move.
He hasn’t even voted in a single Coral Gables election since 1999.
Lara is asking for Gables residents to vote for him in this April 8 election, paints himself as a lifelong resident who cares deeply about the city. Yet he hasn’t cast a ballot in the City Beautiful in more than two decades. That’s because he lived in Westchester for a 17-year stint between calling Coral Gables home.
According to public records obtained from the Miami-Dade Elections Department, Lara has voted almost exclusively in national and state elections. He voted absentee in November, but did not vote in the primary last year. Ladra can’t help but wonder if Lago knows that Lara didn’t vote in the 2023 election, where the mayor’s two other handpicked candidates lost to commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez. Lara voted in the general election in 2022, but not in the city elections in 2021.
Read related: Coral Gables candidate Richard Lara campaigns in public comments — again
That’s because he was not eligible, or not registered to vote in the Gables election until June of 2021. Lara, who has repeatedly said he has lived in Coral Gables all his life, lived in Westchester for a spell. Miami-Dade property records show he purchased a home on Cadagua in 1998 and sold it in 2003. That could explain why he voted in the city in 1999.
But Lara hasn’t voted once since then. Not even 2001. Or after he moved back in 2021, when, county records show, he and his wife Bertha — who were married in 1997, according to the county clerk’s records — purchased their home on Coral Way for $1.5 million. Before that, Lara was registered from 2003 to 2021 to vote at a house near 97th Avenue and 30th Street owned by Bertha Canales, which is his wife’s maiden name. So, her house or her mom’s.
Lara, taking a page from his master’s book, did not return calls, texts and emails from Political Cortadito.
Attorney Thomas “Tom” Wells, who is running in the open seat against Lara (and transit lobbyist and onetime commission candidate Claudia Miro, too), is making this an issue. It’s smart. It is yet more evidence that Lara is just a Johnny Come Lately, and at the behest of the mayor for no other reason than to be a pocket vote on the commission dais.
At a recent forum hosted by the Gables Good Government group, Lara — whose entire campaign mirrors the issues that are hammered by Mayor Lago — tried to backtrack on the lies about living in the Gables his whole life saying that he has “always considered” Coral Gables home even though he technically lived out of the city. “His response prompted laughter from the audience,” says a story in the Coral Gables Gazette that provides a snapshot of the event.
Read related: School-based PTA forum for Coral Gables candidates has no big surprises
Strangely enough, Wells — who is endorsed by the active resident group Coral Gables Neighbors Association — also pulled the data for Lara’s wife, who did vote in the Gables elections of 2001 and 2005, which seems to indicate that she and Richard Lara were not living in the same house. Or that she committed voter fraud. Either, or. Ladra would ask the newly elected Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia to look into it, but she was at Lago’s town hall Thursday, so she may be biased.
Maybe Wells did it because he wanted to tout his wife’s own voting record, which is perfect. Dianne Wells has voted in every city election back to 1999. That’s 15 times, while Tom Wells, the candidate, has voted 10 times. He could not tell Ladra why he did not vote those years he was a no-show. “Maybe I was traveling,” he told Ladra.
But the local vote is important, he says.
“It shows commitment and passion to the city. It just shows you care,” Wells told Political Cortadito.
Records indicate that Miro, a former planning and zoning board member who ran for commission in 2021 and lost in a crowded race (Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson won in a runoff), is close behind with only one less vote in the city recorded. She was endorsed by The Miami Herald this week and is basically seen as an independent candidate. Lara is on an intentional slate with Lago and Anderson. Wells is on a defacto slate with Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who is running for mayor, and architect Felix Pardo, who is running against Anderson.
The next day, Community Newspapers — which endorsed Lara’s master, Mayor Lago, earlier — endorsed Lara, without even questioning the other candidates. Tsk, tsk. Ladra expects an endorsement for Anderson next.
Most longtime political observers believe this race (more on it later) is heading into a runoff because none of the three candidates will pull 50% plus one of the April 8 vote. That would be proof that every vote counts.
Someone better tell Lara.
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Mayor Vince Lago’s personal affair with chief of staff becomes campaign fodder
For years, the rumors have persisted about the emotional and physical affair between Mayor Vince Lago and his now Chief of Staff of One Chelsea Granell, who used to be Chelsea Granell Lindsey before her divorce.
Ladra has ignored these rumors despite the fact that Granell has seemingly benefitted from the relationship with promotions and significant raises, while the mayor attacks his opponent for having voted to increase commission salaries fo the first time in decades. But now it has become campaign fodder as a public records request for a slew of public documents referring to communications between Lago, Granell and Lago’s wife, Olga Lago — including text messages, call logs or “any reports referencing confrontations between them” — is making its rounds with City Hall insiders.
The request is also for any “official or unofficial records, security logs, visitor logs, or documentation indicating Chelsea Granell’s presence at Mayor Lago’s home, any city records or internal communications discussing or acknowledging Chelsea Granell visiting Mayor Lago’s home for personal reasons, including interactions with his wife,” and “any surveillance footage, security reports, or other documentation related to Chelsea Granell’s presence at locations associated with Mayor Lago outside of normal work-related duties.”
Also requested are any emails or texts messages between Olga Lago and city staff regarding the alleged relationship, any Human Resources complaints or reports or documentation related to their alleged relationship, and any records of media inquiries or photographs, video recordings or phone records that reflect the relationship.
Read related: Kirk Menendez strikes back at Coral Gables Mayor ‘Lyin’ Vince Lago’
The requests sound like “Mike Fernandez” has first hand knowledge or knows someone with first hand knowledge of details.
This might sound like a well-timed, politically-motivated fishing expedition but it’s really a map of sorts to a real affair that may have caused the mayor to abuse his power and position. Ladra has spoken to several City Hall insiders, past and present, as well as two people close to the husband, David Lindsey, who used to work in the city’s public works department (his departure was for a better opportunity before he learned of the affair, sources say). They all say the affair was real and was what led to the divorce. It may have ended at one point and Granell tried to make amends with her estrange husband. That may have been around the same time of an alleged confrontation between her and the mayor’s wife and also her promotion to “chief of staff” — although there is no actual staff — which resulted in about a 10% raise.
Chelsea Granell and Vince Lago at the Alhambra Parc launch event earlier this year.
In fact, since she started working for Lago, Granell’s pay increases through promotion, merit, cost of living or special compensation for her work as a “legislative manager advisor” (even though the city pays a professional lobbyist), has gone up several pay grades, which is what the mayor keeps hammering his opponent, Commissioner Kirk Menendez, for, after the latter voted with the majority in 2023 to increase their salaries from a laughable $36,488, which hadn’t increased in decades, to a less laughable but still funny $65,000.
Granell’s salary was $91,165 last year.
She also was one of the real estate agents, with Lago, who hung their license at Rosa Commercial Real Estate, the brokerage firm owned by former Hialeah Councilman Oscar de la Rosa, stepson of Hialeah Mayor Esteban “Stevie” Bovo, and that got a $640,000 commission for the sale of a Ponce de Leon building to Location Ventures and developer Rishi Kapoor, who we have since learned was paying Miami Mayor Francis Suarez at least $170,000 for “consulting” while seeking approvals for a development in Miami.
Read related: Brokerage firm cleans house after corruption arrests, drops Vince Lago
The sources closest to Granell also say that, as a real estate agent, she sold the house on Aledo street to Lago’s fundraiser, Brian Goldmeier — the one where he nailed the orchid to the tree — and that she has done freelance work for the company owned by Jesse Manzano, who is running Lago’s campaign and is heavily invested in his political future.
Lago never calls Ladra back or responds to texts. Granell got immediately defensive and dramatic after the first courtesy phone call to provide her the opportunity to comment. She said she knew nothing about the public records request — which would make her one of the last at City Hall to hear about it — and threatened to sue Ladra for defamation. After the call was disconnected and Ladra tried again, she said she was driving to the new public service building to file a police report about my “harassment.”
Goldmeier did not return a call. A recording on a call made to Jesse Manzano said Ladra’s number was blocked, but that I could leave a message anyway, so I did.
Ladra hears the mayor is reeling from this public records request and has lashed out for the first time against fat chance opponent Michael Anthony Abbott, who, las malas lenguas say, is the one that made the request. Lago had been ignoring him before.
Abbott denies having made the public records request. “I haven’t made any public records requests about Lago,” Abbott, who is embroiled in a lawsuit against the city, told Political Cortadito. And it is very possible he is being scapegoated because he didn’t even know who Granell is. “Who?” he asked.
He also said the information on the text is from sealed records and would forward it to his attorney for a response.
The attack text is paid for by Miami-Dade Residents First, which, according to public records with the Florida Division of Elections, was created last September and has raised $230,000 — including $78K from Mayor Francis Suarez‘s Miami For Everyone PAC, and, through another PAC, at least $5,000 from attorney Ben Alvarez, who Lago was going to appoint to the code enforcement board and then backed off after complaints about his checkered past.
Most of that was spent through the last report through December, some of it to one of the campaign consultants working for Lago. We may not know how much was spent this first quarter of 2025 until the April 8 election is over.
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Effort to dissolve Miami DDA cites ‘bloated’ salaries, redundancy, UFC gift
The Miami Downtown Development Authority, an entity that was formed in 1967 to promote the urban core and bring development, has a budget of $13.5 million through a special tax levy on properties within its district boundaries in downtown, Brickell and Edgewater. About a quarter of that is on salaries, some of which seem excessive and redundant.
This has some people talking about dissolving the agency and one downtown activist calling for a November referendum if the city commission won’t do it.
One example of redundant salaries cited is a total of six people working in-house marketing and public relations functions for a total of more than $640,000 in salaries and benefits:
Head of marketing and communications — $157,091
Marketing advisor — $123,203
Marketing department “collaborator” — $53,539
Content contributor — $82,195
Public information officer — 91,957
Brand integrity expert — $134,662
And the DDA also has one of the state’s top public relations firms on retainer for another $175K a year.
Isn’t that a little redundant?
Read related: Miami DDA gives UFC $100K for event, despite protest from downtowners
That’s more than $800,000 on marketing and communications, a lot of investment in PR. And, yet, Ladra has never seen any promotion to bring suburbanites downtown, which seems like low-hanging fruit.
What’s a “brand integrity expert” anyway? Why is that needed for downtown redevelopment advocacy?
The redundancy seems to be a theme.
There is a head of urban planning pulling in $177,143 and an urban planning strategist making $107,261. But all urban planning and zoning decisions are made by the city commission through the planning and zoning board. And there are two “enhanced services coordinator” positions — one at $100,692 and another at $89,787 — as well as a head of enhanced services and government affairs making $116,711. There is also a business and grants expert ($104,425), an “office and finance expert” ($106,137), a business development advisor ($107132), a “strategic partnership specialist” ($121,567) and a chief of economic and development strategy ($205,326).
These seemingly redundant salaries are one of the arguments being made by Downtown Neighbors Association President James Torres, who did a public records request for the budget and salaries (posted above) after the agency gave $100,000 to the UFC for events at the Kaseya Center next month. The taxpayer giveaway is what set Torres off and led to his push to dissolve the agency he says is taking advantage of downtown property owners.
At the very least, Torres says, the residents should stop being taxed. The city commission could establish a business district, like in Wynwood, where only the commercial property owners would be taxed for the DDA services. “The residents are paying 58% of this tax,” Torres told Political Cortadito. “If it was truly for the benefit of residents, okay. But there are no discount cards. We have to hire a third party contract for our trash pick up.
“Residents want a divorce,” Torres said.
Read related: Op Ed by DNA President James Torres: Miami doesn’t need a DDA anymore
But DDA Director Christina Crespi says the marriage is strong and that the DDA has evolved over the years.
Fresh from a meeting to discuss efforts to mitigate the upcoming Ultra musical festival — coordination of traffic, communication to residents, working with the county to have the MetroMover open later — Crespi told Political Cortadito that the agency does a lot for the residents and businesses of the area. She cited the freebie circulator, the permit clinic, the downtown enhancement team of former homeless individuals staffing bathrooms at the park, the graffiti clean up (850 incidents of graffiti just this month, she added), the landscaping additions, pressure washing, the urban planning on Flagler Street, which included getting the law changed so bars could stay open longer, and a host of events.
They raise federal dollars, she said, adding that they secured $31 million for the Flagler Street project. And the agency is about to propose a design for a pedestrian bridge under I-95 to connect the the museum park to the north side, the former Miami Herald property. They’ve launched a 3D development pipeline interactive map on their website to keep people informed of construction projects in real time, Crespi said.
But “the real focus is economic development,” she added, justifying the large PR staff and outside contract. “We are marketing downtown globally,” Crespi told Ladra, adding that there are 65,000 followers on their Instagram account. “We provide day-to-day info to residents, create content to promote businesses, incentivize new businesses,” she said.
Of course, she gets paid $265,150 in salary and benefits to say that.
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago reports code violations on homes, businesses
If you live in Coral Gables and you have gotten a code violation notice in the last three years, you might want to ask where it came from before you cast your vote in the April 8 election.
That’s because Mayor Vince Lago, who acts more and more like Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo every day, apparently spends some of his time driving around the City Beautiful and reporting code violations. A public records request for Lago’s text messages produced hundreds of texts to the city’s code enforcement department with addresses and code violations he spotted here and there in just a three month period. Many of the texts came with photos.
A homeowner on the 1400 block of Medina Avenue, for example, apparently placed some black garbage bags where they shouldn’t have been. Lago informed code enforcement that this was a “repeat offender” and asked for the history of citations issued at the address. “This homeowner is not aware of the rules,” the mayor wrote in a text.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has a fancy new watch from guess who
So, he’s all about educating the public?
Lago also asked for the citation histories of other “repeat offenders” in the 1500 block of Venetia, the 4800 block of Riviera Drive, the 400 block of Aragon (at the home of a “constant law breaker”), the 3500 block of Ponce De Leon Boulevard and at the corner of Bird and Mariola Court. What does he do with those citation histories?
The mayor won’t say. He refuses to answer Ladra’s calls and texts.
Among other code violations that were reported by the mayor were a canopy in the 700 block of Anderson Avenue, a “rear temporary car port” in the 600 block of Majorca, a “pallet in the pit” in the 600 block of Blue Road, “paint cans out the entire weekend” in the 500 block of University Drive, another car cover on the 400 block of Velarde and a black garbage bag in front of a house on the 5100 block of San Amaro Drive.
That’s his neighbor.
There are more than 300 texts within a three month period in 2023 and there are complaints lodged against businesses, too.
So what, some may ask. There could be more code enforcement so why shouldn’t the mayor fill in once in a while?
Read related: Ethics board dismissed two Vince Lago complaints against Coral Gables activist
Well, because it could easily be an abuse of power. In Miami, Joe Carollo weaponized the code enforcement department against Ball and Chain Lounge, which had hosted a fundraiser for his 2017 opponent. Carollo tried to put them out of business, but it backfired and the owners of the Little Havana bar sued him in federal court, winning a $63.5 million jury award.
After all, didn’t Lago’s campaign fundraiser, Brian Goldmeier, file an ethics complaint against activist Maria Cruz, a code enforcement board member, because she took action on his code violation (nailing orchids to a tree)? He thought she was retaliating against him. How can we know the mayor is not retaliating against the people he reports to code enforcement?
We can’t. Lago shouldn’t be doing that. And Ladra bets it will stop if he is voted out of office next month.
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Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has a fancy new watch from guess who
Remember when Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago ditched a city commission budget hearing early last year so he could dedicate a FP Journe clock on Miracle Mile? Remember what he said about not having his own timepiece from the watch company?
“I don’t own one of their watches. I wish I did,” Lago said at the Aug. 24 meeting at City Hall. “Maybe one day I will.”
Well, it looks like that day has come.
Read related: Reward time? Vince Lago promotes clock maker that helped Francis Suarez
Lago is sporting what looks like a fancy, new FB Journe Élégante 48MM Titalyt on his wrist in a photo on page 33 of the latest edition of Coral Gables Magazine.
The watch is listed for sale, new, at $75,000, but you can get a used one for around $60K, according to the internet.
“They only make 800 a year,” Lago said in August.
Was it a gift that he needs to disclose? Was it thrown in with the fancy clock installed on Ponce de Leon and Miracle Mile? Like a BOGO deal? Or did the mayor buy it with his share of the $640,000 commission his brokerage firm got in the sale of that Ponce de Leon Boulevard building to developer Rishi Kapoor, who was later investigated by both the Security Exchange Commission and the FBI.
Lago made a big deal last year of installing the clock, which is, coincidentally (right) made by the same company that hosted a “cigars and cocktails” fundraiser in 2023 for his BFF, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. He first said that the clock was donated. Then he said that he himself purchased it to donate it to the city. “I paid for a part of it,” he said.
John Bell Construction did the install — he said he paid for the $32,000 installation himself — and he thanked them and several others, including the podcast A Day in Miami, where he is often a guest, in social media posts.
Read related: Coral Gables mayor ducks out of budget hearing for clock unveiling
Lago originally scheduled the installation for Sept. 11 — saying it was “not a national holiday” — and that was later changed to Sept. 12, when he sneaked out of a city commission meeting for the ceremony, where he also shamelessly plugged his handpicked candidate for commission.
But he lied about the value of the clock. The mayor said it was worth almost $100,000, but an email to the Anna Pernas in the city’s public works department from Susan Weisenfeld at Electric Time Company — an American clock manufacturer that seemingly built the clock here, in Massachusetts, for FP Journe — would cost $23,000 to replace it. That’s a whopping $77,000 difference. FP Journe letter lago clock
Another email from an accountant at Electric Time — which also made the clock on Main Street in Disney World — to Pierre Halimi of FP Journe seems to indicate that FP Journe paid them to build the clock. So is it an FP Journe clock or an Electric Time clock with a FP Journe logo sticker slapped on?
As usual, Lago did not return calls and texts to his phone. Maybe he’ll address it in one of his self-aggrandizing Instagram videos. Hopefully, he’ll be wearing the watch and will show us a close-up.
Complaint vs Miami Mayor Francis Suarez may show Sunshine Law breach
The Florida Bar last week dismissed two complaints filed by former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell — who later announced that he would run for mayor (more on that later) — against former City Attorney Victoria Mendez and Mayor Francis Suarez, who is an attorney, after the latter gave the Miami Freedom Park developers back the $20 million they had promised to provide for “other green space” and parks throughout the city.
But they still make for interesting reading, hinting at a potential Sunshine Law violation and the possibility that nobody ever intended to make good on that promise.
Russell makes the first disclosure of a 2022 meeting at the mayor’s house where the developers were present and where he was urged to go along with a plan that the public benefit be “under the control” of then District 1 commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who was later arrested on bribery and money laundering public corruption charges, which were later dropped.
The mayor, Russell says, threw him out of the house when he would not agree with that. “Get the f— out of my house,” he quotes Suarez as saying.
Read related: Miami Freedom Park gets its full $20 million back for 58-acre public park
Russell has been a loud voice against the switcheroo that passed last month 4-1 on the commission (only Damian Pardo voted no). He has suggested that Suarez be recalled for this, even though the mayor has less than nine months left in office.
He is running for mayor, in part, because he has seen much his work on the city commission undone. This $10 million give away to the developer seems to have been the last straw. Without that promised public benefit, Russell — who was the 2022 swing vote for the Miami Freedom Park lease — has repeatedly said he would have never voted to approve it. He urged commissioners at the Feb. 13 meeting not to approve the Suarez giveaway.
Then, when the commission ignored him and everyone else who spoke against it, he filed the bar complaints.
The incident at Suarez’s $2 million home on Battersea Road takes center stage not just because of the mayor’s foul language, which insiders know he is prone to in private, but because of the sheer blatancy of the Sunshine Law violation. This is the textbook definition of backroom, behind-the-scenes arm twisting. Suarez doesn’t vote so he can talk to all the commissioners about whatever. But here, he was a conduit to a Sunshine violation by communicating that Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla was on board (a yes vote) to try to convince Russell to vote a certain way (to vote yes, too).
Let’s be clear. If what was communicated was open knowledge, something ADLP had said in public or in the media, then there is no violation. But if the conduit is conveying new information in order to cause the crystallization of a vote, behind the scenes, at a secret meeting in his house with the deal insiders, then that is a violation of the Sunshine Law. He’s creating a predetermined outcome. Handshaking and arm twisting are supposed to be done in public.
“Prior to the vote, Mayor Suarez explicitly expressed his opposition to my amendment,” Russell writes in his complaint. “He invited me to his home, where unbeknownst to me, developers Jorge and Jose Mas were present, and made it clear that his intent was to ensure that all $20 million remained under the control of Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla (in whose district the stadium project would take place) rather than being allocated for the new parks throughout the city. When I refused to change my position, Mayor Suarez abruptly ended the meeting yelling, ‘Get the fuck out of my house.’”
“For years, I never took a meeting with the Mas brothers outside of the office. I wouldn’t even have coffee with them,” Russell told Political Cortadito. “I think it was inappropriate [of the mayor] to even invite me and not tell me they were going to be there.”
He told Ladra he felt the meeting three years ago was irrelevant. It wouldn’t change his vote. “It’s only relevant now because of the new legislation to undo the tenets I fought for,” Russel said.
Read related: Miami Freedom Park developers want their $20 million parks donation back
The other thing that jumped out at Ladra was that it seemed as if there was never an intention to go through with the $20 million part of the deal ($5 million for the Baywalk has, apparently, not been considered for return). Russell’s complaint also says that the the omission of the amendment that he insisted on was deliberate.
“As City Attorney at the time, Ms. Méndez was responsible for ensuring that the final legislation submitted for the Mayor’s signature correctly reflected the Commission’s action,” Russell wrote in the complaint. “However, when Mayor Francis Suarez signed the resolution on May 5, 2022, the key amendment—explicitly included in the Commission’s minutes—was omitted from the final document.”
Thus, “The legislation did not reflect the Commission’s actual vote.”
Ladra is certain that was intentional and not a mistake.
Suarez himself admitted at the meeting last month that the ballot language on the 2018 referendum was intentionally misleading so the city could have legal wiggle room to switch things up later. Was the legislation also written to allow wiggle room. Was that among the things discussed at the mayor’s house meeting with the Mas brothers after Russell left?
In dismissing the bar complaints earlier this month, an attorney for the Florida Bar wrote in letters addressed to Russell that the actions by Suarez and Mendez “do not constitute violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct” and that the issues raised “are political questions beyond The Florida Bar’s jurisdiction and therefore not reviewable by the bar.”
The letter added, however, that it doesn’t have to end here.
“Appropriate remedies, if any, can be sought through the political process and/or the courts.”
The post Complaint vs Miami Mayor Francis Suarez may show Sunshine Law breach appeared first on Political Cortadito.
Absentee ballots land in Coral Gables mailboxes — and so do the hit pieces
A total of 6,144 absentee or vote-by-mail ballots were sent to Coral Gables voters last week for the April 8 election. They landed in mailboxes at the same time as several mailers for different candidates — and false attack ads from Mayor Vince Lago, who is fighting his first real challenge, against Commissioner Kirk Menendez.
His political action committee, Coral Gables First, put out a series of “facts” that are very misleading and the same old arguments he’s been making for months, because he can’t run on his own track record.
“Fact 1: Commissioner Menendez gave himself a 101% raise.” Um, well, technically that’s true. But the salary was $36,488 a year, which many might agree is not enough. It had not been increased in decades. Now it’s $65,000 a year, which many think might still not be enough. Lago doesn’t use the actual numbers because they make sense. It’s much more scandalous to say it’s a 101% raise.
Read related: Kirk Menendez strikes back at Coral Gables Mayor ‘Lyin’ Vince Lago’
Another “fact” is that Menendez voted against a millage rate reduction. Of course it would not serve Lago to say that Menendez actually voted against potential service cuts. The millage rate reduction that Lago proposed was tiny and would only result in the saving of less than $100 a year for most homeowners. But the owners of the large projects would get tens of thousands in relief, which was Lago’s intent. Example: The owners of Gables Station would get a $29,400 tax break.
That’s not on the mailer.
Menendez had a hit of his own. In a mailer where he said the choice was night and day — he’s day and Vince Lago is the night — he reminded voters of the scandals that Lago has been involved in.
“Lago’s brokerage received a $640,000 commission from a deal with developer Rishi Kapoor, under FBI investigation, raising serious ethical questions,” the mailer states. “Lago’s ties to real estate transactions involving Kapoor, a developer with questionable dealings, raise concerns about his use of public office for private gain.”
The mailer also mentions the recall effort against Lago “amid allegations of mismanagement, conflicts of interest and questionable influence,” and also says that the mayor’s efforts to annex Little Gables were rejected by 63% of Gables voters.
He could do better. He could remind voters that Lago misrepresented himself when he swore he had no conflict of interest with Little Gables by leaving his brother out of an affidavit he signed — very dramatically and publicly — saying nobody in his immediate family had any interests there. When, in fact, Carlos Lago once represented the largest property owner in Little Gables, which owns the trailer park that could become a new, enormous construction project. Which is why he left out the word siblings in his affidavit.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago may have conflict of interest in Little Gables
He could remind voters how Mayor L’Ego almost got into fisticuffs with the former city manager. He could remind voters how he put a restauranteur on Giralda out of business.
But there’s time.
In the commission races, candidates are keeping it more clean, so far.
Rhonda Anderson just touted “a proven record of service and accomplishments,” citing the addition of 15 police officers and two dog parks and tree canopy and “pedestrian safety enhancements” and the under-grounding of power lines in North and South Gables. But she didn’t do any of that on her own. She is one vote on the commission.
“As more than a 35-year resident and having raised my family in Coral Gables, my commitment and priority has always been to improve the quality of life and to ensure that Coral Gables remains The City Beautiful,” her message states.
Ladra hasn’t seen any negative campaigning from Anderson, but it’s hard to hit Felix Pardo and Laureano Cancio, who have not been in office and have no real negative baggage.
Read related: Two more candidates say they will run for Coral Gables commission in April
Cancio has no money in his campaign account for mailers. Pardo has put out at least one of his own. And it’s not a hit piece, but it does raise concerns about overdevelopment and points the finger at Anderson for much of what has been approved. One one side, the registered architect lists his own achievements and service record, which includes stints on several community and city boards, including the planning and zoning board, which he served on twice and was chairman of.
The other side is a letter to voters.
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago rakes in campaign funds, much from developers
In the race for Coral Gables mayor, the campaign financing is super lopsided. Incumbent Mayor Vince Lago has out-fundraised Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who has challenged him — more than 16 to 1.
After coming in with a negative total in his December report, Lago’s campaign finance reports show he has raised $263,825 just since January, with $108,750 coming in the first two weeks of February. These last couple of months and the first week of March have doubled his take since last year to $430,925.
A lot of his contributions are still coming in at the $1,000 maximum amount, and a whole lot of it is not from Coral Gables, with addresses in Doral, Virginia Gardens, Hialeah, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami proper and as far away as Minneapolis, Baltimore, and Kirkland, Washington.
A lot of it is also from real estate developers and construction industry folks who know a friendly pol when they see one.
There are also a few bundles, which is one person or group contributing more than the maximum $1,000 through relatives and multiple companies. This includes $15,000 from former Commissioner Frank Quesada and John H. Ruiz, the University of Miami booster whose LifeWallet company was placed under civil and criminal investigations last year amid fraud allegations and billions of dollars that disappeared. The company was also sued by Cano Health, which alleged it was a “Ponzi scheme.”
Also listed is at least $5,000 each from the Agave developers, developer Lissette Calderon, contractor Carlos Marquez, another $4,000 between Jesse Manzano, his campaign consultant, and Ralph Garcia-Toledo — the two have a development firm together. Don’t feel too bad for Manzano, though, because he’s been paid more than $24,000 just since January for consulting and research.
Read related: Kirk Menendez strikes back at Coral Gables Mayor ‘Lyin’ Vince Lago’
This does not include anything raised by his political action committee, Coral Gables First, which hasn’t reported any transaction since last year.
In comparison, Menendez — who does not have a political action committee — has raised nearly $26,000 in total, since January of last year. He raised $8,480 since the beginning of this year. Only 12 of the 67 individual contributions are the $1,000 maximum donation. The great majority are from the Gables. And there are no bundles.
Gables voters are not easily swayed by fancy advertisements and slick videos. Two years ago, Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez beat better funded candidates who had Lago’s support, which shows the mayor’s impact among voters is waning.
Because a lot of the people who donated to Lago’s campaign, unlike those who donated to Kirk’s, can’t vote in the city election.
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