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Recycling in Miami: Frank Carollo and Ken Russell on the November ballot
Pero por supuesto.
Former Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo, brother to the current commissioner, has filed to run for the District 3 commission seat that he served two terms, from 2009 to 2017. This was expected and is not good news. He may not be as bad as his big brother, Commissioner Joe Carollo, but Frank Carollo is still not a good role model as a politician.
He took a mysterious free trip to Spain in 2011 and stayed at a swanky hotel (value: at least $1,635) and said it was paid for by AirEuropa, which had gotten a key to the city months earlier.
Frank Carollo also got out of a traffic ticket in 2012 by calling then Police Chief Manuel Orosa when he was stopped for crossing the double yellow line on a street in Coconut Grove. He got off with a warning. The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust determined that there was probable cause that he abused his power.
And, in 2015, he was questioned by WLRN about the connection between some of his campaign donors and the upzoning (read: gentrification) of Little Havana.
Maybe it’s in the Carollo DNA.
Read related: Frank Carollo pleads ‘no contest’ to ‘call the chief’ ethics charge
Also running for the District 3 seat so far are Oscar Elio Alejandro, Rolando Escalona and Brenda Betancourt, who is president at Calle Ocho Inter-American Chamber of Commerce and a frequent speaker at the commission meetings. She is, so far, the frontrunner by all accounts. And she’s not worried.
Al contrario.
“It was no surprise because he had announced like three months ago,” Betancourt told Political Cortadito. “I think it’s better for me now that he’s in the race, because there’s more reason for voters to choose me. Before, we couldn’t really talk about him. What for? But now, we can remind voters that we had eight years of Frank Carollo and what did he do? Nothing.
“Now, the ‘Why vote for me’ is very easy. We have to stop corruption. We have to keep the city safe and we have to safeguard the tax dollars of our people.
“I’m happy that he’s in the race,” said Betancourt, who has been involved in civic activity for 34 years.
In the mayoral race, it was not expected that former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell would jumping (more on that later). And that is good news. He may get to run against Joe Carollo and/or former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who was removed from office in 2023 after an arrest on public corruption charges that were later dropped. Other potential candidates include Commissioner Manolo Reyes and former city manager Emilio Gonzalez.
Read related: Long list of potential 2025 Miami mayoral candidates starts to take form
None of them have filed any paperwork, however, to indicate that they have opened a campaign bank account. The other candidates who have, so far, are Ijamin Joseph Gray, Michael Hepburn, Maxwell “Max” Martinez and June Savage.
Russell announced last week and said that giveaway of $10 million to the Miami Freedom Park developers for the 58 acre park in their property was the deciding factor. He was the deciding vote in 2022 on the lease and only voted in favor because those $10 million had been promised as a “public benefit” to acquire and improve parks in other areas.
He is the first announced candidate who sounds like he could be good for Miami, even though he is also recycled.
Like award-winning filmmaker and activist Billy Corben has said repeatedly: “In Miami, we don’t recycle our trash, we re-elect it.”
The post Recycling in Miami: Frank Carollo and Ken Russell on the November ballot appeared first on Political Cortadito.
Miami-Dade could cut back services, give $21 million to FIFA for World Cup
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, facing the harshest budget year of her administration and almost certain cuts to services, asked all department heads earlier this month to identify where they could cut 10% of their expenses. Then, this week, she has recommended the county hand another $10.5 million subsidy to FIFA for the seven 2026 World Cup games that will be played here.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association already got $10.5 million in cash and another $25 in donated or in-kind county services, like police and fire rescue. It was cut from their original request for $21 million in cash after pubic outcry last year, including criticism from Florida House Speaker Daniel “Danny” Perez.
Even Levine Cava, last year, had concerns about the subsidy, calling it a significant cost. That resistance was why Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, who sponsored the legislation (the World Cup games will at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens), decided to compromise and as for only half of the cash the organization wanted.
But even then, it seemed like another bait and switch was coming when Miami-Dade Commissioner Anthony Rodriguez said, “We might need more.”
Read related: Rep. Danny Perez enters Miami-Dade politics — as precursor to mayoral run?
Gilbert is again sponsoring the legislation that would give FIFA the other $10.5 mil.
But do they really need it?
All FIFA tournaments generate revenue from sponsorships. In 2022, FIFA had revenues of over $5.8 billion, ending the 2019–2022 cycle with a net positive of $1.2 billion, and cash reserves of over $3.9 billion, according to Wikipedia, which cites the organization’s own Financial Highlights report of April 2023. There have been investigative journalism reports over the years that have linked FIFA leadership with corruption, bribery and vote rigging.
Hmm. They should fit right in here.
This $10.5 million is a drop in the bucket for FIFA leaders, who all get big, fat bonuses, but important to Miami-Dade residents, who could see their services decrease.
The legislation is coming up at Tuesday’s county commission meeting. It is part of the “mid-year supplemental budget adjustments and amendments” for operating and capital expenses that total $137.258 million, according to the memo from the mayor’s office. That includes:
Almost $30 million for the new Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Department, most of it for bargaining concessions and overtime.
More than $1.3 million to the Property Appraiser’s office.
$6.3 million to the Tax Collector’s office.
$3.7 million for the Supervisor of Elections, for 16 new positions and “rebranding efforts.”
$750,000, or $150K for each of the constitutional positions, for outside legal counsel in the transition process.
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has a terrible track record with public safety
Police and firefighter unions endorse Kirk Menendez
It’s no surprise that both the Coral Gables Police and the Coral Gables Firefighters unions have endorsed Commissioner Kirk Menendez in his bid to become the next mayor in the April 8 election. Incumbent Mayor Vince Lago might want you to think that’s no big deal. But it’s only because he has always belittled and demeaned the city’s first responders.
He actually calls them “special interest groups.”
Yeah, they’re special. And their interest is protecting the lives and safety of Gables residents.
“As election season heats up, you may see some candidates bragging about endorsements from special interest groups — especially the police and fire unions,” Lago’s campaign handlers wrote in an email to residents paid for by his Coral Gables First political action committee. “But here’s what they won’t tell you: these endorsements weren’t made through a fair or transparent process.”
Lago complains that he wasn’t even invited to an interview by the police or fire unions. Would he have gone? He didn’t get a questionnaire either. “Because he refuses to play politics with special interests. Instead of seeking union bosses’ approval, he’s seeking yours,” the email states.
Read related: “Boo hoo!” Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago melts down at police press event
“These endorsements don’t represent the hardworking men and women who protector city.They’re decided behind closed doors by a handful of union leaders — without input from the rank and file.”
Hmmm. That’s not entirely true. Lago was probably not invited or asked any questions because we all know how he stands on police and firefighters: He hates them. He has belittled them time and time again. He makes fun of them. He ridicules and chides then in public meetings.
Also, fyi, union “bosses” are elected by the union membership. They represent the rank and file just like Lago and the commissioners are voted into office to represent the residents. Ladra would be willing to bet real money that a great majority if not all the police officers in the city endorse Menendez. The street cops. The bicycle cops. The marine patrol. The paramedics that bring people back to life. The drivers of the fire trucks and rescue vehicles. Everyone.
He also complains that the unions are funding a “flood of attack ads and text messages.” But that’s like los pajaros tirandole a la escopeta. Lago is the one whose Gable First PAC has been funding negative attack texts and emails against not only Menendez, but also the two commissioners that beat his handpicked candidates last year and have created a new majority that doesn’t include him. There have been at least 14 emails so far since January. But he sent a dozen or so texts last year, even before the campaigning began.
The email from Lago’s PAC is so egregious that the police and fire unions felt the need to send out a joint statement “regarding campaign information” to set the record straight.
“Our firefighters and police officers work tirelessly to protect Coral Gables, offering highest in class service to its residents, but they can only do their jobs effectively when they have the proper resources, support and leadership in place. Unfortunately, years of neglect, underfunding, and staffing shortages have placed unnecessary strain on our public safety departments—jeopardizing the well-being of both first responders and residents,” the statement says, adding that Lago is the one misleading the public.
“While recent upgrades to fire stations and emergency services have been promoted by Mayor Lago as major feats of progress, the truth is these were not proactive investments. They were urgent repairs made necessary by long-standing neglect:
Ethics board dismissed two Vince Lago complaints against Coral Gables activist
The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust has dismissed two frivolous complaints against longtime Coral Gables activist Maria Cruz that were filed by proxies for Mayor Vince Lago — and most likely at his behest.
The first complaint was filed by his fundraiser, Brian Goldmeier, and the second by lobbyist Jorge Arrizurieta, who was Lago’s appointment to the city’s board of adjustments — until someone notified the administration that he had moved out of Coral Gables. The commission found no probable cause for the first complaint and no legal sufficiency for the second.
But there is no way that either of them didn’t file the complaint at Lago’s request or, at the very least, with his permission. They seem to be retaliation for last year’s unsuccessful mayoral recall that Cruz spearheaded. Attorney Ben Kuehne, who has represented Lago in separate matters, even went to the commission to argue on the complaint’s behalf.
“It obvious that they are trying to intimidate me,” Cruz, Lago’s loudest critic, told Political Cortadito.
To which Ladra says “Good luck with that!”
In the first complaint, Goldmeier — who recently moved to a home on Aledo Avenue– said Cruz “exploited” her official volunteer position on the city’s code enforcement board to intervene in a case, which she reported, about an orchid that he nailed to a tree in front of the house. She did write a series of emails to follow up and asked why he was issued a warning instead of a ticket. Goldmeier said he felt targeted because of his ties to Lago.
“Because it is known that I am a consultant for many elected officials in Miami-Dade County, some of whom Ms. Cruz does not support, I was concerned about her involvement in the complaint,” Goldmeier wrote in his complaint.
Read related: Mayor Vince Lago’s consultant files complaint vs Coral Gables recall activist
Cruz says she didn’t know it was Goldmeier’s house. Fat chance of that. She knows everything. But Goldmeier did wait six months to make the complaint, which was right after she started a recall against Mayor Lago that fell short by just 117 signatures. And that seems more retaliatory than a legitimate reporting of his orchid mauling.
The Ethics Commission did provide Cruz with a “letter of instruction” as to how to properly recuse herself. While she did recuse herself from vote at the code enforcement board in November, 2023 — where the violation was dismissed — she first went into a long explanation of how she became involved.
“In any such circumstance where recusal is advisable, it is important that the delineated three (3) steps of the recusal process be followed. First, publicly disclose the recusal and the nature of the conflict of interest,” the letter of instruction said. ” Second, leave the meeting while the matter is being discussed and voted upon. Third, file a written disclosure regarding the nature of the conflict with the City of Coral Gables City Clerk.”
In the second complaint, Arrizurieta accused Cruz of being an unregistered lobbyist. It was legally insufficient because it was a lie. Cruz was not a lobbyist because she is not paid to represent any entity. She represents herself and the interest of certain Gables residents. She might be a pain in the, er, neck to some politicos (read: Lago), but she ain’t a lobbyist by any measure. And Ladra suspects that both Arrizurieta and Lago, whose permission he must have sought to file the complaint, know this.
Read related: Coral Gables activist forms PAC to recall former friend, Mayor Vince Lago
Both the Miami-Dade code of ethics and the and the Gables ethics code “provide as an exemption to the definition of lobbyist to allow any person that appears for the purpose of self-representation without compensation of reimbursement, whether direct,
indirect, or contingent, to express support or opposition to any item.”
Nobody is paying Cruz. She is driven, but unpaid.
“The complaint fails to allege that Ms. Cruz worked on behalf of a principal, as is required for her to be considered a lobbyist under both the City and County lobbyist requirements,” the final order reads. “Additionally, if Ms. Cruz was not working on behalf of a principal, then it appears that she would be ‘lobbying’ on behalf of herself, which is exempted by provisions in both the City and County Code. Thus, Ms. Cruz would not be required to register as a lobbyist to speak with a member of the Coral Gables Board of Adjustment to express her opposition to a variance application.”
Ladra can’t help but wonder what their next complaint against Cruz will be. She should sue to recover any legal costs she may have incurred.
The post Ethics board dismissed two Vince Lago complaints against Coral Gables activist appeared first on Political Cortadito.
Voters in Miami may be asked to extend term limits and ban political retreads
Miami voters could say no to political retreads or professional politicians by extending term limits this November.
City Commissioner Damian Pardo wants to put a charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot so that elected officials who have served on the commission or as mayor for two terms cannot come back and run for office after a break. Like zombie politicos.
Currently, term limits in Miami are only for consecutive terms. That’s why Commissioner Joe Carollo, who was mayor from 1996 to 2001, can run again this year. Mayor Francis Suarez could, technically, sit this term out and run again in 2027. Former Mayor Tomas Regalado could run again, though he won’t want to now he’s Miami-Dade Property Appraiser. Former Commissioners Willy Gort, Frank Carollo — who is widely rumored to be looking at another District 3 run to take over what is now the “Carollo seat” — and Marc Sarnoff (gasp!) could run for commission again.
But not if voters amend the city charter to establish that anyone who has already served two terms, at any time, is ineligible to run for the same office again, “during their lifetime.” Pardo is sponsoring a resolution a Tuesday’s meeting that would direct the city attorney’s office to prepare the amendment for the Nov. 4 ballot where alongside the mayoral race and contests for commission districts 3 and 5. And District 4 if Commissioner Manolo Reyes runs for mayor, as expected.
Read related: Long list of potential 2025 Miami mayoral candidates starts to take form
Neither Carollo nor Reyes have officially announced or filed any paperwork with the city clerk’s office. Yet.
Is Pardo targeting Carollo, who he has been butting heads with on the commission since he was elected in 2023? Carollo thinks so. But Pardo said it is absolutely not.
“Nobody knows what he’s going to do,” Pardo said. “He keeps saying he’s going to go to Shangri-La. He wanted an appointment with the Trump administration. This is not about Joe Carollo.”
Pardo said it is about opening the city up to new people and ideas and points at how term limits have changed the leadership in Miami-Dade. “We’re looking at a whole new set of commissioners that came in,” he told Political Cortadito. “It changes the entire dynamic.”
The city’s own commission could be an example of how non establishment electeds can shake things up with the change made since Pardo and Commissioner Miguel Gabela, neither of whom have been in office before now, were elected in 2023.
“Miami residents have waited long enough for real change in our city government,” Pardo said in a statement, adding that the legislation “limits the participation of career politicians entrenched in City politics.
“We are committed to a more representative government that advocates for its residents’ interests,” Pardo said. “Holding public office should be about public service, not self-interest or monied interests. This legislation guarantees that our government remains as dynamic, responsive, and accountable as possible. We are ushering in a new era of transformational leadership and democracy in the Magic City—one in which public service is a privilege, not an entitlement.
“We are proud to introduce this measure and look forward to residents making their voices heard in the November general election.”
Read related: 2025 Miami Commission contests could be battles between some known names
All it has to do is get three votes on the commission next week, or two other votes aside from Pardo. Ladra suspects that Gabela will be supportive. And Reyes might want a safety net to take Carollo out if he wins the mayor’s race. But is his vote a conflict of interest? King is out. Not just because she does Carollo’s bidding, but because she honestly thinks that elections are the true expression of term limits.
If they approve next week’s measure, the city attorney’s office will still have to come back within 120 days to get the ballot language approved by September 5 to make it onto the November ballot.
Ladra suspects that, if it gets on the ballot, the amendment will win with an overwhelming majority. Nearly 70% of Miami Beach voters passed a similar measure in 2014, creating “lifetime term limits” for their electeds. It’s why commissioner Michael Gongora was blocked by a judge from running for re-election in 2021.
The amendment, if passed would be retroactive, which means that Carollo, if elected, would be de facto ousted from office. Any Carollo, actually, because if the commissioner’s brother Frank decides to come back and wins, that election would also be invalidated. Pardo said the seat could go to whoever came in second in the race — but he doesn’t really know.
Ladra says there will be lawsuits.
Candidates would be made aware of this at the time they qualify and voters would also be made aware that there are candidates who might be invalidated if the amendment passes. Basically, that they risk throwing their vote away if they cast it for a Carollo.
That makes for a good campaign slogan.
The post Voters in Miami may be asked to extend term limits and ban political retreads appeared first on Political Cortadito.
Op Ed by DNA President James Torres: Miami doesn’t need a DDA anymore
It’s time to dissolve the Miami Downtown Development Authority
Op-Ed by James Torres, President, Downtown Neighbors Alliance
The Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA) was established 58 years ago in 1967, when Lyndon B. Johnson was president and Robert King High was Miami’s mayor. That’s right—this agency was created before Miami even had air conditioning in most buildings, let alone the skyline we have today. Back then, Downtown Miami was struggling with urban decay, and the DDA was pitched as a way to breathe life into a fading city core.
Now, it’s 2025, and Downtown Miami is booming—not because of the DDA, but in spite of it. Yet this outdated agency insists it’s still needed to “attract businesses,” “bring in events,” and “support economic development.”
Read related: Miami DDA gives UFC $100K for event, despite protest from downtowners
Let’s be real—Miami sells itself. We already host Ultra Music Festival, Formula One, world-class concerts, major marathons, and international conventions without the DDA cutting corporate welfare checks. Businesses and investors aren’t choosing Miami because of the DDA’s bloated budget—they’re coming here because Miami is one of the most desirable destinations in the world.
Yet instead of shutting down after long outliving its purpose, the DDA has become an expensive, wasteful bureaucracy, taxing residents to fund itself and hand out corporate welfare to billion-dollar companies.
We have long been sounding the alarm about the DDA’s reckless spending, but their latest move—a $100,000 taxpayer handout to a $12 BILLION corporation, UFC—was the final straw.
A Pattern of Waste and Exploitation
This isn’t the first time we’ve had to step up and fight against the DDA’s blatant disregard for downtown taxpayers. Last year, we successfully led the effort to stop their tax increase, forcing them to reduce their budget by $1.2 million and lower the millage rate. This victory came despite the DDA’s attempts to downplay their $13.5 million tax extraction, with Commissioner Damian Pardo shamelessly dismissing it as “just $2-$6 per household”— a tone-deaf and dishonest attempt to minimize the real burden on our community.
Where Is Our Money Really Going?
Downtown, Brickell and Edgewater residents pay over $13.5 million in additional taxes each year to fund the DDA. Yet instead of prioritizing real issues like crime, homelessness, and cleanliness, the DDA squanders our money on luxuries for itself and unnecessary corporate handouts.
According to the DDA’s own financial disclosures from its February 28, 2025, Board Meeting Package, this is how our money is being spent:
$3.85 million is spent annually on salaries and benefits.
Over $566,000 on office rent and parking.
$425,000 on “communications and promotion” instead of actual services.
$1.19 million on sponsorships that do little for residents.
$3.35 million on vague “special initiatives” with no clear benefit.
Miami DDA gives UFC $100K for event, despite protest from downtowners
Representatives of homeowners in Downtown Miami, Brickell and Edgewater joined forces last week to respectfully ask the Miami Downtown Development Authority — an agency that focuses on promoting and strengthening the “economic health” of Downtown Miami — not to give $100,000 to the UFC for events at the Kaseya Center, formerly the American Airlines Arena.
The UFC has a reported net worth of $12 billion, according to Forbes, and do not need, nor should they be getting, any taxpayer handout, these leaders said.
And really, what is $100K when you have $12 billion?
“This is beyond wasteful; it’s offensive,” said a joint statement from James Torres, presidents of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance, Ernesto Cuesta, president of the Brickell Homeowners’ Association, and Rick Madan, president of the Biscayne Neighborhoods Association, posted days before the meeting took place Friday.
But they were ignored.
In a post on social media, the DDA said that the resolution passed by the board of directors will “keep UFC 314’s Fight Week in Downtown Miami.” The events in April reportedly benefit local charities, offer free “family friendly” activities and deliver a big economic impact to local businesses.
Read related: Miami DDA Director resigns amid political power shift and chaos
Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who chairs the DDA, did not respond to calls from Political Cortadito, as usual. But a DDA spokesperson — and the agency has one of Florida’s top PR and crisis management teams on retainer — told Ladra this week that the UFC event in 2023 sold out at 19,000 fans and produced more than $47 million in economic impact for Miami-Dade. They apparently also were going to go somewhere else this year without the, er, um, incentive. Las Vegas was courting them, hard. But it’s difficult to imagine that another city wouldn’t pay $100K for a $47M return.
The $100,000 is to bring the UFC “fan village” so that people will have reason to hang out downtown — and spend their money — before and after the fights.
The DDA is governed by a 15-member board of directors — three public appointees and 12 downtown property owners, business owners, and/or residents. The board sets policy direction, which is then implemented by a multi-disciplinary team under the oversight of an executive director. “As an autonomous agency of the city, the Miami DDA advocates, facilitates, plans, and executes business development, planning, capital improvements, and marketing and communication strategies,” states the city website.
It has a budget of about $13.5 million through a special tax levy on properties within its district boundaries in downtown, Brickell and Edgewater. But those community leaders question the benefit they get in return.
“Instead of prioritizing real improvements, the DDA continues to waste taxpayer money on frivolous spending while ignoring the pressing needs of our community,” their statement last week read, recommending a dissolution of the agency. “The solution is simple: Downtown and Brickell residents should not be taxed at all for a redundant agency that prioritizes waste over the well-being of the people who actually live here.”
On Tuesday, Torres doubled down with an op-ed calling for the “outdated” agency’s dissolution and detailing some of the expenses reported most recently. That includes $3.85 million spent annually on salaries and benefits and another $3.35 million on “special initiatives,” with no further details about what those are. Close to $2 million are spent on sponsorships, like the UFC’s $100K.
Read related: Residents win rollback on ordinance for huge LED signs in Downtown Miami
The DDA also gave at least $80,000 in grants to businesses suffering the construction chaos on Flagler Street. Each business received a grant valued up to $5,000, which doesn’t seem like a lot. According to the agency, it has distributed $622,000 in grants to downtown businesses since 2021.
The $100K would be better spent on public safety, the neighborhood leaders said in their joint statement. They said aggravated assaults are up by a whopping 225% in Downtown Miami, while robberies have doubled, thefts have gone up by 61% and vehicle break-ins are up by 50%.
And that wasn’t completely ignored. The DDA on Friday also allocated $550,000 for additional police services in the Central Business District and Brickell areas. According to their social media statement, the board plans to expand additional police patrol services to Edgewater and has committed $1.2 million to this effort.
“But crime isn’t the only crisis downtown and residents are dealing with,” the joint statement said. “Rampant homelessness, overflowing garbage, and worsening cleanliness issues are degrading our quality of life while the DDA ignores these urgent problems. Instead of addressing the real needs of our community, they continue wasting money on corporate sponsorships, lavish offices, and bloated staff expenses,” the statement reads.
“Downtown Miami has no shortage of venues or major events—Formula One, Ultra Music Festival, marathons, concerts, and conventions flood our streets every year. Downtown sells itself—we don’t need to bribe global corporations to come here. That money should go to crime prevention, beautification, and public safety—not corporate welfare.”
The post Miami DDA gives UFC $100K for event, despite protest from downtowners appeared first on Political Cortadito.
School-based PTA forum for Coral Gables candidates has no big surprises
The first forum for Coral Gables candidates, presented by the PTAs of eight city schools, was centered on education and the issues at the schools in the City Beautiful, like safety, teachers’ wages, affordable housing for teachers, student anxiety, book banning, increasing the number of families who send their kids to public schools and food waste in cafeterias. I kid you not.
Questions were asked by students at local schools and then the PTA members chose some submitted by participants in the Q&A section of the Zoom forum. Voters who missed it can view a recording here. The password is ?E^XpP^9, which is unnecessarily impossible to remember.
Not that it’s really worth the two hours. There were no real zingers or surprises. And it wasn’t terribly enlightening.
Candidates were questioned in three groups for the three different races, with the first session focused on the mayoral hopefuls — incumbent Mayor Vince Lago, Commissioner Kirk Menendez and Michael Abbott, an accountant with a beef against Coral Gables Police, who stands no chance of winning but could force a runoff.
All of the candidates think Coral Gables has some of the best schools. Abbott sounded like a robot reading from a boring script, and kept talking about his “technology hub” and establishing “Silicon South,” which is apparently a part of his platform. Lago and Menendez each touted their respective scholarship fundraising and different programs they’ve created.
Lago said he was the first elected in Miami-Dade to put police officers at schools after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High. Menendez spearheaded spending $50,000 in the city budget for a conceptual design of a public park working with the Miami-Dade County School Board and mentioned the compact between the city of Miami Beach and the school board as something the Gables could explore.
Read related: Candidates are set for Coral Gables election April 8 as voters request ABs
The best part was when the candidates were basically asked to defend their decision to send their kids to private schools, not in so many words, but that was the point. Like, gotcha. Abbott said he has no kids but Lago and Menendez, who were obviously the targets of this question, said they made the decision to send their kids to faith-based schools because they are Catholic.
Lago — who suddenly has a lisp (maybe he had come from the dentist’s office?) — wanted to be someplace else.
There were no big surprises in the two commission forums, either. But some interesting takeaways:
Both Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Felix Pardo, a longtime city activist and architect, are products of the public school system. Pardo’s wife is a teacher and his son is a public school teacher in Chicago’s South Side. Both his grandchildren attend Chicago public schools. Oh, and Pardo has was recently celebrated for perfect attendance at The Rotary Club.
Anderson, as usual, sounded like she was mansplaining everything to people who just aren’t as smart as her. She also said she started bike lanes in Coral Gables 18 years ago.
Attorney Laureano Cancio, who announced his run before Pardo jumped in, is a Pedro Pan kid, having come from Cuba on the Catholic Church’s Peter Pan flights as an unaccompanied minor. He said his number one issue is education and he has said in the past that the city could establish its own education system or compact with the Miami-Dade County Public School Board to keep Gables students, who now go to schools outside the city, at hometown schools. That makes a community, he said.
At 74, he also runs about three miles almost every day.
The best question was from the participants on the Zoom call and it was about density. Pardo, who is on the planning and zoning board and was also one it 20 years ago as the chair, is absolutely making overdevelopment an issue in his race, and rightly so. Anderson was elected in part because she was supposed to be a firewall against the developers’ interest and, many say, it hasn’t turned out that way.
“I have been the sole voice for responsible development in the city,” Pardo said on the Zoom call. “What has gone on is absolutely atrocious. This city 100 years ago was never designed for the incredibly large projects that are just destroying the fabric of our city.”
Read related: Fundraising for Coral Gables election slows, incumbents count on max gifts
It’s not just traffic that’s affected every time a zoning or land use variance gets approved, he said. Water and sewer, parks schools, freighters, police are all “overburdened,” Pardo explained. “We are pinning ourselves into a corner.”
In the third race, voters have to choose between attorney Richard Lara, Lago’s handpicked pocket-vote candidate, micro transit lobbyist Claudia Miro, who talked about lobbying in Tallahassee for more school guards, and attorney and activist Thomas “Tom” Wells, all of whom are public school products.
Lara seemed to pander and use a bunch of buzzwords. Miro and Wells both seemed more prepared, knowledgable and specific.
Doral seeks input on update to city transit plan, expanded trolley service
Just in time for the 47-acre Upland Park transit-oriented, mixed use project that is expected to transform the Dolphin Park-and-Ride terminal into a major multimodal transit hub, the city of Doral is looking to update its transit plan, which could also include changes and/or additions to its trolley service.
Residents can hear about the transit plan goals and proposed improvements to the trolley service at a workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday on the first floor of City Hall, 8401 NW 53rd Terrace. They can also learn about the county’s Better Bus Network — which many say is not necessarily better (more on that later) — and provide feedback on the city’s trolley service.
Traffic is already bad in Doral, and it is expected to get worse.
Developer Terra broke ground last month on the first phase of Upland Park, which will include more than 2,000 mid-rise and garden-style apartments, 282,000 square feet of retail and 414,000 square feet of commercial space.
Upland Park is designed to increase public transit ridership “while anchoring the new East-West Corridor of the county’s Smart public transportation plan,” according to a press release from the developer, who billed it as “the largest public-private transit-oriented development” in the history of Miami-Dade County.
“Through public-private partnerships, we are accelerating smart solutions by adding new transit-oriented communities along major transit corridors,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement.
“These developments provide public transportation connections to employment centers, schools, arts and culture, and healthcare, making it easier for residents to access essential services and opportunities. Upland Park is a prime example of how we are continuing to build a better community for all and a future-ready Miami-Dade County,” Levine Cava said. “Located alongside the 836 Expressway, which features a dedicated bus lane, this development will provide residents with seamless and efficient transit options, further integrating smart mobility solutions into our growing region.”
Read related: Post election shake up in Doral as new mayor ushers in new administration
Said District 12 Commissioner Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez, the former mayor of Doral: “Upland Park is a significant step forward in ensuring that residents of West Dade, have greater access to transit, jobs, and essential services.”
In 2016, the then-city council approved two inter-local agreements between Doral and the Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) providing up to $90,000 in grant funding to study the expansion of Doral trolley service to Florida International University and the conversion of certain streets into one-way traffic corridors to increase circulation capacity.
The trolley expansion back then was an initiative by current Doral Mayor Christi Fraga, who was vice mayor at time.
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Miami Commission rejects Joe Carollo’s revenge run at historically civil meeting
The Miami Commission meeting on Thursday was short, less than three hours long, and almost entirely civil. It helped that several controversial items were deferred. But it’s more ’cause Commissioner Joe Carollo was absent for most of it.
Carollo — recently named in a whistleblower lawsuit that alleges he abused his position as chairman at the Bayfront Park Management Trust and used it for personal gain — should have just taken the whole day off. The commission waited for him on the items he had put on the agenda — which then all failed for lack of a second once he arrived. Talk about rejection.
Crazy Joe wanted to create a policy by which all future elected officials and their staff would have to undergo drug tests and background checks and disclose if they had any sealed criminal records. “I’ve been hearing the last year so much the word ‘transparency,’” Carolll said. But he was really retaliating against commissioners who took the Bayfront Trust from him at the prior meeting.
Read related: Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo loses Bayfront Park Trust to Miguel Gabela
“You’re problem is, you’re like Maduro,” Commissioner Miguel Gabela told him at the Feb. 13 meeting, just before being named the new chair of the Trust. “You don’t want to leave.”
“My problem is I’m not a thug or a criminal,” Carollo shot back, apparently forgetting about his domestic violence arrest in 2001 when he was a mayor after hitting his wife so hard he left a welt on her head. His daughter called 911 and said “Help. My dad is hurting my mom! Please come now! Please.”
Is he implying that others are?
Carollo also failed to mention that individuals with sealed records are protected by Florida law from having to disclose any details. But it didn’t matter. Nobody wanted to ride that revenge train with him.
Crazy Joe also failed to get a change to the zoning code allowing for higher solid wooden fences. It seems innocuous enough. Good fences make good neighbors. But he’s such poison right now that nobody wants to touch anything to do with him. Perhaps his mayoral campaign is doomed (more on the later).
Several items were also deferred to the March 13 meeting, and we’ll get back to the important ones.
Others passed without much discussion, including an affordable housing project that seems to have tentative community support. Various Grove leaders — including historic, iconic community giants like Monty Trainer and Thelma Gibson — said the developers need to do more public outreach and include the community’s input in their final design (more on that later).
It was an almost entirely civil meeting until Commissioner Gabela said he just had to speak up on the criminal background checks.”It boggles the mind,” Gabela said, adding that Carollo’s motives were underhanded because he used to have a chief of staff — Gabela declined to name him — who had been arrested for something, he declined to say what. It was former Bayfront Trust Executive Director Jose Suarez, and it was soliciting prostitution in 1998, as reported by Political Cortadito.
“So you weren’t interested [in background checks] a year ago,” Gabela said, because Suarez was named to the Trust last March, “and you are now. It seems to me that you’re bringing this up for a reason.
“I’m not into that. I don’t like to character assassinate,” Gabela added.
That’s too bad. Because Ladra thinks he’d be good at it.
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