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Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago no longer works at BDI Construction
As usual, las malas lenguas were right: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago is no longer warming a chair at BDI Construction. Pero why? Pick your poison.
Is this more fallout from the FBI’s sniffing around developer Rishi Kapoor’s influence over Miami Mayor Francis Suarez — a.k.a. Lago’s political BFF? Is this a pre-emptive cleanse before Commissioner Melissa Castro’s anti-kickback ordinance hits the fan? Or did Hizzoner just blow one of his trademark ’roid-rage gaskets at the office and poof — hasta la vista?
When Ladra dialed BDI last week, the receptionist sounded like I had asked for Santa Claus. “Who?” After repeating the mayor’s name — slowly — she finally said, “He’s not an employee of BDI anymore.”
Why? Where’d he go? Was he fired? Pushed? Paid to disappear? She didn’t know. “I just know he no longer works here.” Translation: Don’t ask me, lady. I’m not touching that mess.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has more city business than we thought
The exit details are the new parlor game in the City Beautiful. Did Lago jump? Was he shoved? Or was the man who insists on calling himself a “business owner” shown the door by the actual business owners?
Because — newsflash — state corporate records list Carlos and Teobaldo Rosell as the owners of BDI. Lago did start a company with them, BDI Holdings, in 2022 but it was administratively dissolved in 2023. Was he pretending to own 33% of the other company? And folks who know the Rosells describe them as decent, honorable people — the type who probably don’t want a Lyin’ Lago strutting around town claiming their company like he bought it on Amazon Prime.
Como siempre, the mayor ghosted Ladra’s calls and texts. Maybe he’s busy dusting off his resume and making phone calls. Or…
Another rumor is that Lago — who hasn’t publicly announced his separation from BDI — is cooking up his own company. Perhaps something with Suarez, who is termed out and packing up his desk.
According to his sparse and neglected LinkedIn profile (he still hasn’t changed his employment status), Lago was a “project executive” at BDI for almost 14 years — longer than he’s held elected office — having started in January 2012, a year before he was first elected commissioner in 2013. And yet, he lists no other work experience, which we know is adorable fiction. Lago has collected LLCs the way other men collect cologne samples.
There’s Hammer Lake Construction and Design, created in 2022 with perennial candidate Norman Anthony “Tony” Newell. There’s his self-proclaimed part-ownership of a downtown coffee shop — so maybe our mayor’s next career is as a barista. “Double-shot latte with a sprinkle of corruption, coming right up.”
Lago is also a licensed real estate agent tied to former Hialeah Councilman Oscar de la Rosa’s boutique firm — the same one that made a $640,000 commission off that Kapoor building on Ponce de Leon Boulevard.
Read related: Developer who paid Miami mayor also rents from Gables Mayor Vince Lago
And let’s not forget Capitol Equity LLC, which Lago formed with de la Rosa in 2021. It died quietly the next year. RIP.
And thanks to the Miami Herald, we also know Lago is part owner of a Ponce de Leon storefront that rented to Kapoor’s Location Ventures for more than $12,400 a month as a sales office — even though the space sat empty. That’s over $152,000 for air-conditioning the dust bunnies.
Business savvy? Claro que sí.
One thing seems almost certain: Vince Lago will land on his feet. Firmly. Deeply. Maybe with both shoes in the mud.
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
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Miami Commissioner Christine King is sworn in, returned to her throne
Miami District 5 Commissioner Christine King, who cruised to re-election with a North-Korea-level 84% of the vote, was sworn in last week at City Hall surrounded by supporters, staff, church folks, youth groups, neighborhood leaders, and of course, the ever-present political padrino Keon Hardemon, whose fingerprints are still all over D5 like pastelito crumbs on a guayabera.
But there was someone missing — her father, who recently passed away. And when King talked about him, that’s when her voice cracked. Even Ladra’s cold little political heart moved a bit. (Just a bit.)
Her mother beamed with the kind of pride only a Caribbean mom can radiate — the kind that can warm a room and intimidate half the dais at the same time. You know who you are.
King, raised in Miami since the age of five, is the first Guyanese American ever elected to the Miami City Commission and the first woman to serve as chair. She talked about the “honor” of representing District 5 — and for once, it didn’t sound like boilerplate politician talk. Between the grief and the gratitude, she let the audience see the human behind the title. Rare for the 305, where over-polished speeches are practically an Olympic sport.
“This was a thank you campaign,” she said, thanking everyone for “allowing me the privilege and honor to serve. I do not take that responsibility lightly.”
Next to her mother, she broke into tears talking about her dad. “I lost my dad this year and that was really hard and it is still really hard. Which is why I’m tearing up now. Because he’s not here. But he is here.”
She said she lived “a fairy tale” life and thanked her family, her staff, her constituents and her mentors, including Billy Hardemon and former State Rep. Roy Hardemon, who died last week but was mentioned a few times.
“This life that I’ve been gifted by God is so full and my cup runneth over. I get to do things to improve the lives of families in District 5 and that’s what this job is about.
“Being able to work with commissioner Hardemon together to serve our community has been transformative for our community.”
Termed-out Mayor Francis Suarez was exuberant in his remarks.
“She is someone who has a tremendous fighting spirit,” Suarez said. “She has a fighter’s spirit, but she does it with a mother’s touch and with a soft hand. I remember when she was first elected and my chair had left our city, that I said I need someone who can keep the guys under control.
Read related: No runoffs in Miami as incumbents and Christine King score big election wins
“She said no at first. She literally told me no. She said, ‘No, I’m not ready. I just got here.’ I said, “No, no, no no, you are ready. You are made for this. Your personality is perfectly balanced to manage the people who are up here.”
Later, Commissioner Miguel Gabela said what everyone was thinking: “You’ve had a hard time working with us, you know, keeping us straight at times here. We’ve had a little bit of trouble on and off,” Gabela said. Ladra wonders if he means the time he got up and almost punched Joe Carollo.
Said Damian Pardo: “You do an amazing job of keeping the boys in line.”
During her words, King said “irrespective of what you all may hear, these are great guys. And I love them all… they are part of my fairy tale.”
Yeah, they’re all there: the big bad wolf, the tricky troll, the evil stepfather.
Suarez said King has a calming voice — which has been useful and has been useless at some meetings — and credited her with “making sure the agenda happens.” Suarez called her “a loyal friend… a loyal ally,” good, transparent, honest — and Ladra doesn’t know how those things can coexist.
Hardemon also had nothing but good things to say about his “number one partner” in the community, who he bonded with before either was elected. But he couldn’t help but take a few digs at the former county commissioner without naming her (Audrey Edmonson).
“To see these four years pass by so quickly, it’s like a blink of an eye,” he said, talking about the prrogress she’s made working with the county and the state. “I’m proud of the progress that you made. You made women in this town look good. I hope my daughters grow up to be somebody just like you, who can do something and say I can do it as a lady and look good doing it.”
Um, what? Cringe.
Read related: Miami-Dade Commissioners silence voters, appoint District 5 replacement
Even newly-appointed Miami-Dade Commissioner Vicki Lopez, less than 24 hours after her own swearing in, had some words of encouragement and support, calling King her sister and her “partner in crime.” Whoops. Hopefully, Lopez doesn’t mean the bribery charge she was slapped with when she was a Lee County commissioner in the 1990s.
“The thing that impressed me the most about her is that she led with her heart. She has cared deeply not only about her district but about the entire city,” Lopez said, adding that she had worked with King as a state rep on some projects and issues. “Some in her district and some not in her district. She never wavered in her commitment to the city.”
Still, this is Miami, and nobody gets a coronation without a bit of context.
There was never really a contest in D5. Marion Brown, a construction executive, and Frederick Bryant, a retired teacher and community activist really wasted their time running against her.
King — who previously served as Chief of Constituent Services for Miami-Dade County and later as president and CEO of the MLK Economic Development Corporation — has been the hand-picked successor to Hardemon, who went on to the Miami-Dade Commission, since before the commission slapped him in the face and appointed Commissioner Jeffrey “Who” Watson, who sorta promised, but not really, not to run for real and then got stomped in 2021 when Christine took 65% of the vote.
The chairwoman has some first-term wins: affordable-housing action, rental assistance, millions secured for Overtown, youth and workforce investments, homelessness programs, climate initiatives, beautification projects, and her signature “Constituent Tuesdays,” where anyone can show up and bend her ear without an appointment.
She promised more of the same in Term Two — more affordable housing, more youth programs, more senior support, more mental health access, more homelessness strategies, more resilience projects, and more neighborhood partnerships. All good things. All needed. All ambitious in the little four-year window Miami politicians get before redistricting, chaos, or FBI raids disrupt everything.
Read related: Rolando Escalona picks up two anti-Carollo endorsements in Miami D3 race
The only person beaming harder than King and her mom was Hardemon — the man who helped launch King into office back in 2021. The political godfather. The one person whose nod means more in District 5 than most outside it realize.
This wasn’t just a swearing-in; it was a reaffirmation of the District 5 political lineage. A continuation. A passing of the torch that never actually left the family.
But to King’s credit, she has grown into the role on her own terms. And on Thursday, as she promised to keep fighting for residents being pushed out of the neighborhoods they helped build, it felt… genuine. Emotional, yes. But, also, earned.
District 5 has seen its share of political turnover, drama, and reinvention. But for the next four years, it looks like Christine King isn’t going anywhere.
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
The post Miami Commissioner Christine King is sworn in, returned to her throne appeared first on Political Cortadito.
Miami-Dade committee punts hard on Kionee McGhee’s non-profit slush fund
Miami-Dade’s nonprofit industrial complex took another bow this week, and — ay, Dios mío — County Hall is starting to look less like a government building and more like the green room for a very special episode of The Price Is Right.
Because once again, commissioners were asked to sign off on a brand-new pot of money for their favorite nonprofits. And once again, the numbers didn’t add up. And once again, the appropriations committee did what Miami-Dade commissioners do best when they don’t want to say “no” — they kicked the can down the road so hard it bounced into the next fiscal year.
The pitch this time? A so-called CBO Trust Fund for “community-based organizations,” or non-profits that fill the gaps of service where the county can’t. But let’s not pretend it’s anything other than a slush fund starter kit.
Read related: Miami-Dade might skim a little off the top of contracts — for the nonprofits
The grand idea was dreamed up by none other than Commissioner Kionne McGhee, patron saint of Miami-Dade’s nonprofit class has had four of his own non-profit organizations and still has one, Conquering Hope Blueprint, with his whole family.
McGhee also works for Children of Inmates, a group that got $250,000 from the county just this year. About half of that will cover his salary and benefits.
It looks like that’s the formula at Miami-Dade: Kristi House, an advocacy center to prevent child sexual abuse and trafficking that serves as the central hub in Miami-Dade County for coordinating legal, medical, and social services for child victims and their families, was scheduled to get $450,000 in county grants this year. Executive Director Amanda Altman, makes a salary of just over half at $266,038.
McGhee’s proposal would have the county scrape a teeny-tiny 2% off county vendor contracts and redirect it into grants for nonprofits. A permanent revenue stream! A fountain of taxpayer love! A bottomless mimosa brunch for the advocacy class!
Except, well, the math ain’t mathing.
County budget staff estimated the plan, which would not apply to proprietary funds like the airport and seaport, would generate maybe $4 to $5 million, tops. A rounding error, considering nonprofits raked in about $80 million last year alone.
Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins cut through the fog quickly: “Not even a Band-Aid,” she said. And she was right. More like putting a Hello Kitty sticker on a gunshot wound.
But McGhee wasn’t giving up. He pushed staff — hard — to promise that vendors wouldn’t pass the cost onto taxpayers. Budget Chief David Clodfelter gave him a polite but firm “No puedo.” So McGhee turned to another senior staffer, Chief Administrative Officer Carladenise Edwards, who wisely refused to touch that political live wire.
Read related: Kionne McGhee has own Miami-Dade budget town hall to focus on non-profits
And then, because the drama levels were still too low, McGhee tried to float the idea of putting the whole thing on the ballot. On the ballot, after everyone in the room had already agreed the trust fund wouldn’t actually raise enough money to solve the problem it claimed to solve.
This is where Ladra had to resist the urge to throw a chancleta at the dais. It happens more often than you think.
Why the desperation? Why the insistence on pumping public dollars into nonprofit pipelines that clearly can’t sustain themselves without government sugar?
Well, let’s take a look at the Form 6 filings, hall we?
McGhee, who never met a nonprofit he didn’t want to sponsor, has been collecting $99,416.18 every year — down to the last penny — from Children of Inmates, a nonprofit that just so happens to have a long and cozy relationship with Miami-Dade’s budget process. That’s not consulting. That’s not occasional work. That’s a salary. A salary funded indirectly by the same ecosystem he is now trying to give a permanent revenue stream to.
If you thought McGhee was the only one auditioning for the role of “Nonprofit Whisperer,” surprise! Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez, once the fiscal conservative watchdog who barked at every penny misspent, has now curled up in McGhee’s lap like a new rescue pup. The two have been showing up to each other’s events like they’re running a buddy-cop campaign, not a county government. Insiders in the Stephen P. Clark Center say the quiet part out loud: the two have struck a mutual-support pact for chair and vice chair of the commission (more on that later).
And because nothing screams “transparency” like a backroom alliance, they’ve scheduled a Sunshine Meeting to “flush out” questions about nonprofits and the trust fund.
Ladra translation: They want to get their story straight before the rest of Miami-Dade sees the receipts.
Now, we’re heading toward the big Sunshine Meeting, which, let’s be honest, will be a carefully scripted performance dressed up as transparency. Expect glossy charts. Expect solemn speeches. Expect a whole lot of “we hear the concerns” without actually addressing who benefits from this convoluted tangle of nonprofit funding, political ambition, and personal ties.
Read related: Miami-Dade budget restores 100% funds to non-profits = self preservation
But the real questions are no longer whisper-level inside County Hall. They’re out here with the taxpayers:
Why is a commissioner who earns nearly $100K a year from a nonprofit also the architect of a permanent funding scheme for nonprofits?
Why has a former fiscal conservative suddenly become his number-one hype man?
Why are county employees raising red flags about management hires (more on that later) tied to the same nonprofit world driving this debate?
And why are taxpayers expected to foot this bill, while nobody acknowledges the conflicts staring us all in the face?
Nonprofits do important work. Ladra knows that. But they are not required parts of government. They do not have a constitutional right to taxpayer money. And Miami-Dade residents should not have to support a growing cottage industry of politically favored organizations whose leaders have one hand on the microphone and the other in the county budget.
The fact that some commissioners balked should tell you everything.
The trust fund doesn’t work. The numbers don’t work. The alliances don’t smell right. And the nonprofit industrial complex may finally face the kind of scrutiny it has dodged for years.
Three wannabes are vying for House seat 113 — but there’s no election yet
Only in Miami do we have a full-blown political race underway for a Florida House special election that the governor hasn’t even bothered to call yet.
But that hasn’t stopped the early birds — or the opportunists — from flocking to District 113, which State Rep. Vicki López just abandoned mid-term to keep Eileen Higgins’ old seat warm on the County Commission.
And oh, she left a parting gift on her way out: an endorsement for the guy she wants to keep her seat warm in Tallahassee.
Surprise! It’s not the guy who applied for her Commission seat two days earlier.
It’s Republican businessman and FIU-grown urban planner Frank Lago — a one-time chief of staff to Sweetwater Mayor Manny Marono, who lost a 2011 council run in Hialeah after losing a different state house race to replace Esteban “Stevie” Bovo when he left to go to the Miami-Dade Commission — has filed for HD 113 as the apparent heir apparent to López, who called him “dedicated,” “trustworthy,” and possessing a “true servant’s heart.”
Which is Miami political code for: “He’s my pick, don’t screw this up.”
Frank Lago, left, with former Hialeah Councilman Luis Gonzalez and land use lobbyist Alejandro Arias in 2019
Lago, bless his heart, called López’s endorsement “deeply grateful” and thanked her for her “leadership.” It was all very sweet, very wholesome, very press-release-polished. The kind of thing that confirms what everyone had been whispering for days: Lago is the GOP’s pick. Make no mistake — Frank Lago is entering this race as the GOP establishment favorite.
Urban planning background (read: land use/zoning lobbying)? Check. Nonprofits on the résumé? Check. Chair of the Miami-Dade Planning Advisory Board? Check. Ready-made talking points about prosperity, innovation, and the American Dream? Check, check and triple check.
And with HD 113 red-trending in recent cycles — Republicans now slightly outnumber Democrats in registration — the party bigs are licking their chops to keep this in the red.
But Lago might be cast as a carpetbagger. A Mike Redondo 2.0. Everything we know about him is Hialeah. Not only did he run for office there, he was entrenched: Lago supported former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina‘s county mayoral bid against now Congressman Carlos Gimenez. He doesn’t live in the district.
And Tony Diaz, who announced hours after Lopez was appointed, has lived in the district his entire life. Well, after being born at Palmetto Hospital, that is. He went home to an apartment in Little Havana and grew up in Silver Bluff, where he has lived in the same house for 20 years. Diaz, 31, is raising his daughter there after his parents moved to Coral Gables. “I didn’t want to leave Miami. I like it here. It’s five blocks from Publix and CVS and I have a Casola’s and a Pekin Palace five blocks away. What more do you want?
“I’m literally a part of the district, to because I moved or have a rent like some of these guys. I have just created my happy little life here and I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Diaz told Political Cortadito.
Read related: Tony Diaz doesn’t waste a minute – files for House seat vacated by Vicki Lopez
He went with his family to the St. Peter and Paul Catholic School Carnival this weekend. Diaz, 31, went there; class of 2008. He graduated from La Salle High School. He knows the city issues and he knows the county issues, which is why he flirted with a run for Miami District 4 and then applied for the appointment to Miami-Dade’s District 3.
Diaz, who owns a small printing shop and has just started a fruit-tree grafting business, lost that sweepstakes Tuesday, as expected. And by Wednesday he was running for HD 113. It’s like musical chairs but with campaign signs.
Diaz, who has now filed for the seat, positions himself as a Republican who wants to “work across the aisle” and “reject divisive rhetoric.” He talks earnestly about “growing pains” facing Florida, which is objectively hilarious coming from a man who literally grows grafted mango trees for a living.
His big pitch is Florida is not for sale.
“Florida is in the clutches of special interests. All around us lobbyists and irresponsible political players sell out your voice and prey on our busy life to line their own pockets,” Diaz says on his website. “I will be a watchdog that you can depend on. Constantly searching for ways to help the everyday Floridian to again enjoy life in their state. I will also work to ensure that elections are as clean as can be by proposing laws that help Supervisors of Election across Florida to reign in questionable activity.”
On the other side of the primary, we only have one Democrat in the room so far: Justin Mendoza Routt, a polished, true-believer candidate who checked all the other Miami boxes.
Colombian-American? Check. Lifelong Miamian? Check. Civic engagement? Check. Grew up everywhere from Hialeah Gardens to Overtown and then worked in finance in New York? Check, check and triple check.
It is unlikely that Mendoza, who is president of both the Historic Bayside Civic Association and the Miami-Dade Young Democrats — who really should call themselves the middle-aged Democrats, but more on that later — will have a primary opponent. He has political consultant Christian Ulvert on his side, which basically means the Florida Democratic Party. He’s also a member of the Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee, representing District 11.
And Democrats — still high on the national and state wins Nov. 4 — are already calling HD 113 “flippable.” Oh, and that’s not just whistling a Shakira tune. HD 113 went for Biden by 12 points in 2020. DeSantis only won it by 2. And Democrats say it’s still a D+4 seat on paper.
Mendoza is positioning himself as the candidate for people who can no longer afford their rent, their groceries, or their ZIP code. His announcement reads like a love letter to Miami’s working families.
“Our democracy is at its best when everyday people – those who understand just how impossible it has become to get by in our city – step up to run for office and fight for our community.
I love our community because it gave me the chance to grow and overcome childhood challenges, with love, grit and determination. Like many of us here, I grew up facing poverty, hunger, and housing insecurity. Today, as we all know too well, the crisis of affordability in this state is making the path to prosperity more difficult for all Floridians.
Together, I know we can create a Florida where residents have a chance to own a home, to address poverty and the rising cost of living, and to strengthen local public schools, because every child deserves the right to a strong education.”
He’s talking affordability, environment, schools, safety — the classic Democratic Greatest Hits album, remastered for 2025.
But the race will likely be in 2026.
Read related: Miami-Dade Commissioners silence voters, appoint District 5 replacement
At this very moment, three candidates are campaigning for a race that doesn’t officially exist yet because Florida’s Governor won’t say when the special election is happening.
But that’s not stopping anyone. Republicans smell an easy hold. Democrats smell a surprise flip. And activists smell the chance to annoy Tallahassee for three more months.
What does Ladra smell? Opportunity. Drama. A little self-interest. And a hint of desperation. It’s a delicious aroma.
The district is a weird, beautiful Miami stew — Key Biscayne, the Roads, Brickell, Coconut Grove, Little Havana, and more — and voters there know how to keep things interesting.
So, grab your popcorn. Or your mangos, if you’re Tony Diaz. Because HD 113 is about to be the hottest special election in town — whenever the governor finally decides to calendar it.
If you want more independent, watchdog reporting of county government and local elections, help Ladra with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Thank you for your support.
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Miami blinks on Watson Island deal — kicks can, saves face, still smells fishy
Turns out City Hall didn’t have the votes tied up with a bow Thursday for that $29 million Watson Island liquidation sale after all. So instead of losing outright, the Miami Commission did what Miami politicians do best: They punted.
They punted so hard the can may have landed in Biscayne Bay.
The highly-hyped vote to hand over 3.2 acres of prime waterfront to BH3 Merrimac for what they call Watson Harbour and what critics call “a massive land giveaway” was suddenly postponed Thursday after commissioner Damian Pardo, who sponsored it, realized the math wasn’t mathing. He needed four out of five votes to approve the sale. They did not have four. They barely had two.
So, the commission killed the engines and pretended it was about “needing more information.”
What really shook the dais? Probably the fresh appraisal that just dropped, valuing the land between $257 million and $342 million — yes, million with an “M” — depending on development restrictions. Compare that to the $29 million offer, which developers swear is generous because it “buys out the lease,” not the land. Cute. The same appraisal, delivered this week but begun in March, values the lease at $28.9 million. Turns out, it was a terrible lease to begin with.
After the state gets $4 million to lift restrictions keeping it public, that’s $25 million for a piece of land worth at least 10 times that. After you deduct the $20 million the city already paid in a settlement fee to the last lease-holder, that’s $5 million for a piece of waterfront property like no other in Miami.
Read related: Miami’s Watson Island liquidation sale to developers for lowball $25 million
Resident after resident begged commissioners not to approve what one called “the biggest sellout in city history.” And Ladra sees why: Miami voters did approve the sale in concept in a referendum last year that passed with 62% of the vote. But the ballot language said they approved a sale at fair market value, not a clearance rack special.
Specifically it said: “Shall City Charter be amended to revise existing leases at 888 MacArthur Causeway, sell 3.2 acres of leased property to tenant for fair market value of not less than $25,000,000, reduce overall development, extend term 24 years, waive bidding and authorize, at no cost to City: $9,000,000 contribution to affordable housing plus infrastructure improvements; timeshare units become condominiums; mixed-uses to include office; and expanded public waterfront and pedestrian promenade along Biscayne Bay?”
Somehow, it strikes Ladra as very strange that the price tag is the exact $25 million floor, plus the $4 million that goes to the state. That can’t be a coincidence.
Outgoing Commissioner Joe Carollo, who has exactly one meeting left before he’s termed out forever, shocked half the room by becoming the loudest voice pumping the brakes. Carollo? Defender of the public purse? Please. The man can smell leverage like a shark smells blood.
But he wasn’t wrong when he called Watson Island “the most valuable piece of property anywhere in the city limits.”
Miami finally has an appraisal that says so too.
Developer Nitin Motwani complained from the podium that Watson Island feels cursed. Every time they take “two steps forward,” they get knocked “three steps back,” he said.
Ladra’s translation: “Why won’t the city just give us this land already?”
Read related: Miami City Commission to consider two Watson Island developments
Motwani and partner Greg Freedman insist the $29 million price tag is totally fair because the existing lease “encumbers” the site. They claim they’ll have invested $150 million by the time this is approved, including more than $100 million to buy out the lease. But wait, wasn’t the lease worth $29 million? It seems to be at least worth $100M.
City Manager Art Noriega acted more like a lobbyist for the developers than a steward for the city. Of course he did — it’s his deal, too. And las malas lenguas say he’s angling for a job because he won’t be the city manager much longer after the mayoral runoff Dec. 9.
Noriega explained that the lease agreement was still in play and that the developers were limited to 105 condo units and 80 hotel rooms. But nobody explained why that lease can’t be changed. Or revised. And that is the problem.
Commissioner Miguel Gabela said the numbers felt fuzzy. And Commissioner Ralph Rosado asked for a one-page summary, aka a cheat sheet for the biggest land transaction in city history. Only Commission Chair Christine King seemed keen to push it through now, invoking the voter referendum like a shield. As if the words “fair market value” mean nothing.
Pardo — the financial guy on the dais who should know the deal stinks — knew he didn’t have the four votes needed and backed away quietly, deferring the first reading on Dec. 11, which is Carollo’s farewell performance (and possibly Noriega’s swan song) before the new mayor and a new District 3 commissioner are sworn in. That means there will be a different commissioner on the dais for the second reading — remember, it needs four votes — and the very real possibility of a fresh mayoral veto.
The next mayor might not be as friendly to Noriega or this rushed waterfront swap as outgoing Mayor Francis Suarez, who needs a new side gig, too.
The real conundrum is this: Is this deal a smart exit from a bad lease? Or is the city about to sell oceanfront gold for pawnshop prices?
This curse on the island? Maybe it’s not the island. Maybe it’s on City Hall.
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
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DNC goes ‘all in’ for Eileen Higgins in hyper partisan Miami mayoral race
Just when you thought Miami’s mayoral race couldn’t get more absurdly partisan — like, more partisan than it already was with President Donald Trump diving in from his gold-plated Truth Social bunker to endorse former city manager Emilio González — here comes the Democratic National Committee, belly-flopping into the runoff like it’s the Iowa caucus.
Sí, it’s true. The DNC has decided it is “all in” for former Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins in a municipal race that is officially nonpartisan but has now become a national proxy war between the MAGA machine and the MSNBC dream.
Somewhere, the old Miami-Dade Elections Department is weeping. The new supervisor of elections is making popcorn.
Let’s remember: Ladra already told you back in the general that this thing was turning into a hyper partisan tug of war. Politico has now finally reached the same conclusion — bless their hearts — reporting that the race has become “nationalized.”
Read related: Eileen Higgins heads into partisan Miami mayoral runoff with momentum
Yeah, we noticed. The minute Trump hit “post” on that endorsement for González, half of Miami screamed “¿Qué carajo?” and the other half immediately requested yard signs. So is it really a shock that the national Democrats — who usually treat Florida like a cursed amulet — suddenly want to play here?
Higgins said from Day 1 she’d be the Democrat in the race, even when there were 13 candidates and half of Coconut Grove was still working on their petitions. And that might have been the right message. Because the turnout among Democrats was 5.5% higher than Republican voters, according to data nerd Matthew Isbell, who runs MCI Maps and Data Consulting. But maybe that’s because Trump wasn’t on the ticket. Because last year, Republicans outperformed Democrats by 8%.
This big, fat, very public DNC bear hug the week before the runoff could help drive that turnout even bluer.
The DNC is rolling out a giant, bilingual “GOTV organizing blitz” with phone banks, volunteers from around the country, training sessions for boots on the ground — everything short of parachuting in Rachel Maddow to knock on doors in Shenandoah.
“While Higgins is running a campaign focused on lowering costs for Miami families, her opponent, Emilio Gonzalez, is a former Trump transition team staffer who supports Trump’s toxic agenda that is raising costs and ripping away health care from 1.5 million Floridians,” reads a statement from the DNC War Room.
“Gonzalez represents more of the same Republican aligned leadership that has failed Miami for nearly 30 years.”
Building Democratic power through the Southeast is a top priority for the DNC, particularly on the heels of 90% success rate in national races Nov. 4. That is why Chair Ken Martin announced a historic increase in the national investment in state parties, including $270,000 a year to traditionally GOP states through what it calls its “Red State Fund.” And it is why he visited Florida in March to campaign for Josh Weil in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, where Weil and fellow Democrat Gail Valimont in Florida’s 1st Congressional District overperformed 2024 margins by over double digits.
Read related: Partisan divide is strong in Miami mayoral race, Gonzalez vs Higgins
“When you organize everywhere, you can win anywhere — including here in Florida, where Democrats are fighting to flip Miami’s mayorship for the first time in nearly 30 years,” Martin said in a statement. “Between now and Election Day, the DNC is all-in to elect Eileen Higgins and ensure Miami families have a champion who is fighting for them, not Donald Trump.”
Ah, yes. Because that’s how the abuelas on Flagler like their mayoral contests: framed as a showdown between a local transit nerd and a former president with 91 indictments, a plane donated by Qatar and a golf cart.
Thanks, Washington.
Donna Deegan was elected the first woman mayor of Jacksonville in 2023.
National Democrats are treating this like a chance to prove they still have a pulse in Florida — which, to be fair, has been questionable since 2016. They see a chance to flip a mayor’s office that hasn’t gone blue in three decades and make history with the first woman to ever hold the job.
They see her as the Donna Deegan of Miami, pero with more cafecito and more corruption.
Of course the DNC also loves Higgins porque her campaign is being run by Christian Ulvert, who used to be the political director of the Florida Democratic Party. State and national Democrats love themselves some Christian Ulvert. They think he’s the Florida vote whisperer.
Ulvert says Team Eileen will “welcome all support,” which is consultant for: Yes, please keep dumping money and volunteers into my campaign. Gracias.
Read related: Emilio Gonzalez will ‘clean up’ Miami — but he was there when it got dirty
Meanwhile, Trump’s “complete and total endorsement” of González managed to do something unusual: annoy Miami Republicans. Not all of them — the county GOP chair practically did a conga line in response — but enough rank-and-file GOPers are whispering that Trump sticking his giant orange thumb on the scale wasn’t helpful.
The González camp says they never asked for Trump’s endorsement, but they are leaning hard into it anyway — like it’s a life raft. The retired Army colonel, who has the backing of a lot of our local law enforcement, thanked the POTUS on social media.
“Thank you President @realDonaldTrump, for your endorsement. Miami’s future is on the line, and your support sends a powerful message that our city deserves strong, common-sense leadership.” He also thanked Miami-Dade Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez and Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar — two Republicans known for tossing the red meat — on subsequent posts.
González has also collected endorsements like Pokémon cards: Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sens. Rick Scott, Ashley Moody, Ted Cruz and Byron Donalds. It’s basically the Avengers of Florida conservatism (plus Cruz) — if the Avengers fought mask mandates and drag queens.
Gonzalez has called Higgins a “soft socialist” — because she rides the bus voluntarily? — and has said that she will use the mayor’s office to oppose Donald Trump’s agenda. He said before the Nov. 4 election that the other choices were all “crooks or commies” and that he won’t let Miami turn into New York or Seattle or Portland. He told the Miami-Dade GOP that “we are all MAGA,” which is a bold claim considering that while Trump won Miami-Dade last year, he lost the city of Miami narrowly to Kamala Harris.
We are not all MAGA.
Both candidates swear they’re not running as partisans and will represent all Miamians. They have focused their campaign points on the things people care about — affordability, flooding, transportation, and housing.
Read related: Eileen Higgins: An engineer who wants to run Miami like a well-oiled machine
But try telling that to the DNC, which is salivating at the chance to notch a win in Florida, or to Trump, who sees González as the next MAGA mayor and a chance to flex in a county he believes he has single-handedly turned red.
This is no longer a Miami mayor’s race. This is a proxy battle in a national divorce.
And Ladra, sitting here with her cortadito, is just wondering whether all this outside meddling will turn off the independents, the moderates, and the Miamians who just want their garbage picked up on time.
The truth this race was winnable on good local politics — reform, transparency, bringing trust back to City Hall — until the national parties stuck their big, sweaty noses in.
Now? It’s anyone’s game. And Miami, as usual, is the playground.
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
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Miami: Damian Pardo has a developers’ dream in density-for-dollars deal
Builders get a BOGO special and Miami gets… flooded
Miami commissioners are set to vote Thursday on yet another Damian Pardo special. The Miami commissioners has proposed a shiny new ordinance that would let developers double the allowable density in some of the most flood-prone, overdeveloped corners of the city — as long as they drop a little something into a new “Resilience Trust Fund.”
Because nothing says climate adaptation like building twice as much in an area already underwater.
The plan, which the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board already waved through in October, would let developers buy their way into supersized projects by paying into a city-managed fund for pump stations, seawalls, raised roads and other resiliency window dressing. Think of it as Miami’s first-ever Build-and-Flood program — the more you build, the more we promise to spend trying to keep it from flooding.
And of course, the first two “Resilience Fund Areas” just happen to be… both in Edgewater. You know, the neighborhood where a regular afternoon rain can stall your BMW for the day.We need more condo towers there.
Oh, and Watson Island, too. Because why stop at Edgewater when you can add incentives right where two mega-developments just happen to be waiting? It’s like playing a game of follow the bouncing bulldozers.
The proposal claims to be targeted at “high-demand areas,” but as usual, Miami’s definition of “targeted” is suspiciously specific. Both RFAs slice through Edgewater from the Julia Tuttle to NE 8th Street — an area already plastered with cranes and high-rise renderings.
Read related: Miami’s Watson Island liquidation sale to developers for lowball $25 million
Just last month, the Urban Development Review Board stamped its approval on a 47-story tower with nearly 500 apartments on Biscayne Boulevard. And Sam Nazarian’s crew is cooking up a branded condo tower down on 29th Street. Miami’s Edgewater is undergoing significant development with numerous residential, mixed-use, and commercial high-rise projects. Major developments include a large-scale Edgewater Collective project, the Braman Motors mixed use campus, the ELLE Residences and Edge House Miami — a 57-story monolith (rendering right) — all contributing already to the area’s transformation into a denser neighborhood.
Now the city wants to sweeten the deal even more, with a zoning BOGO: Buy one density, get a second one free when you help pay for the pumps.
Developers can even get a 15% discount if they tug on their green cap and offer to do some of the infrastructure work themselves. What could possibly go wrong?
Even the chair of the city’s Climate Resilience Committee, Aaron DeMayo, couldn’t help pointing out the obvious last month. “Somewhat ironic that we’re incentivizing additional development capacity in an area that is already flooding significantly,” he is quoted as saying in the Coconut Grove Spotlight.
Somewhat ironic? It’s Miami. It’s perfectly on brand.
Still, the committee voted to support it. Because of course it did.
Neighbors and urbanists are warning that doubling density — especially in neighborhoods already bursting at the seams — will overwhelm Miami’s already-limping infrastructure and speed up gentrification. If history is a guide: sí, claro.
The ordinance also allows new RFAs to be created at any time by, you guessed it, another ordinance. In Miami language, that’s a standing invitation: If developers want a new hotspot, we’ll draw them a new map.
As usual, Pardo declined to talk about it. But a canned statement in his District 2 newsletter insisted the ordinance will “only apply to a portion of Edgewater.”
Sure. Today. But like every other “only here, for now” zoning gift, it can grow legs at any future meeting when nobody’s watching — or when the right lobbyist is. Las malas lenguas say city staffers have already said they plan to expand to the Transit Oriented Development overlays commissioners approved earlier this year that already jack up building heights and densities around rail corridors. Layer this onto that, and Miami’s development map is starting to look like SimCity played by a teenager with unlimited cheat codes.
Read related: Miami approves TSND zones to bring ‘affordable’ housing to transit hubs
Naturally, neighbors are concerned. A flurry of emails to the commissioner’s office was answered by his community liaison for Edgewater and Morningside, Bradley Mills, who sounded more like a lobbyist than a public servant.
“The proposed legislation…involves the creation of an Edgewater Resilience Trust Fund with the use of density bonuses. This legislation is the culmination of several meetings over many months and comes as a direct response to the request from Edgewater property owners and resident groups,” Mills wrote in an email Wednesday, adding that the climate resilience committee and the planning and zoning board both support the measure.
“The legislation does not double the density in the City of Miami. The double density is already in the city’s comprehensive plan and was adopted in 2017. Applicants can already achieve density increases through the City’s TDR and TDD programs and through our Public Benefits Program. Density can already be increased in certain transects across the city to the same threshold; this program merely offers an additional way to achieve the same density increases allowed in the Comprehensive Plan.”
So, nothing new to see here, folks. Just a little something extra.
Mills says the ordinance simply “unlocks a tool under the Miami 21 Zoning Code for the Edgewater area that builds infrastructure, provides home ownership opportunities, and funds public benefits important to the neighborhood.” There’s that lobbyist speak. He also raised the Live Local Act boogeyman saying it negates “these public benefit opportunities.
“In short, this legislation offers options for the Edgewater community that are important to the area and no other area.”
Not yet.
The commission will likely pass this on first reading — because they almost always do — and kick it to a second reading where developers will show up with glossy renderings and commissioners will congratulate themselves for “addressing climate resilience.”
Meanwhile Edgewater will still flood if someone sneezes on Biscayne Boulevard.
And Miamians will be left wondering: Are we really building resilience? Or are we building the problem faster than the pumps can catch up?
Ladra knows the answer. So do you. So does Pardo.
The city commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. Thursday at City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, and can also be seen online on the city’s website and its YouTube channel. The full agenda can be viewed here.
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
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Rolando Escalona picks up two anti-Carollo endorsements in Miami D3 race
Rolando Escalona, who got into the runoff for the Miami District 3 seat with former Commissioner Frank Carollo, didn’t just get two new endorsements this week. He got two full-throated “por favor, anyone but a Carollo” testimonials wrapped in veteran creds and political déjà vu.
Both Rob Piper and Oscar Elio Alejandro — the two guys who finished right behind Escalona in the Nov. 4 free-for-all — have climbed aboard the rookie’s runoff campaign. And while they’re saying nice things about Escalona, make no mistake: These endorsements are really aimed squarely at the House of Carollo, where political dynasties go to fester.
Alejandro, who nabbed 12% of the vote, didn’t even try to sugarcoat it. He backed Escalona because he wants to “put an end to political dynasties controlling our local government.”
Translation: Miami has had enough of the Carollo brothers’ time-share on District 3.
He had even tried to sue to block Frank Carollo from the ballot because of the city charter amendment voters passed that implement lifetime term limits for anybody who has already served two terms in any seat. Frank Carollo was commissioner before his brother was, from 2009 to 2017. But a judge denied that motion last week. Frank Carollo stays on the ballot because it would disenfranchise the voters who chose him on Nov. 4.
Read related: Judge lets Frank Carollo stay on the ballot — for now — and voters cry foul
What about disenfranchising the voters who overwhelmingly approved the lifetime term limits with almost 80% of the vote. It’s possible that after almost two decades of one Carollo or the other haunting the dais, they may be ready to change the locks.
And then there’s Piper — a Marine Corps vet who once led a recall effort against big bro Joe Carollo and now gets to oppose Frank Carollo. That’s full-circle Miami politics, gente. Piper said voters spoke “loud and clear against recycled politicians.” Translation: He’s tired of reheated Carollo, too.
So, here we are, heading into a Dec. 9 runoff where Escalona — a restaurant manager turned political hopeful who worked his way from busboy to boss — is up against another carbon copy Miami career politician, complete with family franchise.
And now the two men who finished behind Escalona — who took 17% to Carollo’s 38% in the general — are saying he’s the guy to break the mold.
The candidate says he’s building a “coalition” for integrity, accountability and basic city services that actually work. Imagine that! He’s going to need boots on the ground because Frank Carollo is outraising and outspending him about 3 to 1, according to the last campaign finance reports, with transactions through Nov. 7.
He also keeps saying the election is “about people, not politics,” which is adorable in a place where politics is a full-contact sport often fought with subpoenas and secret recordings.
Read related: Miami voters sue to keep Frank Carollo off the runoff ballot after term-limit win
Still, his story resonates. Eleven years ago, he arrived from Cuba with nothing but ganas and worked his way up to managing 150 employees and earning a political science degree at FIU. Now he wants to overthrow the Carollo regime in Little Havana, East Shenandoah, West Brickell, Silver Bluff and parts of the Roads. Ambitious, sí. But not impossible.
And with Piper and Alejandro — both Democrats — now endorsing a Republican, in a supposedly “nonpartisan” Miami election, you can feel the anti-Carollo coalition forming like a tropical storm.
This isn’t just about Escalona gaining support. It’s about a district that is tired. Tired of drama. Tired of dynasty. Tired of the same last name on the ballot.
District 3 voters get another say on Dec. 9.
And if these endorsements mean anything, Ladra wouldn’t be surprised if what they say is: “Basta ya. Time for something — and someone — new.”
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
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Miami’s Watson Island liquidation sale to developers for lowball $25 million
Miami City Hall is at it again, mismanaging public land like it’s a clearance rack at Ross.
The city commission on Thursday will consider what looks like a fire sale on Watson Island, and the only ones getting a bargain are — surprise! — the developers.
On the agenda for the last commission meeting before the city gets a new mayor and a new District 2 commissioner (timing totally coincidental, por supuesto), Commissioner Damian Pardo is sponsoring an item to sell 3.2 acres of Watson Island to IG Luxury LLC — a Delaware company, because of course — for a grand total of $29 million.
Except, not really. Because Miami has to cut a $4 million check to the State of Florida just to lift deed restrictions on the land the public already owns, because it was given with the caveat that it stay public. That means taxpayers net $25 million.
Except, not really. Because the city already had to pay a $20 million settlement in what is arguably a botched lawsuit (thanks “Tricky Vicky” Mendez) from the former lease holder who didn’t do anything for 15 years. That means taxpayers net $5 million.
Read related: Miami City Commission to consider two Watson Island developments
On waterfront land worth at least 50 times as much. It’s at least 10 times the $25 million on paper. According to a new appraisal received Monday — three days before the vote — the land is valued at $257 million “with use restrictions” and $342 million without them.
Why do those numbers matter? Because Miami voters approved a ballot measure last year authorizing the sale of the land for “fair market value” — not a penny less. The actual ballot language said “shall City Charter be amended to revise existing leases at 888 MacArthur Causeway, sell 3.2 acres of leased property to tenant for fair market value of not less than $25,000,000, reduce overall development, extend term 24 years, waive bidding and authorize, at no cost to City: $9,000,000 contribution to affordable housing plus infrastructure improvements; timeshare units become condominiums; mixed-uses to include office; and expanded public waterfront and pedestrian promenade along Biscayne Bay?”
Forget all the bells and whistles, which is what Pardo and Commission Chairwoman Christine King will call “public benefits” Thursday. The key words here are “fair market value.” That is what 62% of the voters approved.
And this ain’t that.
The city is selling Watson Island for about 10 cents on the dollar. Even Walmart marks things down less aggressively.
This is going to be the most valuable land giveaway since, well, the Donald Trump library — and hotel — on downtown Miami-Dade College land.
It’s going to be interesting to watch Pardo defend this and explain why the land is not really worth $300 million. He’s a finance guy, after all. He must know it’s a bad deal. That’s probably why he didn’t return a call and a text from Ladra. Again.
But this is the same guy who tried to cancel this year’s mayoral and commission elections, extending his term by a year, and is under fire from Coconut Grove to Morningside for upzoning and pouring concrete.
Read related: Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo loses support, inspires recall threats
The backup documents insist this deal magically meets the voter-approved “fair market value” requirement because $25 million is the minimum floor written on the referendum. Which is like saying $500 for a 1982 Datsun 280ZX is “fair market value” because someone once paid that price for one in Hialeah. That is not how math works.
Taxpayers have already eaten a $20 million settlement with the first Watson Island developer, who sat on the land for 15 years, did nothing, and still walked away richer than most of the families the city claims this $9 million “affordable housing contribution” will help.
That $9 million — negotiated by Chairwoman King — is laughably tiny considering she is waving goodbye to more than $200 million in new revenue that could actually build, preserve, or rehab affordable housing across the city. It’s like dropping a gold bar into the bay and celebrating because you found a quarter under the sofa cushion.
Developers BH3 Management and Merrimac Ventures — who purchased the lease from Flagstone Island Gardens in 2023 — need four of the five commissioners to vote yes. It would authorize the city manager to negotiate everything — the purchase agreement, the CBA, deed modifications, the quitclaim deed, estoppels, amendments, lender docs… basically a blank check. It would provide a private residential and hotel project for IG Luxury, a subsidiary of BH3 IG — fancy names to distract you from the fact that this is public waterfront land being privatized.
This isn’t a negotiation. It’s a goodbye letter.
And what if Art Noriega is no longer the city manager after the Dec. 9 mayoral runoff? One of the candidates, former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, has already said he will immediately replace him (maybe with former Police Chief Jorge Colina). Would he or Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who is in the runoff with Gonzalez, veto this sweetheart deal?
Ladra suspects yes — which is precisely why this is coming up now and not next month.
Pardo’s office is making the argument that the land is actually only worth $25 because that’s what the value of the lease is.
“For background, there was no ‘public’ land on Watson Island as it was under a long-term lease arrangement,” wrote Pardo’s community liaison Bradley Mills in an email to residents last month. “Had this joint venture not moved forward, we would simply have what currently exists on Watson Island (without the below listed benefits and revenue to the City of Miami) plus a 300 room hotel potentially for 74 years.”
Not public land?
The property is “encumbered by the existing 99-year lease owned by BH3 Merrimac,” said Greg Freedman, one of the principals of BH3 with Nitin Motwani.
“The property is subject to existing restrictions limiting what can be developed,” Freedman said in a statement. “The $29 million purchase price far exceeds the minimum sale amount of $25 million approved by voters and reflects the highest valuation calculated by multiple independent appraisers, as approved by both the city and the state of Florida.”
Key word this time: Minimum. The ballot language literally required “fair market value,” not “bare minimum we can get away with.” And how does $29 million “far exceed” $25 million, anyway?
A BH3 Merrimac rendering of Watson Harbour’s promenade
The city charter required the administration to also solicit appraisals of the land on a “fee simple basis,” as if there was no existing lease in place and that led to comparisons that were not fair, the developers argue. These are the appraisals that pegged the property at $247 million without restrictions and $342 million with.
“The City does not own the land on a fee simple basis, has not owned it for more than 20 years, and would not own it for an additional 99 years as the land is encumbered by the lease rights owned by BH3 Management and Merrimac Ventures. To be clear: the City of Miami presently only owns the right to collect contractual rent payments for the next 99 years pursuant to the lease rights owned by BH3 Merrimac,” Freedman said, and it sounds a lot like a ransom note, don’t it?
“BH3 Merrimac is also paying an additional $9 million above and beyond the purchase price as a contribution towards affordable housing, infrastructure, and resiliency improvements in the City,” Freedman added, just for good measure.
Oooooh, how generous. It’s not like you’re getting the deal of the century.
Freedman’s argument is that BH3 Merrimac — which is already calling the project Watson Harbour on its website — has already invested more than $110 million in acquiring the lease rights and making infrastructure improvements to the property ahead of development. “Once this sale is approved by Commissioners, BH3 and Merrimac will proceed with developing the mixed-use destination that voters approved in November of 2024,” he added.
Key words, Greg: “Fair market value.”
Former Commissioner Ken Russell, who just came in third in the Nov. 4 mayoral clusterbunch, says this might feel familiar to Miamians. “This happened with Melreese, as well,” Russell told Political Cortadito, referring to the giveaway of Miami’s only public golf course to Jorge Mas and company for the construction of Miami Freedom Park, a real estate complex disguised as a soccer stadium. “They wanted to pay the value of the land as contaminated, not once it was cleaned up. Just as commissioners can tomorrow, I was able to use my position in that vote to demand the higher appraisal.
“I don’t know what mental gymnastics they’ve had to do to justify this price,” Russell said of the $25 mil.
The developers in this case are also framed as “good guys,” same as Miami Freedom Park, but some might also call them good bandits. Because what they are getting is unprecedented and, frankly, insane. The city is selling a piece of property, not a lease. They should get the value of the property, not the value of the lease.
Read related: Miami Freedom Park gets its full $20 million back for 58-acre public park
“If we’re going to get rid of it forever, and it will no longer bring residual value to the city, I would owe it to my constituents to get the maximum appraised value,” Russell told Ladra. “You go with the highest one, especially in a no-bid situation. You sell it for what it’s truly worth.”
After all, there are single family homes in Coconut Grove that are priced at $25 million — and more.
Expect some public speakers to resist this. Residents. Public land advocates. People who can read a spreadsheet. Anyone allergic to corruption perfume.
But with Pardo and King behind it, Ladra won’t pretend this isn’t greased to pass. Commissioners have a tradition of going along with district commissioner initiatives, even though this would be a huge financial loss for citywide taxpayers.
And Miami has a long tradition of undervaluing its own land so private equity can come in and flip it like a Magic City Airbnb.
Because let’s be clear about this: The city is giving away a piece of Watson Island — some of the most valuable land in the state of Florida — for pennies, while pretending it’s doing the public a favor.
This isn’t a community benefit. This isn’t a fair market value sale. This is a giveaway, plain and simple.
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
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Tony Diaz doesn’t waste a minute – files for House seat vacated by Vicki Lopez
Well that didn’t take long.
Not even an hour after State Rep. Vicki Lopez was appointed to the Miami-Dade County Commission to replace Eileen Higgins — who is in the runoff for Miami mayor — Anthony “Tony” Tony J. Diaz, one of the five who applied for the position, rushed to file for her now-vacant House seat. The special election hasn’t even been set yet.
It’s almost like he had the paperwork pre-filled. Maybe even pre-notarized. Maybe even sitting in the car with the engine running outside the Supervisor of Elections.
Because honestly, the timing couldn’t have been tighter if he’d synchronized it with Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez’s gavel.
Read related: Miami-Dade Commissioners silence voters, appoint District 5 replacement
And judging from his own words, Diaz kind of did plan it all along.
“I feel my talents are better suited for 113, but when the vacancy opened I thought I could adapt,” Diaz told Political Cortadito Tuesday night. But he also, at one point, thought he could “adapt” to the Miami District 4 seat, filing to run in the special election before withdrawing.
Diaz was obviously frustrated at the county process to fill the vacated seat. He said he held out hope that the commission would not take the right from voters and had already started to advertise on the side of county buses.
“Nobody even took my calls or talked to me. That was the funniest part, having a room of people saying ‘I’ve met and know them all and each of them is great,’ when they wouldn’t know me if I shook their hand,” Diaz said about the Tuesday meeting where Lopez was appointed. He added that Commissioner Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez was the “only one nice enough to return my call and ask about me.”
He told Ladra “the dream has always been Tallahassee even since my address was [in House District] 112 and Jose Javier and Dominguez were duking it out. Yeah, that was 13 years ago.
In his House candidacy announcement, Diaz says it “pains [him] to see the growing pains facing Florida.”
Ladra is pained too, but mostly by the déjà vu of Miami-Dade’s revolving-door political ladder. One commissioner steps up, another wannabe steps in, and everybody else is left dizzy.
Read related: Let the jockeying begin to fill Eileen Higgins’ Miami-Dade commission seat
Diaz — known a the fruit tree prince of District 5 — owns a horticulture business and a print shop and says he wants to bring solutions to the people. Which is cute, because the first solution he seems to have found is: Run for whatever seat just opened up.
House District 113 covers Silver Bluff, Little Havana, The Roads, Brickell, Coconut Grove and all of Key Biscayne — many of the same communities that just got Lopez appointed over their own desire for, you know, an election.
And now they get Diaz, who is suddenly ready to become the next Tallahassee power broker.
Diaz also wants us to know he has a degree in public administration and will work “tirelessly” to fix the state’s challenges.
Ladra wonders if that work begins now, or after the next nursery shipment comes in. (Your mango tree order will be ready after the legislative session, cariño.)
Diaz also promises to “sponsor and co-sponsor legislation with members across the aisle to put divisive rhetoric to bed.”
Very sweet. Very noble. Very campaign-season-slogany.
But let’s be real: if he wanted to put divisiveness to bed, he probably shouldn’t start his campaign by lunging for the warm seat Lopez just vacated before the upholstery even settled.
Talk about a choreographed dance.
Lopez applies for the commission seat. Rodriguez hustles to get her appointed. Special election gets crushed on sight.Lopez wins 7-5. Minutes later — boom — Tony Diaz is running for House 113.
Ay, Miami. It’s like watching a telenovela produced by the Supervisor of Elections.
The only predictable thing is that more candidates will pile into this race. Some serious. Some delusional.
But for now, Tony Diaz is first out of the gate — just as if he’d been waiting for the starter pistol.
And, mi gente, that pistol went off Tuesday at exactly 7–5.
You can help get more independent, watchdog government reporting of our local government and political campaigns to our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
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