Somewhere around 300 immigrant advocates and social justice activists from more than a dozen organizations descended on Miami-Dade County Hall Tuesday afternoon to protest Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s about-face on complying with federal immigration detention orders at the local level.

And they want him to take it back.

Last week, Gimenez instructed the director of the county’s Department of Corrections to start holding illegal immigrants arrested for unrelated crimes after their local charges are resolved so that U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services can pick them up. Tuesday’s protest, with close to 300 people, was the second in five days.

Read related story: Carlos Gimenez betrays the community for Donald Trump

It was also the first with a list of demands. Community leaders and organizations that signed onto the coalition that protested Tuesday — including Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), United Teachers of Dade, Service Employees International Union, Center for Community Change Action, New Florida Majority, Dream Defenders, United Families, Color of Change, Miami-Dade Democratic Party, Emerge Miami, Council on American Islamic Relations, Save Dade, For Our Future, United We Dream, We Count! and iAmerica — presented five tasks for the mayor.  

“Our coalition demands that Mayor Carlos Gimenez do the following,” read a statement issued Tuesday evening.

1. Immediately withdraw last week’s directive to comply with Trump’s immigration order.
2. Work with community stakeholders and legal advocates on additional steps to safeguard against Miami-Dade police officers ever acting as immigration-enforcement agents.
3. Commit to working with mayors across the country facing the same threats from the Trump Administration, to present a coordinated response to these harmful and unconstitutional orders.
4. Consult with commissioners and stakeholders before complying with any additional orders from the Trump Administration that contradict the laws, traditions and values of Miami-Dade County.
5. Dedicate the remainder of his term to ensuring that Miami-Dade remains a welcoming place for all people. 

The statement says these measures will help build trust, save tax dollars from the likelihood of lawsuits, “recognize the irreplacable role of immigrants in the economy, society and history of our county,” honor the views of the majority of his constituents, who voted overwhelmingly agaisnt Trump and his policies, and “protect our entire community from the threat of Donald Trump’s hateful and un-American actions.”

Too bad that Gimenez wasn’t there, again (he was out of town during the first protest Friday). Because the protesters had some choice words for him.

“Coward,” was my favorite.

Read related story: Levine Cava questions Gimenez on sanctuary about-face

“As a Commissioner tasked with drafting policy that protects our citizens, I am frustrated and disappointed in Mayor Gimenez’ actions to comply with President Trump’s anti-immigrant and anti-refugee executive order,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez said. “Mayor Gimenez had many options to protect our community.  Instead of consulting with his Commission and community leaders, Mayor Gimenez has the dubious distinction of being the first Mayor in the country to succumb to President Trump’s threats.

“He didn’t even put up a fight.”

Rosen Gonzalez told Ladra later that evening that she feels the county is a sanctuary county — with or without his blessing. “This is a policy that shows that Gimenez is out of touch with his constituents,” she said, adding that she will present a resolution to the Miami Beach Commission next week offering that city as a sanctuary city (more on that later).

“If Gimenez is not going to do the right thing then let’s do it in Miami Beach,” Rosen Gonzalez said. 

But what boggles her mind the most is how quickly Gimenez catapulted. “He didn’t have to. He could have waited with all these other mayors around the country.”

The commissioner speaks of the mayors of New York, Boston, Buffalo, San Francisco, Chicago, Syrcause, Austin and many other U.S. cities that have chosen to question the legality of the federal mandate. She and others talked about how Gimenez couldn’t have possibly forseen all the possible legal, economic and ethical impacts of his decision.

“Mayor Gimenez’ actions have immediate and very real consequences for our schools and our education system,” said Karla Hernandez Mats, president of United Teachers of Dade.  “Miami-Dade is a majority immigrant community and by complying with President Trump’s Executive Order, Mayor Gimenez is threatening our ability as educators to provide a quality education and a safe space to all children, regardless of immigration status.

Read related story: Joe Garcia to join Carlos Gimenez protesters at County Hall

Former Congressman Joe Garcia, who helped run one of the largest refugee programs with the Cuban American National Foundation, said that Gimenez had the opportunity to emulate the late Monsigner Bryan Walsh, who led efforts to bring and relocate Cuban children during Operation Pedro Pan.

“The same way Monsignor Walsh stood up for refugee childfren who had no one and nowhere to go, today those of us who benefited from his vision and courage should also stand up and fight for those who have no one and nowhere to go,” said Garcia, who was born in Miami Beach to Cuban parents.

Gimenez was presumably doing the radio and TV rounds Tuesday afternoon, but he’s been dodging the live audience for days. He’s going to have to face the music sooner or later. Probably next Tuesday when Ladra suspects that Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava will make her follow up request an official item on the commission agenda or someone else will put forth something supporting the mayor’s flip. The public will have to be given an opportunity to speak.

Maybe Julio Calderon, an undocumented young man who is a member of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, will be able to address him personally.

“I have helped contribute to this city in many ways, including paying taxes, and I am devastated that Mayor Gimenez is willing to scapegoat the immigrant community for political gain,” said Calderon said Tuesday.

“Deporting me back to Honduras is the equivalent of a life sentence, because there is no guarantee I would survive the violent conditions of my native country. This is personal for me; but for Mayor Gimenez, playing politics with Trump outweighs the value of my life.”

Former Congressman Joe Garcia will join others at County Hall this afternoon to protest Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s directive last week to have illegal immigrants who are arrested for other crimes detained for federal immigration proceedings.

“While I’m a good friend of Mayor Gimenez’s, I think this is a mistake,” Garcia told Ladra Tuesday morning.

“Hopefully, he is going to reconsider.”

The protest Tuesday, organized by immigrant activists, is the second one in five days. Close to 100 demonstrators showed up to County Hall on Friday, a day after the mayor ordered the corrections department to hold anyone who has a federal detention order and turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But they were blocked from entering the public building. Wonder if Gimenez’s office is going to block a former congressman, too.

The protest today starts at 4:30 p.m. — just as county employees leave for the day.

Read related story: Carlos Gimenez betrays our community for Donald Trump

Immigration issues are important to Garcia, who lost a bid to retake his seat from U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo in November. Curbelo, btw, was one of the five Republicans who voted against a House measure that passed last week cutting off federal funds from the U.S. Department of Justice to states and cities that refuse to enforce current immigration laws.

“When I served in Washington, immigration was a very important thing to me,” Garcia said, adding that he ran one of the largest refugee programs when he headed the Cuban American National Foundation in the 90s.

“And it is very important that we stand with one of the things that make our community so rich. It’s not just the Cubans, it’s the Nicaraguans, the Colombians, the Hondurans,” Garcia said. “I think the signal he [Mayor Gimenez] sent to the rest of the country is a poor one.”

On Thursday, Gimenez sent a directive to Miami-Dade Corrections Director Daniel Junior instructing him to hold anyone in county custody who has a detention order from ICE. It reversed a long-standing tradition not to do so and a 2013 county commission resolution that states that the county will only comply with detainer requests once the federal government pays the county costs. Gimenez was the first, and so far the only, mayor to cave in to Trump’s threats.

“The city on the hill is what people in Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean see Miami as. And for us to go for the false narrative from the White House is wrong,” said Garcia, whose parents came to this country when they were 18 and 17 years old.

Read related story: Levine Cava questions Gimenez on sanctuary about-face

“Our mayor is a refugee himself,” Garcia added. “He may not have thought this all the way through.”

Okay, okay, but does this mean that Garcia is positioning himself for another run for office. Maybe for county mayor in 2020 (or sooner, if there’s a recall)? After all, he sent a press release from his campaign Nation Builder account (Update: He sent two; one Monday night and a reminder Tuesday afternoon).

“There is no election going on,” he told Ladra after he laughed a little. “And anyways, I’m a poor politician. This is something that is important. That is why I’m going to be there.”

Ladra wonders how many other electeds — past and present — will be counted, too.

And what else might the mayor give up to Trump?

Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava is pushing back on the mayor’s decision last week to kowtow to Donald Trump and betray not only the immigrant community in Miami-Dade but all of us.

She’s the only one. So far, anyway. But her questions could put the issue on the agenda for the next meeting next week.

Gimenez went against the whole county commission when he issued a directive Thursday instructing corrections officers to detain illegal immigrants — kowtowing to Trump’s threat to withhold federal funds from so-called sancutary cities — because it goes against a 2013 resolution to do the opposite.

Read related story: Carlos Gimenez betrays our community for Donald Trump

But as of Monday afternoon, only Commissioner Levine Cava seems to have questions and concerns about it. At least on the record. She asked the mayor in a memo Monday to brief the commission on the financial impacts and other consequences of his about face “as soon as possible,” and even suggests they consider joining other cities across the U.S. who have legally challenged the president’s executive order.

“Our community has followed with great interest recent changes in federal immigration policy and your response as to local implementation. I fully understand the need to hold people responsible for criminal acts and to utilize our law enforcement to ensure that all of Miami-Dade County is safeguarded. However, I am concerned as to how these new policies can be implemented fairly and without jeopardizing community safety.

It is generally recognized that detention of individuals on the basis of immigration status alone can suppress cooperation with local law enforcement, vital to protection of all residents. The policy outlined in Resolution R-1008-13 has worked effectively since 2013 to reduce fears in the immigrant community about the possibility of unwarranted detention, and has contributed to more positive police-community relations than that experience in some other jurisdictions.

How can we continue our strong record of community policing and avoid unjust racial and ethnic profiling? What are the budgetary impacts of these policies, including the possible costs that could arise from legal action against the county for adherence to the new policies? It is vital that the county commission receive a briefing from you on these and  other questions as soon as possible.

I  look forward to your response as to these considerations and further suggest that we consider joining other jurisdictions in their pending lawsuits challenging the Executive Order pending a final determination by the courts as to its constitutionality.”

According to Alex Annunziato, legislative aide to Commission Chairman Esteban Bovo, that was the only memo requesting any kind of follow up on the mayor’s actions. Not any legislation or any discussion item request for the next meeting, again, as of Monday afternoon. But it’s early and the next commission meeting isn’t for another week.

Commissioners Jean Monestime and Sally Heyman sponsored the resolution in 2013, not because they love illegal immigrants or anything. They did it to save the juvenile boot camp program that the mayor was threatening to cut. Gimenez had challenged commissioners to find the monies needed to find several programs they wanted to save. This is where they found at least some of it.

But they also found so much more.

The resolution states that in 2011 and 2012 there were 3,262 and 2,499 detainer requests, respectively, from federal immigration officials — so Ladra doesn’t know where this 170-some figure that the mayor’s spokesman spewed out comes from — and that 57% of them had not committed felonies. The resolution also these detention orders to house these detaines for the additional 48 hours after their local charges had been resolved cost county taxpayers just over $1 million in 2011 and $667,000 in 2012 — not the low-ball figure the mayor’s office provided.

Furthermore, “a policy of blanket compliance with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers could undermine trust between local police officers and the immigrant community of Miami-Dade.”

Commissioners loved the resolution so much that five more signed on to co-sponsor. They voted 10-0 to honor detention requests “only if the federal government agrees in writing to reimburse Miami-Dade County for any and all costs relating to compliance.”

Nothing has changed since then. It’s not like Trump suddenly whipped out a federal checkbook and wrote the county a check to cover our costs.

“How does he get around a commission resolution,” asked Commissioner Xavier Suarez, perhaps verbalizing the question everyone wants to know. “He did not act in a collegial way,” he told Ladra.

Suarez would have preferred that Gimenez had taken more time and weighed his option and noted the response of Broward and Palm Beach counties, which was to require court orders.

Gimenez even had political cover: He could have told The Donald or anyone pressuring from the federal government that he had to wait until the commission could meet as a whole. After all, it should be their decision. Right?

Another legitimate question for commissioners to ask is where is the money going to come from to comply with this executive order? If this Trump administration’s reputation sticks, the number of detention orders will likely surge. I’d go with the $1 million figure from 2011 and maybe double that. Will we have to cut more than the boot camp?

It’s hard to see where any vote on this might go. But we have at least one more protest on Tuesday to show commissioners just how the community feels about it. 

Gimenez missed the first protest Friday, when residents who were peacefully demonstrating against the change in policy were blocked from entering a public building. He apparently took off out of town right after his executive order and did not come back until Monday. But it seems he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.

The mayor did not reach out to Heyman or Bovo or any of the other commissioners before making his decision. But they’ve been supportive in public statements. Bovo, a Republican like Gimenez, has been more supportive than Heyman, a Democrat who has told the press that Gimenez was caught between a rock and a hard place.

Perhaps that is the way he’ll justify completely going over the commission’s head and against their resolution — because it was a fiscal emergency. That holds no water, though, because there is no looming deadline and some question as to the federal government’s jurisdiction in the first place.

There is no indication the mayor sought the advice of anyone in the finance department about the fiscal impact. There is no indication that he sought the legal opinion of our very well-paid county attorneys, despite the fact that cities across the nation have questioned the legality of Trump’s threat. There was no discussion about what it might cost the county in legal battles, as Levine Cava said. Ladra has asked for any communication between the mayor and the county attorney’s office, which you think they’d be able to provide rather quickly if it was something discussed recently, y nada.

As usual, this seems like it was just another knee-jerk reaction from someone who is supposed to be oh so experienced in public administration. Or maybe it’s more nefarious. His lobbyist son, CJ Gimenez, opened a new consulting firm to lobby the federal government based on his connection to the Trump organization, which he lobbied for in Doral. Could this be a way to make good with Trump after endorsing Hillary last fall?

And what’s next? I mean, if Gimenez can willy nilly just ignore a unanimously-approved commission resolution and issue his own conflicting executive order against it just to make nice with the president, what might come next?

If President Trump threatens to withhold federal funding to cities and counties that recognize and mitigate climate change and sea level rise, will Gimenez jump to scrap the mediocre efforts he’s bragged about too much for two straight years.

And what happens if Trump threatens to withhold federal dollars from any municipality that recognizes and respects transgender rights? Will Gimenez again jump however high to please his son’s former client and new greasy wheel?

Betha more county commissoiners will step forward to oppose him then.

Is it February already? Holy moly! Time flies even when we’re not having fun.

Last week was momentuous, not just from the stuff we knew was going to happen, like the megamall approval by the Miami-Dade Commission, but from the stuff we didn’t, like the sanctuary cities buckle by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, which may finally be the straw that brings the emperor down (more on that later).

In fact, we’re sure to hear more about that later this week (see Tuesday). But please don’t blame me if Miami International Airport shuts down due to protests and we didn’t know about it.

But here are some of the other things that we do know are happening.

As always, please keep sending news about meetings, campaign rallies, political club powwows and other events to edevalle@gmail.com. We missed a Republican club shindig because we didn’t know about it (wonder how many others did, too).  So please make sure Ladra knows about your event. This is your Cortadito Calendar, after all.

MONDAY — Jan.  30

6 p.m. — The city of South Miami’s Historic Preservation Board will discuss the Sylva Martin Building, which is the only historically designated property owned and maintained by the city. Right now, the building adjacent to City Hall at 6130 Sunset Drive, houses city administrative offices one of the district offices for Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez. But it has been many things. Built in 1936 to serve as a community center, this historic building has also been a venue for clubs and fraternal organizations, a hurricane shelter, a polling place and a public library before the one adjacent to City Hall was built in the 1970s. What’s next? Go to the meeting at City Hall and find out.

TUESDAY — Jan.  31

10 a.m — Miami-Dade’s Legislative Delegation will present have a public hearing at FIU, 11200 SW 8th St. The delegation — our elected state reps and senators, both Democrat and Republican — base their legislative priorities on these public hearings so it is important that people attend. County commissioners may attend to discuss their own pet projects or programs. Among the topics open for discussion: economic development, education, environmntal concerns and natural resources, health and human resources, mental health issues, public safety, special taxing districts, children and family issues, That’s why the delegation has the Grand Courtroom in Rafael Diaz-Balart Hall until 3 p.m.

2 p.m. — The Doral City Council will have its own workshop on legislative priorities with details about each project, including storm water improvements, the stabiliation of canal banks, the widening of 87th Avenue, a pedestrian/cyclist bridge over 41st Street by the Turnpike and the installation of air monitoring devices near the Medley landfill and Covanta Waste to Energy facilities. On the table: close to $3.8 million in potential state funding (more on that later).

4:30 p.m. — Immigration activists and people who are just plain outraged that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez would kowtow to President Donald Trump so quickly with the detention of immigrants plan to peacefully protest his actions, again, at County Hall, 111 Nw First St. Watch them be blocked out of the building, again, like they were on Friday. This event was posted by a new page on Facebook called Recall Gimenez, which is the best thing that’s happened in nine days.

6:30 p.m. — Miami-Dade Democrats will meet to discuss getting local campaign finance reform. The participants at the meeting will share information about efforts around the country and start drafting “a plan of action to tackle this issue locally.” This is probably new Florida Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Bittel‘s idea, only because the powwow is at the same building where Terranova, where he CEO and President, has their offices. Or maybe it’s just a perk.

WEDNESDAY — Feb. 1

7:30 p.m. — The West Miami City Commission meets at West Miami City Hall, 901 SW 62nd Ave. The agenda had not been posted online as of this weekend. But this is where Sen. Marco Rubio got his start so who knows if there’s another future presidential candidate in the making over there. The people sure like their West Miami electeds; the elections were cancelled last year after nobody bothered to challenge any of the incumbents, Mayor Eduardo Muhiña and commissioners Candida Blanca and Luciano L. Suarez.

THURSDAY — Feb. 2

6 p.m. — The Miami-Dade Democratic Party is having a fundraiser to help elect more blue candidates in 2018 and 2020. This looks like another one of Bittel’s actions in his first 100 days, since he is one of the hosts. Other hosts include Rafael A. Velasquez, Luciana Velasquez, Raul F. Rodriguez (who is lending his home for the event), Marcos Azevedo, Juan C. Cuba, Cynthia F. Seymour, former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora, Miami Beach commissioners Kristen Rosen-Gonzalez and Michael Grieco, who is running for mayor, and political consultant Christian Ulvert, who is likely running somebody else for mayor. Awkward. There’s also a special guest and a $1,000 “champion” contribution gets you a dinner reception with him or her — the $2,500 host level gets you a photo! — but Ladra doesn’t know who it is. Could it be DNC Treasurer Andrew Tobias? Really? Don’t worry. Contribution levels start at $25 and you still get a churrasco dinner. For more information: Rafael Velasquez at rvelasquez@sunsetgroup.org or 305-303-9098.

Once again, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is going to be on the wrong side of history.

Thursday’s decision to kowtow to the petulant policies of our new president, Donald Trump, is a new low for Gimenez, who has instructed the corrections department to start detaining illegal immigrants that are arrested on unrelated crimes until federal authorities can pick them up.

This flies in the face of long standing county policy not to enforce federal immigration detention orders that dates to way before it was made official in 2013 with an ordinance that, for whatever legal reasons, states that the county refuses to indefinitely detain inmates wanted by immigration not because it was a “sanctuary city” — or that it was the right thing to do — but simply because the feds don’t reimburse the costs.

But we know that’s not the real reason. Because the cost is about $50,000 a year, according to the Miami Herald. That’s really not the reason. The reason was that we are a community of immigrants. Those of us who are lucky enough to be born here or have come here legally know someone who has not. They work hard cleaning and building our homes, fixing our roofs, taking care of our kids and cooking or serving our meals. Many if not most of them are decent people fleeing hardship, war, poverty and repression, trying to make a better life for themselves here.

Now, because Trump threatened to withhold federal funding — more than $350 million that is used in all kinds of services, from transportation to meals on wheels — the mayor is bending to his will. Just like he did when he almost gave Trump our public golf course on Key Biscayne. Is this a consolation prize?

Read related story: Carlos Gimenez’s next mancrush giveaway to Donald Trump

It’s a cowardly move.

Let me be clear: Ladra is all for comprehensive immigration reform that really works to make us safer. This is not it and does not do that. This net is far too broad and will have the unintentended (we hope) consequences of catching visa overstays who have been in this community working and paying taxes and following the rule of law for decades, who are mothers and fathers and students and caretakers, and puts them in deportation proceedings because they were are caught driving without a drivers license. This will split up decent, hard working families with no criminals in it. And the real criminals who are arrested for bigger crimes and typically get held longer anyway and are already sent to immigration proceedings because they are in the system that long, they will keep coming back because they are criminals and we’ve done nothing to change the porous borders.

Gimenez could have stood firm. He could have defended the immigrants — residents of his very county — instead of just bending over with a smile. He wouldn’t have been alone. The mayors of cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Syracuse and Austin have defied the order. Their legal counsels have told them that the president’s ability to just turn off the federal funding spigot is limited. There’s also a legal question as to what constitutes a sanctuary city. Miami-Dade is a county, after all, made up of 37 municipalities. Did Gimenez, who took a $15,000 contribution from Donald Trump for his campaign and went to the president’s inauguration, even consult the county attorneys or did they just not impart the same advice?

Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union, included his own legal opinion in a statement he made reacting to Gimenez’s move.

“At least, a court order is required, not simply a request from a federal official to keep someone detained behind bars,” Simon said. “We will resist every attempt by our government to punish immigrants, regardless of their immigration status.

“The decision made today by Mayor Giménez goes against the long history of Miami as a city of immigrants. It also goes against the advice of experts in police administration that these policies, such as Gimenez has just supported, only serve to create a wall of mistrust between the police department and our immigrant community,” Simon said.

So, what? Gimenez doesn’t need this community anymore. He certainly doesn’t need our votes ever again. He just won re-election and is termed out of office after these next four years. What he may need is for Trump to stay nice to his son, CJ Gimenez, a lobbyist who worked for The Donald in Doral and is now banking on those ties to get federal lobbying clients. 

The president sure reacted to the mayor’s actions quickly, posting on twitter about it just hours after the announcement. Like someone flagged him to the Miami Herald story. Potus tweeted: “Miami-Dade Mayor drops sanctuary policy. Right decision. Strong!”

Read related story: Mayor’s son lobbies Trump with silent, same ‘ol partners

A group of immigration rights activists have organized a protest outside Gimenez’s office at 11 a.m. Friday morning. Ladra hopes he’s not playing golf at the Biltmore Hotel. And also that the demonstrators all have their papers because the mayor could call la migra on them.

The Facebook invitation to the “Gimenez SHAME ON YOU!” protest says that Gimenez “has BETRAYED the immigrant community by bowing to Trumps racist, xenophobic, and illegal policies.  DEMAND that Mayor Gimenez and ALL elected officials in Miami-Dade County side with all immigrant women, children, and men.”

It also says that those who cannot attend can call 305-375-5071 and tell Gimenez that Miami-Dade needs to continue to be a welcoming place for immigrants.

“I’m disgusted,” said Juan Cuba, chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. “Miami-Dade County should be a sanctuary county. We should reject Donald Trump’s hateful immigrant rhetoric and policies and make sure our elected officials represent our residents.

“There are hundreds of thousands of families who will wake up tomorrow afraid of what this means for them.”

That’s how many of us felt Nov. 9.

As expected, the American Dream megamall project passed its first hurdle — if one can even call it a hurdle — at Wednesday’s meeting of the Miami-Dade County Commission as they voted to move forward with a proposd change to the county’s Comprehensive Development Master Plan that would allow the development of the massive retail and enterainment complex.

But what is more surprising is that there were no ifs, ands or buts.

Commissioners didn’t set any conditions on the development of the 200-acre plot north of Northwest 170th Street between the Turnpike and I-75 into six million square feet of retail, restaurants and amusement park features — like an indoor ski slope and a water park and an indoor lake with submarine rides and performing seals — that aims to attract up to 30 million visitors a year and that will no doubt wreak havoc in that corner of the county.

Read related story: American Dream mall seeks first county approval

They set no limits on Canada-based Triple Five, the family-owned company that built Minnesota’s Mall of America and wants to build American Dream Miami in the county’s farthest Northwest corner. They requested no promises to use no public money or prioritize locals when hiring for the 14,000 promised permanent low-wage jobs or protect the wetlands that are part of the property they got for government-to-government prices in a sketchy deal authored by Mayor Carlos Gimenez or mitigate traffic impacts or invest in infrastructure or never turn it into a casino destination, as they may do with their New Jersey version of the American Dream (more on that later), or even cap admission fees for the amusement parks that so many delusional supporters think their kids and grandkids are going to hang out at after school every day.

Not one. That’s a lot of stuff to leave up in the air.

“The battle really is in April or May, whenever it comes back,” said Commissioner Joe Martinez.

The vote Wednesday simply sends the proposed change down the pipeline to the state agencies that will review it for transportation, utility and environmental compliance before sending it back to the county with notes and conditions of their own. To be fair, commissioners do get a few more bites at the apple.

But Ladra is not so sure the developers are going to be in a mood to negotiate once they have their ball rolling. Heck, they don’t even believe traffic is going to be a problem to mitigate.

“Twenty years from now, traffic is going to be less than it is today,” said Triple Five Chief Executive Officer and patriarch Don Ghermezian, even after he already got what he wanted. He said people would work from home on computers. “All this traffic? Twenty years from now, it will be zero.”

Zero? Ladra couldn’t stop laughing. Then it hit me how serious this is: Is this ludicrous vision of a fantasy future going to be guiding the negotiations for an eventual development agreement? A development agreement, by the way, that may include some form of tax break in the form of kick-backs through a special taxing district or deferred tax payments or economic incentive grants or whatever they come up with next.

That’s a real issue. Especially since the mayor admitted that the developer had repeatedly verbalized the intention to get public dollars to pay for some of the infrastructure improvements that they should be responsible for. Maybe that preclusion, at least, should have been negotiated on Wednesday. Gimenez told them he said no, repeatedly. So it shows that they are already being persistent.

This was an opportunity to get that off the table, and to set some standards, some criteria and some conditions for the project. And our county electeds — for all their talk about no public dollars — blew their chance to get it in writing. Only Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, in her first show of real spine — knowing she would be the sole dissenting elected didn’t stop her — voted against sending this amendment to Tallahassee as is. The vote was 10-1 (commissioners Audrey Edmonson and Jean Monestime were absent).

“I know it’s the process but the process doesn’t lend itself to the magnitude of this project,” Levine Cava complained. “It should be like a development of regional impact.”

She said she read the Miami Herald story about the tax break that Triple Five got in Bloomington, the Minnesota home of the Mall of America which agreed to a special tax district that funded costs for parking garages and new roads hasn’t gotten a single dime from the property on its tax rolls since it opened 25 years ago. Now that it will, the city may have enough new revenue to lower the average resident’s tax bill by five percent.

Read related story: Miami Lakes wants a piece of American Dream pie

“I’m not opposed to this project. I see the economic benefit,” Levine Cava said. “The question is, at what cost? When will we be able to reap the benefits?”

That’s a question that wasn’t answered Wednesday. Lots of questions weren’t answered. 

“If we delayed, some things could be included in the covenant,” Levine Cava said, practically imploring. “Agreeing to move forward without seeing an agreement …”

Is crazy? Is absolutely nuts?

Now, we have to wait until April or May, when they come back with whatever the state agencies say and to review any requested zoning amendments and an eventual development agreement. I guess that’s when they’ll ask for stuff. Not developers. Oh, they’ll ask for stuff, of course. A ton of stuff they didn’t dare ask for now. But that’s also when our elected representatives will start to represent our best interests. Or at least we hope they will.

Because they haven’t so far. Gimenez has simply acted as a pass through, a real estate broker, if you will — for 80-some acres that we bought from the state — after convincing Florida officials to put it on a surplus land list — for a government-to-government price. Rather than put it out to bid or see what else could happen there, we then passed the savings along to the developer — again without any quid pro quo guarantees of what will happen with it. That’s not looking out for our interests. That is looking out for their interests.

Read related story: Megamall gets its public land on rushed timeline

Is the commission doing that again by delaying any talk about the ifs, ands or buts. Won’t it be too late to start asking for concessions after the fact? I mean, how hard can we really negotiate on the back end of the deal? Isn’t the front end when we have the most leverage? Once the wheels are rolling, Triple Five knows that the county will not want to roll it back. They have the advantage.

Then there’s the issue of covenants. Levine Cava’s intention was good, but what good are covenants when in the next breath (read: the next item), commissioners actually considered breaking one only halfway through its 99-year life?

After approving the CDMP changes, or voting to send them down the pipeline (same thing), commissioners looked at another application to redevelop a golf course into 600-some townhomes. That item wasn’t rejected outright, as it should have been. Even after 42 people who would be directly affected spoke against it, the change was simply deferred (more on that later).

But it certainly brings into question what good any agreement signed by Miami-Dade County will be.

Especially when we’ve started by giving them the upper hand.