Mayor Carlos Gimenez, wishy washy as ever, was a day late and a dollar short Thursday when he put out a statement supporting the deferred action on immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

“This morning, I was briefed on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). I fully support the extension of DACA until Congress can approve and our next President can sign comprehensive immigration reform which addresses the status of our Dreamers and the millions who lack legal status throughout the country,” reads the mayor’s statement, more likely written by his spokesman, Michael Hernandez.

“Miami-Dade County is home to thousands of young people who through no fault of their own were brought to the United States by their parents and are currently undocumented. They deserve an opportunity to achieve the American Dream. I encourage the next Congress to prioritize common sense immigration reform.”

But Gimenez apparently passed on signing a letter from 19 other U.S. mayors hand delivered Wednesday to President-elect Donald Trump, asking him to extend the temporary stay from deportation given to students and young people brought into the U.S. illegally as children by their parents and guardians.

Maybe it would have made the next round of golf awkward?

According to the Miami Herald, Gimenez’s office acknowledged getting the request to join the mayors from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. They were told that the mayor asked for a “policy briefing” to “help make up his mind.” But that didn’t happen before the letter was delivered.

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

Did it happen before Gimenez issued his statement Wednesday morning? What exactly was the mayor told at this policy briefing to help him “make up his mind”? Why do these young people “deserve an opportunity to achieve the American Dream” today and not last week? What is different for DACA Dreamers today? What does the mayor of the seventh largest county in the U.S., a region rich with immigrants from all over the world, not know about DACA?

Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, on the other hand, wasn’t even asked to sign the letter. Emanuel should have asked Regalado, who wouldn’t have blinked. Regalado told the Herald that he would have signed “in a heartbeat.” Because, really, what is there to think about? Yes, comprehensive reform is needed, but what does that have to do with extending DACA for Dreamers? You can do that with or without the reform, which is going to take years and years if it ever happens (Ladra thinks its convenient for both parties to keep up this chaos, but that’s another story).

So what was the hold up for Gimenez?

Ladra bets that “policy briefing” is really code for a chat with his son, CJ Gimenez, a lobbyist who had The Donald as a client in Doral. After all, Papi ya la chivo when he backed off of giving Trump our public Crandon Golf Course on Key Biscayne. Then Mayor Gimenez — in the throes of a heated re-election where he needed black and Anglo votes — said he voted for Hillary Clinton!

Maybe he doesn’t want a strike three.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez was elected the commission chairman Tuesday.

Sure, the board chose Commissioner Esteban Bovo, Jr. over Xavier Suarez. But the victory belongs to the mayor, who now has a compliant chairman and control of the commission agenda. You could see the satisfaction on his face when the two embraced after the vote. Watch for a bunch of “emergency” contracts to be awarded to companies you will find on Gimenez’s multiple campaign finance reports. You may also see the words “piggy back” and “waive” more often when it comes to the bidding process.

Gimenez campaigned hard for Bovo because he knows that he’s got him in his pocket. The two have been in cahoots since they committed absentee ballot fraud together in 2012. Bovo even used his district office in Hialeah as a drop-off point for boleteras. So ushering contracts and ordinances and resolultions through the commission, bypassing committees and the normal vetting process, is no big deal.

With a blow to checks and balances in one of the most important decisions the board can make — this can set the tone for the next two years — the vote was 8-5, with former Chairman Jean Monestime and Commissioners Audrey Edmonson, Sally Heyman, Bruno Barreiro, Rebeca Sosa (who nominated him), Dennis Moss and Javier Souto joining Bovo’s nod for himself. Suarez was joined by Barbara Jordan (who nominated him), Daniella Levine Cava, Joe Martinez, and Jose “Pepe” Diaz.

Ladra was surprised by Diaz, Monestime, Moss and Edmonson — until Edmonson got the vice chairmanship out of the blue. Was that a deal struck with Bovo for her vote? Shouldn’t have Suarez been made the vice chair?

Maybe too much damage was done already.

Ladra has said it before: X is his own worst enemy. His opening statements began with praise for Bovo, calling him a realist and applauding the way he has chaired the transportation committee. “I cannot imagine that I would outperform him. He has done eminently well. And he has a great sense of humor that I try to emulate,” Suarez said in what sounded way more like a Bovo endorsement than an opening pitch for himself.

Then he reminded them of his involvement in both the Frost Museum and the Liberty Square redevelopment — neither which has been smooth going. And then he rambled on and on about projects he has collaborated on with each of the commissioners, wasting time on people like Sosa and Souto who were not persuadable.

“I think I’ve broken the record in terms of Sunshine meetings and met with each of you in many times and worked out deals and agreements in a consentual way, supporting projects and actions,” he said. “I’m even ready to embrace water taxis if that works.”

Yeah, yeah, we get it. You are very collegial. And maybe too genuine. Which makes you a nice guy and a good public servant, but leaves you at a disadvantage as a politician.

Of course, he also quoted one or two intellectuals. But it seemed like a parade of minutia, and it didn’t really move the ball forward. Bovo talked about the future much more forcefully and persuasively and positioned himself as someone with a sense of urgency. “We, as a board now, enter a new dynamic — the dynamic of term limits,” Bovo said, referring to the term limits that were approved by voters in 2012 and are finally going to start kicking in. Six commissioners are running for their final time in 2018 and termed out in 2022. (Monestime, Heyman, Levine Cava, Sosa, Souto and Diaz). The ones re-elected this year, save Martinez, will be termed out in 2020 (Jordan, Edmonson, Barreiro, Suarez, Moss and Bovo).

While Suarez promised to inspire them, Bovo promised them a legacy.

“The time of procrastination, the time of long deliberations when at the end of the day studies would end up on the shelves, I believe are no longer present. I would like to see the county move progressively foward over the next two or four years,” he said, and those commissioners probably heard angels singing.

Transportation is going to be a priority, Bovo announced, like it wouldn’t be for anybody. And he mentioned a proposed “policy council that works hand in hand with administration to move policy forward… whether it’s funding for transportation or how do we address our prison.”

Notice he said administration instead of commission.

That’s why we still need Suarez to be the chairman for the community. Let Bovo represent the mayor, er, I mean the commission. X can assume a much more important role, which is to represent us and be the reality check for Mr. Puppet Chair.

It may be the only shred of checks and balances we have left.

Miami-Dade has a big todo on Sunday when it opens its newest library branch in Bay Harbor Islands.

This is a rendering of what the lobby is supposed to look like

Mayor Carlos Gimenez is expected to be there. So is Commissioner Sally Heyman, Bay Harbor Islands Mayor Jordan Leonard and several, if not all the council members.

The 50th branch in the county, this library features a “diverse collection” of reading and viewing/listening materials, free Wi-Fi, high-speed desktop and tablet computers and 21^st century learning tools such as a SMART Table interactive learning center and gaming area for children and teens.

Yay!

Just don’t try to go back to the brand new library branch on Monday. ‘Cause it’ll be closed.

This newest of libraries is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It joins a bunch of other branches that are still closed at least one weekday, leftover austerity from the scaled-back 2013 budget cuts that at one point threatened to close almost half the branches countyide and layoff 260 from the staff.

No libraries closed, but cuts were still made.

And, today, the Coral Gables library is still closed on Thursdays. The next closest one, in South Miami, is also closed on Thursdays. So are the North Shore and Palm Springs North branches. The Palmetto Bay library branch and the Virrick Park library branch is closed on Tuesdays. The Fairlawn, West Flagler and North Central branches are closed on Wednesdays. The Coconut Grove, Concord, Overtown, Edison, Hialeah Gardens, Miami Springs, Opa-Locka, Lemon City, Lakes of the Meadow, Tamiami, South Shore, Sunset, Aventura and Allapattah branches are all closed on Fridays.

Maybe we should consider ourselves lucky that none of them closed their doors every day forever.

Remember when Mayor Gimenez said that the age of the library was dead? That these institutions were a thing of the past?

Apparently, he got the memo that we didn’t like that.

“This library will be a great resource for the Town of Bay Harbor Islands community,” Gimenez said in an about-face statement. “I applaud our Board of County Commissioners as well as the vision of Mayor Jordan Leonard and the Bay Harbor Islands Town Council in recognizing the benefit and importance of library services for their residents.”

So, if they are so important, why can’t they be open every weekday? Are we even working toward that in the future? Or are we going to just accept that the age of libraries being open on any given weekday is dead?

And what’s going to happen with the third floor of the Main Library building, which is sitting empty, except for the area that holds the main frame computer and county IT staff who oversee library computer services. The library vacated the third floor in 2013 to reduce the rent paid to the county’s own General Services Administration, which was $2.4 million — or about $1,209.67 an operating hour (does that constitute price gouging?) — and ostensibly was for “maintenance.”

The space could not be used for courthouse operations or storage, as was once considered, because of security concerns.

Meanwhile, there may have been a really high cost to moving everything down to the basement, where maintenance was located. That meant maintenance had to move to West Dade Regional, which has a cost, too. And room had to be made on the second floor for displaced personnel. Ladra was told the whole process was traumatic — and expensive.

So there is money in the library budget. It just goes to nonsensical moves rather than keeping branches open five days a week.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez will meet Wednesday afternoon with Meg Daly and Parker Thomson, founder and president and the director, respectively, of the Friends of the Underline, a group of activists who want to transform the stretch of land underneath the MetroRail tracks into a 10-mile linear park and bike/walk trail from Brickell to Dadeland.

It’s a brilliant idea that should be supported. Gimenez has long been a supporter of the Underline, which he mentioned in his State of the County address earlier this year and featured in an ad for his recent re-election campaign.

But we were supposed to break ground in 2016– and now it’s been pushed back to the Fall of next year.

Last week, Friends of the Underline collected $47,000 in donations during Give Miami Day. Twenty percent, or at least $24 million, of the estimated $120-million project — which will be designed by James Corner Field Operations the firm that designed New York’s High Line — is to be raised from private donors. So far, Swire Properties has donated $600,000 and three other developers donated $75,000 in total.  The Knight Foundation gave $515,000.

According to published reports, the $120-million price tag is divided into three parts: $80 million for the trail, $20 million for intersections and $20 million for destination parks.

Each portion also has its own budget and finance sources, according to a story in the Real Deal, which reports that $7 million in public funding has already been secured for the Brickell segment of the trail. That breaks down to $3 million from Miami-Dade County, $2 million from the state of Florida, $1 million from the Florida Department of Transportation and $1 million from the city of Miami, which has committed $50 million in impact fee monies.

Ah, that must be it. Gimenez can sniff out a new public trough from miles away and under water. He smells money he can direct toward his friends and family. It’s only bonus that most of the public money comes from the city of Miami.

May Ladra suggest that Daly and Thomson, whose name was spelled wrong on the mayor’s calendar, watch the budget and the awarding of contracts closely?

The mayor’s meeting with the Friends from the Underline is at noon at County Hall Wednesday. It’s clear after that.

True to form, Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado is not going to shut up and go away just because she fell a bit short in her shot to become the first female mayor of Miami-Dade.

Conceding Tuesday night and thanking her supporters, Regalado vowed to continue to fight for Miami-Dade residents and against the special interests at County Hall. Looks like the reporters there missed the lead because she laid out specific goals that have not been reported in stories that, instead, speculate about her future aspirations.

Because just because she wasn’t elected this time, doesn’t mean she’s going to stop representing us.

Regalado, who has already fought for us against the ridiculous courthouse tax referendum and in court to get back $9 million Mayor Carlos Gimenez gave to one of his top donors, said she was going to set her sights on charter changes that would hinder the abuse of power going on at County Hall and reform campaign finance.

Specifically, a change to have our elections supervisor elected by the people rather than appointed by the mayor and a referendum for campaign finance reform. Gimenez — who may have abused his power to provide the elections department with a replacement check after hours — spent somewhere around $10 million between his campaign account, his PACs and his multiple non-profits that we can’t track. And much of that came from people and companies who do business or want to do business with the county.

Regalado told supporters Thursday that she was going to reach out to the Accountable Miami-Dade group that failed to get campaign finance reform measure on the ballot to talk about joining forces.

Read related story: Gimenez submits late night campaign check (10:20 p.m.)

These are serious issues that are about to be tackled by a serious woman with a serious track record of getting things done. Yet reporters want to keep speculating about whether or not she will run for mayor of Miami next year to replace her termed-out father. This was a whisper campaign started by the Gimenez camp early on last year as soon as Regalado announced her intention to run for Miami-Dade mayor. She has said repeatedly that she is not needed as mayor of Miami but is needed at the county. Everybody has daddy issues but her.

Sure, it’s possible she could run for the seat being vacated by Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez, who is running for mayor (again). That would provide her with a $103,000-a-year salary and perhaps keep her busy in public service for the next three years. But no way does she finish the term. Because if she can run for mayor of Miami-Dade again in 2020 as the front runner in an open seat why on Earth wouldn’t she? 

On Wednesday, Regalado — who will be back on Cuban AM radio next week and Spanish-language weekend TV later this month — sent an email blast repeating her intent to continue fighting for the community and to pursue both ballot questions in near future.

“I will continue to fight for them, for you, for us. I will continue to promote our community’s priorities. I will continue to watch what happens at County Hall and voice my concern and bring forces together to fight the special interests that have taken hold,” Regalado wrote.

“In the coming weeks and months, you will hear from me again as I mount efforts to put measures on the ballot that will change our county government. We should elect our supervisor of elections, as they do in the other 67 counties in Florida. And we must pass campaign finance reform to ensure that the decisions at county hall are made in the best interests of residents and not of special interests.”

Ladra is still with her. Because those are both good ideas. Because we need to stick together and keep an eye on Carlos Gimenez.

And because this leadership in fighting for justice and this zest for transparency and pureness of process is what makes Raquel the best candidate for mayor in 2020.

When we went to sleep last night, it really looked like there was going to be President Donald Trump today. Shiver.

But that’s not the only bad news.

We also have a new state senator in sucker-punching homophobe bear hunter Frank Artiles. Sigh.

U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a lobbyist with a secret client list and a penchant for lying to get his way, won another two years basically solidifying his congressional seat for the next decade. Gosh darnit.

And we get four more years of the Carlos Gimenez gravy train for his friends and family members and those who gave to his $10-million campaign. Shake my head.

It’s enough to make Ladra wanna cry.

Bet there’s going to be a lot of tears Wednesday. A lot of Monday morning quaterbacking, too. But the regrets? They’ll come later. Like when Artiles sponsors a law in the Senate legislating bathroom use. And when the mayor goes back to his key role — giving away pieces of the county to his connected friends and fam.

Everyone knows Ladra supported Raquel Regalado, even before we joined her campaign team. Because everyone knows Ladra lost her love for Tainted Boy Gimenez long ago. But now they will see why. Because with no future election to hold him back, Gimenez now has four years to collect as many contracts as he can for his friends and family before he is forced out by term limits in 2020.

He has no incentive to fulfill any of his promises. There is no reason for him to fix the broken transit system. There is no reason for him to open libraries five days a week. There is no motivation for him to hire  more police officers. He certainly won’t think twice before violating process again. The voters have said they don’t care about those things so he’ll make sure he keeps doing what he’s been doing — giving millions away to friends in high (and low) places.

He has billions in capital improvements for transportation and federally- and state-mandated water and sewer improvements to dole out. Can’t you see all his contributors salivating already?

And then, buoyed by this victory that he will call a “mandate,” and — tapping those same people again for another $10 million investment that they will happily pay to continue feeding on the public trough — he will run for Miami mayor in 2021.

Just watch.

Carlos Gimenez — and the decisions he makes in the next four years — will haunt us for decades to come.