Make no mistake. The lack of early voting on college campuses in Miami-Dade is voter suppression.
In defiance of a federal judge who said the Florida ban on early voting on college campuses had a “pattern of discrimination,” and while other counties scramble to provide campus locations, Miami-Dade is not opening any early voting locations for the Nov. 6 election at Miami-Dade, Florida International University (photographed left) or University of Miami campuses. This unwillingness to take action and do the right thing potentially disenfranchises tens of thousands students who are more motivated than ever to vote thanks to Parkland or Trump or both.
“The Miami-Dade County Elections Department has already confirmed its early voting sites for this election cycle, since preparations for large elections begin well in advance. Specifically, the Elections Department has secured the 25 early voting sites for the November 6, 2018 General Election,” Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor Christina White said in a statement Tuesday. Nothing has changed since, Elections spokeswoman Suzy Trutie told Ladra Thursday.
And the 25 locations are an increase from 20 in the primary and 20 for most midterm generals, but was increased to 25 in anticipation of voter growth, Trutie added. One would assume that includes the 41% increase across the state of voters ages 18 to 29 who registered after the high school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Broward.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez abuses power in election interference for lobbyist son
“In selecting early voting sites, the County’s goal is to ensure there is maximum accessibility for all voters,” White’s statement ends.
Well, all voters except students, apparently. And why?
These voters are mostly going to support Democrat candidates. And the Republicans know that. Doesn’t matter what White is registered as. Because Mayor Carlos Gimenez — who last month declared himself the real supervisor of elections so he could do his lobbyist son a favor — is Republican. We know, for instance, that he is raising funds for GOP superwoman Marili Cancio because he registered to solicit for her PAC. So he won’t do the right thing, but it’s not because he can’t. Because he could. He absolutely could make it happen. He’s meddled in elections before.
Remember in 2012 when he suddenly closed the Elections Department voting site on a Sunday as hundreds of people stood in line and then just as suddenly — after much protest and negative news — re-opened it hours later?
Maybe we should have CJ ask him.
Also, FIU did have an early voting site in 2012 at the stadium, where 2,276 people voted. Why would it be so difficult to set that up again? We’re not talking about making it an Election Day precinct. Just a location for early voting. Seems not only reasonable but natural.
State Rep. Kionne McGhee — who is becoming one of my favorite woke electeds — knows Gimenez could make this right. It is why he addressed the mayor in his tweet Wednesday.
“Banning early voting sites on college campuses was ruled unconstitutional. Five major counties have moved to expand EV sites. Students @FIU @MDCollege, and @univmiami deserve a say in the Democracy they’re a part of. What’s the holdup, Miami-Dade SOE and @MayorGimenez.”
The holdup, Rep. McGhee, is that his friends and backers could lose their state races.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez submits late night campaign check
This is one of the many reasons why there should be an independently elected Supervisor of Elections as there are in most Florida counties. But it’s not the only or the biggest reason. When you have a mayor who can declare himself the de facto supervisor of elections so he can grant a week delay in an election calendar to his lobbyist son, you have a problem.
Unfortunately, an elected supervisor of elections is not on the ballot this year. But it should absolutely be on the next ballot, with the caveat that it be a nonpartisan seat. This should be the next priority for the League of Women Voters, the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, Engage Miami and all the other groups that say they are for voter awareness and participation.
Because what we are seeing today is voter suppression under the guise of a logistics excuse.

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There may have been no contributions and no activity in the reports for his political action committee until the $5,000 check from Fisher Island developers in late August, but Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez first began soliciting contributions for Miami Dade Residents First in March of last year.
Maybe he’s losing his golden touch.
According to the form he filed with the county — which last year began requiring that all electeds and candidates for office disclose if they are soliciting funds for a particular PAC or electioneering communication organization, which is a PAC with a different name — he’s been pounding the pavement for almst 18 months.
Gimenez filed what the county calls an MD ED 28 form in June of 2017, saying he had begun to solicit funds for Miami Dade Residents First on March 23 and for Miami First, Joe Carollo‘s PAC, on May 27. The form was filed June 23, which is past the five days that elected and candidates are given from the first day of solicitation to file the document. It’s past 60 days from the first solicitation for his own PAC!
And those dates are so specific: March 24 was a Friday and May 27 was a Saturday. Why were those the days he started soliciting rather than, say, March 1 or May 15
Gimenez did get a notice for the first time violation, even though he is the self-declared head of the elections department. Second time violators are fined but nobody’s done that yet, said Miami-Dade Elections spokeswoman Suzy Trutie. And Gimenez is not alone. After all, 2017 was the first year electeds and candidates had to file these MD ED 28 forms. A few others, including Commissioners Jean Monestime and Xavier Suarez and Sen. Rene Garcia, who is termed out and running for county commission in 2020, also got first notice violation.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez is raising funds for his PAC again — but for who or what?
But nobody is getting as busy as Gimenez, who seems to be renting himself out as a rainmaker. The mayor has filed a total of 9 forms for a total of 10 PACs and ECOs he’s soliciting funds for. That’s right. Ten! Is this really an appropriate side gig for a county mayor who oversees billion in tax dollar spending? Who is he soliciting those funds from? How will we know? So if he gets funds for, say, Florida Senate candidate Marili Cancio — and he filed a report for Friends of Marili Cancio last month — from someone who does business with the county, how will we know its his solicited contribution to her PAC? How will we know what favors he owes?
We won’t.
In fact, he could raise hundreds of thousands of dollars from special interests before him for someone else in a quid pro quo deal where that person — Cancio or someone else — raises then hundreds of thousands for him from someone who wants something at the state level. This is just rife with potential conflicts and bribes. It becomes that much harder to follow the money.
In addition to his own PAC and Carollo’s, Gimenez has filed MD ED 28 forms for the following PACs that reflected the following in the latest campaign reports filed at the county and also at the Florida Division of Elections:

On July 20, 2017, People for Stronger Neighborhoods, which Ladra couldn’t find active in county or state records. The used to be a PAC named People for Stronger Neighborhoods ran by former State Rep. and attorney to the pols J.C. Planas on behalf of county and city candidates. It lists as “disbanded” now but it collected more than $100,000 of its $159,000 after August of 2017, having its best months in September, October and November.
On Feb. 15, It’s All About The Kids PAC, which collected about $110,000 for the re-election of Miami-Dade School Board Member Maria Teresa Rojas, the mayor’s sister-in-law.
On June 5 for Government With Transparency, a state-registered ECO working on behalf of county commission candidate Zoraida Barreiro, which collected absolutely nothing in June, but, coincidentally (not), raised $155,250 of its $262,000 total in May, which is almost six times more the next highest month. Maybe someone made another election document mistake there and he meant May 5? Sure looks that way.
On Aug. 8 for Citizens for Transparency and Integrity in Government, working on behalf of Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto, which raised $70,000 of its $170,000 total after Aug. 11.
On Aug. 10 for We The People, which is County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz‘s PAC and raised $168,500 in August — its best month ever by far, of its $581,350 bank.
On Aug. 10 for Friends of Marili Cancio, which received one $5,000 donation from Coral Gables tech entrepreneur Manny Medina since then.
On Aug. 10 for All About Florida, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine‘s failed gubernatorial run PAC, which was a lost cause by then so why bother?
On Aug. 20 for Alliance for A Better Community, Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime’s PAC, I guess for an 11th hour money pitch.

Of course, one could argue these people now owe the mayor something. Votes on the commission for his budget or his deals. Funds for a future campaign for himself or one of his children. Something at the state level. He’s not taking time out of his busy day to help these people out of the kindness of his heart.  All except for Rojas, who maybe he was strong armed into helping by his wife, owe him for those solicitations.
And, on the flip side of the coin, what does he owe those who answer  his call to contribute to Cancio or to Diaz or to Souto or Levine?
Ladra also can’t help but wonder how much time Gimenez will be spending between now and November making more fundraising phone calls and asking more people for money for his friends. And what he’s going to get and promise in return.

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After almost two years of nada, a political action committee for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez reported this month that it raised $5,000 in the last days of August, raising eyebrows across the county about what Gimenez, who is termed out in 2020, will do with it.
Will he run for mayor of Miami in 2021 against Francis Suarez, as some have speculated? Is he eyeing the Miami-Dade Sherriff’s seat, an independently elected office that will hopefully be created after it passes voter referendum in November? Is he raising funds for his daughter-in-law Barby Rodriguez‘s rumored run for city of Miami commission (more on that later)?
Or is this just to raise money to help Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Esteban Bovo become the next mayor so the Gimenez friends and family plan is protected?
Or is it simply to fight the Miami strong mayor referendum he has so publicly and vehemently opposed?
All are good options. And it could be several of these at a time. But Ladra thinks the 2021 Miami mayoral race is a good bet.
It’s hard to imagine Gimenez giving up any of the power he has grown accustomed to abusing. He is also his family’s cash cow. I am certain someone close to him is telling him what great name rec he’s got and not to tarnish the brand with a fly-by-night city commission bid by a boozy, badmouthed bimbo who is, really, a long shot in the cold dark.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez abuses power in election interference for lobbyist son
Besides, some might say this is Gimenez’s dream job. This is where he was fire chief. This is where he was city manager. It would make for the perfect trifecta if Gimenez were to end his career as mayor where he started his career as a paramedic so long ago.
Sure, the budget is smaller, so there’s less to go around for everybody on his friends and family plan. That’s why he’s supporting Bovo. That way CJ and his wife and his brother and sister-in-law get to feed from both troughs. (Three, if you count MDX, and you probably should). And, in Miami, there are only three of five people to convince, rather than seven of 13.
Las malas lenguas say that BFFs and international travel mates Ralph Garcia Toledo and Alex Heckler are already making calls, asking for contributions.
The $5,000 contribution to Miami-Dade Residents First was made by PDS Development, the Palazzo Del Sol builders that earlier this year secured a $90 million loan to develop luxury condos on the island. It seems small, especially for someone who raised and spent around $10 million in his last re-election bid. And one might think that he would want to come out the first time after 24 months of nada with a little more than a single figure K.
But it was made the 28th. Which makes us very curious about what the September report will look like.

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There’s no mention of them in the lawsuit filed Tuesday by Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo against the city and Mayor Francis Suarez in an attempt to stop the strong mayor vote, but the county mayor’s family is involved.
While the emergency complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief was filed in Miami-Dade 11th Circuit Court by Jesus Suarez, an attorney with Genovese Joblove and Battista, an email shot out that very night shows who had to be notified as soon as possible: Tania Cruz, the mayor’s daughter-in-law, and Carlos Gimenez, who could be the mayor’s lobbyist son or the mayor himself — but there’s really no difference as evidenced by last month’s elections interference.
The email was sent just before midnight, two minutes and three seconds after Suarez got notice of the filed documents. It had only one word in it: “FILED” All in caps. Like “DONE” or “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.” Like he is reporting to his real boss.
Genovese Joblove and Battista has long been affiliated with Gimenez and once employed his other daughter-in-law, Barby Rodriguez.
Cruz, who is married to the mayor’s lobbyist son, was the attorney of record for the Carollo campaign and represented him, alongside Ben Kuehne, during the challenge to his district residency brought on by Alfie Leon. Is she consulting now, too?
And CJ Gimenez, the lobbyist son that this is probably addressed to, has been with Carollo since the campaign and now beyond, helping him get an extension from Papi as head of the county elections department for the wording on the strong mayor ballot question and, now, helping Carollo challenge the measure in court.
The lawsuit — which also names Miami City Clerk Todd Hannon, Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor (by proxy) Christina White and the political action committee Miamians for an Independent and Accountable Mayor’s Initiative as defendants — argues that the “ambiguous and intentionally misleading” ballot language doesn’t clearly tell voters what the mayor’s compensation will be under the strong mayor change (watch this become the crux of an anti campaign) and other changes that take power away from the commission. It also argues that the petitions themselves are invalid because some of the circulators are not registered Miami-Dade voters, as required by county code.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez abuses power in election interference for lobbyist son
Interesting  points that seem to have merit. Ladra is not sure she likes the strong mayor idea, either. I mean, look how great it’s been for the county. And the Suarez version is even more powerful and convoluted (more on that later).
But I’m more interested right now in how deeply involved Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is in this fight. And why?
First he abuses his power to intervene in the elections process on behalf of his lobbyist son and Carollo, getting the commissioner a one week extension because Carollo thought he could kill the referendum measure with time. Gimenez didn’t get the extension for Suarez, who had previously sought an extension of a few days but was told he couldn’t have one and wanted to have the ballot language approved at a special city commission meeting Aug. 6. No, he did that for Carollo, who still couldn’t deliver even after Gimenez took over the elections department and deemed himself the elections supervisor.
And now the Gimenez family is behind, er, um, consulted on a lawsuit against the ballot measure.
What lengths will Gimenez go to on this issue? Isn’t it too bad he’s not as passionate about rail?
A Getty miage captures a much happier and friendlier Francis Suarez and Carlos Gimenez on Marlins opening day.
Is this just an opportunity to muddy Suarez on behalf of Carollo and his son’s career, or is there something more personal at stake? Las malas lenguas say Gimenez has long thought about running for Miami mayor after he is termed out at the county in 2020. Is this the tailgate party? But then, wouldn’t he want the strong mayor measure to pass.
Some political observers believe it’s going to pass anyway, given Miami’s sewn-up vote, and that this presents Gimenez with an opportunity to muddy Suarez while allowing for the strong mayor vote to pass and then using the younger mayor’s inexperience against him in 2021.
It could happen. God help us. At least it is one explanation behind the Gimenez clan involvement in this lawsuit. Have another?

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Let’s say that the mayor of a big city calls one of his employees on a Sunday morning at home. This employee, who years ago he promoted to chief of her department, is in charge of municipal elections and, lo and behold, she changes her mind about a previously hard and fast deadline on an upcoming ballot. The mayor admits to a local paper that he intervened in this matter for his son, a lobbyist who works on behalf of someone with an interest in the ballot.
Sounds like Nicaragua, don’t it? Almost anywhere else, this would draw some drumbeats and possibly an investigation into what is obviously, at the very least, an abuse of power.
But this happened in Miami-Dade, where Mayor Carlos Gimenez admitted to the Miami Herald only a few weeks ago that he used his elected office to get his lobbyist son a week-long extension on the Miami referendum for a strong mayor — and everyone just shrugs their shoulders and moves along like there’s nothing to see here.
How is this not being investigated? Have we become so numb to these abuses of power that such an extension of the friends and family plan is no big deal?
For those of you who are just hearing about this like Ladra was a few days ago: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who wants to be a strong mayor (more on that later), was having a hard time getting the ballot language good enough for the commission to agree on it. The deadline for the language to be at the Miami-Dade Elections Department was Tuesday, Aug. 7. Suarez called White and asked for a few more days. She told him it could not be done.
A few days later, on a Sunday, Aug. 5, White gets a phone call from Gimenez who asks her the same thing. Now, the answer is different. Now the answer is, sure, why not? Heck, she could wait even a week more. But nobody tells Suarez, who called a special meeting for Monday, Aug. 6, during which the city manager calls White and, voila, gets a week extension, seemingly on the spot. That Emilio Gonzalez has magical convincing powers, right?
Wrong. Everyone finds out the later that day or the next day is that the week-long extension had already been granted — a day earlier and to another mayor, Gimenez. Mayor Giveaway told the Herald point blank that when he told his son about the extension, the suddenly hot lobbyist CJ Gimenez, Commissioner Joe Carollo, who CJ grew close to during the Miami commission seat campaign last year (photo, left), was sitting next to him. It sounds like Mayor Gimenez knew he was talking to both of them. Maybe on speaker. CJ always puts dad on speaker.
“I told them it wasn’t a hard date,” Gimenez is quoted as saying in the Herald. “That if requested, the supervisor of elections would probably be amenable to moving it back a week.”
Read related: We get Joe Carollo in Miami — and all the drama, interest that comes with
Can’t you just hear the Don Corleone accent? I told them that if requested, the supervisor of elections would probably be amenable to moving it back a week.
So, basically, Gimenez got the extension and Carollo played dumb at the meeting about it for some reason. Maybe Crazy Joe knows that Crooked Carlos shouldn’t have done that.
Reached Wednesday, White said she couldn’t recall if Gimenez had called her that Sunday in the morning or the evening and said it wasn’t that uncommon. “He’s my boss,” she said. “We do talk as needed.”
When Ladra asked her how often her boss calls her on weekends, White couldn’t even give a ballpark figure.
“Is it once a month?” No answer to that. “Twice a month?”
“When I’m in election season, as needed, if something comes up, there’s never been an issue in calling him or vice versa,” she said. Well, except for when he was running for office, she said. “We really did not communicate very often then. He really respected the fact that he was the candidate,” White volunteered. But what did they talk about those few times? How do we know what “very often” means?
This is especially important because Gimenez actually told the Herald he himself was the supervisor of elections.
“I’m the supervisor of elections. I delegate that power to Christina White,” Gimenez is quoted as saying.
Did he, for instance, call White the weekend in the summer of 2016 that he needed to submit another check to qualify after his first check was invalidated because it was dated 2015. Remember that second check that was submitted at 10:20 p.m., way after the elections office is supposedly closed for the day, and the questions surrounding whether or not he may have abused his power to get the office open? Or was he simply the elections supervisor then, too?
Read related: Carlos Gimenez submits late night campaign check (10:20 p.m.)
Did Gimenez call White to tell her to forget about the check that a candidate for school board had cancelled after his son convinced the man to drop out of the race against his sister-in-law? Remember that Richard Tapia never officially withdrew from the race after having lunch or whatever with CJ (photo left) who encouraged him to drop out so his aunt, School Board Member Maria Teresa Rojas, would have an easier ride in? Was Mayor Gimenez the elections supervisor then, too? Or does the county just forgive anybody and everybody who cancels their checks?
There have been several opportunities for Mayor Gimenez to interfere with and, indeed, manipulate the electoral process — and we still don’t know how often he calls the elections supervisor on the weekends.
“So, twice a month?”
“There is no figure,” White said, exasperated at very legitimate questions that really need to be asked after she is subpoenaed and under oath..
She did say she did not feel uncomfortable by his call or what she deemed as his “inquiry,” because she insists her boss did not ask her to extend the deadline. Gimenez simply asked, White said, if it could be done if it needed to be done — lke it was a hypothetical situation? — and she said why, yes, it could.
Did she happen to mention to Gimenez that Mayor Suarez had, indeed, asked for such an extension just a couple days earlier and that she denied it? “I did not tell him,” White told Ladra. Hmmmm. Don’t you think that would naturally come up in that Sunday conversation? I mean, if it wasn’t uncomfortable.
Read related: Beware of Carlos Gimenez Jr. at Gables School Board forum
The deadline exists, by the way, because of all the work that goes into putting together the general election ballot, starting the day after the primary. There are dozens of questions on the ballot with more than 20 questions in one city alone this year (North Bay Village) and each of those has to be translated to Spanish and Haitian Kreole, then have those translations “negotiated,” because they are never spot on the first time, then have them all approved before the ballot is laid out.
“He just wanted to know if I was asked for an extension would I have a problem with that,” White {photo left) told Ladra. “It’s not that big a deal for me to give a city an extra week, for one city for one question. Especially since I saw the meeting and they were struggling with finding the ballot language.”
But there are three problems with her story: One is that Suarez, too, had asked for an extension for just one city for just one question and she had said nananina to that.
“My recollection of that conversation is he asked ‘Is the deadline firm?’ and I said, ‘Yes, it is,’” White said.
Then why wasn’t it firm that Sunday in her conversation with Gimenez?
The second is that the meeting took place on Monday — and she had already told Mayor Gimenez she would extend the deadline a day earlier. Sp watching them struggle with the language had, literally, nothing to do with it.
And the third is that Gimenez himself told the Herald about a conversation that seemingly went differently. After all, he is the supervisor of elections delegating the power to White.
“To me, it’s important to get things right,” Gimenez told the Miami Herald. “Adding another week to get things on the ballot, I don’t see a problem with that. I would do it for anyone else who asked. That is the democratic process.”
White needs to be put under oath when questioned by ethics investigators and/or prosecutors. Yes, Ladra went there. This is by far the clearest evidence of abuse of power by a man whose friends and family plan apparently knows no bounds. It’s not as if they need someone to make a complaint, but if they do, I will.
Where are the authorities?

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Why does everyone have their panties up in a bunch over Miami-Dade Carlos Gimenez‘s trip to China with some of his favorite BFF lobbyists? I mean, the guy couldn’t go to France again this year for the umpteenth time. Been there, done that.
And he’s only got two more years to go before he is termed out in 2020. Might as well see the world with his wife and have taxpayers and lobbyists pay the tab.
But while the mayor’s travel habits are not necessarily surprising, this tour of Asia — 16 days for 49 people, including 19 (!!) county employees — is certainly and rightfully raising eyebrows.
To begin with, there is no way on Earth that, even if China had the best and cheapest rapid buses for us, we need 19 county people on that trip to make that determination. Sure, there were other opportunities. But we are talking about a list that includes Vice Mayor Ed Marquez, Commissioners Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Audrey Edmonson, Barbara Jordan and Jean Monestime as well as four department directors. Commissioner Diaz, who was a host as chairman of the International Trade Consortium, took two aides (bet they were both pretty) while the other commissioners had to do with just one. Los pobres.
The trip was paid with both public and private funds (not that the private funds make it any better). Expenses for Gimenez, the commissioners and some staff were paid entirely by the “Trade Mission Center of the Americas Business Development Mission,” according to his spokestaff. But it looks like there were $10,000 contributions to that fund from each the PortMiami, the county aviation department and the water and sewer department for a total of $30,000, at least, in taxpayer funds.
Read related story: Miami-Dade mayor, lobbyist pals head to Paris Air Show
Another $33,283 is being paid by the respective departments for expenses incurred by Aviation Director Lester Sola, PortMiami Director Juan Kuryla, Water and Sewer Director Kevin Lynskey and Transit Director Alice Bravo, whose estimated expenses are higher by at least $3,000 than the next guy’s. That’s all taxpayer money, too.
Now, before any of you crony apologists start talking about how China is a leading trade partner at PortMiami and the airport and represents a lot of potential growth for South Florida, let me remind you that none of that is contingent on 19 county employees being paid their taxpayer funded paychecks to spend two weeks touring five cities in Asia. In fact, nobody had to go to China, or Japan for that matter, to learn about how the the buses or airlines operate there — or, as Gimenez eventually learned, that the Chinese bus passenger system wouldn’t work here. This is 2018. There is video conferencing, virtual town halls and even facetime. Gimenez and company could virtually ride the rapid bus in China from the comfort of their County Hall offices.
But this wasn’t really about that. This was about providing vacation memories and some graft opportunities to the Gimenez friends and family plan, including close buds-for-life Ralph Garcia Toledo, Marcelo Llorente and Jesse Manzano, three lobbyists and Gimenez campaign operatives who just coincidentally win bids for multi million dollar contracts. Garcia Toledo — who was also on the Paris trip (as well as Llorente) — even has a no-show, mostly clerical job at the water and sewer department for $200 an hour. Ladra can’t help but wonder if another job for the friends and family club was discussed over dim sum in Shanghai.
Did you happen to see Gimenez’s reaction when Univision’s Erika Carillo asked him about the presence of those very BFF lobbyists on the trip? Talk about looking guilty! He went on a tirade, raising his voice and pointing fingers. You have to see it. Thank the journalism gods for Carillo, who is doing what many in Miami’s mainstream media refuse to do — which is simply ask the right questions, no matter how awkward and no matter if the mayor or one of his mouthpieces threatens you with the loss of access.
Read related story: Mayor’s pal Garcia-Toledo eats lobster with county staffers
This interview is fantastic. Someone in law enforcement has to watch it because Gimenez is sweating bullets.
Carillo also exposed that 30% of trip expenses was paid for by lobbyists and companies that do business with the county, like AECOM and Nova Consulting, to the tune of $31,800 of the $92,350 tab. Hey, somebody had to pay for the $21,000 in estimated hotel costs.
In addition to the three Gimenez amigos other lobbyists in the delegation included Jose “Chino” Fuentes, his partner Jose Bermudez, Alex Heckler and Al Maloof, who all have pretty tight relationships with the mayor (Heckler has held fundraisers for him and Maloof used to employ his daughter-in-law). Also in the group was Wynwood property snatcher and developer Moishe Mana, who gave $7,500 for the trip (most lobbyists ponied up $2K) and who has already proposed a new trade show for Chinese apparel and textiles, which may need permits or subsidies from the county.
“Doesn’t this cause a bad perception,” Carillo asked the mayor on camera before he went off on her.
Yes, Erika, there is definitely a stink in the air. It is left there by lobbyists who pay for access to the mayor and also arm candy, showing prospective Chinese clients and hopeful county contractors that they have the mayor’s ear should said Chinese clients need to hire a lobbyist. It is left there by the mayor himself who tells you that the company that paid for his trip wasn’t one of the ones that do business with the county (read: not yet anyway). And it is left there by the suspicion that there were secret negotiations taking place — especially now that we know the mayor has “confidential” discussions with potential bidders on important county projects like the new courthouse (more on that later).
And let’s not forget the stink left by a “trade mission” by Miami-Dade electeds to China, where human rights abuses are rampant and businesses cannot act independently without the explicit approval of the government, which is a little jarring and a lot hypocritical. This is the very same county that supports banning businesses that do trade in Cuba and Venezuela for the very same reasons.
According to Human Rights Watch: “More than three decades after pledging to “reform and open up,” there are few signs the Chinese Communist Party intends to change its authoritarian posture. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, who will remain in power until 2022 and possibly beyond, the outlook for fundamental human rights, including freedoms of expression, assembly, association and religion, remains dire.” This protest demanding the freedom of political prisoners in Beijing, pictured left, happened about a week after the mayor and his pals left.
Why is China different? Is it because we don’t have a Chinese American on the commission? Is it because we don’t have a large Chinese American voting base?
Nobody who has been on this Asia trip has the moral authority ever again to vote against Odebrecht or anyone else because they have business partners in Cuba or in Venezuela. And yes, I am talking to you, Pepe Diaz.
Which brings us to yet another reason why at least the China leg of this trip was a waste of time. There are some commissioners — Chairman Esteban Bovo as well as Rebeca Sosa, Javier Souto and Joe Martinez — who would not support any business with any Communist Chinese train manufacturer that doesn’t respect human rights and probably employs 12-year-olds. Ladra suspects that whoever replaces Commissioner Bruno Barreiro — who resigned the other day so he could focus on the congressional race he is going to lose in November — will also vote against a Chinese project as would Commissioners Xavier Suarez and Daniella Levine-Cava for the same reasons. That means an anti-Chinese commission majority.
But, again, none of this really matters for the mayor and his pals who are just on a mission to fill their scrapbooks with as many global monument pics as possible. Next stop is probably Qatar. Gimenez met last week with His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, and the mayor showed him his own kingdom from his perch on the 29th floor (photograph to the left).
“We discussed investment opportunities in Miami-Dade County and ways to expand the relationship between our respective communities,” Gimenez posted on Facebook.
It doesn’t matter that His Highness the sheikh tolerates and likely promotes the abuse and exploitation of migrant workers and that poets in Qatar are sentenced to 15 years in prison when their prose is critical of the ruling family.
What matters is that Gimenez doesn’t have that stamp in his passport.
 

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