Chairman Anthony Rodriguez can claim the chaos
In what is one of the most egregious abuses of power that Ladra has witnessed in decades of government reporting, the Miami-Dade Commission sat silently by while a resident who had gone to County Hall to have her voice heard was violently dragged out of Commission Chambers last week by at least four officers and eventually arrested on trumped up felony charges.
And the cowards have not said anything since.
While they all bear responsibility for allowing this to happen, unnecessarily, the biggest burden falls on Commission Chairman Anthony “A-Rod” Rodriguez, who caused a lot of confusion in his hasty attempt to mute the large crowd that had gone to speak against an agenda item at Thursday’s meeting that would authorize an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on reimbursement and public records for detainees (more on that later).
Read related: Miami-Dade could go above and beyond to help ICE with local detainees
Rodriguez said that if even only one person spoke, then that would be the public hearing and nobody could speak about the issue again if it were taken up later (fully knowing it was not going to be taken up later). This was confusing people, especially since the county attorney said that no, they could speak later. Which means Rodriguez was lying. The item also said the agreement would be retroactive, so people were wondering if that meant it had already been implemented.
In a video shot by The Miami Herald’s Doug Hanks, (who also captured the featured image above) Camila Ramos is dragged from the Miami-Dade Commission Chambers June 26.
Camila Ramos, a real estate agent who went before the commission to oppose the agreement, was still in jail Friday afternoon, nearly 24 hours after she was dragged out of county hall. According to the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department’s online inmate search, she was at the Turner Guilford Knight corrections center until she was released around 4 p.m., with a $7,500 bond on charges of aggravated battery of a police officer and resisting arrest with violence.
Another protester who was also arrested was also released.
Attorney Bruce Lehr, who is representing Ramos, told Political Cortadito that the first charge was already changed from first degree felony aggravated battery to battery, a third degree felony. This is based on the allegation that she struck a police officer in the face with a closed fist. But anyone who watches the video can see that Ramos was not in control of her own body as police grabbed her by her arms, her wrists, her legs and even her hair to drag and carry her out of commission chambers. She may have hit someone by accident while she was flailing about.
In fact, the video taken by The Miami Herald should come with a disclaimer for gratuitous violence.
“No, no, noooo,” she is heard saying as they surround her and grab her. “I’m just asking about the process. I just asked about the process.” She goes limp. She probably weighs 110 pounds soaking wet.
“Let go of me, let go of me, let go of me, let go of me” Ramos wails, and everybody stands by and does nothing. She grabs a man’s sleeve as they drag her off, but he just smirks. “No! No!”
Ladra is not sure it’s her or someone else who says “Stop what you’re doing.” Then Ramos tells the officers that she’ll leave on her own. “Let me go. Let me go. I can stand and I can be quiet. No! Let me go. I have a right to understand this process.”
They ask her if she can walk. She says she needs to take a breath. So they keep dragging her out.
That kind of escalation was completely unnecessary.
And not one commissioner had the nerve to stand up for this constituent. They let it continue to escalate as people in the audience watched completely in shock. Someone could have simply said something like, “Hold on a second. Let her leave on her own two feet. Ma’am, contact my chief of staff outside the chambers and I will hear your concerns. I’m sorry about this.”
That would have taken guts. But it’s much easier to let this just happen and then, well maybe so many people won’t show up to public meetings and get all up in their business.
That”s why, instead, “We will have order in this chamber,” is all that Rodriguez repeated. At one point he smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “We will have order in this chamber.”
Quite tellingly, none of them have been reachable. Calls to Rodriguez, Sen. Rene Garcia, and commissioners Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez, Oliver Gilbert, Eileen Higgins, Danielle Cohen Higgins and the communications director for Commissioner Marleine Bastien, were not answered nor returned. And, while all of them are quick to make sweeping statements about local, state and national issues — especially to support or oppose something Donald Trump did — not one single statement had been issued as of Friday morning.
Read related: Miami-Dade leaders react to Donald Trump’s new ‘xenophobic’ travel ban
Only Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who also did nothing as they dragged Camila Ramos away, made a statement Friday that spoke about the general chaos — Rodriguez at one point recessed the meeting and came back — but made absolutely no mention of the total police overreaction and violation of Ramos’ rights (more on that later).
“I know many people in our community have concerns about this issue, and it was unfortunate that yesterday’s meeting escalated the way it did when people were there simply to make their voices heard,” La Alcaldesa said in her statement. “It’s critical that all residents have the opportunity to address their elected officials on topics impacting our community, and I’m glad that the Board ultimately did hold a public hearing so that residents could be heard.
“Public input is an essential part of an accessible, accountable local government and as elected officials we should encourage all residents to exercise their right to participate in local decision-making.”
What happened Thursday will not encourage anyone to participate. In fact, it will serve as a chilling factor and keep people away from County Hall for public comments. Wouldn’t that make Rodriguez and Gilbert, who has been slow to hand over the chairman’s reins, happy? They are the biggest champions of silencing the citizens and have both often stymied the First Amendment rights of other speakers throughout the years.
Rodriguez often cuts comments from two minutes to one minute because there are just too many people who want to speak. Nosy busybodies. He has also shut the mic off in mid sentence more than once. That’s what he did recently to Kendall activist Mike Rosenberg, founder of the Pets’ Trust Initiative and president the Kendall Federation of Homeowner Associations. But first, Rodriguez warned him, as caught in this video clip posted on YouTube.
“Mr. Rosenberg, I think you’ve been made aware to stay on topic, on the item you’re here to speak on,” the chairman told Rosenberg at the May 20 meeting, where the activist had gone to speak about an idea to help save stray animals. An item on the agenda about banning the feeding of strays had been withdrawn, Rodriguez said, so Rosenberg had no right to speak on it. Rosenberg says the agenda was not set until after the public comments, so the item was set to be deferred but had not yet been. It was not a pretty exchange.
“It didn’t say withdrawn yesterday when I looked at the agenda. It changed somewhere overnight,” Rosenberg said.
“I’m not going to debate that right now,” Rodriguez told him.
Rosenberg knew he would be cut off. “I’ve seen it before,” he said. But he cited rules that showed the reasonable opportunity to be heard was before the setting of the agenda. Or he began to, anyway, before Rodriguez interrupted him.
“We don’t ask questions from the podium,” Rodriguez said. We don’t? Then where is it that the public can ask questions of matters before the commission? And Rosenberg wasn’t asking a question, by the way. “You’re down to a minute, 20,” the chairman added. But when Rosenberg — the only speaker at that meeting — started to speak again, he was cut off because Rodriguez did not want to hear about it for even 80 seconds.
That’s asking too much? That our electeds listen for 120 seconds?
“Just ask yourself if this would encourage you to want be a part of this board of county commissioners and be involved in our community,” Rosenberg told Political Cortadito. “Two hours to get downtown and 90 minutes to get home. Only one speaker and they stopped me.”
Yeah, no. The answer is no.
There is a long history at Miami-Dade of cutting speakers off or discouraging. public comment in other ways. Some of the rules are ridiculously obvious for their single intent to curve public discourse. If you speak at one meeting, you can’t speak at another, even if more commissioners are there the second time. Chairpersons before Rodriguez — Gilbert for sure but also Chairmen Esteban “Stevie” Bovo and Jose “Pepe” Diaz — have also been known to thwart any public comments from constituents.
Read related: Miami-Dade’s Esteban Bovo cuts public speech on i-word
But it has never risen to the level of Thursday’s escalation of intimidation.
According to one person who was at the chambers on Thursday when Camila Ramos was dragged out, the officers were shouting and one who was there even had a rifle. Another person said that the members of her group were pushed and shoved by police officers. Why is there an officer with a rifle at a commission meeting? What’s next? The National Guard? It certainly did seem like what happened Thursday would not have happened if hostilities toward protesters had not been turned up nationwide.
What the commission wants to do is to stifle any criticism. The attitude Rodriguez puts on during meetings is precisely intended to thwart public comment. He couldn’t care less. We need more people like Camila Ramos willing to stick her neck out to say that our comments and opinions matter.
And less cowards on the county commission.
While they stayed spinelesslessly silent after what happened Thursday, all the way in Surfside, Mayor Charles Burkett sent an email Friday morning to his staff as a warning that this should not happen in their town. “This is really bad. I can’t think of any good reason why a situation like this ought to evolve with a woman on the floor with two very strong police around her,” Burkett wrote.
“We must never allow something like this to happen under our watch.”
Don’t you wish some county commissioner had said that?
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It’s not scientific, or anything. But the results of a paper ballot survey of the Kendall and West Kendall residents who went to a town hall meeting Tuesday hosted by the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Associations was interesting nonetheless.
Not everybody answered every question, but the questions did get between 127 and 138 answers, that were later tallied up by KFHA President Michael Rosenberg.
Read related: Kendall residents take fight against 5G towers to Miami-Dade commissioners
Among the more interesting answers was whether or not Miami-Dade County should keep the fluoride in the water. The commission voted April 1 to stop adding fluoride to the water, but Mayor Daniella Levine Cava vetoed it. Contrary to the much more scientific poll done by La Alcadesa‘s political team — where more residents support keeping it the additive in the tap water than not — more people at the KFHA meeting said no, don’t keep it in the water. Not by much. They were pretty evenly split.
Still, this will likely be used as ammunition by Miami-Dade Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez, who sponsored the measure and is likely to lead an override attempt against the mayor’s veto May 6. He had a staffer in the audience.
Predictably, an overwhelming majority of those who filled out the ballot survey also felt that Miami-Dade should stop charging property taxes and that the county should find another way to dispose of trash without having to build an incinerator, which commissioners have stalled on but will discuss again in June. Or is it July?
And because the room was full of Kendall people, they were overwhelmingly in favor of having a park in the place of the closed and abandoned Calusa Golf Course instead of something like 540 homes. Yeah, ’cause that’s still going on (more on that later).
What Ladra did not expect was the result to the question, “Would you like to have a town hall meeting with Congressman Carlos Gimenez?” It got the second largest yes response, after the Calusa question, with 101 in favor.
Hear that Gimenez? They want to have a word. Time to connect with your constituents.
Ladra doubts the former county mayor is going to go anywhere near a town hall these days, judging how those are going for Republicans across the country in the wake of what many see as a constitutional crisis happening in real time. Two words: Not well.
Read related: Video blasts U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez for silence on ending TPS, deportations
People also seem in favor of getting some sort of property tax discount if they have 5G towers abutting their property, and bringing the value of it down. But they weren’t big on incorporating Kendall and West Kendall. They like their UMSA there.
The saddest answer was the one about whether or not people think that their county government listens to them. Almost 4 to 1, they said no. Ladra wants to talk to the 21 people who said yes and ask what their secret is.
Well, maybe 20, if one of the ballots was filled out by the District 11 employee.

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Magnum Brickell, Quail Roost Station add 600+ units
As the White House considers major cuts to federal housing programs, like Section 8, for next year’s budget, according to the New York Times, Miami-Dade is making strides in providing more affordable units through transit-oriented developments.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Commissioner Kionne McGhee will celebrate the grand opening Thursday of the first phase of Quail Roost Station, a 200-unit development that brings affordable housing for seniors to Cutler Bay (in the featured photo above).
Next week, the same duo will preside over the groundbreaking of the new and improved Homestead Gardens Phase I, the first part of a new affordable housing community being developed through the conversion of an existing aging affordable complex that was built in Homestead in 1977.
This comes on the heels last week of the opening of Magnus Brickell, touted as the largest single-phase mixed-income venture in the county — at least so far. The 465-residences are available for rent at blended affordable housing, workforce housing and market-rate housing rates, and is a public-private partnership between Related Urban, the county’s housing and community development department and Miami-Dade Public Schools.
And last month, developers broke ground on the 47-acre Upland Park, a transit-oriented, mixed use project that is expected to transform the Dolphin Park-and-Ride terminal into a major multimodal transit hub. It will have more than 2,000 mid-rise and garden-style apartments, 282,000 square feet of retail and 414,000 square feet of commercial space near Doral.
“Upland Park is a prime example of how we are continuing to build a better community for all and a future-ready Miami-Dade County,” Levine Cava said last month. “Located alongside the 836 Expressway, which features a dedicated bus lane, this development will provide residents with seamless and efficient transit options, further integrating smart mobility solutions into our growing region.”
Read related: Doral seeks input on update to city transit plan, expanded trolley service
There are at least three more transit-oriented projects in the pipeline including Meridian Point at Goulds Station, which broke ground in January and will be funded with $2.6 million in surtax funds. The development offers 113 apartments in two, buildings — a seven-story, 80-unit building and a three-story 33-unit “garden building” — for families with incomes ranging from 30% to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Sixty-eight units are reserved for families currently residing at the nearby Cutler Manor Apartments, which is slated for redevelopment into a mixed-income affordable community.
“These developments provide public transportation connections to employment centers, schools, arts and culture, and healthcare, making it easier for residents to access essential services and opportunities,” Levine Cava has said.
In Downtown Miami
Located in the heart of Brickell, the Magnus project, at 201 SW 10th St., is unique for workforce housing in that it features top-tier amenities such as an expansive sun deck, resort-style swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, pet-friendly spaces, a podcast studio, Wi-Fi-enabled co-working spaces, and panoramic views of the iconic Brickell skyline.
All for rents starting at under $300 a month!
That’s the starting rate for some, depending on resident income, of the 93 affordable or low-income housing units that were built under the Rental Assistance Demonstration program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Claudia Gonzalez, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who attended the opening. “In RAD, units move to a Section 8 platform with a long-term contract that, by law, must be renewed in perpetuity,” the HUD website says. “A Use Agreement is also recorded under RAD further enforcing HUD’s long-term interest. This ensures that the units remain permanently affordable to low-income households.”
The building also has 70 workforce housing units for folks making 120% Area Medium Income (AMI) and below — so maximum salary for residents is $95,400 for one person — which seems like a lot — and $108,960 combined for two people, which sounds much more “workforce” to Ladra than $95K for one. The AMI is set yearly by US HUD and is currently at $79,400 in Miami-Dade.
Rents are listed between $2,783 and $4,720 on the realtor.com website. The marketplace rates are what allows such quality affordable housing, officials say.
“This project is about creating homes for families who need them the most,” Commissioner Higgins said in a statement. “With 93 units for very low-income residents and 70 for workforce families, we are taking a big step toward ensuring that everyone in our community, regardless of income, has access to a place they can truly call home.
“Located just steps away from transit options, Magnus Brickell connects residents to better job opportunities, healthcare, and schools. And with a new K-8 school right next door, it’s the perfect place for children and families to thrive,” said Higgins, who is running (maybe) for Miami mayor. “This is what progress looks like, and I’m excited for what’s to come.”
Read related: Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins could join Miami Mayor’s race
She was a little too effusive of the developers: “We extend our heartfelt thanks to Related Group for being exceptional partners in this endeavor,” Higgins said in her statement. “Their dedication to getting things done is inspiring, and we look forward to continuing our work together on future projects that will further address our County’s housing needs.”
In South Miami-Dade
Quail Roost Station is a six-phase redevelopment plan alongside the Bus Rapid Transit busway parallel to U.S. 1. Approved by the county commission WHEN, it is supposed to be an example transit oriented development for seniors. It is connected via a covered walkway to the brand-new BRT station on Southwest 184th Street, one of the new 14 BRT stations along the South Dade TransitWay, where service is scheduled to start this summer. Phase one is done and phase two broke ground in August 2024 with expected completion by end of this year.
Located on approximately 2.3 or 8.5 acres on SW 184th Street, just west of U.S. 1, Quail Roost Station, at 18505 Homestead Ave., will eventually provide 200 units for seniors and their families. According to a Miami-Dade County press release, there will be 33 studios, 132 one-bedrooms, 23 two-bedrooms, 8 three-bedrooms, 3 four-bedrooms, and 1 five-bedroom apartments. The property features a community room, business center, fitness center, and on-site laundry facilities.
There may also be adult literacy classes, employment assistance, and financial management program classes will also be offered to residents on site.
All affordable housing units are set at 22% to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). That means that rental prices, today, would range from $737 – $2,065.
Studies have consistently shown that residents of affordable and workforce housing use public transit at a higher rate than the general population.
“With this transit-oriented community, we are not just building a structure, we’re building a future that honors our older adults,” Levine Cava said in a statement when the county broke ground last August. “Quail Roost Station will stand as a testament to our commitment to creating spaces where older adults can thrive, and where accessibility, connection, and care come together.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Commissioner Kionne McGhee at last year’s groundbreaking for Quail Roost Station.
“This is more than just a development. It’s a promise to support and enrich the lives of those who have laid the foundation for our community,” Levine Cava said.
McGhee, who was not an early fan of BRT, could not be reached for comment.
Read related: Kionne McGhee pulls the brakes on Miami-Dade BRT for South corridor
Miami-based Atlantic Pacific Communities has a deal to lease the site from, the county, which in 2020 approved $5 million in monies from the Documentary Stamp Surtax Program, named for the stamp of approval applied to local property transfers.
“Quail Roost Station is another signal that transit-oriented communities, which are also affordable communities, are on the rise and very much needed,” said Kenneth Naylor, president of development for Atlantic Pacific Communities, in a statement.
In the city of Homestead
Homestead Gardens Phase I apartments will consist of 162 residences at 1542 SW 4th Street, where the old Homestead Gardens (or Gardens of Homestead)  is now. Half the units are under the RAD program, which replaces existing public housing units one-for-one with Section 8 “project-based voucher units meant for returning public housing residents and qualifying residents with incomes of 30% and 50% of the AMI in Miami-Dade County. The other half will be affordable and mixed-income housing units.
This residential community, expected to open by the end of 2026, will be built with sustainable materials and systems and will be green certified. Amenities will include a community room for residents — which will have a heating kitchen — a gym, bicycle storage room, outdoor playground and community gardens. All apartments will include central air conditioning systems and washer and dryers.
What? No podcast studio?
This project is the first of three phases that Miami-Dade County and DBC Procida are working on to redevelop the 150 units of Miami-Dade County managed affordable public housing located at the existing Homestead Gardens campus. These photos show the old, outdated complex and the new, modern one.

Homestead Gardens got $2 million from county surtax funding and $2 million from the county HOME program funds. The project also includes Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity sourced through National Equity Fund, a construction loan from Bank of America, and Freddie Mac permanent financing through Greystone.
Elsewhere in Miami-Dade
Platform 3750 is at 3750 South Dixie Highway, on 2.1 acres leased from the county near the Douglas Road Metrorail Station. Developed by Hollywood-based Cornerstone Group and its partners, it has 113 market rate and 78 affordable apartments, 222,950 square feet of retail space, and 27,500 square feet of office space. It is eight stories tall and includes a pedestrian bridge to the Metrorail station. Amenities also include a rooftop pool and an interior drop off area, an on-site Aldi and an on-site Starbuck’s. Commissioners approved giving that project $6.5 million from the county’s surtax dollars.
District 7 has added 850 affordable housing units to the inventory in the last four years, said Commissioner Raquel Regalado. Another 800 or so have been or are being rehabilitated. “We all know that it’s getting more difficult of rising land costs, rising labor costs and construction materials,” Regalado said. “But ensuring families have access to safe, stable, and affordable homes is key to strengthening our community.”

Metro Grande III Apartments, located at 2005 West Okeechobee Road, near the Okeechobee Metrorail Station in Hialeah, has 202 senior housing units, 84 workforce housing units and 3,189 square feet of retail. Cornerstone Group also leased this property from the county, which committed $2 million from the surtax monies to fund it. Miami-Dade has wanted to turn this 1.5 acres into housing for more than two decades.
These projects not only address the housing crisis in Miami-Dade, officials say, they are also offering commercial and community space that address the needs of the area’s residents.

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Everybody knew the veto was coming, even before it was announced.
In the days before her deadline Friday to veto a measure passed by the commission to stop adding fluoride to the county’s tap water, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava (1) assembled a group of pro-fluoride dentists and medical experts and parents to provide a recommendation and (2) had her political team conduct a poll that showed a majority of residents support the fluoridation of our water.
It was like she was making a case, gathering the evidence she needed to prove her point, which is that fluoride, in small doses, is not harmful and actually better for public health by providing dental protection across the board to communities that maybe can’t afford good preventative care.
“This is not a decision that I take lightly,” Levine Cava said Friday, at a press conference against a wall of white lab coats, or medical experts, and parents supporting her position. “Water fluoridation at low levels is a safe and effective way of preventing tooth decay. Halting it could have long term and wide reaching health consequences, especially for our most vulnerable families.
“The science is very clear,” Levine Cava added. “The decision to stop adding fluoride to Miami-Dade’s water ignores the guidance of dentists and medical experts who are overwhelmingly trusted by our residents on this issue.”
Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez — who sponsored the measure, which passed 8-2 on April 1 — would need nine of the 13 commissioners to overturn the veto, if all the same show up. That means Levine Cava is counting on the three who were absent — apparently, they stepped off the dais — to agree with her on fluoridation. Or maybe someone who voted for the resolution will be swayed by the overwhelming evidence she laid out.

The press conference was still in full swing when Gonzalez posted his reaction on social media, urging his colleagues to ignore the mayor’s case, titled “Commissioners take bipartisan bold step forward, mayor hits the brakes.”
Cute.
“I want to commend my colleagues on the county commission for coming together as pubic servants in a bipartisan, wide margin vote to ut pubic health above partisan politics. Unfortunately, our mayor has not done the same,” Gonzalez said in his post.
Read related: Miami-Dade taxpayers fund $1 mil move for Commissioner Rob Gonzalez
“By vetoing this bipartisan resolution, our mayor is acting like a typical politician, relying on partisan pollsters and tired talking points while putting people’s health at risk, especially pregnant women, infants, children and other vulnerable groups,” Gonzalez added. “Removing fluoride from our drinking water has received overwhelming scientific and public support including from state to national levels of government.”
Well, who’s making it partisan? That’s right: This move of his is coming on the heels of Republican sponsored bills in Florida that would eliminate fluoride in the water statewide.
Fluoride is a component of fluorine, one of the top 20 most common elements on the surface of the Earth. It has been added to the county’s water since 1958, according to local, state and national standards, to help prevent tooth decay and strengthen enamel, especially among children. Gonzalez and those who support the resolution say that was before it was added to toothpaste and that studies since have shown it poses health risks, such as a lower IQ.
But local health leaders and national medical groups, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, say fluoride in low levels, such as the 0.7 miligrams per liter in Miami-Dade tap water — which is the amount recommended by the American Dental Assocation — is safe and effective in reducing dental problems.
The studies that indicated issues used levels that were twice as high, said Levine Cava, who cited other cities that experienced an increase in cavities and other dental issues after fluoride was removed, including Buffalo, NY, where officials had to add fluoride back to the water after a class action lawsuit that may cost taxpayers $160 million. Other ramifications, she said, include children missing school because of tooth pain, parents missing work and families “facing additional financial strain.”
To make matters worse, the decision to take the fluoride out of the drinking water within 30 days followed a “hasty process,” Levine Cava said.
“There was no committee hearing, there was no real chance for residents and experts on both sides to weigh in,” she said. “A decision that affects every person who turns on their tap in Miami-Dade County should only happen after meaning input from our residents and experts.”
At Friday’s press conference, Levine Cava had local dentist Beatriz Terrry, immediate past president of the Florida Dental Association, who basically stole the show when she spoke about the benefits of having fluoride in the water and what she called a “fluoridation disparity” that would be created if it were removed.

“Water fluoridation is critically important to the dental health of our community,” Terry said. “Fluoride in our water helps strengthen enamel, preventing and resisting decay.
“Water fluoridation is a public health measure that benefits everyone, regardless of age, income, education or access to dental care. It especially helps our underserved populations who may not be able to afford regular dental visits, fluoride treatments or even fluoridated toothpaste,” Terry said. “I’ve heard that discussion, people can purchase fluoridated toothpaste and solve the problem, but not everybody can buy fluoridated toothpaste.”
“As a 30-year practicing dentist, I never thought this was an issue we would have to tackle,” she said, adding that she would advocate for new studies to help bring more focus on the facts. “Some of this research is very old because this is a no-brainer, right? But in the interim, we need to keep it in the water.”
Read related: Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins could join Miami Mayor’s race
We can believe the dentist — who is married to a dentist and has three kids — because she is advocating against her own personal self interest. “If we took it out of the water, I would be in business for a long time,” Terry joked. No, but it’s true. She also said that she has treated people who grew up without fluoridated water who have had issues with tooth decay.
Also, by the way, she is a Republican super voter. So, she’s not making it partisan.
According to the poll, conducted by Edge Communications (political consultant Christian Ulvert‘s firm), most Miami-Dade residents strongly support or somewhat support the status quo, or adding fluoride to the water. It also shows that residents trusts dentists over politicians — well, duh — and that Levine Cava is the “most trusted public official” among a number of national figures and, inexplicably, The Miami Herald (which scored a lower approval rating than Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., btw). Also interesting: Nobody knows quien carajo Florida Surgeon General Joseph Lapado is.
Lapado is supporting legislation that would take fluoride out of tap water statewide anyway, which might make this moot.

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Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, facing the harshest budget year of her administration and almost certain cuts to services, asked all department heads earlier this month to identify where they could cut 10% of their expenses. Then, this week, she has recommended the county hand another $10.5 million subsidy to FIFA for the seven 2026 World Cup games that will be played here.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association already got $10.5 million in cash and another $25 in donated or in-kind county services, like police and fire rescue. It was cut from their original request for $21 million in cash after pubic outcry last year, including criticism from Florida House Speaker Daniel “Danny” Perez.
Even Levine Cava, last year, had concerns about the subsidy, calling it a significant cost. That resistance was why Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, who sponsored the legislation (the World Cup games will at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens), decided to compromise and as for only half of the cash the organization wanted.
But even then, it seemed like another bait and switch was coming when Miami-Dade Commissioner Anthony Rodriguez said, “We might need more.”
Read related: Rep. Danny Perez enters Miami-Dade politics — as precursor to mayoral run?
Gilbert is again sponsoring the legislation that would give FIFA the other $10.5 mil.

But do they really need it?
All FIFA tournaments generate revenue from sponsorships. In 2022, FIFA had revenues of over $5.8 billion, ending the 2019–2022 cycle with a net positive of $1.2 billion, and cash reserves of over $3.9 billion, according to Wikipedia, which cites the organization’s own Financial Highlights report of April 2023. There have been investigative journalism reports over the years that have linked FIFA leadership with corruption, bribery and vote rigging.
Hmm. They should fit right in here.
This $10.5 million is a drop in the bucket for FIFA leaders, who all get big, fat bonuses, but important to Miami-Dade residents, who could see their services decrease.
The legislation is coming up at Tuesday’s county commission meeting. It is part of the “mid-year supplemental budget adjustments and amendments” for operating and capital expenses that total $137.258 million, according to the memo from the mayor’s office. That includes:

Almost $30 million for the new Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Department, most of it for bargaining concessions and overtime.
More than $1.3 million to the Property Appraiser’s office.
$6.3 million to the Tax Collector’s office.
$3.7 million for the Supervisor of Elections, for 16 new positions and “rebranding efforts.”
$750,000, or $150K for each of the constitutional positions, for outside legal counsel in the transition process.

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In what seems like a complete abandonment of his stated principles and mayoral campaign platform, former Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid — who was trounced 58% to 23% by Daniella Levine Cava in last August’s election (no need for a runoff) — has taken a newly-created $200,000-a-year job in a make-believe department in the top-heavy administration that he was so critical of last year.
Guess she’s not “Disastrous Daniella” anymore. And the top heavy mayor’s office could use one more heavy?
The Miami Herald’s editorial board reported Sunday that Cid had joined La Acaldesa‘s office as “senior advisor for economic opportunity,” a new made-up position in the made-up Miami-Dade Office of Innovation and Economic Development. Cid, who spoke for the common working man during his campaign, was tapped to help grow small businesses and promote economic growth. The paper also reported that he will be looking for ways to cut red tape and make county business less expensive and more efficient.
He can start by eliminating his new job.
That’s not likely, considering he is soooooo happy to have a government post.
Read related: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava crushes challengers in re-election
“I’m super thrilled. It’s an amazing opportunity to bring some of the ideas I talked about during the campaign,” Cid told Political Cortadito after a day and a half on the job. He said that “one of the things that haunted me the most” after his Aug. 20 loss was that his ideas would die with his campaign. “Having the opportunity to deliver on that, is something I didn’t think was possible.”
Welllll. Cid said that he got a text on Aug. 21, the day after he lost the election, from La Alcaldesa, saying, something like “let’s see how we can collaborate.” She had been impressed by his performance before the Herald’s editorial board, which is maybe why they wrote the story about this partnership.

He admires Levine Cava. During the campaign, he said, there was a day when they were both double booked at a senior center. He arrived and the mayor was speaking to the voters already. He didn’t know what to do. But then she introduced him, her challenger, and told the crowd to listen to what he had to say also.
“I come from an area of the county where that doesn’t happen,” Cid, who was basically abandoned by the GOP for this race, told Ladra.
Cid, who is part owner of the Mayor’s Cafe in Miami Lakes, did try other employment first. Sources told Ladra that Cid also talked to newly-elected Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia, and the newly-elected tax collector, Dariel Fernandez, who both said there was no job for him in their new constitutional offices. Cid, who had also applied for city manager jobs in Biscayne Park and Key West, did not deny this and said everyone knew he was looking for work.
“I really wanted to pursue a long-term career in public administration,” he said. “I put it on everybody’s radar.”
He said he already started working at the county this week. “I’ve already seen how dynamic this team is. I’ve been really impressed by this team,” Cid said. A team of 15 people, he added.
He is working on the 305Hub initiative, launched last month in partnership with Wells Fargo to provide “an all-in-one resource platform to help small business owners connect with essential resources, community partners, and growth opportunities.” According to the county website, it “aims to make small business support more accessible and impactful by offering a wide array of tools including resource mapping, training modules, event promotion, and community engagement features.”
Cid said he wants to make it a “true one-stop shop” for businesses, bringing in the permitting process.  “We’re taking it to the next level,” he said.
Read related: Manny Cid PAC hits Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on $2.5 billion bond
In her announcement on X, Levine Cava touted his perspective. “As a small business owner himself, Manny will be a champion to empower small businesses and create more opportunities for businesses to grow and thrive in Miami-Dade,” she said.
Don’t get me wrong. Ladra loves that a Democrat mayor with eyes on the governor’s mansion is reaching across the aisle to include Republican ideas in her administration. Isn’t this what everyone should be doing? But it also seems a little hypocritical on Cid’s end. Especially after they messed with his Wikipedia page during the campaign.
Not on Levine-Cava. This is strategy for her. She’s bringing in a Republican to show she’s not a communist. She needs to build or sustain bridges with all the Republican commissioners that got reelected. She needs to look and seem more moderate and less violently progressive.
But he seems like a hypocrite. While it’s a nice galleta sin mano to the local Republicans that never supported Cid, it also seems to some like he was never a serious candidate. Like this was the end game all along.

Alex Otaola, who got almost 12% of the vote in August as another Republican choice, immediately made a statement calling the job a “consolation prize” and saying that the county government is engaged in a chess game that fuels distrust. But his two-page statement also made him the protagonist, saying that this move was a strategy to divide the community and weaken his influence as an emerging politician. God. help us.
Still, what we all want to know is what’s Cid going to do when Levine Cava resurrects her $2.5 billion bond (which rumors say could be growing bigger)? He was flat out against this during the campaign. Will he have to support it as a member of her staff?
“One of the things the mayor wants is a diverse group of opinions,” Cid told Political Cortadito. “I’m going to be able to give a perspective that’s important. I’m not here to be in favor or against something. I’m here to give a perspective. It’s a professional position.”
Which means, yeah, he’ll support it. It’s his job now.
The post Ex Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Manny Cid joins county administration appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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