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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It’s over. There will be no runoff for the Miami-Dade mayor’s post.
In what was not a close race at all, La Alcaldesa Daniella Levine Cava won with 58% of the vote in the primary that ended Tuesday. Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid beat five other challengers to get second place and it was still only 23%.
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The Coral Gables library is always one of the top performing polling places during early voting — as well as on Election Day — and, so, attracts lots of candidates and their supporters to urge voters to punch their number on the ballot. And sometimes it can get fun.
Remember when Mayra Joli, running for Gables city commissioner in 2021, had her salsa music booming as she danced on the sidewalk? Well, until the police were called.
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