Old CRA director gets nearly $200K in exit package
It must be nice to have friends in high places. Or maybe just the right commissioner on your side.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s chief of staff, Carlos I. Suarez — no relation, but definitely part of the mayor’s extended orbit — is about to float gently from one cushy taxpayer-funded gig into another. The Omni Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board is expected Thursday to approve his appointment as executive director — complete with a $265,000 salary, $800 car allowance, $200 cell phone stipend, and a benefits package that would make a county administrator blush.
That’s a huge raise from the publicly recorded compensation of approximately $180,000 Suarez makes now.
Add the 5% annual raises and another 5% cost-of-living bump every year, and you do the math. He’ll be making nearly $300,000 by the end of next year — and that’s before the CRA’s famously generous executive 401(a) contribution of 15% of his salary.
For comparison, that’s more than Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava ($200,000). It’s more than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ($141,400). And more than a state Supreme Court Justice ($258,957).
And for what, exactly? The Omni CRA — which encourages redevelopment to alleviate slum and blight in parts of downtown and Edgewater — has a staff of fewer than 20 employees and a budget that’s largely on autopilot.
Read related: Fight over Omni CRA causes new rifts, alliances on Miami City Commission
But it does have a board made up of city commissioners, including Commissioner Damian Pardo, who happens to chair it. And Pardo also happens to have become Mayor Suarez’s most surprising ally this year — moving with him on controversial initiatives like the proposed lifetime term limits for commissioners and changing the city’s election year, which would have extended their terms by a year. And Francis Suarez is term limited. He’s out.
So is this appointment a thank you to the mayor from Pardo? Or is it a “With this, I owe you nothing” parting gift, now that Suarez is about to be out of office and out of staff? Ladra bets it’s a little of both.
Either way, the timing stinks. Suarez is out of City Hall in a few weeks. His guy lands a golden parachute, courtesy of the CRA. And it’s all dressed up in bureaucratic language — a resolution full of “whereases” about nothing really — when everyone in Miami knows this is a political redevelopment at its finest.
Isiaa Jones, the former director, will get an exit package totaling $191,244, which includes 20 weeks severance — which indicates she did not leave on her own — $33,000 in an “employee manual” payout and more than $48,000 in accrued sick and vacation time.
So, this is a very expensive employee shuffle. Calls to Commissioner Pardo and his chief of staff were not returned.
Carlos I. Suarez, a bilingual Miami-native and Cuban-American, holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Florida International University and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University. Suarez held management roles in the cruise industry — including at Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises — for more than 12 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He then worked as chief of staff at the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States and as acting assistant administrator at the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau of USAID. After that, he became a lobbyist before joining the short-lived and always doomed Francis Suarez presidential bid and then his staff when the White House didn’t pan out.
While the board cites authority under Florida Statutes for the appointment, critics say the move is more about political alliances and patronage than redevelopment expertise. Shouldn’t there be a more professional, open, transparent process?
The Omni CRA — which was almost not extended last year — has been through enough political subterfuge already since former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla snagged it away from former Commissioner Ken Russell in 2021 and used it as a shakedown central for contributions to one of his baby brother’s ill-fated campaigns. Then Diaz de la Portilla was removed after investigators found his aide, Jenny Nillo, running errands and drinking beer out of a paper bag in a city car while she was supposed to be working on the public dime. Then he was put back in and fired the executive director, Jason Walker.
Read related: Alex Diaz de la Portilla is investigated on ghost city employee at Omni CRA
Then he was arrested for public corruption charges that included bribery and money laundering related to a scheme where he took at least $245,000 in political committee campaign contributions from the owners of a private school and gifted them a park so they could build a sports dome for their students. The charges were ultimately dropped, after the city rescinded the plan for the Centner Academy’s extension into a public park. But it revolved around the CRA being in the wrong hands.
Do we really want to do that again?
The CRA board — city commissioners wearing a different “hat” — will vote Thursday, but if you think this is anything but a done deal, you must be new here.
Stay tuned. Ladra will be watching to see whether any of the commissioners — besides maybe Miguel Gabela, who sometimes shows signs of a conscience — even blink at this obvious insider handoff.
Because for everyone else, it’s just another day in the Magic City — where the revolving door between City Hall and the CRA doesn’t just spin, it glides on silk bearings.

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Ladra could have told you this was coming.
Donald Trump has been salivating for years at the idea of hosting the world’s power players at his Doral playground, the golf resort he scooped up in bankruptcy and turned into his Miami-Dade monument to himself. He tried to stick the G7 there back in 2020 until COVID got in the way. He wasn’t about to let another shot slip by.
So now, in 2026, the G20 summit of world economic leaders will land in… wait for it… Doral. Not “Miami,” like Trump kept repeating last week– with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez beaming and falling all over himself to thank him at his side in the Oval Office — but Doral. You know, that suburb best known for traffic or arepas.
Trump said the Trump National Doral was perfect because of the weather and nearby airport and insisted that we, the people of “Miami,” wanted it. Pero claro, who wouldn’t want thousands of cops, Secret Service agents, motorcades, barricades and headaches right in time for Art Basel? Doralites already know what traffic looks like when there’s a junior golf tournament. Multiply that by a hundred, add a few heads of state, and you’ve got December gridlock.
But make no mistake: this is all about Trump finally pulling off what he couldn’t in his first term. He has always wanted his name in the backdrop of world leaders’ photo ops, his Crystal Ballroom on the evening news, his private cabanas whispered about in security briefings. He gets to say he brought the G20 to Miami-Dade — while really bringing it to the only piece of real estate that matters to him.
And Suarez? Ay, the mayor couldn’t thank him enough, practically calling Trump the savior of the hospitality industry. “I know you own many hospitality assets and properties,” Baby X said. Wink, nod.
Read related: Donald Trump’s Gold Visa puts the American Dream up for sale for $5M
Never mind that the city of Miami won’t be hosting squat. It’s Doral that will be on the map, as Doral Mayor Christi Fraga quickly reminded everyone, already polishing the welcome sign.
“Doral is ready to shine. From business to culture, we’ll showcase our city on the world stage,” Fraga posted on the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Residents of Doralzuela, where thousands of Venezuelans have remade their lives after fleeing the dictatorship back home, might not be as enthusiastic. The same president who is now trying to deport more Venezuelans than ever — even those who had legal protections just five minutes ago — wants to showcase their adopted hometown as his shiny global stage. He’ll fill his resort with heads of state while ICE fills planes with families.
Trump swears he and his own family won’t profit from the decision. ¿De verdad? At a resort he owns? Where every suite, cocktail, and catered lunch gets rung up at Trump National Doral? Ladra will believe that when the Venezuelan cartelitos stop laundering money through Doral condos.
So sí, the world is coming to Doral. But don’t let the White House spin fool you. This isn’t about Miami’s “global city” moment.
It’s about Trump finally getting to show off his golf course to the planet — even if he has to snarl traffic, crash Art Basel, and make Miami look like a backdrop for his resort ad in the process.
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Miami commissioners are dusting off the Marine Stadium dream again.
Yes, the same stadium that’s been rotting since 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. The same Brutalist concrete beauty on Biscayne Bay’s Virginia Key, whose neglect preservationists have been crying about for decades and has been listed as a historic since 2018 . The same architectural treasure that the National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed it in the 11 most endangered historic places.
The same project mayors keep calling a “legacy.”
The commission will have a special meeting Friday to decide whether to put a ballot question on the November election asking Miami voters if they’re ready to hand the keys to the shuttered landmark and the Flex Park next door over to a private entity — that will only charge the city $500,000 a year.
City Manager Art Noriega is already polishing the PR.
“We’re finally at a point where we have a plan and a trajectory for the renovation of Miami Marine Stadium, that incredible historic venue, a gem in the city of Miami…. lost to all of us for such a long time,” City Manager Art Noriega says in a hype video he dropped on Instagram last week. “This will reactivate that stadium. This is something we’re all going to be proud of in the next few years.”
If Ladra had a nickel for every time we’ve heard that, she could pay the higher tolls proposed for the Rickenbacker Causeway — which, by the way, might soon look more like U.S. 1 on event days.
Read related: Third DCA says no, again; Miami loses third try to cancel November elections
Noriega was short on details, however. All we know is that after decades of false starts, broken promises and glossy renderings gathering dust, the city issued another public solicitation for a private operator to restore and run the architectural and waterfront landmark. Apparently, they selected Global Spectrum L.P., a venue management company that is rebranding itself as Spectra. It has managed public events in the United States, Canada and the Middle East.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who has made it clear that the Miami Marine Stadium revival is on his last term bucket list, has had extensive business and political dealings with countries and organizations in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Dubai — connections that have drawn scrutiny regarding potential conflicts of interest with his role as mayor and as an attorney for an international law firm.
Suarez has pitched the Marine Stadium revival as a legacy project. But this is the same guy who has spent years jet-setting, crypto-pitching, hobnobbing with celebrities, creating content and running for president. Now, in his final months, he wants voters to hand him the ribbon-cutting for an icon that’s been rotting away for more than three decades during which it has become a magnet for graffiti artists and taggers.

The city’s capital improvements department shored up the structure two years ago and posted a YouTube video about it, saying it was the beginning of the renovation. The repair of corroded grandstand support columns reportedly cost $3 million.
But the renovation stalled, again. Now, Baby X clearly wants to fast track this legacy project.
Ladra could find no trail linking Spectra to Mayor Suarez. Zero. Nada. Which is surprising. He is a senior partner at DaGrosa Capital Partners, which invests in sports, healthcare, and real estate. Keyword: Sports. And he has also received payments from a real estate developer with a Miami project for consulting services. Who knows how many side gigs Suarez has.
Read related: What corruption probe? Mayor Francis Suarez enjoys Egypt wedding, Miami F1
So, let’s not get complacent. Given 305 politics, “nothing to see here” often comes with a wink and a whisper. We’ll keep our ear to the ground. If Spectra starts sponsoring private gala dinners with the mayor, Political Cortadito readers will be the first to know.
According to an article this week in Miami Today, the company is working under the name OVG360, or Oak View Group, which incorporated in Florida on July 22. So it’s brand new. Principals are Alexander and Maria Rojas of Kendall. Alexander Rojas also opened another corporation in April, 3CM Development, with Hector Muruelo, senior project manager at Terra, and a veteran of residential and hotel development.
Spectra has managed the Miami Beach Convention Center for 12 years and Oak View won a new contract with the city in April.
One rendition of what a renovated Miami Marine Stadium might look like.
Their proposal for the marine stadium project is all bells and whistles: better acoustics, expanded seating, an eco-friendly Flex Park, “world-class” everything and fancy new food options. Breakwater Hospitality (The Wharf, Pier 5, JohnMartin’s) and Groot Hospitality (restaurants and nightclubs) is in the mix. They promise to pour $10 million into the facility — half after the opening and the other half five years later. In return, they want a 10-year contract with three possible 10-year renewals, a $500K annual management fee, plus commissions on sales, sponsorships and a cut of the booze and burgers.
In other words: everybody makes money if the place makes money. Which sounds fair until you remember how often these “public-private partnerships” end up being a public expense and a private payday.
Ladra was unable to get details on who actually pays for the restoration, which was last estimated to cost about $62 million. The commission approved $45 million in bonds for the project in 2016, but the ability to access to funds has expired. Earlier this year, city leaders discussed funding the restoration with a new bond, historic preservation tax credits and/or tax revenue from local convention facilities development. The National Historic Trust and the Friends of the Miami Marine Stadium (former state house candidate Daniel “Danny” Diaz-Leyva is a board member) have also been allegedly fundraising for this for years.
The 6,000-seat stadium was designed by the late renown Cuban-born architect Hilario Candela when he was 27 years old. When it was poured in 1963, its 326-foot, fold-plate roof was the longest span of cantilevered concrete on earth. It was used as a backdrop to the 1967 Elvis Presley movie Clambake. There were performances by Jimmy Buffet and others and a political rally for Richard Nixon. It was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2018.
This month, it was used as a backdrop for a GQ cover photo of football player and “America’s sweetheart” Travis Kelce, a copy of which could already set you back $14.99 on eBay.
Read related: City of Miami drops legal fight to change/cancel election, takes it to voters
The marine stadium deal is the second ballot item Miami commissioners will discuss Friday. They are also teeing up a referendum on moving city elections to even-numbered years, after courts slapped down their attempt to give themselves an extra year in office. So, Miamians may be asked to bless both an “election reform” and a management deal for the marine stadium in the same election the city tried to cancel just weeks ago.
Will voters bite? Maybe. After all, the nostalgia for the marine stadium and the glory days of powerboat races, rowing regattas, Easter Sunday services, and boat-in concerts under the stars on Biscayne Bay runs deep. But Ladra can’t help but wonder: Is this really about saving a landmark for the people?
Or is it about delivering a shiny new venue to the same old power players who always seem to score these city contracts while providing a new, positive footnote for the mayor’s Wikipedia page?
The post Miami Marine Stadium’s revival plan could be on city’s November ballot appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Newly elected Miami Commissioner Ralph Rosado has a whole new staff at his District 4 office that are not new to politics. Heck, some of them are not new to Miami.
Rosado’s director of constituent services is Lazaro Quintero, the former director of constituent affairs for Mayor Francis Suarez and the guy who was the go-between for the mayor and developer Rishi Kapoor — who was paying the mayor a $10,000 a month “consulting” fee, an arrangement that is under investigation by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
Quintero was the one who made a call to the zoning department on behalf of Kapoor that paved the way for a zoning waiver and, ultimately, a building permit in late 2022.
Quintero also happens to be the cousin of Gloria Fonts Suarez, the mayor’s wife.
Quintero is clearly Suarez’s man in the D4 office and may be why he in invested $1 million from his political action committee to get Rosado elected. But is he also there to help Rosado achieve the level of success (read: side gigs) that Suarez has reached.
Read related: Francis Suarez, Joe Carollo spend $1.6 million to elect Ralph Rosado in D4
Rosado’s new chief of staff is his old chief of staff from when Rosado was the city manager at North Bay Village. This is a reward for Leo Cosio‘s stalwart campaigning during the election June 3.
“The last month has been a wild ride and I’m grateful for every minute,” he wrote last month on LinkedIn. “From being named a finalist for City Manager of Biscayne Park, to knocking doors for my dear friend and one of the most qualified candidates (now elected official) I’ve ever known, and ultimately deciding to join his team, I am not the same person today that I was just a few weeks ago. This is Leo 4.0!”
Leo 4.0 is paid $159,800 a year. He is the highest paid new D4 staffer. Quintero is next with a salary of $145,631 a year.
Meet the rest of the new staff:

Christian Molina, the deputy chief of staff at $116,400 a year, is also a refugee from North Bay Village, where he was a legislative aid to the manager for 10 months and a chief of staff for the mayor and commission for 11 months. After that, he worked the last eight months as an legislative assistant to Miami-Dade County Public School Board Member Joe Geller.
Jennifer Torna is the commissioners new director of communications. She was the communications manager at the city of North Miami for a year before that and worked at WDNA as a development assistant and membership director for more than five years.
Director of Community Affairs and Special Projects is Alex Duran was the parks and recreation director in the city of Sweetwater for two years and worked as a staff assistant for Marco Rubio for six months when the secretary was a senator. He also served as an executive committeeman for the Miami-Dade Republican Party. He makes $94,500 a year.
Ihosvany Romero, who just got his Bachelor’s degree from Florida International University with a major in political science and government, is the D4 legislative coordinator at $62,300.
Joaquin Bierman gets $59,500 as another legislative coordinator in the D4 office.
Special Projects Coordinator Yovani Pinero was a property management supervisor for three years before he was hired June 10 at a salary of $58,500 a year. He was also on city of Sweetwater’s Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Board.
Milagros Loyal is a known boletera who is now the senior affairs liaison and is paid $55,700 a year. This is likely a reward for her work on the special election, where she collected ballots at the Smathers building. Loyal has worked for the city before — and was fired by Commissioner Miguel Gabela for misusing a city vehicle. But hey, she can get votes.

Notice how there is not one but two legislative coordinators. Does that mean we’re going to see a lot of proposed legislation coming out of Rosado’s office?
Read related: Bromance break-up at Miami City Hall as Joe Carollo and Ralph Rosado split
Rosado, who replaced the late Manolo Reyes, kept five district aides as well as District Director Anna Fernandez and Office Manager Christina Casanova, who las malas lenguas say got a pretty big raise (she makes $87,500 a year now) from Rosado and eyebrows are raised about maybe her having helped the campaign from inside.
Taken together, the District 4 staff is costing the city almost $1.2 million — just in salaries. That does not include benefits and expenses.
Hopefully, it will be worth it to residents.

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Miami Assistant City Manager Larry Spring, the city’s chief financial officer, announced earlier this month that he was resigning from his position, but it’s not like he has to pack up any boxes.
He doesn’t really plan to go anywhere.
The city commission could tell the city manager at Thursday’s meeting to enter into a contract with Spring as a consultant for his “expert services” on an “as needed basis.”
City rules prohibit any Miami employee, or former employee, from entering into a contract or transacting any business with the city or an agency acting on behalf of the city for two years after leaving the job. Spring’s last day is Aug. 22. The contract would become effective that very day at 5 p.m.
The city commission can waive that provision with a four/fifths vote if it is in the best interest of the city, “as in this case,” reads the resolution.
Read related: Miami CFO Larry Spring resigns from city job — for a private sector gig?
We should have seen this coming. City Manager Art Noriega made a haughty “goodbye” speech to Spring at the July 10 meeting, but hinted that maybe he would hang around City Hall in some capacity.
“The city plans on retaining Mr. Spring as an expert consultant for the City Manager’s office in order to contribute his expertise and knowledge, and assist in city budget matters, city financings, and other city projects that require his expertise,” the resolution states, adding that he will continue to work at Achievement Consulting Group, which he is listed as president of in the Florida Division of Corporation records. He’s been with the company, which “specializes in real estate development, government relations, and financial consulting services.”
So, let’s get this straight. He’s going to be — or has been — heading a company that lobbies for real estate deals while moonlighting for the city as a consultant on those very deals?
“Mr. Spring has held several executive management positions in healthcare, commercial banking, municipal government, real estate, and economic development; and… the city will benefit from Mr. Spring’s, expertise in municipal government, real estate, and economic development,” the resolution says.
You know what the resolution doesn’t say? How much Mr. Spring will be paid for his “as needed” consulting services.
Help Ladra stay on top of the Miami City Hall shenanigans. Please consider making a donation to Political Cortadito to keep the independent, grassroots watchdog journalism going. Thank you!
The post Larry Spring could get consulting gig in Miami even before he retires as CFO appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Questions raised about intimidating senior voters
Newly-elected Miami Commissioner Ralph “Pinky” Rosado was elected with a lot of help from his friends, mostly two veteran politicians who poured around $1.6 million into his campaign for a special election last month that drew 5,346 people — or 11% of the District 4 registered voters.
According to the most recent campaign finance reports, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez spent almost $1.1 million from his political action committee, including $900,000 that went directly to Rosado’s PAC, Citizens for Ethics in Government, and another $170,000 that went to the mayor’s political consultant, Jesse Manzano.
Commissioner Joe Carollo spent $547,000 from his PAC, Miami First, just since May, including more than $311,000 in TV ads (and it’s a safe bet to say Carollo made a commission on those), $34,976 in radio spots (which he also makes commission on) and at least $34,131 in mailers.
While the last contribution to Suarez’s PAC was $1 million made by Citadel Founder Ken Griffin in 2023 — which was supposed to go to the mayor’s fat chance presidential bid — much of the money donated to Miami First in the second quarter comes from real estate and development interests in the city, like:

$100,000 from affordable housing developer Mabruk USA
$100,000 from the owners of a vacant lot valued at $6 million at 191 SW 12th Street. The address is associated with a larger development project called 1 Southside Park, which includes residential units, office space, a hotel, and retail.
$50,000 from Mastec, which is owned by Jorge Mas, who is developing Miami Freedom Park.
$50,000 from 5 South River LLC, owned by renowned restaurateur Roman Jones, who wants to create a dining destination along the Miami River and has a vacant lot across from Kiki’s on the River, his Mediterranean restaurant that caters to a jet-setting crowd on the outskirts of downtown Miami.
$25,000 from real estate investor and developer Arnaud Karsenti.
$25,000 from Aabad Melwani, the operator of the Rickenbacker Marina, who was allegedly shaken down for a contract extension by former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, according to a civil lawsuit brought by lobbyist and former State Rep. Manny Prieguez.

In total, Team Rosado outspent Regalado by more than 10-1, flooding the airwaves with attack spots and carpet-bombing the district with mailers that will haunt the abuelitas dreams for weeks.
When you add other moneys contributed to Rosado’s campaign and his PAC — including $100,000 of his own money — Rosado raised more than $2 million to beat Jose Francisco Regalado, the son of the former Miami mayor, current Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Tomás Regalado, and brother to Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado. Rosado got just over 55%, or 2,938 ballots cast in his favor.
That comes out to about $709 per vote.
And for a 532-vote margin!
That’s quite an investment. And certainly not a grassroots campaign. It’s more like artificial turf.
Read related: Ralph Rosado is a fraud, liar, puppet trying to become Miami commissioner
Rosado has kept telling everyone that he will be an independent voice on the commission. But it looks more like he’s a sock puppet with two hands all up in it. In fact, one of his first acts was to abolish the Bayfront Park Management Trust, which Carollo failed to do back in February but Rosado handled it for him last week. Rosado also voted for the change in election year, which effectively cancels the election for mayor and two commission seats, giving Suarez and Carollo an extra year in office. It’s easier for Suarez to raise money for a 2026 campaign for governor as a sitting mayor than a former mayor. And Carollo wants the city to keep paying his legal bills.
But that’s not even the worse part.
In May, Joe Carollo was spotted directing Ralph Rosado recording a TV ad. Rosado lied about it.
Las malas lenguas say that senior residents at the city’s public housing buildings, like Smathers Plaza, were told that their rent assistance, home-delivered meals or other city services would end if they voted for Regalado and not Rosado. They were told that both Suarez and Carollo were supporting Rosado — for different reasons, of course — and would be angry if he didn’t win.
Now Ladra’s going to say what candidates and their attorneys usually love to say: “These are baseless allegations.” But they could be legit. And they should be investigated, though Ladra could not independently confirm that it would be. And we know that Carollo, who represents District 3, had a Mother’s Day event at Smathers — which is in District 4. Sure, he says he might run for mayor. But he didn’t have events in other districts. Just where the special election was going to be within a month.
Read related: Is Miami’s Joe Carollo using District 3 public money to campaign in District 4?
To coin a phrase of the moment, this is what democracy looks like — in Miami, anyway: low turnout, no debates, lies, attack content written by political operatives and questions about intimidation of elderly voters. Just another campaign in the Magic City. That’s how we sendup with a commissioner elected by 2,938 people out of nearly 47,000.
That’s not a mandate. That’s a marketing scam. And this wasn’t an election. It was the sale and purchase of a commission seat.
So now, District 4 has a commissioner who says he’s working for the people — while being ushered into office by the same two guys who want to control every inch of power left in Miami government before their scandals catch up to them.
The only thing worse than the low turnout in Miami is the low bar.
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