It isn’t enough for former Congressman Carlos Curbelo to be an NBC News political analyst and contributor. Now he wants to make it easier for us to smoke weed.
Curbelo is now the new strategic adviser to the Cannabis Trade Federation, a group comprised of cannabis business interests who have come together to advocate for looser pot laws. He will be raising funds, communicating the organization’s messages and helping with strategic planning (read: lobbying).
It his second job since he narrowly lost his re-election to Congresswoman Debbie Murcarsel-Powell in November, but he — or, rather, “his wife” — still owns Capitol Gains, a lobbying firm with a P.O. Box on Sunset Drive.
“During my time in Congress, I worked closely with the Cannabis Trade Federation,” Curbelo said in a statement issued by the group. “Today, I am joining CTF’s team because I know that they are the most effective cannabis industry lobby and that they have the resources, talent, and professional acumen needed to pass game-changing reform at the federal level.
Read related: Doctors and nurses say vote yes on medical marijuana
“In my home state of Florida, 71 percent voted in favor of legalizing medical cannabis, and voters in 33 states and D.C. have also decided to legalize cannabis in some capacity. This is a states’ rights issue. That’s why I was an original co-sponsor of the STATES Act and why I continue to support the goals of this legislation today,” Curbelo said, referring to legislation that would end the federal enforcement of marijuana regulations.
He also backed last year’s Medical Cannabis Research Act that would allow medical groups and universities to bypass marijuana laws to do research on its effects, and a data collection law. He will likely support both efforts through the organization’s lobbying.
“While CTF’s team has already established itself as the go-to cannabis industry organization in D.C., it is only half a year old,” Curbelo said. “I look forward to working with the other members of our talented Executive Team to ensure that the will of the people is heard and to help this organization continue to grow into the powerful association the cannabis industry needs.”
Read related: Poll indicates support is high for Florida medical marijuana
The Federation’s CEO, Neal Levine, obviously noticed Curbelo’s stance in Congress.
“As a member of our Executive Team, he will continue to be the voice of states’ cannabis rights and will be an essential part of our organization’s strategic growth,” Levine said in a statement. “It is an honor to have someone with Carlos’s impressive background and skill set on board.”
Curbelo becomes the second local Republican lawmaker to join the grass movement after leaving office. In 2014, former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla was named vice chairman of Florida For Care, a blue ribbon commission of doctors, patient advocates, law enforcement officers, educators and policy makers tasked with writing the legislative rules and regulations under which legalized medical marijuana would operate in the Sunshine State in the case that Amendment 2 passed.
Maybe running for office so much has gotten in the Dean’s way.

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Records indicate that Coral Gables commission candidate and attorney Jorge L. Fors has committed Homestead exemption fraud for several years.
Fors owns a condo in Little Havana, unit 205 at 1039 SW 5th Street, where he has paid taxes, claiming a Homestead exemption since at least 2010, the furthest that the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s office posts records online. That includes 2013, 2015 and 2017, three years in which Fors voted in the Coral Gables elections, according to records from the Miami-Dade Elections Department. He also voted with his Coral Gables address for every primary and general election since 2012.
How could he live in both places at once? He can’t. He didn’t, he admits.
“I lived there a few times,” Fors said about the 2/2 condo he bought in 2007 for $114,000. “It’s a property I originally bought with the idea of making an investment. I lived there right before law school and right after law school.”
He hasn’t lived there since at least 2011 — and he never registered to vote there — but Fors kept the exemption, which gave him a $25,000 break on property taxes every year. Even though, he admitted, he rented it out a few times.
“I was going to move back in,” Fors said. “That area has gotten nice lately, but it was a bad neighborhood when I bought it. I intended to live there. You are allowed to have a Homestead if you intend to reside at that place.”
Um, no, says Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia.
“That’s illegal,” Garcia told Political Cortadito.
“He has to live in that property. If he moves to another place, he cannot keep the Homestead exemption there. I don’t care if he moved to his father’s house, he is not supposed to have a Homestead exemption,” Garcia said, adding that it doesn’t matter whether the apartment sits empty or is rented out.
“If he doesn’t live there, he doesn’t deserve a Homestead and he is committing Homestead fraud,” Garcia said, adding that his office would investigate, looking at the voting records himself.
“I always vote where I live,” Fors told Ladra.
Which means he either knew he was getting away with fraud or he is an attorney and former president of the Coral Gables Bar Association who doesn’t know the law.
Fors’ voter registration history with the Miami-Dade Elections Department shows he first registered to vote in 2003 at the age of 20 at his parents house on Country Club Prado. In 2005, he registered in another county. That’s probably because he was at the University of Florida in Gainesville getting his Bachelor’s degree in political science.
When he returned in 2008, he registered at Country Club Prado again, until last April, when he registered at his new home on Segovia Street.
Read related: Coral Gables candidate’s campaign yard sign, uninvited trespasser or mistake?
Records also show Fors — who faces former Commissioner Ralph Cabrera and onetime Interim City Manager Carmen Olazabal in the April election for the seat vacated by Commissioner Frank Quesada — bought his home on Segovia Avenue in mid March of 2018, which would be just a couple of weeks over the required year of residency needed in Coral Gables to run.
He also lived for a little more than a year in an apartment at 322 Madeira Ave., right after he was married. Neighbors told Ladra the couple often fought. The unit is owned by his parents and Fors’ mother sits on the homeowner board, the neighbors said, adding that the building was in “shambles.”
Fors was never registered to vote there either.
And his mother apparently knows better than to claim a Homestead exemption on the unit.
 
 

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From the Where Are They Now? file: Former Miami-Dade Commissioner and onetime mayor of Homestead Lynda Bell is running for state office — in North Florida.
Bell, who is town manager of Sneads (pop. 1,796), filed earlier this month to run in the special election for House District 7, vacated by State Rep. Halsey Beshears after he was tapped by Gov. Ron DeSantis to lead the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
She faces three other Republican candidates — Virginia Fuller, Jason Shoaf and Mike Watkins — and then faces one Democrat, but it’s deep red country so whoever wins the primary is likely a shoe-in.
The special election primary is April 9 and the special general election for the seat is on June 18.
Read related: Levine-Cava gets to work while Lynda Bell finishes term
Bell, who lost her seat to Commissioner Daniella Levine-Cava in 2014, ran for House District 118 in 2016 but came in third behind Anthony Rodriguez (No.2) and David Rivera, who lost to Robert Asencio, who, in a turn of events, lost last November to Anthony Rodriguez. In August of 2018, she took the $16,500-a-year job in the Jackson County town. She lives in Tallahassee, which is within the district’s boundaries.
Somewhere in between, she stayed politically relevant, getting an appointment from former Gov. Rick Scott to the Florida Communities Trust that governs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection — she is still listed on the board, according to the agency website — and becoming the president of the non-profit Florida Right to Life.
Read related: Mark Bell’s Homestead loss ripples over to wife Lynda Bell
Lynda Bell and her husband Mark Bell — who also lost a 2013 bid for mayor — sold their historic Redland Hotel in January 2016 for $950,000. Nifty little profit because records indicate they bought the property for $250,000 in 2012. The next year, the county commissioner secured a $25,000 community redevelopment grant for “her husband’s hotel” for facade improvements.
The Bells must have invested that money into other properties, because they own six rental properties, according to her financial disclosure: Five in Tallahassee and one duplex in Homestead.
Does that mean that they could come back?

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Our local state legislators have been going to several reunions in different districts and neighborhoods, bringing Tallahassee to us and talking with voters about the upcoming 2019 Florida Legislative Session, which starts March 5.
State Reps. Javier Fernandez (114) and Dotie Joseph (108) were at the “legislative briefing and brunch” put on by the League of  Women Voters of Miami Dade Saturday. Fernandez told people that priorities for the session”are not very different from the priorities on the campaign.”
Education funding and putting public schools on an equal playing field with charter or opportunity schools are among his priorities (more on that later). Other big issues include health care, workforce housing, climate change and the environment, now that Gov. Ron DeSantis has “indicated an interested in investing a lot of resources in environmental issues, especially water quality.”
Fernandez (right) said he and Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez will file a bill to ensure that sea level rise is studied and taken into account before any state money is spent on structural improvements within the coastal protection zone.
But hear about it for yourselves. Both will be at another pre-session town hall that starts at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Monday, at Miami Dade College’s Intercontinental Campus in Little Havana, 627 SW 27th Ave., in room 3103. State Reps. Nick Duran (112) and Michael Grieco (113), who also represent the area, will join them.
Sen. Jason Pizzo will join  Grieco will talk to Miami Beach voters Tuesday at the Miami Beach Woman’s Club, 2401 Pine Tree Drive, beginning at 6 p.m. Miami Beach United, which hosts the forum, said it was an #ama — “ask me anything” — event, but sent out an email blast with suggested questions that may come up:

How residents can get involved with their local/county/state government?
How to reach across the divide to get things done?
What exactly do they do up there in Tallahassee, anyway?
What got them motivated to move from concerned resident to activist to politician?
What is their favorite snack food and why?
What are some key priorities for each legislator and why?

In the Northwest end of the county Tuesday, Sen. Manny Diaz, Jr. will speak to a group of Miami Young Republicans about his legislative agenda. This starts at 6:30 p.m. at NQC Craft Beer and Grub, 6189 Miami Lakes Drive. People should go and ask if he plans to do anything about the blasting at the quarries that is damaging homes in Miami Lakes and Palm Springs North.
On Thursday, the Miami-Dade Democrats are throwing the electeds a “legislative send off” happy hour at Gramp’s, 176 NE 24th St. But certainly there will be talk about bills and bipartisan support.
“Join us for an evening with our local state legislators as we wish them the best before heading off to Tallahassee,” says the Facebook invite, which adds that Rodriguez and Sen. Annette Taddeo are confirmed, as well as House Minority Leader Kionne McGhee.
The admission is $20 and tickets can be purchased here.
Then there are the grassroots meetings that electeds are not attending, where the discussion about the agenda might be more, um, honest.
The first one of these is Monday when local experts on immigration, gun control and the environment will talk about upcoming legislation and the debates that will precede them. Tomas Kennedy of Florida Immigration Coalition, Gaby Padron Lowenstein of Moms Demand Action and Dustin Thaler of the Miami-Dade Democratic Environmental Caucus will also answer questions from the audience.
The Miami Workers Center, NLIRH FL Latina Advocacy Network – FL LAN, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Catalyst Miami, Florida Voices for Health Coalition, The New Florida Majority, Planned Parenthood and several other community organizations will get together for a community legislative briefing at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at CIC Miami, 1951 NW 7th Ave, #600. They will go over the post-elections landscape, issues that impact South Florida, legislative priorities, and “mobilization opportunities” to visit Tallahassee.
Kennedy, the immigration activist, will be at both meetings to talk about bills the groups are supporting — like a heat stress bill providing relief to farmworkers — and bills they are opposing, like the anti-sanctuary bill being pushed by Sen. Joe Gruters, who is also the chair of the Republican Party of Florida (more on that later).
Again, the legislative session starts March 5 and lasts 60 days, ending May 3.

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Juan Zapata is still the only official candidate for Miami-Dade mayor in 2020 — and he is making the most of holding all the dance cards: His campaign got a big head start last week with an interview on Univision’s local Channel 23.
The former commissioner was interviewed by Erika Carrillo, the same reporter who was new to Univision when she scooped everyone on the story someone at the county fed her about Zapata — who was the mayor’s biggest critic and budget ball buster — taking Harvard classes paid by taxpayers.
Of course, it wasn’t that cut and dry. Zapata took the same course some other commissioners, including Jean Monestime, had taken. When he extended the course, the county was automatically charged. He always intended to pay for it himself, however, and reimbursed the county immediately.
Read related: Juan Zapata is first to throw hat into 2020 mayoral free-for-all
But the damage was done to one of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s biggest critics and main challenger on the dais. And Zapata ended up dropping out of his 2015 re-election campaign, disgusted with it all and frustrated with his attempts to reform our county government.
“That frustration still lives in me and that is why I have a desire to change it,” Zapata told Carillo. “I saw the monster from inside. And I saw people who governed caring only about themselves, about their own interests.”
He may find himself fighting some of those same “people” again, as the growing list of possible mayoral wannabes include three of his former colleagues: Commissioners Esteban Bovo, Daniella Levine-Cava — which the station mistakenly identified as Cuban-American — and Xavier Suarez. Rounding out the list of names that have been floated are former Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, former Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and former Congressman Carlos Curbelo.
Read related: 2020 contender Xavier Suarez has dream slate for commission
And we’re almost two years out. No wonder Zapata is campaigning already.
He told Carrillo that he would be able to raise the money he needs to wage a positive campaign that is “looking to the future.” But, judging from the almost 3-minute interview, he is going to bring up the mistakes of the past.
Zapata always voted against the half cent tax deviation and said that his mission as mayor would be to reform county government, particularly the transit department.
“To me, it always seemed a lack of respect to ask the taxpayers for the money, collect the money and use it for another purpose, not the one you collect it for,” Zapata said. “That has to stop.”
Read related: Juan Zapata to mayor: ‘Where’s the money?’ and ‘Cut taxes’
But, while he always criticized the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, he is against the Bryan Avila bill moving in the House to eliminate the agency. “To give those funds to Tallahassee would be an error. In Tallahassee, every chance they get to take our money and spend it elsewhere, they will take it.”
And he promised not to give his favorite lobbyists and campaign people juicy jobs and contracts.
“Nobody will be given favoritism,” Zapata said. “The government will have one job, to produce results for the citizens of this county.”
About the Harvard episode, which will likely come up in the campaign because that’s all opponents will have on Zap, the former commissioner is obviously owning the misstep and that’s refreshing in politics.
“I learned from that experience,” Zapata said, adding that the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission found nothing wrong and that, before he left the commission, he passed an ordinance clarifying the limits of those funds.
“I think the citizens know that I had every intention [to pay],” he said.
Watch the entire interview here.

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With the qualifying deadline upon us and the Coral Gables Election only 46 days away, candidates continue to raise funds for their campaigns — and spend it, at an alarming rate in some cases.
Sometimes what’s more important isn’t how much a candidate has raised but how quickly it gets spent and how much is left in hand at the most crucial times, like when absentee ballots drop.
Of course, there are still about five weeks to shake those trees, but here is the tally so far, according to the latest reports filed for the first two weeks in February.
Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli got another $8,200 in those 14 days for a total of $89,000. But Valdes-Fauli has spent $51,685, including $7,014 in those two weeks, leaving him with less than $38,000 now that he’s really got a fight on his hands.
Former Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick is filing Friday morning and hasn’t raised any campaign funds yet. But she’s good at raising money. Not only did raise more than $250,000 in 2017, when she lost her first round against Valdes-Fauli by a scant 187 votes, but she’s raised money for other candidates in state and national races.
Read related: Rematch! Jeannett Slesnick will jump into mayor’s race
Commissioner Mike Mena, who is unchallenged with less than 12 hours ’til qualifying deadline, has raised $112,850 and spent only $17,990. But if he doesn’t get an opponent, he’ll have to return most of that money — after running a few “thank you” ads and mailers, of course.
In the crowded race for the open seat, left by a retiring Commissioner Frank Quesada, the handpicked successor Jorge L. Fors, Jr. has been burning through his money, too, with a whopping $33,263 out just in the 14-day reporting period: including $9,950 for mailers, $7,500 for a phone bank, $3,825 in advertising, $1,200 for absentee ballot generating handouts, $6,000 on social media and more than $4,000 on canvassing.
Fors has spent a total of $56,864. He raised $2,575 more in the last two weeks reported for a total of $84,350, leaving him with less than $28K in hand.
Former City Commissioner Ralph Cabrera, meanwhile, raised almost twice as much in the same time, with $5,650 making for a $37,270 total. He has proven to be much more fiscally conservative, spending only $7,280 so far. So Cabrera still has $30K in hand, more than Fors, who has raised more than twice as much. Hmmm.
Onetime Interim City Manager for five minutes Carmen Olazabal hasn’t even raised that much in total. Despite getting help from former Mayor Jim Cason and his wife Carmen, Olazabal has raised a total of $27,671. including $4,800 raised just in the first two weeks this month. She spent almost as much, however, with $4,116 out for a total of $15,620. That means she has just over $12,000 left in hand.
Read related: Coral Gables activist blasts email against candidate Carmen Olazabal
And jumping into that race from the mayoral contest after former Slesnick jumped in, Uber driver and downtown property owner Jackson “Rip” Holmes is paying expenses as they come out of pocket without a single contribution from anyone, loaning himself a total of $1,280, most of it paid to consultant Pedro Diaz.
Taken all together, there’s about $350,000 invested in this election so far. With more than six weeks to go, that’s likely to surpass the half million mark.
The next campaign finance reports, through the end of the month, are due the first week in March.

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