The Miami Beach leg could still be the “backdoor” to a larger, more lucrative county contract

Mayor Philip Levine seems to have backpedalled some on his Loopy Loop.

Earlier this year, Levine defended his beloved train to nowhere, a stand-alone , two-mile, $245-million streetcar that would loop from 5th Street to the convention center and eventually — maybe someday — connect to BayLink or whatever connector was finally moved on by Miami-Dade County. He was hell bent on moving independently of the county and city of Miami with an accelerated bidding process that favored the most expensive firm. He led the commission in a vote to accept the “unsolicited proposal” last December. The move was criticized by many — including Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado — because it could result in the loss of state and federal funds.

Last week, however, after growing public discontent, Levine sent an email blast saying that any Beach train would only be part of a county-connecting project — one of the six corridors approved in the SMART plan is the Beach connector — and said he would hold off on final negotiations.

Read related story: Forum on controversial Beach ‘train to nowhere’

“We will not sign any agreement that commits financial resources to the plan until we have full commitments from Miami-Dade County that they are willing partners in this endeavor and that they are fully committed to a real connection,” he wrote. “This is instrumental, as our taxpayers alone should not bear the full responsibility of building a rail corridor that connects Miami Beach to the City of Miami. But, we know that for it to be a successful system, connectivity throughout Miami Beach and key points in Miami are essential.

“We cannot allow ‘grandstanding’ for political ‘points’ to slow down the progress that we’ve made. This is why my commitment to you remains unchanged. I will ensure that a transparent process through open dialogue continues and that ZERO tax dollars are committed until we have the full support from our local, state and federal partners and then and ONLY then will this vision be brought back to the commission for their consideration.”

Instead of a vote on any agreement, Levine is now presenting a resolution to the commission Wednesday that puts the brakes on the Loopy Loop and also calls for a voter referendum to approve any final contract. 

But this about face doesn’t come out of the blue. Levine can read poll results.

Some voters in Miami Beach received a phone call for a poll earlier this month. They were asked between 10 and 15 questions about the train before they were asked the favorability of several Beach politcos (more on that later). It was an obvious push poll, two residents said, with each question placing the train “in the best possible light.” But we know it didn’t work. Because the result is that Levine is now backing off.

But not really.

The resolution Levine is putting before the commission on Wednesday will only put negotiations on hold. It doesn’t scrap the project to start the process again. It doesn’t throw the train out altogether. It simply “parks” the negotiations until the county moves forward with its part of the formula — or until after the elections next year, whichever comes first.

Because Levine doesn’t want the train to be a campaign issue. If what we’ve seen at public meetings is true, Ladra imagines it polled very badly. Candidates attached to the train — such as Levine or Commissioner Ricky Arriola, who is widely believed would stand in for the mayor should Levine seek higher office — could be more easily challenged with that albatross around their necks. Especially by someone like Comissioner Michael Grieco, pictured left, who is widely rumored to be eyeing the mayor’s seat (more on that later) and whose profile has been growing as he distances himself from his onetime ally. Grieco blasted the mayor for inviting the Cuban government to open a consular office in Miami Beach. And last week, Grieco blasted the train to nowhere in an op-ed piece in The Miami Herald. In fact, he’s not even sure that a train is needed at all, even as part of a BayLink.

So, Levine slowing down on the train track is not him coming to his senses, folks. It’s strategic. And the mayor has every intention of bringing the wireless light rail streetcar back.

He owes it to Alex Heckler, pictured right, a lobbyist who has raised money for him and who represents the Greater Miami Tramlink Partners led by Alstom, the troubled vendor chosen after a trip to France. Heckler also raised money for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez with Levine in the last election cycle. Why is Gimenez important in this story? For the same reason the streetcar is coming back: Because this Miami Beach deal is a back door to the county part of this project, which will cost millions more. If the Beach branch of the BayLink connector is already in the works when the county awards its own contract, points can be awarded to the contractor who has “shovels in the ground” and/or the county can piggy back on the existing contract, advocating for the same system to be used throughout because this vendor — who might otherwise be the least qualified and most expensive — has a unique criteria that the others don’t: They are already here.

Read related story: Uber as public transit is a bad, temporary bandaid

Plus, guess what? The Alstom systems are not interoperable with others. They have some kind of proprietary secret GPS mechanism that they don’t share with other operators either. So, doesn’t that mean that if they get the Beach contract, they would have to get the county contract if we want them to work together? Sure sounds like it.

In fact, there are all kinds of red flags on the selection or recommendation of Tramlink/Alstom that perhaps should be investigated. In a bid protest letter sent to City Manager Jimmy Morales in July, Mark Stempler, an attorney representing a competing proposal from Connect Miami Beach, says that the Tramlink Partners plan should not have been given top ranking because it deviates from the Beach’s own procurement requirements in several ways: 

• It fails to satisfy a “critical requirement that the proposed “Vehicle/Systems Technology” will be interoperable with the Direct Connect Project (read: no guarantee it can connect to the mainland branch).
• It fails to demonstrate that it could even deliver, based on the fact that the proposed streetcars and ground power supply systems that Alstom has used in Europe have NOT been certified to operate in the U.S.
• It fails to meet the city’s stated standards for “character, integrity, reputation or judgment,” based on the City’s finding of “prior admissions of misconduct” by one of the GMTP team members stemming from bribery and corruption charges, including the payment of a then-record $772 million dollar fine to the U.S. Government.

The gist is that these irregularities in applying the same standards to all gave Tramlink Partners and Alstom a greater advantage. Especially with the character flaw one. Because unproven corruption allegations were noted in the case of partners with Connect Miami Beach — but the proven charges against Alstom seemed to be okay. 

In fact, the city may be wiser to go with Connect Miami Beach, the second ranked firm. Particularly after they pointed out last week, in a Dec. 7 letter to Morales, that the $245-million pricetag is much higher than the price on its comparable projects — at $107 million per mile rather than the $45-$55 million per mile quoted for projects in Cincinnatti, Kansas and Milwaukee.

That’s twice as expensive. Is it because of Mr. Heckler’s fee? Or are there other people getting paid off along the route?

In one of his last ditch efforts to keep his seat, Doral Mayor Luigi Boria — forced into a runoff Tuesday — posted a new Facebook video last week in which he compares himself to President-elect Donald Trump.

“Both have achieved the dream of using their experience as successful businessmen to serve the community and this great nation,”Spanish captions read as inspirational music soars and photos of Boria and Trump at Trump’s Doral Golf Resort and Spa and the Miss Universe contest. Even one with the mayor giving Trump the key to the city in 2014.

Someone’s got delusions of grandeur.

“The people saw the progress and honesty in his eyes. Today, together, they will make a difference. His friendship is beneficial for the well being of Doral.”

Read related story: Nasty Doral mayoral race tops $1 mil approaching runoff

The video also has an excerpt from a Trump rally here in which our future POTUS says he stands with the people of Cuba and Venezuela. We suppose that he believes he’s going to take votes away from former founding Mayor J.C. Bermudez, who trounced him in the first round wth 46% to 33%.

But who told Boria that this was a good idea? Guess he doesn’t know that Trump lost in Doral. Lost big league. It was yuuuge for Hillary.

According to figures from the Miami-Dade Elections Department, and compiled by political consultant and fellow campaign junkie Giancarlo Sopo, Trump lost every single precinct in Doral except one. And that precinct 373 is kinda sketchy, as my teenager would say. It’s a commercial area and nobody is supposed to live there. I suspect those two votes are invalid. So Trump lost every precinct in Doral.

Citywide, Clinton trounced with 68% of the vote to his 28%. That’s not even close.

Hopefully, voters will give Boria something else to compare with Trump on Tuesday — a wide margin of rejection.

Disclaimer: This post was not paid by any political candidate or campaign but was, instead, a pure labor of love.

It’s becoming a broken record: Politicians lie or cheat or steal or hide something or otherwise fail us and when Ladra exposes it — or simply points out something curious that they don’t want anyone to notice — they shout “witch” to redirect the attention from themselves.

This has happened to Ladra over and over again since I started Political Cortadito in 2010. First it was former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina in the 2011 recall mayoral race claiming that Carlos Gimenez was paying me. Then it was his successor, Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, claiming that former Mayor Raul Martinez had paid me off in his comeback attempt. Then it was Carlos Gimenez, in a strange twist, whose family told people that the PBA was paying me to write critical posts about Not So Golden Boy. Then it was then congressional candidate Carlos Curbelo, telling reporters that the only reason I wrote about him putting his company in his wife’s name to intentionally hide his client list from the public — a story that broke on Political Cortadito — was because he didn’t advertise here. After that, it was Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine who called me a “paid political assasin.”

There have been a few, less memorable others. The latest clown to make these spurious accusations is Doral Mayor Luigi Boria.

First, in a video he emailed to supporters on Saturday, where he called me Ileana del Valle — getting my name wrong three times — and said that he had “received information” that I was a paid operative on the campaign. Then, again, in a hastily called press conference at his personal office Monday morning, he said “numerous sources” had told him that former Mayor J.C. Bermudez and former Counciwoman Sandra Ruiz — who came in third place in the first round and has since endorsed Bermudez — paid me to write a post that exposes the link his family has to an election fraud investigation. He announced that he had filed a complaint against me with the Florida Division of Elections and the State Attorney’s Office. He provided the news media at the press conference with copies of the complaint with the Elections Commission and the request for an investigation with the SAO. 

Read related story: Nasty Doral race tops $1 mil approaching runoff

First off, there would have to be a crime for the SAO to investigate. I called a source to ask if they had received the request. He laughed. “I don’t like the price of eggs but we can’t open an investigation into it. We deal with crimes here.” He assured me that even if I had been paid by the Bermudez campaign, it would not be a crime. As far as the Elections Commission is concerned, the complaint is against Bermudez. The claim is that he did not report my alleged fee in his campaign report.

But, dear readers, it is not in the report because no payment was made. Boria admitted to the press at his little dog and pony show that he has no evidence (because there is none). You know when I am paid by somebody. Because I tell you. Because it is only unethical if I don’t tell you. And I tell you at some risk and expense. Because you complain. Loudly. You don’t like it. And I don’t blame you. I don’t like it either. I’ve only done it a few times, and only because I felt that my contributions would truly help the right candidate or, at the very least, help get rid of the wrong candidate. It’s always been with the best intentions.

But in those few cases, anyone whose campaign I contribute to knows very well that the blog is off limits to them. There is a firewall — like the one that exists between advertising and editorial at The Miami Herald and at WPLG Local 10 — and Political Cortadito will never be used to smear someone’s opponent with lies or exaggerations or the wrong context or to bring up old and irrelevant arrest records on people who help or support their opponent. Have the suggestions (read: requests) been made? Perhaps. And I’ve loudly refused and made it known that under no circumstances would the blog be used as a campaign tool. It may not have always gone over well. Oh, well.

And the few times I have written about races in which I have been involved (during the Raquel Regalado and Ralph Cabrera campaigns) it has only been because the mainstream media has missed important stories, angles, details or connections — or the inside baseball shenanigans that are the very reason Political Cortadito exists. Trust me, when I am wearing my media consultant’s hat, I would much rather get the Miami Herald or Michael Putney or Erika Carrillo to cover some issue or conflict of interest for my candidate. But when they miss, and they sometimes do because everybody is cutting back on local coverage, it’s Ladra’s fair bone to pick.

Why should my carefully chosen candidates be deprived of something others get for free?

There’s more. Please press this “continue reading” button to “turn the page.”

Week two of our new feature, The Cortadito Calendar: A weekly calendar of political powwows, government meetings and events with electeds.

Stay informed. Get engaged.

If you know any political happening that should be included in the Cortadito Calendar, please email the information to edevalle@gmail.com. And thank you.

TUESDAY — Dec. 13

2 p.m. — The Unincorporated Municipal Services Area Committee meets. This board oversees the municipal services provided to residents who live in the unincorporated areas of Miami-Dade — addressing areas of slum and blight, policies governing incorporation and annexation procedures, zoning issues, code enforcement issues, areas of slum and blight, the Urban Development Boundary and the public library system, among other things.

WEDNESDAY — Dec. 14

9 a.m. — Miami Beach Commission meets. Look for Mayor Philip Levine to formally backpedal from his very unpopular train to nowhere proposal with a resolution urging the county to step it up on their end (more on that later). The agenda is packed with all kinds of important items — historic preservation, economic development, lease renewals. There will also be a discussion about the creation of a dedicated fund for homeless services and for affordable/workforce housing to come from short term rental violation fines. Is that a slush fund we didn’t know about? In another item: Commissioner Kristen Rosen-Gonzalez will present former Sen. Gwen Margolis with a proclamation honoring her lifetime of public service.

5:30 p.m. — After months of hard work — and I am talking about having to explain themselves to everyone they know — the Trump campaign volunteers will be treated to a Christmas party at Las Vegas Restaurant on Coral Way, 11995 SW 26th St. Have some nog for Ladra.    And a proclamation of achievement will be given to Sen. Gwen Margolis for a lifetime of service.

THURSDAY — Dec. 15

9:30 a.m. — Miami-Dade Commissioners meet to discuss the Comprehensive Development Master Plan (CDMP). This document expresses Miami-Dade County’s general objectives and policies addressing where and how it intends development or conservation of land and natural resources will occur during the next 10-20 years, as well as the delivery of county services to accomplish the CDMP’s objectives. This CDMP establishes the broad parameters for government to do detailed land use planning and zoning activities, functional planning and programming of infrastructure and services.

6 p.m. — Want an update on the SMART plan to improve transit? The Citizens Independent Transportation Trust will get one from Miami-Dade MPO Executive Director Aileen Bouclé at its next meeting Thursday. Also on the agenda: A resolution urging the county to issue $200 million in transit surtax bonds.

FRIDAY — Dec. 16

9 a.m. — The City of Miami’s Bayfront Park Trust Management will meet to finalize preparations for their New Year’s Eve event. The meeting is open to the public in the conference room at the Bayfront Park Trust building, 301 N. Biscayne Blvd.

The mayoral race in Doral between incumbent Mayor Luigi Boria and former founding Mayor J.C. Bermudez has only gotten more heated now in the weeks and days before the runoff Dec. 13.

And Boria — whose 33 percent Nov. 8 was dwarfed Bermudez’s 46 percent vote — has been the one on full attack in what seem like a desperate attempt to keep his seat.

Boria, who bought his last election, loaned himself $260,000 for the campaign within the last two months — $35,000 on Nov. 2 and then $200,000 on Nov. 15 and $25,000 on Dec. 5 (that’s after Bermudez beat him up with a 13-point lead in the first round). It makes up almost  half of his campaign account total of $530,000. He had earlier given $20,000 to his political action committee, Doral United, which has raised and spent about $230,000.

Yes, by Tuesday night, Ladra fully expects Boria to have spent at least $1 million – on paper. Who knows how much money is being spent under the table? But, hey, it is expensive to attack your opponent.

There have been video ads about “shady deals” and mailers calling Bermudez corrupt, phone calls promoting ethnic division, fake social media profiles and fake news sites with stories about yard signs getting stolen.

A 30-second video spot with a movie trailer-like voiceover says “This November, a storm named JC Bermudez threatens Doral. Bermudez wants to take Doral back to the past of shady deals, where his friends would benefit from our taxpayer dollars… shady deals for his shady developer friends.”

The whole tack is pretty laughable — if Doral’s future wasn’t in the balance. It’s also pure projection. Guess Boria is hoping people forgot about the zoning changes requested for high density residential for his children and their business partner right after he was elected the first time — a shady deal Ladra believes is still being investigated. Maybe he is mentally blocking all the memories about Joe Carollo and the many allegations that he was in bed with the Venezuelan government.

But there’s more.

Stealing the script from the national campaigns, Boria — or, more likely, his political guru, Absentee Ballot Queen Sasha Tirador — has also fashioned a fake news website called Real Doral News, complete with a tagline that reads “Real Doral News is a web Newspaper specialize in Braking News About City of Doral Fl.” I kid you not. It really does say “specialize” in “braking” news. Maybe Boria, whose English is obviously limited, did write it himself.

A recent post on the website claims that someone with the Bermudez campaign stole a Boria yard sign. The post comes complete with multiple time lapse photos of a blond woman taking a Boria sign into a gray van. But there’s no way to know that Boria (or Sasha) didn’t make that happen, too. There is no way to know that blond woman isn’t with Boria’s campaign. It’s easy to tell someone to steal your own sign so you can capture it with blurry phone pics.

Most recently, Bermudez accused Boria of creating fake social media accounts with the former mayor’s name. “And posting lies about me,”  Bermudez told supporters in an email blast last week.

“These dirty tactics do not reflect the values on which we founded our city. We ask Mr. Boria’s campaign to please respect our community and not offend the intelligence of our residents,” Bermudez wrote, urging residents to “focus on the issues that are really important to our community.”

And that can be summed up in three things: Development, traffic caused by development and government accountability and transparency.

While he has blasted Boria on these issues in a couple of email blasts, Bermudez has basically centered his campaign around putting Doral “back on track.” It is basically a referendum on the incumbent — without naming him. Bermudez characterizes it as a rescue.

In his video commercial, he tells us himself that he decided to run after many people told him “things are not like it used to be.”

“People asked me to run,” Bermudez told Ladra recently. “They don’t like what they are seeing, the direction that the city is going in. It is not what we thought of when we incorporated Doral.”

As expected with a message like that, Bermudez has gotten the support of Doral’s founding father, Morgan Levy and founding former Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz — who came in third on Nov. 8. Their message is that Bermudez can better represent the ideals and quiet, residential community goals on which Doral was founded.

Less expected is the endorsement from several leaders in the Venezuelan community, like Jose Colina and the members of VEPPEX,  Venezolanos Perseguidos Politicos en el Exilio.

Bermudez says getting Doral “back on track” means going back to the city’s master plan and advocating for smart and planned develoment. He claims that Boria has granted 29 zoning variations during his years in office. Boria’s campaign, on the other hand, claims that Bermudez approved 89% of the projects that came before him. But wouldn’t that make sense in Doral’s infancy? And what’s important is the upzoning changes, no?

Bermudez is also concerned about what he says is an effort by Boria to silence dissent by putting limits on public speaking and having emergency meetings during the day. There’s also the high turnover and the multiple stains on the young city’s image during Boria’s tenure. The firing of city attorneys and multiple city managers.

Boria, who is Venezuelan, has been telling people that getting Doral “back on track” means getting rid of the Venezuelans and putting it back into the hands of Cubans. Boy, did that backfire.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez, wishy washy as ever, was a day late and a dollar short Thursday when he put out a statement supporting the deferred action on immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

“This morning, I was briefed on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). I fully support the extension of DACA until Congress can approve and our next President can sign comprehensive immigration reform which addresses the status of our Dreamers and the millions who lack legal status throughout the country,” reads the mayor’s statement, more likely written by his spokesman, Michael Hernandez.

“Miami-Dade County is home to thousands of young people who through no fault of their own were brought to the United States by their parents and are currently undocumented. They deserve an opportunity to achieve the American Dream. I encourage the next Congress to prioritize common sense immigration reform.”

But Gimenez apparently passed on signing a letter from 19 other U.S. mayors hand delivered Wednesday to President-elect Donald Trump, asking him to extend the temporary stay from deportation given to students and young people brought into the U.S. illegally as children by their parents and guardians.

Maybe it would have made the next round of golf awkward?

According to the Miami Herald, Gimenez’s office acknowledged getting the request to join the mayors from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. They were told that the mayor asked for a “policy briefing” to “help make up his mind.” But that didn’t happen before the letter was delivered.

Read related story: Carlos Gimenez’s next mancrush giveaway to Donald Trump

Did it happen before Gimenez issued his statement Wednesday morning? What exactly was the mayor told at this policy briefing to help him “make up his mind”? Why do these young people “deserve an opportunity to achieve the American Dream” today and not last week? What is different for DACA Dreamers today? What does the mayor of the seventh largest county in the U.S., a region rich with immigrants from all over the world, not know about DACA?

Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, on the other hand, wasn’t even asked to sign the letter. Emanuel should have asked Regalado, who wouldn’t have blinked. Regalado told the Herald that he would have signed “in a heartbeat.” Because, really, what is there to think about? Yes, comprehensive reform is needed, but what does that have to do with extending DACA for Dreamers? You can do that with or without the reform, which is going to take years and years if it ever happens (Ladra thinks its convenient for both parties to keep up this chaos, but that’s another story).

So what was the hold up for Gimenez?

Ladra bets that “policy briefing” is really code for a chat with his son, CJ Gimenez, a lobbyist who had The Donald as a client in Doral. After all, Papi ya la chivo when he backed off of giving Trump our public Crandon Golf Course on Key Biscayne. Then Mayor Gimenez — in the throes of a heated re-election where he needed black and Anglo votes — said he voted for Hillary Clinton!

Maybe he doesn’t want a strike three.