Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez will lead another dog and pony show today. Or should we call it a dog and cat show?

The opening of the new animal services shelter in Doral is 12 years late, since voters approved it in 2004, but comes less than two months before absentee ballots drop in a hotly contested mayoral race where he is sliding. That is not a coincidence.

It’s also not a solution.

Sure, it’s a little more than a bandaid. This new shelter will be a cleaner facility with newer equipment and space for 100 more dogs, which Ladra bets will fill up in the first week. The dogs will have air conditioning. Woo hoo. But it’s mostly a shiny, new distraction to appease the animal advocate community and another cutie pie puppy photo op for Gimenez et al.

He won’t mention the 15 dogs and 12 cats that were killed in two days last week so they wouldn’t take up room in the new shelter. The dogs had names like Simba and Bruno and Zeus, evidence of a better life once. They were too old or too sick or too ugly to be transported to the new shelter.

Or maybe the county didn’t want to mess up the new “killing room.” How much you wanna bet that’s not included in today’s VIP tour?

Will it take 12 years for the 2012 people’s vote to be respected? Sure, the Pets’ Trust Initiative ballot question was non-binding, a straw ballot. But if 65% of your constituency votes for something, don’t you think you ought to do it? Gimenez has continued to thumb his nose at the 483,491 people who voted for the dedicated funding to a massive spay and neuter program that would bring the county to a no-kill status. Even though that is more than the number of people who have voted for Gimenez. Ever. In all his elections.*

Is that it? Is it jealousy, bruh?

That’s the only reason Ladra can think of that makes any sense as to why he continues to ignore the people’s will, the people’s freaking mandate. That vote was to fund a $20-million plan that would focus on massive spay and neuter programs in retrofitted low-cost neighborhood clinics with an extra $15 a year or so in taxes. The question was exactly as such:

Would you be in favor of the County Commission increasing the countywide general fund millage by 0.1079 mills and applying the additional ad valorem tax revenues generated thereby to fund improved animal services, including:

• Decreasing the killing of adoptable dogs and cats (historically approximately 20,000 annually);

• Reducing stray cat populations (currently approximately 400,000 cats); and

• Funding free and low-cost spay/neuter programs, low-cost veterinary care programs, and responsible pet ownership educational programs?

Carlos Gimenez says we didn’t know what we were voting for. Ladra would argue that the 126,525 people who voted for Gimenez in 2012 didn’t know what they were voting for. That’s much more reasonable.

A dog is visibly nervous, perhaps he senses the other dead animals in the room, as he awaits his fate at the Miami-Dade animal shelter “killing room”

Meanwhile, he has increased the funding and is spending almost as much as the Pets’ Trust plan would have spent, but without making a dent in the stray population. The first year, he increased the funding from $10 million to $14 million for animal services. The next year it went up to $16 million and last year it went up again to $17 million. That is close to the $20 million that was needed in the Pets’ Trust plan, which was written over months and with the participation of our Animal Services Department director and several animal rescue groups and organizations. But instead of going to low-cost spay and neuter services that would lower and control our stray population, Carlos Gimenez hired more veterinarians and technicians at the shelter. The bulk of that money is going to staff salaries and benefits, not to spay and neuter services, which is the only way to make a dent in the stray population control.

About $300,000 went to a consortium of local veterinarians — who fought the Pets’ Trust plan tooth and nail — to do spay and neutering. About 5,000 operations were performed over two years and the money is gone. The Pets’ Trust plan says we need between 100,000 and 125,000 surgeries a year to cut down on the stray population.

And the best thing about it is that the budgeting would have decreased over time. Instead of going up and up like it is now, the budget would be decreasing because fewer surgeries would be needed and fewer animals would be killed.

The numbers the county is reporting from Animal Services now on the 90 percent save rate are a fraud. We have lower kill rates only because they take in fewer dogs and cats. They ship some of what they do take in to other states where we don’t know what happens. They turn people away at the gates. They tell callers to go to Broward. They don’t count owner surrenders if they can convince the owner to euthanize. They refuse to take in strays and abandoned dogs called in by residents.

One drive around the Redland with the activists who go out every evening to feed the strays dumped and abandoned there will prove to anyone that Animal Services is not doing its job (more on that later). A group from Orlando came in one day a few months ago and rescued 54 dogs. In one day. They took them back to Orlando in a caravan of 14 vehicles. You know that if you go out in one day and find 54 stray and abandoned dogs in a 12-hour period that Miami-Dade Animal Services isn’t doing its job.

Carlos Gimenez isn’t doing his job either. He is not representing the people who voted him into office. He just likes to cut ribbons a couple of months before his re-election.

The Pets’ Trust people — now organized as the Animal Power Party political action committee — will have a protest at 10:30 a.m. today in front of the new shelter ribbon cutting, 3599 NW 79 Ave. They ask that protesters wear red in solidarity. The protest has become more about democracy and respecting the people’s vote than even animal welfare.

*Gimenez got 10,844 votes to become District 7 commissioner in 2004, was elected sans opposition in 2008, then got 55,180 votes in the post recall free-for-all of 2011 and 102,445 in the runoff against Julio Robaina, and finally 126,525 votes in 2012 against former Commission Chairman Joe Martinez for a grand total of 293,994 votes. In 2012, a total of 483,491 people voted for the Pets’ Trust.

Disclaimer: Ladra’s alter ego, Elaine de Valle, is working with #TeamRaquel to get Raquel Regalado elected mayor instead of this clown we have now. This blog post, however, is not part of her work product. This is what Ladra does and has done since 2010. This blog has been Carlos Gimenez biggest critic since he was involved in voter fraud in the 2012 election. We will continue to highlight these stories as long as the mainstream media does not. And the fact that Ladra is helping Raquel Regalado does not make any of the aforementioned false. It is all still true.

Everybody is wondering if the news Thursday that Sen. Gwen Margolis was withdrawing her re-election bid and retiring will cause Andrew Korge to switch seats again to the first one he looked at way back before he was a congressional candidate even. Or if it is causing State Rep. David Richardson (D-Miami Beach) to take another look at the Senate run.

Korge, son of Democratic fundraiser and Miami International Airport concessionaire Chris Korge, is currently running against Flores for the Senate seat in District 39 after briefly going after Annette Taddeo in the congressional primary in District 26. But he may go back to his original plan, which was to run for Margolis’ seat before she surprised everyone by saying she would stay put for another term.

Margolis is retiring now, under pressure to apologize for her comment (shouldn’t she still?) in which she dismissively referred to her challengers as “three Haitians, some teacher and some lawyer.”

Read related story: Alex Penelas crowd hosts Andrew Korge’s Senate kick-off

Now, Ladra happens to think that statement is generally true. And it doesn’t have to be a bad thing to be one of three Haitians in a race. There is no other district in which this happens, so there is obviously a significant Haitian electorate in the district. But we know Margolis meant it as a slight. “That’s all they are,” was implied. She is not the most sensitive girl. And it seems she hasn’t learned much since La Gwen got her nickname from Ladra after a spat with Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla over redistricting. He pushed for her district to change due to changes in racial and language minority demographics. She did not want the change and said that Cubans should not be considered a minority.

“The Cubans came in 1960. Believe me, they can speak English,” Margolis said, back then. “They prefer not to, but they do speak English. They went to school in Miami-Dade. Their children go to school in Miami-Dade. They’re English-speaking people.”

Esa es La Gwen. It’s true, but still leaves you a little incredulous. Ah, life and politics was so much easier when there weren’t so many Cubans and Haitians around, right?

Insiders say Margolis had intended to retire after this last term because she was older than dirt, not because she was racist. She was expected to endorse Richardson (D-Miami Beach) but that she got cold feet after Korge, whose daddy can raise a lot of money, got into the race. Both withdrew out of respect to the longtime legislator — a former county commissioner who is also the first female elected Senate President.

So why were there a whole five other Democrats running against her —  the three Haitians and the teacher and the lawyer. Most notably among them is State Rep. Daphne Campbell, who may become the immediate front runner among the wannabes, if only for her name recognition, but not because she has more money. That distinction goes to Jason Pizzo, the attorney of the bunch (a former prosecutor turned land use attorney), who has loaned himself $200,000 for the campaign. The group is rounded out by former State Rep. and radio show host Philip Brutus, who has tried four other times to get back in office (State House, Senate, Congress and county commission), teacher Don Festge and the third Haitian, Anis Blemur, who owns and operates a North Miami accounting firm.

Read related story: Doubletake: David Richardson jumps back to House for 2016

But everybody is wondering if either Korge or Richardson will come back to that race now.

Korge is the obvious choice. He’s lost some key endorsements to Flores (more on that later) and she’s blowing him away with fundraising (more on that later), so it might make sense to move to an open seat race that is less Hispanic.

Richardson, the first openly-gay representative, might be too comfy in an incumbency where he’s popular. Yes, he wants the Senate and there’s opportunity here. But if he’s still seen as La Gwen’s handpicked successor, her Haitian opponents are going to run with that. Who wants a tainted legacy?

Sure, Richardson — who told Ladra in a text message he would have a response after he returned this week from business in D.C. — does have opposition to his re-election. But former Miami Beach Commissioner Deede Weithorn is trailing way behind in fundraising, which leaves her less money to get her message across and her voters out.

Wait a Miami minute! Maybe DeeDe Weithorn will run for that now open Senate seat. Or maybe her husband, Mark Weithorn, who has run unsuccessfully for state House and for city commission. Ladra has also heard that it is a seat Sen. Dwight Bullard could win more easily if he really wants to stay in office, since he’s going to lose in the primary now to Ana Rivas Logan if he stays put.

Am I crazy or could even Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi ditch a sure loss in the town for this more high profile race.

Wait another Miami minute! What about Annette Taddeo? She’s never switched mid-stream so maybe that’s a winning strategy.

Stay tuned. And let the musical chair melody begin. Because we certainly haven’t heard the last of this.

Despite having Democratic opponents in a Hillary presidential year, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Florida are endorsing two Republican incumbents in this year’s election: Sens. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla and Anitere Flores.

They’ve also endorsed Sen. Rene Garcia, but that’s different. Garcia has no opponent. Miguel DLP and Flores, however, are running in hotly contested districts against challengers supported by the Florida Democratic Party in a rush to win seats this year.

And the three GOP senators are the only Republicans AFSCME endorses in a sea of Democrats.

AFSCME is Florida’s fastest growing union, which is part of a 1.6 million member union that advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and prosperity and opportunity for all working families. And like most unions, it typically backs the blue ticket.

But they have broken from the trend for these three.

Why?

“Our wages, benefits, working conditions, health and safety, and even whether we have jobs at all, are in the hands of officials who influence our future,” said Willie Pouncy Jr., AFSCME Florida Region 3 PEOPLE Chair. “After reviewing where Senator Flores stands on the issues important to our state and to the members who live or work in her district, we believe she is the best choice in 2016 for our families, our communities and those we serve.”

And they are not alone. In the case of Flores, who helped kill a law that would have scrapped the county’s wage-theft protection program, she also has the endorsement of the Florida Professional Firefighters Association and every elected official in Homestead, all but one Democrats. Diaz de la Portilla regularly enjoys the support of police and firefighter unions.

“I have a proven track record of effectively fighting for working men and women in our community,” the eldest of the DLP brothers told Ladra.

Said Flores: “During my time in office, I have advocated for a stronger economy, raising incomes and more affordable healthcare benefits for hardworking families— matters important to all Floridians.”

So who is Andrew Korge, who is running against Flores, and State Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, who is running against DLP going to get?

Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez may have learned something from his last two campaigns: how to go negative.

Martinez refused to attack Carlos Gimenez, who he was running for mayor against, with the absentee ballot fraud committed by the Gimenez campaign in 2012. He refused to go negative against any of his primary Republican opponents in his congressional bid in 2014.

But it looks like Martinez got over his distaste for the political attack just in time for this commission race.  His first emailed “press release” — titled “Are The Residents of District 11 Really Being Represented?” — looks like a preview of the campaign, which will predictably hit Zapata on his alleged mistake he made when he billed the county for his Harvard education (he later reimbursed the costs) and on rumors that he wants to incorporate West Kendall.

Read related story: Joe Martinez mulls county challenge to Juan Zapata

And he uses Zap’s middle name like an admonishing parent.

County Commissioner Juan Carlos Zapata sure likes to talk a lot about serving his district, but if you look closely at his attendance record to his commission and committee meetings, you have to question his commitment to the job he was elected to do,” the email says.

It goes on to report that Zap has been late (what? no Cuban time allowance for the Colombian?) or absent to 40% of the county commission meetings and 50% of the Metropolitan Services committee meetings since January of 2015.

“Imagine showing up to work at all or on time only 50% to 59% of the time, would you still have your job,” the email asks, then goes into the Harvard controversy.

“What could Commissioner Zapata be doing that’s kept him away from so many meetings? Other than trying to get taxpayers to pick up the tab on his studies at Harvard the truth is not much, which is similar to his less than stellar career as a State Representative for eight years.  What he has been pushing hard for is incorporating an area of Kendall as the City of West End, which will ultimately raise taxes for the residents of that area. It more than likely will also create another political position for Zapata to jump to.

When hard working residents deposit their vote and confidence in a person to represent them as their commissioner, the last thing a commissioner should do is raise their taxes and barely show up for work. The last four years have not been good to District 11 because we have had a disconnected and unresponsive commissioner.

Martinez told Ladra weeks ago that he decided to run for his old seat because constituents cannot get access to Zapata and are frustrated with the commissioner’s efforts to brand the district as the West End. Another candidate, Felix Lorenzo, told us months ago he was running because he was against incorporation and felt that Zapata was going in that direction.

But the Martinez email is the first salvo in this race, which we can now expect to get ugly.

Zapata didn’t return a call for comment but Martinez said, in a text message, that everything in the email was true.

“A public attendance record is negative?” He asked it like a question.

Sure, Chairman Joe. Just ask Marco Rubio.

Apparently, he is serious.

Former Congressman David Rivera, old “King Nine Lives” himself, is really running for the seat in State House district 118, vacated by Rep. Frank Artiles‘ dash to a Senate race (more on that later). On Monday, Rivera turned in signatures to qualify by petition. The Florida Division of Elections allows candidates to qualify by petition rather than pay the $1,781 fee. Rivera needed to have 1% of the 90,371 registered voters — or 904 signatures. The Elections Division verified he had 955 Monday.

Qualifying for state legislative seats is not until June 20 through the 24th. But, by law, the Florida Division of Elections can accept and hold qualifying papers beginning Jnne 6. Rivera turned the signatures in on the very first day he could.

“Qualifying by petition is a strong sign of voter support,” Rivera told Ladra on Tuesday. “Plus, it shows that no one will outwork me in this election.”

Read related story: David Rivera collects signatures for 2016 House run

Some malas lenguas believed Rivera was faking the petition drive he started in 2014 — to shake off investigators who can’t seem to indict or arrest him on any charges. Well, maybe. Because I think he had to go back to those people or get new Hancocks after he filed his campaign account information in March.

The newly drawn district overlaps quite a bit with his former congressional district, now held by U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, and maybe a little with the district Rivera last served in the Florida House from 2003 to 2011.

It also overlaps with parts of the county commission district that former Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell represented at the county and also as Homestead mayor. Bell, who was the first incumbent to be beaten in decades when Daniella Levine-Cava whooped her in 2014 — has also filed account documents to run for House District 118. But she has not turned in any petition signatures.

Read related story: Levine-Cava gets to work while Lynda Bell finishes term

There are two other Republicans crowding that primary. Anthony Rodriguez seems to be Artiles’ handpicked successor — if it weren’t for Rivera — and Steven Anthony Rojas Tallon, whose anglo-Hispanic name is too long for the ballot, I am sure. Both have been campaigning since at least February, but Rodriguez has raised $17,000 compared to Rojas $2,450.

Still, most campaign observers say this will be a two-person race between the two recycled politicos, each with their own baggage. Bell has her battles with labor, her right-to-life badge of honor and her attempts to help her family’s chain link fencing company through county legislation. And ol’ Nine Lives gets his name because he keeps dodging investigations into his campaign financing and tactics, which include the alleged financing of a 2012 Democratic ringer. Nothing ever sticks, and you want to believe it’s a government conspiracy.

Maybe it’s a devil-you-know thing, but they are the two everyone is watching.

Bell raised almost $15,000 in her first month, at least a third of which came from her political sugar daddy, developer Wayne Rosen.

Rivera raised almost five times that, with $71,000 collected in donations in March and April. The Division of Elections did not have his May report online.

But why am I not surprised?

Not all Hispanics are offended by billionaire Donald Trump’s comments about Mexicans and stance on immigration. In fact, some Latinas just love him.

And they will show their love at a Latinas For Trump event in Brickell Tuesday.

Organized by Denise Galvez of Go To Marketing, the event is not a Trump campaign paid event. He is not a client. It was organized by volunteers.

“It’s not because I hate Hillary or love Trump. I’m just sick of politicians,” Galvez said. “I think he needs to surround himself with good, intelligent people who together can actually put the interests of our country first. I am sick of all the extremes as well.

Read related story: Some say ‘Bye Marco, Hello Hillary’ because #NeverTrump

“There’s a lot of hate being spewed and accusations of racism just because people support him. It’s awful. Most people who are supporting him are independent and just want someone who puts our country first,” she said.

“We are not crazy racists like the media loves to depict. Many as a matter of fact are business owners and quite accomplished. We care more about the economy and jobs,” she said.

Latinos/Hispanics for Donald Trump has 20,000 friends on Facebook and 20,000 followers on Twitter. CBS News reported on some Hispanics who live along the Texas border campaigning for Trump or supporting him. While a majority of Hispanics are disapproving of Trump in almost all the polls, some surveys have him doing better among Latinos than Mitt Romney did in 2012 (but that should be easy). And yeah, while I definitely believe Hillary is getting more Hispanics than The Donald, there is no argument that Trump has higher Hispanic support than one would have expected.