As expected and reported in Political Cortadito previously, we are still nowhere near a deal for FIU to expand onto the grounds currently occupied by the Dade County Youth Fair and Expo.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez finally admitted Wednesday that talks have led nowhere and that The Fair doesn’t have to budge because it has an upper hand, using a poker analogy with the Miami Herald editorial board: The Fair is holding a royal flush; the county has a card short of a low straight.

Lost in the ensuing laughter, the follow up questions that were never asked is why is the mayor playing poker with The Fair to begin with? Has there been bluffing involved? What are the stakes? And shouldn’t the county already have folded? Is this really the best use of our mayor’s time and energies? What would breaking the lease, as he also suggested he might do, say to other entities looking to do business with the county?

Read related story: FIU’s bully battle vs Youth Fair keeps costing us plenty

Because at the same time as Gimenez admitted a deadlock, he also admitted two other things that should be sorta outrageous. The first is that he is going to continue to waste our county time and resources to work on a solution that he says can’t be had that would work for both FIU and The Fair, which would need to get an equal or better location able to accommodate 24,000 cars.

“I am actively trying to find a location, an alternative, uh, you know, half way, acres, you can co-mlocate, all that,” Gimenez said in an often rambling half hour interview broadcast on Periscope that ran the gamut from CRAs and the Frost Museum bailout to regulations for Uber and the Liberty Square redevelopment.

The second thing is that he is willing and ready, mind you, to break the lease and evict the Fair even though they have “an incredibly sweet deal” of a rock solid contract that is legally binding through 2085 and they are, well, holding all the cards. He just doesn’t want to have to pay the financial consequences.

Isn’t that like saying you’re willing to steal something as long as you aren’t caught and charged?

Read related story: Mayor to meet with FIU and Youth Fair over standoff

Gimenez has said FIU would have to provide a legal guarantee that they would pay any costs associated with a lawsuit.

“What I’m saying is that if you want us to do that, then somebody is going to have to pay if there is a relocation cost, someone is going to have to pay if there is a judgement against Miami Dade,” Gimenez said, flanked by his entourage of county staffers — Budget Director Jennifer Moon, Communications Director and spin doctor Michael Hernandez and Chief of Staff Alex Ferro, as well as whoever was Periscoping.

The university president has already said that they can’t do that.

They have $50 million committed — which would come out of state funds, by the way (read: our tax dollars) — to move the Fair and for the construction of

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

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Doral leaders are getting ready to update their master plan for the young Northwest city’s parks system and is seeking more public input about what residents want.

The city — which conducted a survey last Fall — had two public meetings on Wednesday. Two more public meetings are planned for today, Thursday. The first is from 6 to 7 p.m. at City Hall, 8401 SW 53rd Terr. And the second is from 8 to 9 p.m. at Windward at Islands of Doral, 11485 NW 77th Lane.

Officials are looking for feedback on current facilities and programs as well as what residents want in equipment, green space and/or sports and recreation programs.

Doral currently has a pretty robust program at its six city parks. They are also planning an aquatic facility with a lazy river, water tot lot, Olympic sized pool, slides and “funbrellas.”

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What do 100,000 people, 1,000 pilings and 450 docked boats have in common? These are the nightmares that plague the people in Key Biscayne as the Miami International Boat Show begins today at the long-abandoned Miami Marine Stadium and its environmentally sensitive surrounds.

When the county gave the go ahead for the boat show to use the property, it did so only to test the waters, so to speak, and see if the location could hold the crowds, traffic and environmental impact without too terribly disturbing residents who feel cut off from the mainland whenever an event comes to the Key.

Read related story: Boat Show battle comes to Miami-Dade for ‘temporary’ pass

That is why the village sent an email blast out Wednesday asking people to be “our eyes and ears on the ground” for the first ever boat show on Virginia Key and share images and stories about their experiences during the next three to four days, the duration of the event. They want people to post photos of what they apparently expect to be a catastrophy and even created a hashtag — #BoatShowReality.

Here is what they said in the unsigned email:

“The Miami International Boat Show will officially begin this Thursday (February 11, 2016), raising questions as to how this large scale event will impact one of our community’s most delicate and sensitive ecosystems.

The Miami International Boat Show has already shown considerable disregard for this environmental habitat, creating serious concerns for what the next four days will bring:

• Water taxis and boats crisscrossing through critical wildlife areas and manatee zones

• Harmful shoreline erosion caused by hundreds of docked boats

• Toxic litter polluting the water

• Threats to endangered marine life

Following this event, the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County will decide whether or not to allow the Boat Show’s return to Virginia Key.  Help us keep them accountable by being our eyes and ears on the ground.

Share images on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #BoatShowReality or email them to BoatShowReality@gmail.com.”

Meanwhile, preservationists are hoping the event will help shed light on the unique historic significance of the iconic stadium.

Ladra remembers watching boat races and concerts at the Miami Marine Stadium in the 70s.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Dade Heritage Trust are launching a petition to get public support for fulling restoring the stadium and will staff an informational kiosk throughout the Boat Show, which ends Monday.

Attendees can learn more about the history of the stadium and the National Trust is working with local artists to illuminate the stadium using projections of vintage footage.

They kiosk will also have copies of the petition — also available online at www.SavingPlaces.org/stadium — which calls on the Miami City Commission to make the stadium restoration a priority this year.

The City of Miami has already committed more than $20,000,000 to make improvements to the land around the stadium, including the creation of a flex park. Additionally, the preservationists believe there are other positive developments that indicate that the restoration effort is gaining momentum:

• A nomination to add the stadium to the National Register of Historic Places has been prepared for the U.S. Department of the Interior and is pending approval by the Miami City Commission. If named to the National Register, restoration work at the stadium would qualify for federal historic tax credits, which would reduce restoration costs by approximately $6 million.
• The Miami City Commission created an advisory committee — on which both the Dade Heritage Trust and the National Trust serve — to help shape a long-term vision for Virginia Key, including a comprehensive business plan that includes the renovation and re-opening of Miami Marine Stadium to the public
• In December, the city issued an RFQ for architectural and engineering services for the stadium. The response due date was recently extended to Wednesday, Feb. 17. 

I suppose we will have to see after the #BoatShowReality tour ends on Monday whether the event was a calamity or a catalyst for the restoration of a community gem.

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Incumbent South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard was able to beat back a comeback attempt by former mayor Horace Feliu Tuesday night, winning the race with almost 53% of the vote.

A third candidate got 7.5% leaving Feliu — who served from 2002 to 2004 and 2006 to 2010 — with just under 40 percent, according to the early results released Tuesday night.

Commissioners Robert “Bicycle Bob” Welsh and Josh Liebman were both unopposed — in what seems like an electoral nod to the status quo — but Welsh won the vice mayor’s position with 53% of the vote.

Stoddard, 58 and a biology professor at Florida International University, has been mayor for six years and campaigned on a drop in crime and the property tax rate as well as an increase in reserves.

Read related story: Former South Miami Mayor Horace Feliu wants his old job back

While Stoddard saw the police department as an asset to his campaign, Feliu, 61, made a case of some of the embarrassments the city has had in the beleaguered department. He also tried to capitalize on some discontent with the speed of some development in the city, particularly of homes in the residential areas, and the potential sale of City Hall.

Feliu has a little gap in his service record because he was arrested a day before the 2004 election and charged with accepting an illegal campaign contribution. He was later acquitted in what seemed like an obviously politically-motivated case.

Maybe voters don’t want to remember those days. Or maybe Stoddard got his message out to more voters. He outspent Feliu at least three to one. As of Jan. 29, the incumbent had a total of $10,195 in campaign contributions — including a check from Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava — compared to $3,750.

Read related story: South Miami: Horace Feliu strikes first with email

The difference in votes was 194. That’s because in a city of 6,833 registered voters, only 1,509 cast ballots Tuesday.

Voters also rejected Tuesday a city charter amendment that would have changed the election month for city races from February to March, for whatever reason.

The newly elected majority ought to do the right thing and make another ballot question to change the election from February to August or November to increase participation.

Of course, incumbents never want to do that.

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Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner went to New Hampshire last week to personally deliver a letter signed by her and 14 other mayors in Miami-Dade regarding climate change and the federal response to both Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush.

Lerner, a deep blue Democrat who served in the Florida House with Rubio, told each of them at separate events that she hoped they would meet with her and the other mayors before the Florida primary March 15.

“We appreciate that you acknowledge the reality of what we are experiencing in South Florida, being ground zero,” she told Bush at a town hall meeting, in what sounds like a dig at Rubio for his more exreme denial position.

She asked both to look at the impact the fossil fuel industry has on global warming and explore renewable energy sources.

Read related story: Miami-Dade 2015 budget rally is for climate change funds

Bush, who once lived in Pinecrest, told her he “would love to meet you. But I’m not coming back for a couple of weeks.”

And of course there’s already a “but.” He is in a Republican primary after all.

“You can’t destroy our economy in recognition of that,” Bush said, adding that all the taxing solutions would just be passed on to the consumer. “We  have to balance our economic interests with this legitimate concern that the climate is changing…the federal government should play a role in research ad development to find the next source of energy that would have less impact on the climate.”

Senator Rubio was a little less enthusiastic when he also agreed to meet with these mayors during a campaign event last Thursday — responding “sure” to the surprise invitation.

“But I can tell you right now I’m not going to destroy our economy. The climate has never stayed the same. It’s always changing,” Rubio said.

He said that scientists don’t expect the proposed measures to make changes in sea level rise or the dropping temperatures for years and years to come but that economists say they will make things more expensive and put us at a disadvantage economically.

“I can’t support something that does nothing to help the environment but devastates our economy,” Rubio said.

Read related story: Top 10 reasons Miami-Dade residents must buy a life vest

He said he would instead favor measures that rewarded and increased the use of alternatives to fossil fuels.

“Let’s beat the world in every energy resource. Let’s beat the world in wind, in solar, in bio fuels, in renewables. But we are going to fully utilize our natural gas, which by the way is a clean source of energy. Let’s build more nuclear power plants.”

Lerner — who is arguably Miami-Dade’s lead sea level action champion — came home satisfied that both presidential hopefuls had heard her out and agreed to meet. Both encounters can be found on YouTube, published by ClimateTruth.org, which sponsored Lerner’s trip and has collected a number of videos of people confronting the candidates on the issue.

“With Jeb I was really pleasantly surprised because not only did he acknowledge climate change, he also said he would support eliminating subsidies on oil products,” Lerner said. “He has a much more moderate position.

“Rubio launched into his rote response,” she added, echoing earlier sentiments about the senator’s need for new material (Ladra told Team Marco months ago). “But I know he knows better.”

But she certainly isn’t going to vote for either of them. Lerner spent the rest of her time in New Hampshire making phone calls from two campaign offices and walking door-to-door in Bedford for Hillary Clinton.

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