Week two of our new fecalendar2ature, 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 philip-levineunpopular 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 Miami-Dade busgovernment 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.


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Former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora is running for the Florida Senate.

Góngora plans to qualify Friday to run in District 38 in the seatgongoramargolis left open by the sudden, under-pressure retirement of Sen. Gwen Margolis.

The condo law attorney has stayed active after losing the mayoral race in 2014 to Philip Levine — who must be eating his heart out (everybody knows Mayor Ego wants to run for either senate or gov). Góngora sends a monthly email blast and in March urged his followers to vote no on the convention center hotel. He also supported the election of Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez last year.

In December, he was elected president of the Miami Beach Bar Association and created a pro bono law clinic.

And, even though six other candidates have been campaigning for weeks, at least (and five of those have qualified), Góngora  sort of goes into it as an immediate front-runner and de facto incumbent. Sure, State Rep. Daphne Campbell might also be considered incumbent-like, but she just went to No. 2 in this race, where the best candidate wins in August with a majority of the vote, even if that is 21%.

Góngora  also has something that no other candidate in the race has — local government experience in a district that has 15 municipalities from Aventura to Miami.

“I understand what local governments want and I understand the gongoradeskfrustration with state government,” Góngora told Ladra. “I’ve been there and I’m the most qualified of the candidates.”

With condo associations under investigation for election fraud and residents calling on Tallahassee to have some kind of reform, Góngora could be an experienced voice on the issue. He told Ladra on Tuesday that he was also passionate about gun control, education and “bringing back the dollars.

“Our coastal communities give a lot of money to Tallahassee and it’s dreadful how little state funding we get back for things like flood mitigation,” Góngora  said.

Read related story: Will La Gwen’s retreat cause more musical chairs?

Góngora was a city commissioner in Miami Beach for two terms, from 2006 to 2013 and got Margolis’ endorsement both times, as well as for mayor in 2014. While she may wait before she gives her nod, chances are La Gwen — who is certainly not about to endorse any of the Haitians she disparaged, which forced her retirement announcement — will give Góngora her blessing.

The candidate released this statement:

“As your senator for District 38, I will work even harder and be more effective than as a private citizen or community leader.  It is not enough to keep raising vital issues to those currently in office, challenging them to fix broken systems and rethink ineffective policy. I will lead the charge for sensible, achievable victories in alleviating traffic and flooding, restoring quality and affordable education, and increasing jobs paying decent wages.  I will hit the ground running to keep Floridians safe and to implement achievable solutions to obstacles currently impeding Floridians from fulfilling their American Dream.  Our community and our State crave action not rhetoric and I vow to use my knowledge and experience to serve you effectively and with integrity.”
A sole Republican also filed bank account paperwork for the seat on Wednesday but Allen Markelson doesn’t stand a chance in a District that is traditionally and predominantly blue.

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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 richardsonmargolisway 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 KorgeFloresto 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.


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