Pobre Hialeah.
They were Esteban Bovo‘s second choice. But one year after he lost the race for Miami-Dade mayor, the former county commissioner — whose political career began on the Hialeah council — voters chose him over four others to be the next mayor en la ciudad que progresa.
Fight nearly breaks out at early voting, caught on video
Isis Garcia-Martinez: ‘He just needs a new job‘
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez is termed out and cannot run for another term. 
So says a lawsuit filed Monday by a former mayor that seeks to keep him off the ballot this November.
Hernandez was council president and automatically became the mayor when former Mayor Julio Robaina resigned in May 2011 to run for Miami-Dade mayor. The city charter says he is to serve the remainder of that term until a special election is called to fill the vacancy. That happened in November of 2011, when voters chose Hernandez over both former Mayor Raul Martinez and former Sen. Rudy Garcia.
Because Robaina won that term in 2009, Hernandez had to run for re-election again two years later in 2013. He won again, handily, getting 81 percent against former Mayor Julio “The Other” Martinez and Juan Santana.
The lawsuit filed Monday by attorney Jose “Pepe” Herrera on behalf of Julio Martinez says the city charter, which states “no person shall serve as mayor for more than two consecutive terms.” It doesn’t say two “full” terms, the lawsuit says. It doesn’t say two whole terms. In fact, it doesn’t have any adjectives at all. Just two conservative terms. Which Hernandez has served.
Read related story: Hialeah hoodlums recruit from the Carlos Gimenez gang
“Simply put, a term is a term, and absent any durational adjective, section 2.01 of the city charter must be construed to its plain meaning and grammatical syntax,” the lawsuit states, adding that Hernandez’s argument that a partial term cannot be counted could be intentionally manipulated to “avoid the intent of the electorate” that passed term limits in 1996 and who didn’t include the word “full” when describing the two terms.
That would indicate that Hernandez, who launched his re-election campaign in March, can’t run again.
The lawsuit was filed against Hernandez, Hilaeah City Clerk Marbelys Rubio-Fatjo and Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor Christina White. There will be a press conference Tuesday morning at Herrera’s office, 2350 Coral Way, Suite 201. Herrera is representing Julio Martinez pro-bono. “I like protecting the public interest and dislike bullies. It’s why I went to law school,” Herrera told Ladra.
Looks to Ladra like he’s got a case. Could we finally get rid of Hernandez based on a technicality?
“He paid Grodnick, but he can’t pay me off,” said former 
Mayor Julio “The Other” Martinez (photographed), referring to former Hialeah City Attorney William Grodnick, who apparenty provided an opinion to the mayor before he retired some months ago that says he does have the right to run again.
Funny enough, Grodnick had the exact opposite opinion in 2008 when then-Councilman Esteban Bovo wanted to run for a fourth term. Bovo, who was elected to fill out the term vacated by the indicted former Councilwoman Maria Rovira in 1999, had not served three full terms — the limit in the charter — but only two and a half. Grodnick told Bovo back then that he could not run again.
Read related story: Carlos Hernandez lies again — under oath this time
“He contradicted himself. But when you are three months away from retirement and Carlos tells him to do something… it’s just n opinion. A city attorney can do that and be wrong,” Martinez told Ladra. “You can’t buy me off. Now, we are going to a real judge.”
Martinez, bless his soul, doesn’t want to run for office. “No, I’m not going to run for shit. I just don’t want him to run,” he said, pardoning his own French. “We in Hialeah voted for our mayors to be limited in office to eight years. Now he is going to be there for 11? No. I don’t think so.”
Which of these ballot bandidos will run for Hialeah mayor if Carlos Hernandez can’t?
While Martinez won’t run himself, he has plenty of ideas for who might be interested in an open seat once Hernandez is barred by a court from the ballot: Bovo himself, though Ladra thinks he is eyeing the county mayor’s seat, Sen. Rene Garcia, who is termed out, Council President Luis Gonzalez — who, las malas lenguas say, got peeved that Hernandez wasn’t giving him the seat, as promised — and even Councilwoman Isis “Gavelgirl” Garcia-Martinez, who was on the outs with Hernandez at the end of last year but seems to have patched things up because she won’t return anyone’s calls.
Ladra hears former State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, who has threatened to run for Hialeah mayor like the boy who cried wolf, is making too much money in the private sector, lobbying and “consulting” in government affairs.
Someone has to be thinking about it already. Herrera, who is on a roll recently, has a case here and Hernandez is due some cosmic karma.
Our only fear is that he would run for county commission or — dare I say it? — senate. God help Hialeah.
It looks like the Hialeah Hoodlums — otherwise known as Mayor Carlos Hernandez and his Seguro Que Yes crew of crooked council members –
– were recruiting for their criminal enterprise last week.
And they peeled a few members off of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s old G-Men gang.
Campaign Finance Chair and graft master Ralph Garcia-Toledo, shake-down artist Brian Goldmeier and campaign strategist Jesse Manzano-Plaza were all at an event last week for Hernandez’s re-election campaign. Who is that guy to the right? He looks familiar. And just look at how giddy they are to be back in business — stealing ballots, taking money from developers for promised payola later, coming up with narratives to distract from Hernandez’s abysmal record and the chaos the last couple of years at the new fancy smancy water plant.
Just look at those smiles in this photo posted on Goldmeier’s Instagram. They look like a gang of cats that swallowed unos pajaritos zunzún.
Manzano-Plaza must have been the happiest as the event was at Hialeah Park and he is likely back representing casino giant Genting now that the Gimenez campaign is over. He only resigned temporarily (read: not at all) and after he was caught representing both Genting and Gimenez. He is certainly back at work now.
They don’t care that Hernandez is an admitted loan shark and proven liar who abuses his power. This is simply payback for Hernandez’s help getting Gimenez the ballots from residents in Hialeah Housing. Or is it just another public trough for these little piglets (possible gang name: Three Little Pigs). Ladra is going to have to start looking more closely at the water and sewer contracts and public works projects in the City of Progress.
Why isn’t tricky pollster Dario Moreno and Absentee Ballot Fraud King Al Lorenzo there? Did they not pass the gang initiation test?
Read related story: Liquor store owner gets it: Carlos Hernandez is a criminal
Hernandez is running for his third term. The former cop was the council president when former Mayor Julio Robaina left the office to run for county mayor against Gimenez in the recall result race of 2011. He served as acting mayor and then was elected in November 2011 against former Mayor Raul Martinez and former Sen. Rudy Garcia to serve the remaining two years of the term. In 2013, he was re-elected against former Mayor Julio Martinez and an active resident named Juan Santana, who he had harassed outside his home (and that is the kind of behavior that Goldmeier and Manzano are condoning).
Hopefully, this will Hernandez’s his last campaign. Maybe it takes a woman.
2011 at IHOP: Gavelgirl and The Rock were pals
Ladra hears that Gavelgirl herself, Councilwoman Isis Garcia-Martinez — a former Hernandez ally who, las malas lenguas say, has quit the Hoodlums — is going to challenge Hernandez. Ladra never thought she would say this, but You go, Gavelgirl! It ain’t easy to leave the thug life!
Yeah, sure, we’ve had our issues. Garcia-Martinez defended Hernandez all the time. She even went to his famous pancake breafast at IHOP, which was a campaign event paid for by city dollars and exposed by Ladra in 2011.
Read related story: Gavelgirl files false police report
She also had police eject me from a council meeting, had me illegally trespassed from both City Hall, which is a public building, and the campaign headquarters and tried to get a restraining order against me so that I wouldn’t attend any more meetings — or catch her at campaign breakfasts that were paid for by public money. She couldn’t because she had no legal justification.
But the past is the past. Ladra believes she has seen the error of her ways. She’s broken up with the bully, hasn’t she? She is willing to take him on publicly. Last year, she broke with the rest of the hoodlums to support former Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado against Gimenez. She certainly isn’t all lockstep, Seguro Que Yes anymore.
So, until anybody else with a better shot challenges The Rock — an admitted loan shark and liar who had the audacity to pay an ethics fine with thousands of pennies — Ladra will be giving Gavelgirl the benefit of the doubt. And our support. What do they say about the enemy of my enemy?
Hashtag I’m with her. We’ll start a rival gang.
