In these “unprecedented times,” we keep hearing from our electeds, as the COVID19 pandemic and economic crisis stretches into 2021, people need help paying the rent, staying in business and/or feeding their families.

So why are city of Miami commissioners sitting on somewhere between $700,000 and almost $1 million in COVID relief grocery and/or Visa gift cards?

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A group representing 35,000 Brickell area homeowners is suing to stop the Ultra Music Festival — which was kicked out of downtown Miami this year — from happening on Virginia Key at the end of this month.
The emergency complaint filed Wednesday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court claims the city schemed to bypass the public bidding process by calling the agreement a license rather than a lease, which would also require a public vote. But one can tell from the language of the lawsuit that is not the only problem the plaintiffs have with the three-day, electronic music party.
“This is an action challenging whether the city can lease certain environmentally sensitive public park land to a for-profit corporation without complying with the competitive bidding process,” the lawsuit states.
The city entered into the licensing agreement with Event Entertainment Group, the outfit that puts on Ultra, in November, after downtown residents complained about the Bayshore Park location. They said the noise and traffic brought by the three-day festival make their neighborhood unlivable for the weekend.
Read related: Ultra out for Formula 1 could be Joe Carollo nod to CJ Gimenez
Some observers believe the move, orchestrated by Commissioner Joe Carollo, was meant to make downtown residents more amenable to a future Formula One race event, which was being pushed by his then pal, CJ Gimenez, son of the county mayor.
But this new agreement cannot be terminated or revoked by the city as easily as a license could, in most cases, which makes it more of a lease, argues attorney David Winker , who also filed complaints against the city in regards to the Melreese Golf Course referendum (more on that later).
“Virginia Key is an utterly inappropriate venue for ULTRA,” Winker said in a statement. “The City of Miami circumvented its own laws and disenfranchised its own citizens to force this deal through… a deal that is a disaster for the environment and our residents.
“My lawsuit asks the judge to declare the License Agreement entered into between the City and ULTRA void and force the City to follow its own laws regarding competitive bidding and participation of its citizens in the process.
“We have to be able to expect more from our elected officials.”

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Hey! Alex Diaz de la Portilla! You just lost two elections, one for Senate and one for county commission, and the Little Havana house you were born in was foreclosed on last week by the bank, which is putting it up for sale because you owe them $638,000. What are you going to do next?
Why, run for city commission, of course!
Four days after Wells Fargo and Merrill Lynch Mortgage foreclosed Thursday on his house at 1519 SW 19th Street, Diaz de la Portilla — a political consultant who helped Miami Commissioner Crazy Joe Carollo get elected in 2017 — filed paperwork on Monday to run for the seat that will be vacated by Willy Gort this November.
Read related: After loss in Senate, Miami-Dade races, Alex DLP may try Miami
The final judgement on foreclosure is against both him and his ex-wife Claudia Davant, who is also on the hook for the mortgage they apparently got when they were married. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Beatrice Butchko gave them until May 13 to pay the debt or the house will be sold at auction to the highest bidder for cash toward that debt.
Which means Claudia could still be on the hook for the balance.
Ladra can’t help but wonder if ADLP’s poor and mistreated parents and his often neglected dogs Elvis and Priscilla are going to go live in Coral Gables with his big brother, former Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, whose campaign for re-election Alex lost in 2016. They’d be much less comfortable in Alex DLP’s new home (on paper), a 967-square-foot, 2-bedroom, 2-bath unit on the 18th floor of the Terrazas Riverpark Village Condo, 1861 NW S River Dr. Especially since his brother Renier Diaz de la Portilla, a former School Board member and state rep, is also registered to vote at the riverfront flat; although it’s hard to believe these two could live together.
ADLP’s voter’s registration changed on Sept. 15, which gives him the necessary year he needs before qualifying, which ends this Sept. 21. Ladra reported it in October, predicting that he would run for this very seat.
But he sure is a hypocrite. Because after Carollo’s victory, Diaz de la Portilla went on a crazy rant on the Nextdoor social site, calling Alfie Leon an “interloper” because he had only lived in Little Havana for a year before he almost beat Carollo for Miami City Commission. I guess it’s okay for him to be an interloper himself.
Read related: ADLP hit by attacks in all negative Senate 40 GOP primary campaign
This will be ADLP’s fourth attempt to return to public office, not his third, as most media outlets are reporting. They mention the run for commission last year, where he came in third, and the run for Senate in Westchester/East Kendall, where he lost the primary to State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz (who then lost to Democrat Annette Taddeo) despite the help from Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and family (that’s CJ Gimenez to his right during early voting in the pic). That race was brutal with negative attacks against him, including one that disclosed his relationship with CJ’s wife, Tania Cruz, and how they cozied up in a Boston hotel room, chain smoking in a non-smoking room late one night and getting belligerent with police after they were called to throw them out.
But the mainstream media forgot his first loss, the run for state rep 112 in his real neighborhood in 2012, which he lost against an up and coming politician named Jose Javier Rodriguez, who is now a state senator. That was gut wrenching and he has struggled to recover from it since.
The Dean, as Ladra likes to call him because he loves to teach — perhaps he should do that and stop running for office — joins four other candidates who have already opened campaign accounts for the District 1 race: Horacio S. Aguirre, chairman of the Miami River Commission; Michael Hepburn, a former University of Miami academic adviser who ran in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 27th Congressional District; Miguel Angel Gabela, a businessman who has twice lost to Gort in past elections but came close once; and attorney Yanny Hidalgo.
Gabela, who is the clear front runner of the bunch and will likely end up in a runoff if ADLP pulls off anything at all, thinks he has Carollo’s support. He told Ladra Thursday that the commissioner told him so as recently as two weeks ago. “I consider him to be a friend,” Gabela said, adding that ADLP “is lying to people con el lio de Carollo.”
Read related: Willy Gort challenger Mike Gabela runs on one issue: Crime
But remember, this is a man who is known for stabbing folks in the back. Carollo did it with Maurice Ferre, at a press conference where he was supposed to endorse him for mayor  and instead turned against him, and he did it again last year, telling former Commissioner Bruno Barreiro that he would support his wife in the county race and then helping ADLP.
Besides, there is still Paella Gate. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office has not finished their investigation of Carollo using public money and his taxpayer paid staff to hold Paella parties for ADLP at senior public housing locations during that special election. Carollo can’t turn on ADLP yet, while he could still provide state’s evidence.
Either way, Gabela — who has been campaigning since June and has already run in the same district twice — is confident that his neighbors will realize that Diaz de la Portilla is a narcissistic “career politician” carpetbagger.
“He’s running because he doesn’t have a job,” said Gabela, who has lived in the district for 30 years. “If there’s a dog catcher election, he’ll run for it because he doesn’t care about the people.”
True: Less than a year ago, ADLP was knocking on doors in Westchester and telling voters there that he would represent them in Tallahassee. He abandoned them for the voters of county commission District 5.
“Y a estas alturas he’s interested in this district? You really have to be an ignoramus to believe it,” Gabela said.
Yeah. But, unfortunately, a lot of ignoramuses apparently vote.

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To show how far he’s fallen from a bright future to a powerless present, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez turned into a sniveling baby begging Commissioner Joe Carollo for respect at a public meeting last week.
This was right before the commission approved the first chunk of the $400 Miami Forever bond approved by voters in November of 2017. They voted 4-1 for $58 million to go to:

$10.3 million to fight sea level rise, including a redesign of Brickell Bay Drive and the installation of 50 new one-way valves
$15 million for new affordable housing projects and a single-family home rehabilitation program
$420,000 for upgrades to Fire Station No. 10 located at 4101 NW 7th Street
$7.6 million to improve nearly 4 miles of roadways
$25.3 million to enhance public parks, including upgrading playgrounds, repairing sidewalks, and enhancing accessibility.

Carollo had an issue with the way the money was carved out and, sources say, didn’t get what he wanted, which was basically to wait a little longer so he could get some housing project proposals worked up by his pals for properties he recently convinced the city to buy in his district (more on that later).
That’s why his cries of foul Wednesday were so disingenuous.
Read related: Miami owes $120K in legal fees from Crazy Joe Carollo’s lawsuit
“I know what’s happening here,” Carollo said. “I see the sharks sitting right back there, the guys that raised three and a half million for the strong mayor…just waiting to get some of this money.”
As far as anyone can tell, he was referring to Mike Llorente, Baby X’s former chief of staff — and, Ladra believes, cousin — who joined his brother Marcelo’s lobby firm with Alex Heckler, LSN Partners, in 2016.
Funny thing is, though, the Virginia Key redevelopment project on which Llorente is a paid lobbyist did not get any of the bond funds Wednesday. None of the clients he’s registered lobbying for got anything from the pie. But that won’t stop Carollo from casting scurrilous aspersions that work for his convenience.
That said, Baby X didn’t have to throw a hissy fit with his point of order. You can see the mayor acting like a battered wife on this video clip posted by longtime Miami blogger Al Crespo. Diehard Suarez fans might want to sit down first.
“Again, I’ll ask the commissioner — I’ve asked in private, I will ask in public — to please respect me,” Suarez said, almost babbling. “I’ve always respected you.
“I’ve never said anything disrespectful to you or have ever implied any decision you made or haven’t made is based on anything other than what you think is best for the city so I would respectfully request that you do the same.”
Suarez begging Carollo for respect like that has got to be one of the signs of the apocalypse. It is so unnerving.
Read related: Miami’s Francis Suarez loses big as voters reject strong mayor measure
And really? He has never implied that any decision Crazy Joe has made is not in the best interest of the city? He may be the only one who can say that.
Here is some unsolicited advice to Suarez, who doesn’t return Ladra’s phone calls anymore: So, you lost the stupid strong arm mayor proposition you should never have put forth? So what? Move on, man! Yes, it was a political bruising and your stock went down some. Get over it. You have three years to do the good shit we know you can do and make voters forget about this in 2021. Don’t dwell. Come up with something spectacular.
And kick the bullies where the sun don’t shine. Especially when you have the votes. Take the win!
Don’t beg. It is not becoming. And it’s fruitless.
Carollo is not going to respect you no matter what, because you don’t tow his line. So if you want his respect, then coddle to him. If you want the voters’ respect, stand up for yourself next time and tell him what’s what. Call his bluff and tell him that you will give his friends’ housing projects a fair shot.
But if you want Carollo to bend you over some more — and secure your one-term fate — then keep begging for his respect.

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In a resounding defeat to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, voters solidly rejected the strong mayor initiative by 65% of the vote Tuesday — a signal that the new mayor doesn’t exactly have the mandate he thought he had.
Is Francis the Future suddenly the Prince of the Past?
Maybe it wasn’t a complete loss. Voters did approved the Miami Freedom Park retail complex with a soccer stadium that he lobbied so hard for. But they approved that and the lease and development of the Miami Riverfront Center property by 60 percent — and then shut Suarez down.
It was like, yeah this, sure that, and then nananina to the Suarez power grab, which he has spent several years and millions of dollars on.
It’s not just a huge blow to Baby X — whose allies on the dais just got targets on their backs — it hurts his papa, Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez, who has had thoughts of running for county mayor in 2020.
It’s bittersweet for Ladra. Because while we did not support the strong arm mayor move, we certainly don’t enjoy how smug Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his cohorts are feeling right about now. Both raised money for campaigns against the measure. We won’t know how much they spent for weeks.
And Ladra is pretty sure this sets the stage for a Gimenez run for Miami mayor in 2021. Then he will try to push forward a different strong mayor referendum that he will call strong mayor lite.
Suarez is likely going to lie low for a few days, but he already told the Miami Herald that he wanted to try again with a different, probably also “lite” version.
Ladra thinks he should try to score a few victories first and concentrate on making the voters who elected him — and who have been shaking their heads for the last few months — remember why he was once Francis the Future.

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It looks like Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo loves a good spanking.
After getting smacked down by a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge who said his lawsuit to block the strong mayor referendum on the city ballot had absolutely no merit whatsoever, Carollo filed an appeal late Thursday — an 11th hour hail Mary to deny voters the chance to weigh in on this controversial charter change.
Carollo, who asked for an expedited hearing because the election is Tuesday, must think the strong mayor measure is passing. Why else appeal the decision this far in?
But, more importantly, who is paying for these frivolous lawsuits? What is this costing taxpayers? It’s costing them something. More than half of the eight (!) attorneys involved — including two former federal prosecutors — represent city or county employees or entities.
Read related: Judge calls Joe Carollo sore loser, rips apart strong mayor lawsuit
City Attorney Victoria Mendez represents the city, Mayor Francis Suarez and City Clerk Todd Hannon in the matter. Every hour that Mendez works on the case is paid by city taxpayers. Deputy Miami-Dade Attorney Oren Rosenthal, who makes $298,000 a year, represents Supervisor of Elections Christina White. Every hour Rosenthal works on the case is paid by county taxpayers (including city taxpayers).
But there is also outside counsel: Raquel Rodriguez, of McDonalds Hopkins, for the city and the city clerk, and Robert Martinez, of Colson, Hicks Eidson, for the mayor. Every billable hour of theirs for this case is on taxpayer’s back and on Carollo. That’s already a hefty bill for the city. Ladra made a public records request Friday for the payments or invoices so far but had not received a response as of the evening.
And we still don’t know whether the city will end up paying Carollo’s attorney, too. Mendez told Ladra on Friday that the city had made no payments to either Jesus Suarez, who filed the lawsuit, or Genovese Joblove Batista, his law firm.
But that doesn’t mean that there won’t be payments made later. Both the original motion and the appeal repeat that the plaintiff is Carollo, “individually and as commissioner of the city of Miami.”
Read related: Miami taxpayers could be on hook for Joe Carollo’s frivolous lawsuit
It’s those last six words that could leave the city on the hook.
Carollo won’t talk about it. He did not return multiple calls and text messages. But the attorneys aren’t doing this for free.
There are no legal expenditures reflected in either Carollo’s PAC or the Miami Dade Residents First, the PAC belonging to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who is using it to push a no vote.
Also, while she is not on the list of attorneys who got a copy of the notice, Gimenez daughter-in-law Tania Cruz is involved in some way. She got a text message from Jesus Suarez two minutes and three seconds after the lawsuit was first filed. “FILED,” it said, all in caps. Like he was reporting to a supervisor?
Then there are also Jennifer Blohm, Ben Keuhne and Marcos Daniel Jimenez representing the Miamians for an Independent and Accountable Mayors Initiative PAC, which gathered the petitions to put the question on the ballot. Strangely enough, Keuhne was on Carollo’s team just recently when the commissioner won a challenge to his residency.
Read related: Mayor Carlos Gimenez clan involved in Joe Carollo lawsuit vs strong mayor
One of the arguments made in the lawsuit is that the petition did not meet requirements — which Circuit Court Judge Miguel de la O ruled did not matter since it was the city commission that voted to put the measure on the ballot.
The main argument is exactly the same, which the judge categorized as tears over spilled milk: Carollo didn’t get his way on the dais and the question moved forward to the ballot. So he took his gripe to court.
Does this mean that he’s going to legally challenge other decisions that go against him on the dais?
Because that can get expensive.

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