If or when Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez gets his grant to put a spy plane in the sky — a wide area surveillance program that will capture video indiscriminately over 32 square miles at a time — he may find a few no-fly zones over some of the 37 municipalities within the county boundaries.

“He’s going to have to do it in unincorporated Dade because he has no jurisdiction here,” said Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado. The county department has an interlocal agreement with Miami Police that allows them certain cooperation and limited authority within 500 feet of the city limits.

“But investigations have to be done by Miami Police,” Regalado said.

The mayor’s intent to spy on the entire county population indiscriminately was first disclosed by Miami New Times and details were later explained in a Miami Herald story. The Iraq war technology was first used in Baltimore after the police shooting and it became controversial because it was implemented in secret — kind of like Gimenez did here, again going ahead with the application for a $1.2 million federal grant for a pilot program before asking the commission for approval. Of course the police director is saying that they had to apply before the deadline, but it could have been brought up in the last meeting. They did it on purpose because it’s easier to say “oops” than to ask for persmission.

This isn’t even a crime fighting tool. This is $1.2 million for an investigative tool to use after a crime has been committed. The cameras mounted on a small plane that orbits a designated area records 32 square miles at a time and the footage is reviewed later to see if the police can track the perpetrators back to where they came from after a murder or bank robbery. It’s invasive and violates people’s right to expected privacy, because in the process of video taping the bank robbery or the purse snatching, the wide survillance eye also captures your backyard barbecue. You can’t make out the faces, but you can count how many people were there, maybe who was dancing with who? And if the same public records rules apply, does that mean that wives can now ask for video tapes to see if their husbands were cheating or parents can ask to see where their kids go when they skip school? Who gets to decide?

And how do we know it won’t be used for code enforcement? To catch someone with an illegal gazebo and fine them for it? (Count on Commissioner Rebeca Sosa to ask.)

Ladra hopes that the commission balks but they’ve been rubber stamping everything of the mayor’s lately, even after they question it and hem and haw and say they shouldn’t, they approve whatever he brings them. Maybe the municipal mayors will come and speak out.

“I am a big believer in the right to privacy,” said Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid. His town was one of the first to adopt their own policy — even before the state legislature — that does not allow police to use drones without a warrant. He was a councilman when he voted in favor of the policy.

“That said, look at how much the private sector has invaded our privacy,” Cid told Ladra, adding that the GPS in our phones tracked our every move. “Google and Facebook have more information on our residents than we do.”

Cid said he wants to look at what Gimenez is proposing and give him a chance to explain. “But our mission is to make sure we are a private community, that people know that they can go into their backyard and it is their domain,” he said. “Our number one objective is obviously public safety, but we need to prote our residents’s privacy as well.”

South Miami Mayor Phillip Stoddard said he can only see using the wide area surveillance for a live chase. “If they can put a plane up when they are looking for a fugitive, then maybe. But without probable cause? I cannot imagine my residents tolerating that,” Stoddard told Ladra.

Ditto for Homestead: “I’m certainly not going to be in favor of having silent drones flying over Homestead spying on people,” Mayor Jeff Porter said. “You can’t cast that large a net. Don’t spy on all of us.”

The plane would likely fly in neighborhoods with high crime statistics. That means low-income inner city residents would be spied on more than affluent white folk. Miami Gardens will get it more than, say, Coral Gables. Now, sit back and watch as very little public outrage comes forth. Mayor Oliver Gilbert was out of the country and Ladra could not reach him to get his feelings on the spy in the sky.

Two other mayors who Ladra did connect with didn’t like the idea too much but didn’t want to get into a pissing match with the county mayor on Political Cortadito. Gimenez apparently reads it because el les hala las orejas when they talk to me.

Mayor Gimenez told the Miami Herald that we, the taxpaying property owners of Miami-Dade, can’t expect privacy even at our own homes. “You have no expectation of privacy when you walk outside. I have no expectation of privacy in my backyard,” said the mayor, who happens to live in Coral Gables where the plane will likely never fly.

So Ladra invites readers to prove him right: Go to the mayor’s house, 4061 S. LeJeune Road, and see if he’ll let you take pictures of the family in the backyard. Then post it with a new hashtag. Something like #privacyisfortheprivileged or maybe #yourbackyardismybackyard. Or even #Iamspyplane

Another elected office is suddenly going to be prematurely vacant soon: Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Tony Lama is expected to resign in July to move to Seattle for a plum job at Amazon dot com.

But the replacement will be an appointee until the next election in Miami Lakes, which is not until 2018.

Lama, first elected in 2012 and re-elected last November with 61 percent of the vote, will be the principal business development manager for the online giant, joining a former colleague who went to Amazon last year. Specifically, he will be working on the marketing and roll-out of new products and services. Something called “enterprise solutions.”

Let Ladra be the first to say wow.

“It’s an exciting opportunity,” Lama, 39, said Thursday. “It’s a good move for my family. It’s not so much about money. It’s an opportunity to work at a company that has been disruptive to so many industries and such a great place to work.”

His wife and four children, age 8 to college freshman, are excited about the chance to live in the mountains on the West Coast and be exposed to a different climate, both environmentally and socially. “It’s good for them to see the world from a whole different perspective,” said Lama, who has worked in the contact center software industry and discussed the move with his extended family and friends.

“I would have never guessed four months ago that I’d be contemplating a move outside of Florida and here I am,” Lama said. “These are exciting times with the technological changes in how businesses communicate with or deliver to consumers.”

Read related story: Graft in Miami Lakes: A tale of 2 council members, A and B

Lama’s last meeting will be in July — just in time for a newby successor to go through the budget process. He and his family will make the journey across the country over the summer, so the kids can start the new school year there.

According to the town charter, Mayor Manny Cid will then have 30 days to make a recommendation to the council, which would have to approve any nomination, to fill in the term until the next regularly scheduled election in Miami Lakes. That won’t be until the next countywide election, the August primary of 2018.

“It’s going to be a huge loss for the town,” Cid told Ladra. “Tony isn’t a guy to just be up there. He has put initiatives forward and he has thrown elbows when he has had to.”

Cid mentioned three big achievements right off the bat: the police contract, which became a model for other labor agreements in the Lakes and other municipalities; the Lakes Living app that allows residents to report a pothole with a phone pic; and Lama’s efforts to get a connection from 67th Avenue to the Gratigny Expressway as the main objectives that his collegue has accomplished.

Lama is to speak Thursday afternoon at the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization meeting to urge board to pass an amendment that would make the partial interchange at 67th Avenue a priority.

“He’s leaving us with a strong legacy,” Cid said.

But while it won’t be easy to replace him, Cid already has two or three people in mind for the recommendation. “We’re fortunate in Miami Lakes to have a deep, deep talent pool,” he said.

Let’s hope he considers Elizabeth Delgado, even if she is an ally of former Mayor Michael Pizzi. While she lost to Lama with only 39% of the vote last November, that still represents 4,930 Miami Lakes residents who put their confidence in her. That’s far more than seven councilmen.

And it might be nice to have a woman on the dais again.

Miami-Dade Commissoner Esteban Bovo wants the Florida Department of Transportation to open up the Northwest 170th Street bridge over I-75 so that people who live on the west side in Hialeah — where more development is coming, including the American Dream Miami mega mall — can cross over more easily to the Palmetto Expressway and 87th Avenue.

And, of course, vice versa.

But many residents in Miami Lakes and the unincorporated Palm Springs North — who believe the cut-through traffic would destroy their residential neighborhoods — don’t necessarily want easy access to the west side and are none too happy about having the bridge opened to vehicular traffic.

“The traffic we have now is bad enough. This is going to bring more gridlock,” said Robert Scavuzzo, president of the Palm Springs North Civic Association. He is upset that this is coming onto the agenda without any public input on the impact it would have to their neighborhood.

Bovo will ask the commission on Wednesday to urge the FDOT to open up the bridge, a two-lane road built at least as far back as the 1980s for absolutely no reason (read: someone made money off that), because “extending NW 170th Street over I-75 may minimize traffic congestion and increase the flow of traffic, benefitting those who reside and work in the area,” according to the resolution. Key word: May.

It may minimize traffic congestion? Now we’re urging the FDOT to open a bridge to traffic on conjecture?

“About four or five years ago, these bridges — really bridges to nowhere — had no reason to be opened and activated,” Bovo said, talking about both the 179th and the 154th street bridges, which he says will eventually be opened also. “That has changed. You have substantial development there now.

“I firmly believe that this is going to alleviate an area of congestion that is basically gridlock. It’s going to bring connectivity,” Bovo told Ladra, using one of his favorite buzzwords. “This is an area of Northwest Dade that has been very sleepy for a long time and, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on whose lens you are looking through, it is waking up with a lot of development.

“Both bridges are going to be required to alleviate the traffic that is coming.”

Read related story: American Dream moves along without any ifs, ands or buts

But Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid says he can’t support Bovo’s resolution without a traffic study that says it’s definitely going to help congestion and flow. Not that it may help.

“We do things a little differently in Miami Lakes. We base our actions on fact,” Cid told Ladra.

“They keep saying it’s going to help connectivity in the area, but we’re skeptical,” he said, adding that he would send an email to Bovo on Tuesday and would be at the meeting Wednesday to oppose the resolution. “We think it’s just going to change traffic patterns and make traffic worse.”

The opening a few years ago of Northwest 87th Avenue, which was controversial back then too, is an example. “Although it was good for Northwest Dade on connectivity, it was bad for Miami Lakes,” Cid said.

In fact, the town council voted unanimously last year to reject any attempt to open the bridge without a traffic study — paid for by either the county or the private developers on the west side of I-75 who are pushing for this — that finds it will benefit the people of Miami Lakes. Which, let’s face it, is a long shot. Opening that bridge might benefit the people west of I-75, who only can get out via 138th or 183rd streets. But it’s unlikely that it will benefit the people on the east.

Except to make it easier to get to the American Dream Miami mega mall.

Bovo and other sources close to the American Dream discussions told Ladra, however, that the owners of the mega mall are not the ones pushing for this. They are working on other entrance and exit points that would be less disruptive to the surrounding residential neighborhood — there has been talk of developing ramps directly onto the property from the Turnpike or I-75 — and their traffic study indicates no need to have the Northwest 170 Street bridge opened.

Though, certainly, it would be a welcome bonus, wouldn’t it?

Read related story: Miami Lakes mayor wants a piece of American Dream pie

More likely, several sources say, this is being pushed by Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez — a Bovo pal and ally — on behalf of and in partnership with

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

Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid believes the American Dream mega mall have a bigger impact on his town than anywhere else. And, so, he thinks they should be compensated.

Cid wrote a letter last month to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Chairman Esteban Bovo stating his desire to have not only 100 percent of the impact fees spent in Northwest Dade but also a recurring amount of tax dollars to be funneled to Miami Lakes.

“As you are already aware, our community is concerned and is monitoring the progress of the proposed American Dream Miami project. We are anxiously awaiting the agreement between MDC planners and the mall’s developers that will outline a proposal to address the traffic impact.

What is abundantly clear is that Miami-Dade County will receive millions of dollars in impact fees and millions of dollars on a recurring basis once the mall is open. My request is to have 100% of all the impact fees stay in Northwest Miami-Dade County, both in the incorporated and unincorporated areas, to alleviate the impact on our roads and public services. Additionally, to assist us in dealing with the day-to-day traffic impact, Miami Lakes should receive a percentage of all recurring revenue on a yearly basis to fund our strategic transportation initiatives, which will hopefully alleviate the mall’s impact for Miami Lakers (attached you will find our transportations initiatives list with a cost as of July 2016).

As elected officials, we represent the people’s interests. Ensuring that we get the best deal possible for our residents is paramount. I look forward to working with you both on this very imporant issue for Miami Lakers.”

In other words, is Miami Lakes for sale? Because what Ladra is hearing is that they would oppose this development unless they get a piece of the American Dream pie.

Ladra expects Cid to be at the meeting Wednesday when county commissioners consider changes to the Comprehensive Devlopment Master Plan, the first of many applications to amend land use and zoning requirements in the way of the megamall’s development.

Read related story: American Dream megamall seeks first county approval

Once open, the American Dream megamall would provide close to $35 million a year in property and sales taxes. The Miami Lakes wishlist of transportation projects cost about $12 million. But the key word here is recurring and Ladra is sure that Cid and his colleagues in Miami Lakes can find other projects that they “need” to mitigate whatever impact the megamall has.

Cid has talked about a 15% size piece of the pie, though he has said it should be proportional to the impact on the town.

But if they get a piece, won’t Hialeah wan’t one? Hialeah Gardens? Ladra is sure they have wish lists of their own. How about Broward?

How many pieces does the pie have?

This is a new feature that debuts today on Political Cortadito.

The Cortadito Calendar: A weekly calendar of political powwows, events with electeds and meaningful or not so meaningful meetings.

Now you know what’s going on. You have no excuses.

MONDAY — Dec. 5

7 p.m. — The New Administration and Prospects For Peace present New York Times columnist Roger Cohen and a discussion about what the elections results will mean for efforts to reach peace in the Middle East. Cohen, a staple at the NYT for 25 years is also the author of four books. The latest, published last year, is a family memoir entitled “The Girl from Human Street: Ghosts of Memory in a Jewish Family” that has received wide acclaim. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the Hibiscus Room at Pinecrest Gardens, 11000 Red Road.

TUESDAY — Dec. 6

9 a.m. — Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez is back Tuesday for his first county commission meeting — in four years. Martinez was termed out in 2012 and ran for mayor against Carlos Gimenez, but lost. He then ran for Congress, but lost again. He only won in August because Commissioner Juan Zapata dropped out of the race. It should be interesting to watch how he is welcomed. Or not. Folks at County Hall tell me that there are some people who are bristling. Martinez is former cop with an anger management issue who can hold a grudge with the best of ’em and it is no secret he feels slighted by folks at the 111 building. But he is also smarter than he looks and experienced with the county budget and processes. It will be hard for “Cry Wolf” Gimenez to pull th wool over Joe’s eyes. But it could be fun to watch him try. Sit in the audience at commission chambers at County Hall, 111 NW 1st Street. Or watch live: Channel 76 on Comcast or on the county website.

7 p.m. — Newly elected Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid will have his first meeting as mayor, having been sworn in last week after he beat former Mayor Michaeld “Muscles” Pizzi in a runoff, 77 to 23 percent. The meeting will also be graced by new council member Luis Collazo (it’s still an all boys club). And they have a pretty big agenda. They will review site plans for approval (inluding one for the Graham Companies), an amendment to their development code, several contracts with city vendors and the hiring of a lobbyist. They will talk about MDX, special taxing districts, modifying the budget (already?), requiring fences around construction areas, a toy drive and venomous snakes. Sounds like fun. The council chambers are at Town Hall, 6601 Main Street.

WEDNESDAY — Dec. 7

9 a.m. — Pinecrest Council Workshop at the Pinecrest Municipal Center, 12645 Pinecrest Parkway, in council chambers.

THURSDAY — Dec. 8

6-8 p.m. — Miami-Dade County’s Department of Cultural Affairs will have a town hall meeting to unveil preliminary site plans for the renovation of the Coconut Grove Playhouse and get community input. The plans to be presented have been developed by a design team led by Arquitectonica per their contract with Miami-Dade County and not the Coconut Grove Playhouse Foundation. The town hall begins at 6 p.m. at Ransom Everglades School, 3575 Main Highway. Expect Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez, who has long championed the renovation of the cultural landmark, to be front and center and Miami Commissioner Ken Russell to attend.

If you know of any political happening that should be included in the Cortadito Calendar, please email the information to edevalle@gmail.com and thank you.

He beat a bribery rap in federal court. Then he won several judicial rulings to get back into his elected office to finish out his term. He even beat a possible DUI investigation when he hit a tree on the side of a road and ran away from the accident on foot.

It took voters in Miami Lakes to finally take Mayor “Teflon” Michael Pizzi out — of office.

Pizzi solidly lost the mayoral runoff Tuesday to Councilman Manny Cid, who promises to usher in a new era. It was a massive rejection for Pizzi — who was first elected a Miami Lakes council member 16 years ago — with a 77 percent vote to bring in someone new, likely elating most of the council members and several resident activists who have been battling with the beleaguered politician for years.

Read related story: Michael Pizzi makes it a three way race in Miami Lakes

“It’s time for new leadership. That was our message from the beginning,” Cid told Ladra. “We’re closing one chapter and opening another one. It’s definitely time to move forward.”

How will he be a different mayor than Pizzi?

“One thing I’ve always been focused on from the beginning is accessibility and transparency,” Cid said. “For a long time, there have been open wounds in this community. We need to heal.

“I will be a mayor for all, regardless of whether they voted for me or not.”

Even for Pizzi, who wished Cid well as the two left a voting location at the end of the day. A little birdie told Ladra he even saw them hug. Pizzi must have known he was toast.

Read related story: Young GOP VIPs back Manny Cid for Miami Lakes mayor

At a victory party Tuesday night, Cid thanked Pizzi for his 16 years of service and told supporters that he would focus on fostering unity on the council so he can promote his vision for the town, which he plans to announce at a press conference Wednesday morning.

“My vision is one of a new genertion for this community,” said Cid, 33, who championed for the town to get control of its special taxing districts (done) from the county and for Miami Lakes to have its own city postal destination — instead of Miami or, worse, Hialeah (still working on it).

He says the priority for the next few years will be addressing traffic issues.

“My vision is to work with all the stakeholders for the benefit of Miami Lakes,” Cid said.

Some of those stakeholders might include charter school czar Ignacio Zulueta and his family, who contributed at least $3,000 to Cid’s campaign, according to his finance eports. Real estate investors and former partners of former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina, Marty Caparros and Alex Ruiz, contributed $5,000, but Ladra was told that Ruiz is a high school buddy. Zachary Exposito and his family, who own construction firms and car washes, gave at least $2,300. And then there were mulitiple lobbyists who donated, but lobbyists give in every race, don’t they? He also got a lot of support from realtors and realtor PACs.

Read related story: Michael Pizzi wins Round 1 vs Miami Lakes for legal fees

Cid outraised and outspent Pizzi, the incumbent, with $105,000 collected as of Nov. 24. Pizzi had raised almost $70,000, including nearly $10K to a PAC run by Charlie Safdie.

The contributors include attorneys David Reiner, Clay Reiner and Ben Kuehne, who represented Pizzi in both the bribery trial and the lawsuits to regain his seat.

Pizzi has sued the city for $2.25 million to pay the fees for his legal dream team, which included six other attorneys who did not give a cent.

The three who did gave $2,500 between them.