Former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora has waited. And waited. And waited.

Góngora has skipped several elections, waiting to run for mayor when he felt he had a better chance. Not against Philip Levine. Not against Dan Gelber, who is finally termed-out. But certainly now in the open seat.

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After having denied any connection to a mysterious political action committee that raised $200,000  Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco, who is running for mayor, admitted last week that he knew the chairman of People for Better Leaders.

Then, just a few days after two Miami Herald reporters forced the admission and made several connections between Grieco and the PAC, the chairman said he was closing the Better Leaders PAC and returning the funds to the donors. 

But there is already another PAC operating that can do some of Grieco’s dirty work in his race for mayor of Miami Beach against former Sen. Dan Gelber. A new PAC created in April also has connections to Grieco.

For months, the commissioner denied having anything to do with the Better Leaders PAC. In January, after an anonymous email blast — which illegally had no disclaimer — made the connections, Grieco told Ladra that he didn’t know anything about Better Leaders or the people behind it. But in an email last week to the Herald reporters, Nicholas Nehamas and Joey Flechas, he said that he did know Chairman Brian Abraham, after all.

Read related story: Miami Beach: Anonymous email attacks Michael Grieco

“I know the chairmen of many political committees, such as John Morgan, Ben Pollara, Brian Abraham, Stephen Bittel, Adonis Garcia and others through my political, personal and professional relationships over the years, so the premise of your question and this article itself merely makes this publication an accomplice to a dishonest attack on me by my political opponent, his consultant, and developer backers,” Grieco wrote to a reporter he accused of being on the other campaign’s payroll.

“As I have demonstrated, this is a textbook case of character assassination, and in any other arena this would constitute an act of slander/libel.”

But he really hasn’t demonstrated anything — except maybe that he’s too defensive about it — and the Herald did a good job of connecting the dots. Such a good job, in fact, that Abraham said he was closing the PAC and returning the money to the donors.

Wonder how many of those donors will turn around and re-contribute that money to a second PAC, Our Time Is Now, which has raised only $10,000 so far — and quickly spent them on consulting and communications by Grieco’s newest political consultant, Pedro Diaz.

This PAC business may be par for the course in some elections, but it’s a big deal in Miami Beach, where they have become political piranhas. They were never looked upon fondly, but became extra sketchy in 2015 after Mayor Philip Levine and then Commissioner Jonah Wolfson collected more than $1 million for their shady Relentless for Progress PAC –and quickly came under fire. They were accused, understandably, of using their office and position to shake down contributions from vendors and contractors who either had business or wanted business with the city. It prompted the city commission to pass an ordinance in January of last year that prohibit electeds or candidates for soliciting PAC funds directly or indirectly. The county also passed an ordinance last year that requires candidates of any municipality to register if they raise PAC cash.

Grieco has not registered, but the Miami Herald reporters got at least one contributor to say that the commissioner himself solicited the contribution, which would be a violation of the Miami Beach ordinance. The commissioner did not return several calls and text messages from Ladra. But in January he said he would not open a PAC and he has since raised more than half a million in his candidate account.

Read related story: Michael Grieco hits $500K, with help from real estate investor

Our Time Is Now is actually an “Elections Communications Organization,” which is a PAC with a different name that operates under a few different rules (for example, you can’t say “vote for” in the propaganda). It opened in April and the only real contribution as of the end of May was $10,000 from TTD, LLC, which is owned by Roger Thomson and James Tyrrell, both of 4271 Alton Road.

Thomson, an attorney active in LGBTQ advocacy who appears to work in the restaurant industry, also gave $10,000 to People for Better Leaders in January. And that’s another connection to Grieco. It also brings Thomson’s investment total to $20K, around the same time that commissioners are considering limits on formula restaurants like Chili’s or Olive Garden in certain areas.

Our Time Is Now spent all $10,000 — $7,500 on May 5 and $2,500 on May 30 — on consulting and communications by Pedro Diaz, a political consultant that just joined Grieco’s team. The PAC is chaired by Mark Rivero, who works with Diaz Consulting Group.

Diaz did not return a call from Ladra, but earlier had told me that he uses a number of PACs for different campaigns. He also represents Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who announced she would run for Congress, and Miami city commission candidate Alex Dominguez.

Our Time Is Now says it will be used for Miami-Dade candidates — which I guess is anybody in Miami Beach as well.

There are three other active PACs in Miami Beach — Beach Residents for Quality of Life, Guardians of Miami Beach and Save Miami Beach 2016 — but none of them have done any recent fundraising or spending. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t more other mysterious PACs operating.

And let’s remember the original email blast that exposed the connections between Grieco and the Better Leaders PAC had no legal disclaimer. Could be yet another mysterious PAC, so mysterious we don’t even know its name.

Ladra thinks the Beach voters don’t like any of this and that it might be an opportunity for a third candidate.

Even before the next campaign report is due next week, Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco passed the half million dollar mark in his quest to become the city’s next mayor. Last month’s campaign finance report shows $41,575 brought in April for a total warchest of $500,942.

But almost 10 percent of that comes from a real estate investor who supported higher zoning in North Beach and may want to gentrify several blocks of South Beach around Flamingo Park.

Adam Walker, who has given Grieco at least $40,400 bundled through his company, Boardwalk Properties, and 40 other related firms, bought 15 aging, low- and moderate-rent Art Deco apartment buildings in South Beach for $59 million last year and immediately raised rents 50 percent to force working people out and cater to a more affluent clientele.

Read related story: Dan Gelber raises mayoral money fast, and spends it fast

“It’s true that instead of having taxi drivers and sous chefs, you’ll end up with younger attorneys, people who work in the Design District, people who work downtown,” Walker told the Miami Herald . “These are people who drive Porsches and are drawn to Miami Beach but don’t want to live in high rises.”

In a February, 2016, letter to the editor of the Miami Herald, Grieco — who is running for mayor against former Sen. Den Gelber, who has raised $361,519 and much of it from outside the city — defended workforce housing, saying that he and Commissioner Joy Malakoff had made efforts to preserve and increase it. But he told Ladra recently that what Walker did was invest in improvements to restore, even save Art Deco buildings that have long been neglected.

Meanwhile, Walker has been known to neglect his own properties. State records show that buildings his mulitple companies owns have, collectively, received dozens of violations since 2012 for such things as holes in the ceiling, holes in the wall, discarded appliances outside, cockroaches, and a failure to display balcony inpsections more than once, just for starters.

Miami-Dade Court records also show he’s filed paperwork to evict tenants 112 times since 2014. Grieco better hope they’re not still city voters.

“He supports me for the same reason anybody else supports me, because he likes what I am doing for Miami Beach,” Grieco told Ladra, questioning why I would even bring this up (because it’s the biggest case of bundling by far).

“He’s doing a good thing saving those buildings. He’s making a big investment,” Grieco said about Walker.

Yes, and the $40,000 given to the mayoral campaign can also be seen as an investment. In what?

“Good government,” Grieco said.

The mayoral race in Miami Beach is going to be expensive as both candidates have already raised almost $800,000 between them. Ladra fully expects this to go over the million dollar mark before the November election.

Commissioner Michael Grieco — who loaned himself $25,000 in December — has raised the most with $459,367. To be fair, he started last summer. But, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed this week, Grieco also has spent less since June than former state Senator Dan Gelber, who has raised just over $308,991, has spent since February. Gelber has spent $64,223 already, in two months, while Grieco has spent $51,672 in nine.

Read related story: Ladra predicts Dan Gelber files for Miami Beach mayor

Sure, it’s early in the campaign, but consider this: Gelber raised $222,435 in his first month and $88,556 in his second month. That’s quite a drop-off. He spent $5,333 in February and $59,000 in March. That’s some inflation. If this trend continues — raising less and less and spending more and more — he could be out of money by August.

In comparison, Grieco’s fundraising has not dropped off as hard. He started his mayoral campaign with $107,000 in January, followed up with $70,000 in February and $48,747 last month. Spending has nearly doubled, but that means it went up from $9,246 in January to $16,431 last month.

The $219,000 Grieco raised last year as a commission candidate — and none of those donors have asked for their checks back — were also a consistent series of reports: $34,600 in June, $28,200 in July, $24,200 in August, $37,650 in September, $36,650 in October, $19,000 in November and $13,250 in December — but fundraising always falls off during the holidays. During the entire year of 2016, seven months of campaigning, Grieco spent almost $5,280, the bulk of which ($4,000) went to a fundriaisng consultant named Owen Carhart. Most of the rest went to processing fees.

Carhart got another $3,550 so far this year on the mayoral account but there are three other consultants: Stefanie Epstein, who is also a fundraising consultant, has been pad $6,000 and Jonathan Fernandez got $1,000. The big cahoona here is Ladra’s favorite scuzbucket, and the main thing I hold against Grieco, David “Guttermouth” Custin, who has billed $17,286 so far for consulting and other things, such as stationery, hand fans, holiday calendars and other “collateral materials” on which he skims at least 15% and probably more.

“I’m very proud of the pace of my fundraising,” Grieco told Ladra this week shortly after the most recent campaign finance reports were filed. He also said that he expected Gelber to come out strong.

“I’m not surprised he can rraise a lot of money. Dan is a career politician,” Grieco said.

“Most of my supporters are people who know me,” Gelber said. “I don’t think I’ve been spending that much.”

Well, let’s see. In addition to about $2,200 for yard signs and another $2,000 for placards, magnets, bumper stickers and a banner, he’s doled out more than $30,000 on staff, according to the last reports through March 31 and filed this week. And again, this is all in two months time.

Gelber paid $9,500 to Tampa-based pollster SEA Polling for “research.” But his consultant, Christian Ulvert, who got paid $9,925, wouldn’t tell Ladra anything about the results, just that it was “issue oriented.” Gelber has a team of political consultants, too. And they are pricier. Michael Worley, out of Fort Lauderdale, is doing his social media for $6,680 so far. Campaign Manager Adrian Chamberlin, who was a field director for the Florida Democratic Party in 2016, has made about $4,000. and Nicole Arango, who does event coordination and senior outreach, has gotten $1,500 through March.

The biggest single payout from Gelber’s campaign account was to his professional fundraiser, Brian Goldmeier, who is best known for raising millions for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his allies on the commission, sometimes shaking down the very contractors and vendors who do or want to do business with the county. Goldie got $17,634, so far, because that fee is usually worked out as a percentage of what he brings in. He also got $840 as a reimbursement for an fundraising event, which was coincidentally the same cost of a February event at Perricone’s in Brickell.

Read related story: Mike Grieco first to run for open Miami Beach mayor’s seat

But while the former federal prosecutor’s spending habits are certainly interesting, that’s not the most troubling part of the campaign report. As usual, the devil is in the details and a quick count of the contributions by address show that roughly 70% of Gelber’s campaign cash comes from outside Miami Beach. That makes senses, I guess, if he is tapping into his statewide Democratic Party support base and Goldmeier is reaching out across the county.

Again, Gelber disagreed with my findings. “A lot of folks may be using an address where they work but they live in Miami Beach. Most of my supporters are people who know me. Maybe they don’t live here now but they did and they still work here. They have an interest in Miami Beach.”

Aha! There’s the word: interest. Yes, I am sure there is a lot of out-of-town interests in Miami Beach contributing to your campaign.

Ulvert, the candidate’s political consultant, called Ladra quickly after Gelber aplogogized for having to hang up to go to a private fundraiser at someone’s home. Ulvert wanted to explain that 40 or 50 of those out of town checks had come from lawyers and other professionals who live on the Beach but used their professional address. That would still leave Gelber with more than 60% of his financial support from outside Miami Beach.

Meanwhile, the exact opposite is true for Grieco, who reports almost 70% of his contributions as coming from Miami Beach, the city he wants to represent. One can assume they, too, have an interest.

Looking at his contributions and his staff, one has to wonder if Gelber, who ran for Florida Attorney General in 2010 but lost to Pam Bondi, is running a regional Democratic Party campaign (again) for a non partisan municipal seat.

Former State Sen. Dan Gelber will file for the Miami Beach mayoral seat in February.

Oh, he hasn’t committed. But after a short chat with Gelber Tuesday night, Ladra is predicting that he will, indeed, file for the seat very soon. My guess is he’s just waiting for the beginning of the month so he doesn’t have to file a wimpy campaign finance report for January.

“I am thinking very seriously about it and likely will make an announcement in a week or two,” Gelber told Ladra. “I’ve never been coy about public service. I am interested in the position and need to go through my own process.”

Ladra called the senator to ask him about the nasty anonymous email attack that went out Tuesday against Commissioner Michael Grieco, who is so far the only candidate who has announced his candidacy for mayor. Thank God he wasn’t offended, even though he said it’s not his style.

Read related story: Anonymous email attacks Michael Grieco

“I heard about it. It’s obviously nothing I had to do with,” Gelber told Ladra. “I don’t know if it even resembles the truth. I don’t work like that.”

Well, then perhaps it was someone who supports him and knows, like Ladra, that Gelber is going to put his hat in the ring. Las malas lenguas say the former senator is Levine’s handpicked successor, since Commissioner Ricky Arriola tanked in some telephone polls. After all, they have the same consultant, Christian Ulvert. And Gelber endorsed Levine in a overly flattering video in 2013.

A former prosecutor, Gelber was a state rep for Miami Beach from 2001 to 2009, when he became a state senator for two years, leaving in 2011 (succeeded by Sen. Gwen Margolis). He probably misses public office. It’s in his blood. His father, Seymore Gelber, was a judge and mayor of Miami Beach from 1991 to 1997.

In 2010, Dan Gelber ran unsuccesfully for Attorney General against Pam Bondi. But he raised more than $2.6 million and had a ton of hefty endorsements, including former state senator, former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno (who died last year,), former Florida Education Secretary Betty Castor and Congresswoman and DNC Vice Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz as well as the Florida Police Benevolent Association, the state’s largest law enforcement organization.

If Gelber runs for mayor, and Ladra is betting that he does, it is likely that he will be endorsed by some big Democrats yet again.

Ladra doesn’t know if he’ll get Bill Clinton, like Levine did in 2013, but maybe. Because they have the same consultant, Christian Ulvert. Las malas lenguas say the former senator is Levine’s handpicked successor, since Commissioner Ricky Arriola tanked in some telephone polls.

Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco, who is running for mayor this year, may not have an opponent yet. But he’s already the target of negative attacks trying to link him to a new shady PAC collecting big donations from people or companies with interests in the city.

Whoever sent the email Tuesday that makes Grieco look like he’s bought and paid for — and we don’t know who it was because there was no disclaimer — also made it look like it came from the commissioner himself. Cute.

“I’m often asked, why on Earth would you run for office? The answer is pretty simple actually. There’s a nice dollar to be made off of the people’s back,” the email starts, underneath a postcard painting Grieco as a celebrity attorney because he may have represented Justin Bieber for five seconds.

“Sometimes ‘keeping celebs outta jail’ just doesn’t cut it. As long as you set up a secret Political Action Committee, anyone can run for office successfully. Luckily, I’m here to share my secrets with you.”

The email goes on to have Grieco proudly claim he has raised more than $190,000 “to finance a dirty campaign for mayor” through a political action committee, People for Better Leaders. “If you thought Philip Levine‘s all-time dirty Relentless for Progress PAC was good, wait until you check out my financials,” it says providing a screen shot of the PAC’s contributions, listing multiple vendors and contractors with business interests in the Beach and/or items before the commission.

The email is signed Michael “Grafty” Grieco. Told you it was cute. But is it truthful? It certainly isn’t transparent.

“Fake news and alternative facts,” said Grieco, who told Ladra that he had nothing to do with the PAC and did not know who was running it.

Documents filed with the Division of Florida Elections say that somebody named Brian George is the chairman and un fulano tal Brian Abraham is the treasurer. But the telephone number listed with filing documents was not accepting calls Tuesday. Sure, some of the donors match Grieco’s campaign donors, as the email suggests. But they also match donors for other candidates in the past and for Levine’s shady PAC, which he shared with former Commissioner Jonah Wolfson.

“I am not actively raising soft money,” Grieco told Ladra, referring to the term used for PAC contributions, which have “softer” rules about ethical campaigning. Grieco added that he was “strictly raising hard money” and would report “well in excess of $300,000” in next month’s report. He already has $234,000 in his campaign account.

City rules prohibit Grieco from getting campaign contributions from contractors or vendors who do business with the city or want to. PACs provide a loophole, but new county rules require candidates to disclose if they are soliciting funds for a political action committee. Grieco says he doesn’t have a PAC but, if he opens one, it will have his name on it. While he has donations from people who own businesses on Ocean Drive, he says they gave to him despite him having voted against their interests — voting to eliminate the “to-go” cups and ban alcohol sales past 2 a.m. — because they believe in his leadership.

“I will continue to raise money openly and cleanly,” said Grieco, who spent Tuesday morning talking to about 200 people at his own breakfast meeting.

If people want to send cowardly, misleading emails with fake news and alternative facts, they will. There’s a list of powerful people who don’t want me to be mayor.”

On that list, one might find Mayor Levine — who has been pissed at Grieco since the latter came out against the storm water increases and then the Cuban embassy — and Wolfson, who just hates everybody, and Commissioner Ricky Arriola, who wanted to run for mayor until a poll told him Grieco would devour him whole. The PAC could belong to one of them. It could belong to someone else. It could be anyone’s really. It doesn’t have to be Grieco’s or an opponent’s. It could be anyone who wants to hurt the commissioner’s chances in November (see names above).

In fact, that attack email could have been sent and paid for by People for Better Leaders, for all we know. Or any one of the six — count ’em, six! — committees listed on the city’s website for this election.

Ladra is certain we haven’t seen the last anonymous assault.