Chairman Anthony Rodriguez can claim the chaos
In what is one of the most egregious abuses of power that Ladra has witnessed in decades of government reporting, the Miami-Dade Commission sat silently by while a resident who had gone to County Hall to have her voice heard was violently dragged out of Commission Chambers last week by at least four officers and eventually arrested on trumped up felony charges.
And the cowards have not said anything since.
While they all bear responsibility for allowing this to happen, unnecessarily, the biggest burden falls on Commission Chairman Anthony “A-Rod” Rodriguez, who caused a lot of confusion in his hasty attempt to mute the large crowd that had gone to speak against an agenda item at Thursday’s meeting that would authorize an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on reimbursement and public records for detainees (more on that later).
Read related: Miami-Dade could go above and beyond to help ICE with local detainees
Rodriguez said that if even only one person spoke, then that would be the public hearing and nobody could speak about the issue again if it were taken up later (fully knowing it was not going to be taken up later). This was confusing people, especially since the county attorney said that no, they could speak later. Which means Rodriguez was lying. The item also said the agreement would be retroactive, so people were wondering if that meant it had already been implemented.
In a video shot by The Miami Herald’s Doug Hanks, (who also captured the featured image above) Camila Ramos is dragged from the Miami-Dade Commission Chambers June 26.
Camila Ramos, a real estate agent who went before the commission to oppose the agreement, was still in jail Friday afternoon, nearly 24 hours after she was dragged out of county hall. According to the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department’s online inmate search, she was at the Turner Guilford Knight corrections center until she was released around 4 p.m., with a $7,500 bond on charges of aggravated battery of a police officer and resisting arrest with violence.
Another protester who was also arrested was also released.
Attorney Bruce Lehr, who is representing Ramos, told Political Cortadito that the first charge was already changed from first degree felony aggravated battery to battery, a third degree felony. This is based on the allegation that she struck a police officer in the face with a closed fist. But anyone who watches the video can see that Ramos was not in control of her own body as police grabbed her by her arms, her wrists, her legs and even her hair to drag and carry her out of commission chambers. She may have hit someone by accident while she was flailing about.
In fact, the video taken by The Miami Herald should come with a disclaimer for gratuitous violence.
“No, no, noooo,” she is heard saying as they surround her and grab her. “I’m just asking about the process. I just asked about the process.” She goes limp. She probably weighs 110 pounds soaking wet.
“Let go of me, let go of me, let go of me, let go of me” Ramos wails, and everybody stands by and does nothing. She grabs a man’s sleeve as they drag her off, but he just smirks. “No! No!”
Ladra is not sure it’s her or someone else who says “Stop what you’re doing.” Then Ramos tells the officers that she’ll leave on her own. “Let me go. Let me go. I can stand and I can be quiet. No! Let me go. I have a right to understand this process.”
They ask her if she can walk. She says she needs to take a breath. So they keep dragging her out.
That kind of escalation was completely unnecessary.
And not one commissioner had the nerve to stand up for this constituent. They let it continue to escalate as people in the audience watched completely in shock. Someone could have simply said something like, “Hold on a second. Let her leave on her own two feet. Ma’am, contact my chief of staff outside the chambers and I will hear your concerns. I’m sorry about this.”
That would have taken guts. But it’s much easier to let this just happen and then, well maybe so many people won’t show up to public meetings and get all up in their business.
That”s why, instead, “We will have order in this chamber,” is all that Rodriguez repeated. At one point he smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “We will have order in this chamber.”
Quite tellingly, none of them have been reachable. Calls to Rodriguez, Sen. Rene Garcia, and commissioners Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez, Oliver Gilbert, Eileen Higgins, Danielle Cohen Higgins and the communications director for Commissioner Marleine Bastien, were not answered nor returned. And, while all of them are quick to make sweeping statements about local, state and national issues — especially to support or oppose something Donald Trump did — not one single statement had been issued as of Friday morning.
Read related: Miami-Dade leaders react to Donald Trump’s new ‘xenophobic’ travel ban
Only Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who also did nothing as they dragged Camila Ramos away, made a statement Friday that spoke about the general chaos — Rodriguez at one point recessed the meeting and came back — but made absolutely no mention of the total police overreaction and violation of Ramos’ rights (more on that later).
“I know many people in our community have concerns about this issue, and it was unfortunate that yesterday’s meeting escalated the way it did when people were there simply to make their voices heard,” La Alcaldesa said in her statement. “It’s critical that all residents have the opportunity to address their elected officials on topics impacting our community, and I’m glad that the Board ultimately did hold a public hearing so that residents could be heard.
“Public input is an essential part of an accessible, accountable local government and as elected officials we should encourage all residents to exercise their right to participate in local decision-making.”
What happened Thursday will not encourage anyone to participate. In fact, it will serve as a chilling factor and keep people away from County Hall for public comments. Wouldn’t that make Rodriguez and Gilbert, who has been slow to hand over the chairman’s reins, happy? They are the biggest champions of silencing the citizens and have both often stymied the First Amendment rights of other speakers throughout the years.
Rodriguez often cuts comments from two minutes to one minute because there are just too many people who want to speak. Nosy busybodies. He has also shut the mic off in mid sentence more than once. That’s what he did recently to Kendall activist Mike Rosenberg, founder of the Pets’ Trust Initiative and president the Kendall Federation of Homeowner Associations. But first, Rodriguez warned him, as caught in this video clip posted on YouTube.
“Mr. Rosenberg, I think you’ve been made aware to stay on topic, on the item you’re here to speak on,” the chairman told Rosenberg at the May 20 meeting, where the activist had gone to speak about an idea to help save stray animals. An item on the agenda about banning the feeding of strays had been withdrawn, Rodriguez said, so Rosenberg had no right to speak on it. Rosenberg says the agenda was not set until after the public comments, so the item was set to be deferred but had not yet been. It was not a pretty exchange.
“It didn’t say withdrawn yesterday when I looked at the agenda. It changed somewhere overnight,” Rosenberg said.
“I’m not going to debate that right now,” Rodriguez told him.
Rosenberg knew he would be cut off. “I’ve seen it before,” he said. But he cited rules that showed the reasonable opportunity to be heard was before the setting of the agenda. Or he began to, anyway, before Rodriguez interrupted him.
“We don’t ask questions from the podium,” Rodriguez said. We don’t? Then where is it that the public can ask questions of matters before the commission? And Rosenberg wasn’t asking a question, by the way. “You’re down to a minute, 20,” the chairman added. But when Rosenberg — the only speaker at that meeting — started to speak again, he was cut off because Rodriguez did not want to hear about it for even 80 seconds.
That’s asking too much? That our electeds listen for 120 seconds?
“Just ask yourself if this would encourage you to want be a part of this board of county commissioners and be involved in our community,” Rosenberg told Political Cortadito. “Two hours to get downtown and 90 minutes to get home. Only one speaker and they stopped me.”
Yeah, no. The answer is no.
There is a long history at Miami-Dade of cutting speakers off or discouraging. public comment in other ways. Some of the rules are ridiculously obvious for their single intent to curve public discourse. If you speak at one meeting, you can’t speak at another, even if more commissioners are there the second time. Chairpersons before Rodriguez — Gilbert for sure but also Chairmen Esteban “Stevie” Bovo and Jose “Pepe” Diaz — have also been known to thwart any public comments from constituents.
Read related: Miami-Dade’s Esteban Bovo cuts public speech on i-word
But it has never risen to the level of Thursday’s escalation of intimidation.
According to one person who was at the chambers on Thursday when Camila Ramos was dragged out, the officers were shouting and one who was there even had a rifle. Another person said that the members of her group were pushed and shoved by police officers. Why is there an officer with a rifle at a commission meeting? What’s next? The National Guard? It certainly did seem like what happened Thursday would not have happened if hostilities toward protesters had not been turned up nationwide.
What the commission wants to do is to stifle any criticism. The attitude Rodriguez puts on during meetings is precisely intended to thwart public comment. He couldn’t care less. We need more people like Camila Ramos willing to stick her neck out to say that our comments and opinions matter.
And less cowards on the county commission.
While they stayed spinelesslessly silent after what happened Thursday, all the way in Surfside, Mayor Charles Burkett sent an email Friday morning to his staff as a warning that this should not happen in their town. “This is really bad. I can’t think of any good reason why a situation like this ought to evolve with a woman on the floor with two very strong police around her,” Burkett wrote.
“We must never allow something like this to happen under our watch.”
Don’t you wish some county commissioner had said that?
The post Miami-Dade commissioners sit silent as resident is dragged out of County Hall appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Oliver Gilbert assigned new committees and appointed the commissioner who will serve as chair and vice chair of these new committees.

Every woman on the commission got a chairmanship, which means that five women will be chair of something or other for the first time in county history. That’s a majority of the eight committees.

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All five new county commissioners were sworn in at separate ceremonies Tuesday after winning their elections Nov. 8 or in the August primary.

Miami-Dade Commissioner Anthony Rodriguez didn’t have to go to a runoff after getting 56% against three other candidates in the District 10 race to replace termed-out Javier Souto. The former state rep (Republican, District 118, Westchester) had State Rep. and future Speaker Daniel Perez (Republican, District 116, Kendall) swear him in.

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Florida Rep. Anthony Rodriguez (R-Kendall) wants to replace the termed-out Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto and filed paperwork earlier this month which shows he intends to run for the open seat in 2022.

So far, it’s a two-way race between him and Libertarian cannabis advocate Martha Bueno, who filed in February.

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It’s the last week of the first month of the new year — and there’s lots going on.

From the megamall discussion at the Miami-Dade Commission to an upzone request in Doral to a town hall “brainstorming session” (read: campaign event) in Coral Gables — this is where and when we watch our government and politicians in action.

But also, it’s the first week without a Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club in Miami Beach. Sad. Someone please, please find a new venue before the election cycle gets in full swing.

As always, please keep sending news about meetings, campaign rallies, political club powwows and other events to edevalle@gmail.com. Last week, we had to add a couple of last minute items after posting because there were important events we weren’t aware of and should have been. This is your Cortadito Calendar, after all.

TUESDAY — Jan.  24

9 a.m. — The controversial  metal flower sculpture at Segovia Street and Coral Way and the North Ponce de Leon Boulevard Mixed-Use Overlay District will be hot topics at the Coral Gables Commission meeting Tuesday. Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick wants to put a question on the April ballot asking voters if they want the flower sculpture, which many residents have complained about, to remain or be moved elsewhere (more on that later). Commissioners will also take their first vote on the North Ponce Overlay. They’ve been talking about it since 2014, getting feedback from the community on this effort to develop North Ponce commercially but also protect the residential neighborhood adjacent to it. It aims to provide buffers and pedestrian connectors and to support historic preservation. As if that wasn’t enough, they will also consider beginning negotiations with a vendor on the redevelopment of two downtown parking garages. Commissioner Vince Lago wants his colleagues to consider the creation of a “parking code.” They’ll also talk about a 25 MPH limit in residential zones. And Mayor Jim Cason has a “special message.” Oh, boy. You might want to take a snack.

9:30 a.m — You may want to take two snacks to what looks like a mammoth Miami Dade Commission meeting Tuesday. They will consider spending a lot of money Tuesday. A lot of money. One contract on the agenda is for a $428.7 million to Trillium Transportation Fuels for compressed natural gas as well as issuing $100 million of the Jackson Memorial Public Facilities bond monies, another $11 million in bond funds (to be repaid by the developer) for a pubic housing project known as La Joya Estates in District 9, and a $3 million contract to Bermello, Ajamil and Partners to plan and design the master plan for the seaport. They will also consider resolutions urging state legislators to (1) enact legislation that would divert excess MDX funds to Miami-Dade County for transit projects, (2) contain utility fees and (3) oppose legislation that would allow concealed weapons on university and college campuses, among other messages they are sending to Tallahassee. They will also talk about two neighorhood traffic studies, the awarding of 59 grants for a total of $470,000 ($308,000 to promot tourism and $160,00 for cultural groups), enhanced penalties for wage theft and creating three more of those special taxing districts (for street lights). Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez will also provide ideas on possible funding for The Underline, which is not controversial (not yet, anyway; wait until he starts awarding the work) and reports on the costs of creating a multi-use path around Miami Executive Airport and preventing condominium association fraud, for which he has apparently assembled a Condominium Fraud Task Force comprised of Miami-Dade Police with the help from officers in Miami Beach, Surfside, North Miami Beach and Aventura. Ladra doubts commissioners will get out of there before 6 p.m.

7 p.m. — Developer Armando Codina, who built downtown Doral, wants the Doral City Council to upzone 10+ acres north of 41st Street between 107th and 109th avenues, from business and office residential to — what else? — high density residential. The council will consider this on Wednesday so former Doral City Attorney, Joe Jimenez — who know works as Vice President of legal and government affairs for Codina — is going to have a community workshop meeting the day before to address residents’ concerns. The powwow begins at 7 p.m. in the first floor conference room at City Hall, 8401 NW 53rd Ter., and will end after the last question is answered, Jimenez said.

WEDNESDAY — Jan. 25

9:30 a.m. — Even though a lot is happening Tuesday, this is the Miami-Dade County Commission meeting that everybody is talking about this week. Wednesday’s meeting is on amendments to the Comprehensive Master Development Plan and the main item on the agenda is the megamall and shopping themed amusement park called American Dream Miami on some 200 plus acres north of Northwest 178th Street between I-75 and the Florida Turnpike (more on this later). This is the land that Gimenez made sure the developers got at a discount price while he secretly negotiated the deal for months. Wednesday is only the first of several public hearings that could draw a lot of speakers. The main opposition so far has come from the owners of the competing malls and people who live in Miami Lakes or Pine Springs North, who already have to deal with blasting from the nearby quarries. On Wednesday, we will really get to see how this fight is going to shape up.

9:30 a.m. — The Pinecrest Village Council has will continue a worskhop from last week on the development of a strategic plan that directs the Village’s efforts and actions as well as informs the budgetary process for the next five to eight years. It is in council chambers at the Pinecrest Municipal Center, 12645 Pinecrest Parkway.

6 p.m. –Developer Armando Codina, who built downtown Doral, wants the Doral City Council to rezone 10+ acres north of 41st Street between 107th and 109th avenues, from business and office residential to — what else? — high density residential. The application says this use is consistent with the surrounding area and the city’s master plan objective of providing a wide range of housing options and rates. Of course it does. Ladra expects quite a few people to speak against this planned development of 250 units, to be called Doral 4200, because traffic in Doral is already a huge problem. The developers even expect push back, which is why they had that workshop meeting Tuesday. Newly elected Mayor J.C. Bermudez made the traffic due to overdevelopment part of his campaign. Ladra can’t imagine he’s going to be favorable. And the council is also considering a site plan for a medical plaza on the west side of 109th, among other things. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, 8401 NW 53rd Ter.

THURSDAY — Jan. 26

6 p.m. — Coral Gables Commissioner and 2017 mayoral candidate Jeannett Slesnick will have another one of her community meetings. This one is called a “brainstorming session” and residents are asked to weigh in on a number of topics, including traffic, annexation, city services, speed limits and development, among others. Hmmm… wait a minute. Those look like campaign issues. Is this a live poll in disguise? “She wants to hear from you,” shouts the email blast, and that is a great campaign message. She is so in touch. And is that why there is a registration that starts at 5 p.m.? Slesnick already has an enviable email list but there’s no harm in adding to it. And this will provide her with more official contact with voters — but she’s always in contact with everybody, so Ladra is sure she would do it anyway. It just becomes extra helpful two and a half months before the election. And it being a city event, it won’t costs the campaign a dime to have this event in the Alhambra Ballroom at the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave.

6 p.m. — Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto has one of his town hall meetings at Kendall Soccer Park, 8011 SW 127 Ave. Residents who live in that District 10 area can go and learn about services or give their complaints to the commissioner and/or his staff. If you miss it, don’t worry, there will be another one next month at the West Dade Regional Library.

FRIDAY — Jan. 27

9:00 a.m. — The Citizens Independent Transportation Trust hosts a “Municipal Transportation Workshop” every year to provide information updates and new program requirements to officials from the cities receiving Surtax funds. After opening statements by OCITT Executive Director Charles Scurr, they will discuss future initiatives, best practices, a major corridor overview — all are on the agenda, which is designed to engage the participants in panel discussions and allow municipal representatives to present and highlight their transportation achievements using PTP funds. This event also allows municipalities to communicate directly with Transportation Trust and other county staff to discuss matters of mutual concern. In the theater at the History Miami Museum, 101 West Flagler St.

Municipal and state candidates wait in the wings

If anyone ever made an argument for term limits, it was Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban Bovo just last week when he was sworn in as the new chairman of the board and talked about actually making decisions in the next two years because, after all, this is his last term and he’s got a looming deadline.

“We embark on a new era, an era that is tied directly to term limits, and that is going to affect how we conduct the business of the people of Miami-Dade,” Bovo said “It becomes very clear to me that we have to work in an expedited fashion.”

Apparently so.

Read related story: Carlos Gimenez, er, Stevie Bovo wins commission chair

Bovo ain’t alone in preparing his exit. Term limits approved by voters in 2012 mean that six commissioners will be out of office and replaced in 2020 (Jordan, Edmonson, Barreiro, Suarez, Moss and Bovo). Another six will be replaced in 2022 (Monestime, Heyman, Levine Cava, Sosa, Souto and Diaz), leaving only newly elected Commissioner Joe Martinez (that sounds weird) on the dais with 12 fresh faces. Although “fresh” might be an overstatement.

This is the 305, after all, where recycling politicians is not just a sport, it’s a cottage industry. The most likely replacements will be electeds who move up the political ladder from municipal office or down from the state legislature to Miami-Dade.

It’s no secret, for example, that State Sen. Anitere Flores has long been eyeing Commissioner Javier Souto‘s county seat and that former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner is waiting for Commissioner Xavier Suarez to be termed out so she can run for an open seat.

Flores pretty much has it in the bag. But Lerner might find, however, that it’s not going to be just handed over to her. Coral Gables Commissioner Vince Lago surely has higher aspirations and Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, who is termed out this year, may find retirement boring. Anything is better than Mayor Carlos Gimenez wanting his old seat back or, knock on wood, his lobbyist son, who just started his own consulting firm wheeling and dealing for Latin American interests who want the ear of our President Donald Trump.

Read related story: Mayor’s son lobbies Trump with silent, same ol’ partners

Some districts have more potential hopefuls waiting in the wings than others. Take Commissioner Bruno Barreiro‘s seat. His replacement could come from either Miami Beach or the city of Miami. Maybe Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo hasn’t filed paperwork because he’s thinking of jumping the bridge to the 111 building. Ladra wouldn’t be surprised at all if former Commissioner Marc Sarnoff ran. He’s been conspicuously quiet. And what if former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla thinks the city of Miami is too small for him?

But this is also an opportunity for former Miami Beach Commissioners Deede Weithorn and Michael Gongora (pictured here), both of whom lost state bids last year. It very well could turn into a Miami vs. Miami Beach thing.

District 13 might also get a clusterbunch of candidates when Bovo runs for mayor in 2020. Ladra suspects that newly-elected Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid has aspirations beyond the town. He just seems so ambitious. And he’s worked closely with Bovo on several district initiatives. Chances are, just from the sheer number of them, that he will have a challenge out of Hialeah. Maybe Carlos Hernandez. Maybe Vivian Casals-Munoz. Maybe even State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, who has been quietly lobbying for the megamall development in Northwest Miami-Dade, which is coming before the commission this week (more on that later).

Homestead Mayor Jeff Porter ought to run for Daniella Levine Cava‘s seat in District 8. It’s really a good way to continue to advocate for your hometown, which is largely ignored. Ladra thinks he’d get the support of the Democrats and labor groups that supported Daniella. We would have said former Sen. Dwight Bullard would run for Levine’s or Moss’s seat — whichever one he lived in — except he apparently moved to Gadsen County to run for chairman of the Florida Democratic Party. He may move back. It’s not unthinkable. And don’t count former Commissioner Lynda Bell out. Sure, she lost to Levine Cava in 2012, but she could come back. Stranger things have happened. Recently. The very Repubican pro-life advocate may feel empowered.

Read related story: Voters replace Luigi Boria with first mayor J.C. Bermudez

Former Doral Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz might jump at the chance to run for Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz‘s seat. She might finally be able to win one, with the Democratic Party’s help again, especially if her only opponent is Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez. But there’s always the hope of a rematch. After all, former Doral Mayor Luigi Boria , who loaned himself quite a bit for a failed mayoral re-election, has the money to run another race if his ego gets the best of him. And, now, he also has the time. But Ruiz likely has the support of Doral Mayor J.C. Bermudez, who just beat Boria decidedly in November. That is, if he doesn’t run himself. It isn’t entirely out of the question either; Bermudez at one point mulled a run for county mayor.

Certainly, Ladra has forgotten some notable recyclables who are just chomping at the bit. Please feel free to add your own predictions in the comments below.

Of course, all these “new” people — recycled electeds and any fresh faces that may sprout — start with the clock running already. Nobody is going to get 27 years, like Souto and Commissioner Dennis Moss will have served by the time they are forced to leave the dais almost, practically at gunpoint. The new batch of commissioners will have only eight short (?) years to get things done and that’s it. Then there’s a whole new crop of people coming in every four years. The turnaround should be a fantastic motivator.

Maybe we should shorten term limits to four years. Imagine how much more would get done.