Are nonpartisan municipal races a thing of the past?
 
The Democrats made them do it.
That’s what Nelson Diaz, chairman of the Miami-Dade Republican Party, said about an email they blasted Wednesday for Zoraida Barreiro, who is running in the special shotgun wedding election for the county commission district 5 seat vacated by her husband Bruno Barreiro, so he could run for Congress.
“Of course we’re going to help Zoraida,” Diaz told Ladra last week. “And you can blame the Democrats. My preference is not to do that. It’s important to have independent, free elections at the local level. But if Democrats are going to get involved to push their radical, left wing agenda, then we will get involved.”
And so they did.
“We Need to Stop the Democrats,” the email reads.
“The Democrats are trying to force a radical, left-wing liberal that just recently moved to Miami from out of state. She is so out of touch with our community, she has stated her support for the elimination of the Homestead exemption. If she wins, they will have enough Democrats to take down the tax deduction and it will increase our taxes,” it says, urging votes for Barreiro.
“We cannot allow the Democrat to win!”
Read related: Dems push full court press for Eileen Higgins in special District 5 county race
Sure sounds like a desperate cry — and Ladra is pretty sure Higgins would not advocate lifting the Homestead exemption, which isn’t the county commission’s purview anyway, but, hey, it’s a good tactic in the working class parts of the district: “Oh! My! God! She’s going to raise taxes!” It’s almost as good as “She’s a communist!”
Diaz said Higgins said as much in a Spanish-language TV  interview. But la gringa — whose Spanish is okay but could be better — was only saying what many electeds at the county and cities are saying: That this additional exemption voters are likely to pass in November is going to drain government coffers and cause serious cuts. Government officials and sitting electeds everywhere are worried about that and planning.
“It must have been misinterpreted in my terrible Spanish,” Higgins said, adding that the county mayor has done a good job. “We have to plan for it. When we sit around meetings and say we want more buses we have to remember that when we vote in November.”
Democrats have been actively and publicly helping Eileen Higgins in this race since the very beginning. She was the only Democrat running against three Republicans, including former State Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla. The party paid political consultant Christian Ulvert, who took precious time from a gubernatorial candidate. And Higgins had local electeds, state reps and even another gubernatorial candidate endorse and promote her online.
She won the first round with 35%, two points over Barreiro, forcing a runoff. Democrats like to think they did that. After all, it’s not their first rodeo.
While it’s the first time the local GOP steps into a traditionally non-partisan municipal race, Diaz said, the local Dems have been involved in them since at least Daniella Levine-Cava ran for Miami-Dade Commission. Her race in 2014 against incumbent Lynda Bell, who happened to be a staunch right-to-life Republican, became the first local non partisan election the Miami-Dade Democratic Party got really involved in. Since then, they’ve helped Homestead Mayor Jeff Porter, Miami Beach Commissioner Micky Steinberg and Miami Commissioner Ken Russell.
Read related story: Eileen Higgins would upset the apple cart, add checks and balances
“We’ve always had the approach that if you’re running for office, who you affiliate yourself with, what party, speaks to the types of decisions you’ll be making at the dais,” said Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairman Juan Cuba. “Even though it’s local, we’re dealing with zoning and services. And you also deal at the local level with national issues — minimum wage, affordable housing, police oversight.”
Sanctuary cities. Gender-neutral bathrooms.
“We do want to make sure we are electing people who align with our values, especially at the local level where we need more people who will fight for working families,” Cuba said.
The Miami-Dade Commission already has a Democrat majority. And that doesn’t necessarily translate to a “progressive agenda” when it comes to the votes. The mega mall development, for example, was passed with Levine-Cava as the sole dissenting vote. In fact, that happens to her a lot. And the ordinance to hold immigrant detainees for ICE — to remove Miami from the list of sanctuary cities and please Donald Trump — was sponsored by Sally Heyman, a Democrat and former state rep.
On the flip side, Mayor Carlos Gimenez endorsed Hillary Clinton — though one could argue that was a publicity stunt since his son works for Trump — and Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, another Republican, is very friendly to labor, which is usually a Democrat characteristic. Barreiro has long been considered a moderate Republican because he pioneered LGBT issues. But he represents Miami Beach, so maybe he sorta had to.
Read related: Lynda Bell vs. Levine-Cava debate becomes heated spar
Levine-Cava, the first Democrat elected to the commission with the party’s help, says she doesn’t see the commission as a partisan body. “It’s more about local issues and quality of life. Transit is not a Democrat or a Republican issue,” she told Ladra.
Well, maybe not. But let’s bring up the idea of raising taxes for it or having special taxing districts and you will see partisan division.
Some people fear that this marks the end of nonpartisan races in Miami-Dade and they could be right. Florida law requires judicial candidates to stay non-partisan, but how much you wanna bet that we know who is a Republican and who is a Dem. Candidates in the big cities like Miami Beach and Homestead are already using the invisible “D” and “R”behind their names for campaigning. Small cities are likely next in an increasingly divided and polarized political society.
 

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Proving that tenacity and good old stubborn persistence can pay off, perennial candidate Annette Taddeo finally won an election Tuesday.

And against a “titan” like former State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, who spent at least twice as much money (more on that later), too.

Taddeo beat Diaz by a comfortable edge, 50.95 to 47.21 percent for Diaz. The difference went to professor and independent candidate Christian “He-Man” Schlaerth, who managed to get 820 people to vote for him. But, let’s face it, he likely peeled votes from Annette so without him she would have won bigger.

Was this a referendum on Donald Trump?

Some seem to think so. The director of the local SEIU, which represents property service workers, including airport workers and janitors, said “Annette Taddeo’s victory is a stunning rebuke of the divisive politics of hate that have been embraced by many Republicans in Tallahassee and Washington.

“We’re excited that Annette will be heading to Tallahassee to fight for raising the minimum wage, good public schools, immigrant rights and equality for all Floridians,” finished Helene O’Brien.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee tweeted that Taddeo’s win was the seventh red-to-blue flip across the U.S. since November and “is just the latest example of voters rejecting Trump and the GOP’s dangerous agenda.”

People who voted for Taddeo and tweeted about it also indicated that anti-Trump sentiment was at least in the back of their minds. “Just did the thing! Hope everyone who cried about trump being elected went out and did their part,” tweeted Nick at @holywavve, including a pic of the “just voted” sticker.

And that was the idea. State Democrats were desperate to turn the seat back around after losing it to the GOP last year. They and Taddeo’s campaign made a lot of comparisons between Diaz and Trump and used the picture of them that Diaz tweeted from last year’s inaugural — and then deleted when he entered this race — on several mailers (sometimes in one day). One of them even blew up a picture of a Trump note from an old campaign contribution, before he was POTUS, wishing Pepi Diaz good luck.

Diaz, who was once Trump’s “apprentice” on the TV show by the same name, was definitely cast as a supporter and surrogate for the orange-haired commander in chief. Democrats are giddy that the Trump card is working — and you can bet we will see more of it.

Said Senate Democratic Leader-Designate Jeff Clemens: “I am thrilled to congratulate Annette Taddeo on her great victory. The Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee committed to righting a wrong in this district and electing a proven champion who will join our caucus to fight for an agenda that puts working families first.”

It was about “righting a wrong.” That refers to the win last year over longtime Sen. Dwight Bullard by former State Rep. and short-lived Sen. Frank Artiles, who was caught making racist remarks to black colleagues in a public restaurant and was forced to resign. And it gave Democrats — not just locally but across the state and even the nation — a second chance to win the seat back.

“Congratulations to Annette Taddeo on this major victory for Miami-Dade and our entire state. This is a win for all of Florida. Democrats represent 16 of 40 state Senate seats. Annette will head to Tallahassee ready to fight for higher paying jobs, affordable healthcare and fully funded public schools. Democrats across the state are energized and mobilizing to flip Florida blue. After nearly 20 years of harmful GOP policies, voters are ready for a better deal.

The Florida Democratic Party joined progressive partners like the FDLCC, unions on a community engagement effort that sets a new standard for our Party. We actively engaged both the Latino and African American communities of SD40 in neighbor-to-neighbor conversations focused on the issues that matter most. This victory is the first of many, as we are poised to claim the governorship, we are prepared to re-elect Senator Bill Nelson, and we are within striking distance of reaching parity in the upper chamber of the state legislature.

The FDP has made significant strides in building long-term political and grassroots infrastructure that will help Democrats win critical seats at the local, state, and federal level. We are organizing year-round and we will be engaging in neighbor-to-neighbor conversations in every one of our 67 counties to turn Florida blue in 2018 and beyond.”

In a statement released at 8:40 p.m., Taddeo said it was a victory for the residents of Senate District 40, who live in Westchester, Kendall and South Dade.

 “The voters wanted a champion in Tallahassee who will fight for higher paying jobs, affordable healthcare and fully funded public schools and I am honored and humbled that they have placed their faith and trust in me. I pledge to work everyday for the families of my community and not the special interests. I would like to thank my opponent for running in a hard-fought race. Our campaign saw a strong coalition come together between the FDP, the FDLCC, labor and community organizations who unified behind a winning plan. I’m beyond thankful for all the work and their efforts and the the thousands of volunteers who committed their time, energy and resources. This was a community, grassroots driven effort and I am ready to continue the work in our state capitol.”

It was also an early voting and Election Day effort. Because Pepi Diaz — who looks optimistic in this photo with poll workers at 8:30 Tuesday morning — won the absentee ballot race by nearly 2,200 votes. It must have been a terrible tease for Diaz because Taddeo later got more than twice as many votes in early voting and made up those 2,200 votes plus a few more on Tuesday.

I have to say, while I don’t love either candidate, Ladra feels a breeze of justice going through her soul because Pepi Diaz was acting like a real piece of, er, work. He was all over social media, at the podium next to the mayor, during the preparations and warnings for Hurricane Irma and afterwards, he had a TV commercial where he said “as a state rep I will be knocking on doors” to see what people needed after the storm. Seriously? He was no longer a state rep but he was sure acting like one and he sure had the access of one. Then there was that other ugly TV commrcial where David Lawrence brags about how Pepi helped 20,000 “perfectly legal” immigrant children. Ouch. Ladra sure hopes The Children’s Trust that Lawrence doesn’t check kids’ papers before helping the neediest children in our community. That’s not what I voted for.

But if Ladra feels a breeze, Taddeo must feel a hurricane of vindication. After all, she has campaigned for about a decade and has a relentless drive to be in elected office (read: watch her like a hawk). Taddeo, who also served as chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, first ran for Congress against U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in 2008. She then made unsuccessful bids for county commission (2010), lieutenant governor with former Gov. Charie Christ (2014), and Congress again but this time against former Congressman Joe Garcia (2016) — maybe now they can be friends again — who lost anyway and again to U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo.

Guess the fifth time (not countying the Florida Dem chair race) is the charm.

And Ladra is fairly certain that will be the final tally, despite threats from some voter rights groups to challenge the special election after Gov. Rick Scott refused to delay it to accomodate voters inconvenienced by Hurricane Irma,

That’s because those groups — Common Cause Florida, State Voices Florida, the League of Women Voters Florida, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Engage Miami, SAVE, LatinoJustice and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — can arguably be lumped together under the blue umbrella. They were likely afraid that Diaz would benefit from a low turnout. How much you wanna bet there’s no challenge from them now that Taddeo has won?

Unless they challenge on behalf of Democrat Gabriela Mayaudón, who lost Tuesday in the House District 116 race to Republican Daniel Perez, for the seat vacated by Diaz when he resigned to run for Senate. But that would be ridiculous since Mayaudón is really only a Democrat on paper. Let her run a few times before you run to her defense, huh?

On the GOP side, it seems that at least Diaz — who some say is looking at the Attorney General seat — took the loss like a trooper, tweeting his kudos to Taddeo just after 10 p.m.

“Congratulations to Florida’s newest State Senator Annette Taddeo. I wish you nothing but success in your new role,” he said.

What a difference a few hours makes.

The woman recruited by the Miami-Dade Democratic Party to run in the special election for House District 116 was a Republican only hours before she registered to vote as a Democrat — the same day she qualified to run for state representative.

Gabriela Mayaudon, who is also listed on documents as Maria Gabriela Mayaudon, proudly declared herself “anti-Chavista y anti-Madurista hasta la muerte” and “Republicana” on her twitter profile a day or two before she qualified on the deadline day for the seat to replace State Rep. Jose Felix “Pepi” Diaz, a Republican who resigned to run for a vacated Senate seat.

In a telephone interview with Ladra, Mayaudon said she didn’t remember declaring herself Republican, nor did she admit changing it at the last minute to Democrat before completely changing it to the current candidate profile. But she also didn’t deny it.

Read related story: Venezuelan leader may join House 116 race for Democrats

“I don’t feel Republican. I feel centrist. It’s difficult to explain right now, but I am proud to be representing the Democratic Party and all the people who feel alientated by each party,” Mayaudon said, sounding very much like an NPA. “No, I’m a Democrat. And I will defend the party and I am running to represent all the people who feel disenfranchised.

“And when the time comes — and it will because, I am saying it here first, I will win — I will be able to represent all,” she said.

It doesn’t disqualify her. While a Democrat was forced to withdraw from the Senate District 40 race because he had switched from the Republican Party within the last year and lied about it, there is no rule precluding a newly-registered voter from running, according to Sarah Revell, a spokeswoman with the Florida Division of Elections. Mayaudon simply self-identified as a Republican, she never registered as one. In fact, she never registered at all before June 6, when she registered and filed to run as a Democrat. The Miami-Dade Democratic Party gave her $1,800 for her qualifying fee.

But while she was coy with Ladra, Mayaudon came clean with the Democrats who recruited her — which includes the new political director, who was a Republican himself a year ago (more on that later).

“She was very up front about the fact that when she first got here, she affiliated with the Republian Party,” said Juan Cuba, chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. “But after this election, she could see that her values are not aligned with the values of the Republican Party.”

Cuba says that the party was recruiting for different races because they do not want to see any Republican run unchallenged. Mayaudon, a Venezuelan congresswoman who came to this country seeking political asylum and who became an activist in Doral’s Venezuelan community seemed like a good candidate he said. Her diversity definitely helped.

Read related story: Few hopefuls line up to replace Jose Felix Diaz in 116

“Democrats need to do more work in the Venezuelan community,” Cuba said. “We risk losing an entire generation. And they are affiliating with the Republican Party because they are the only party speaking to their issue.”

But maybe they should have groomed her and waited to run in the district where she actually lives and where she is known, which is House district 105, and supported the Democrat candidate that was already qualified in the 116 race, perennial candidate Ross Hancock. Ross doesn’t live in the district either but he lives as close to it as Mayaudon does and was already looking for a new place. He also has run before so he knows how to walk and, as a full fledged naturalist and a former NPA, he pulls from both the environmental voter base and the independents in the general. Sure, he is a perennial candidate, but not the same as an Annette Taddeo — who is running for her fourth different elected office — because he has only run for one office, a House seat. He hasn’t jumped into other races to serve in just any elected office. He has honed in on the Florida House, where he can best promote an environmental agenda.

He also speaks Spanish a little better than Mayaudon speaks English, which could be an issue. She answered in slow, broken and labored English when pressed but otherwise answered questions posed in English in her native Spanish. Ladra loves Hispanic candidates as much as any buena perra sata, and I have often said that there are some districts where you need a z or a vowel at the end of your name to compete. This 116 seat could be one of those. But both the Republican candidates are so bad that this could have been Hancock’s best chance ever to make it to Tallahassee. Ladra wishes he hadn’t withdrawn, if only to force a debate on the issues with a woman who tweeted, only a month ago, that she lives in the U.S.A. but her heart is still in Venezuela.

Cuba said that neither he nor anyone at the party encouraged Hancock to withdraw, but Hancock told Ladra he made it very clear that he would not run against another Democrat in the primary. Hancock did not want to spend any resources at all until the general, where he felt he would also get a majority of independents to support him against whoever the Republicans chose (either the establishment choice or the Havana poster boy). Cuba said that it was simply a misunderstanding: They thought Ross, who has run three times already, didn’t really want to run and was only doing it because no other Democrat would. So they got one.

Cuba also said that they looked for someone “with a story to tell.”

But it seems the “story” she’s telling is that she’s a Democrat.

And the Democrats — who threw away the chance to win a competitive House seat that Hillary took in November with a genuine candidate by registering a last minute Latina that checks some boxes — might be selling a story, too.

A new and practically unknown Democrat has filed in the race for Florida House seat 116, to replace Jose Felix  “Pepi” Diaz, who resigned to run for Senate. But it’s not her first time running for office.

Gabriela Mayaudon served in the Venezuelan legislature before moving to South Florida about 10 years ago, said Elezear Melendez, the new political director for the Miami-Dade Democratic Party.

“She was a congresswoman in Venezuela and she has an amazing story of fighting dictatorship there. She was looking to get involved in politics,” Melendez told Ladra Monday after Mayaudon filed her papers. He is listed as her treasurer but says that is only temporary until she gets her campaign team together.

Read related story: Cuba engagement photos become issue in GOP 116 primary

“She is someone who comes highly recommended by the civil leadership in Doral,” he said, adding that the city is at the northern end of the district and that Mayaudon became a citizen last year. The address listed on her paperwork seems to be the north part of Doral, however, just outside the district. And records show she and her husband, Carlos Rodriguez, own a house in Sunrise, where they claim their Homestead exemption.

Together, the couple also own Rock Health, a San Francisco-based venture fund that seeds and financially supports start-up companies at the intersection of health and technology. Mayaudon lists her occupation on LinkedIn as vice president of Rock Health. State records with the Division of Corporation show that RockHealth Inc., in Medley, is owned by Rodriguez and Maria G. Mayaudon — who also own the 3-bedroom, 2-bath house in Broward County.

Published reports show that in 2012, Mayaudon helped welome Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who visited Miami when she came to provide the U.S. Department of Justice with documents that showed a link between the Venezuelan government and drug trafficking.

A woman who answered the phone listed on Mayaudon’s paperwork took Ladra’s name and number and abruptly hung up on me. She said the candidate was unavailable and would have a press conference in 10 days, but she flatly refused to give me her name several times. Ladra is pretty sure it was the candidate caught off guard.

Former Doral Councilwoman Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, who Ladra always thinks of when she needs more info on a Venezuelan activist, said she knows Mayaudon and that she would be a good representative.

Read related story: Few hopefuls line up to replace Jose Felix Diaz in 116

“She’s taking my leadership course,” Rodriguez-Aguilera said. “She’s an awesome, fabulous woman. She was a Venezuelan congresswoman and supported many Venezuelan groups here. She will do great things.”

Perennial candidate Ross Hancock, who has run in two other state house districts, had already qualified to run for the Democrats so that they wouldn’t be unrepresented, he said. He had not yet decided if he would withdraw or not. He said he had been told by Melendez that Mayaudon would qualify, but she had not as of Monday evening.

“She has until noon tomorrow. Naturally, I don’t want to drop out and leave no option for the Democratic Party,” Hancock said, adding that he may bow out if the party was going to support her.

Ladra hopes he doesn’t. Voters deserve to have a choice, even in a primary. Particularly with someone as new and untested as Mayaudon.

In fact, Ladra is surprised that there was no better candidate for this open seat race in either aisle and thinks that all the current candidates are so blah that anyone with a little bit of money can take it.

This race would benefit from a surprise Tuesday morning.

Cedric McMinn kicks campaign off with a bang of backing

Longtime Democrat activist Cedric McMinn, the public outreach director for Miami-Dade School Board Member Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, is running for state rep to replace Rep. Cynthia Stafford, who is termed out next year. And he’s got Stafford’s blessing.

Stafford is one of the many heavyweight hosts for McMinn’s kick-off campaign event Thursday. Bendross-Mindingall is also on the host committee, naturally. It would be weird if she wasn’t.

Others on the committee in formation (aren’t they all?) include Sens. Oscar Braynon II and Jose Javier Rodriguez, State Reps. David Richardson and Nick Duran, North Miami Councilman Alix Desulme, former Sen. Dwight Bullard, former South Miami Commissioner Brian Beasley, former Hallandale Beach Commissioner Alexander Lewy and a smattering of lobbyist/consultants like Ron Book, Jose Fuentes and Chris Norwood.

It’s an impressive list of endorsements for a first-time candidate — and there’s a guide for giving to the campaign. Hosts write checks for the $1,000 maximum contribution, “supporters” spend $109, “young professionals” are urged to donate $50 and the student discount is steep, for $20.18.

That’s how wide McMinn’s expected support base will be in a district that is predominantly black and Democrat and poor. It includes sections of Miami, Hialeah, Miami Gardens and Opa-locka.

He must have been 12 when he started volunteering for local, state and national political campaigns, including Mindingall’s, Braynon’s, Kendrick Meek’s (congressional and senatorial), John Kerry’s (2004) and Barack Obama’s (2008 and 2012). It was just a matter of time.

Based on the strength of the host committee, Ladra will say that former State Rep. James Bush III, who has run for everything from congress to leadership at the UTD and lost a bid last year to get on the Miami-Dade School Board, is going to face another uphill battle. If each host at McMinn’s shindig gives the suggested $1,000 contribution, the kid starts off with at least $25,000 raised the first month. Bush has only raised a little more than $1,000 since January.

Bush served in that same district two separate times. He was first elected in 1992 and termed out in 2000. Then, he returned in 2008, but left two years later to run against Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (he lost).

Oh, maybe that’s why he doesn’t have the heavyweight host committee.

Is it February already? Holy moly! Time flies even when we’re not having fun.

Last week was momentuous, not just from the stuff we knew was going to happen, like the megamall approval by the Miami-Dade Commission, but from the stuff we didn’t, like the sanctuary cities buckle by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, which may finally be the straw that brings the emperor down (more on that later).

In fact, we’re sure to hear more about that later this week (see Tuesday). But please don’t blame me if Miami International Airport shuts down due to protests and we didn’t know about it.

But here are some of the other things that we do know are happening.

As always, please keep sending news about meetings, campaign rallies, political club powwows and other events to edevalle@gmail.com. We missed a Republican club shindig because we didn’t know about it (wonder how many others did, too).  So please make sure Ladra knows about your event. This is your Cortadito Calendar, after all.

MONDAY — Jan.  30

6 p.m. — The city of South Miami’s Historic Preservation Board will discuss the Sylva Martin Building, which is the only historically designated property owned and maintained by the city. Right now, the building adjacent to City Hall at 6130 Sunset Drive, houses city administrative offices one of the district offices for Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez. But it has been many things. Built in 1936 to serve as a community center, this historic building has also been a venue for clubs and fraternal organizations, a hurricane shelter, a polling place and a public library before the one adjacent to City Hall was built in the 1970s. What’s next? Go to the meeting at City Hall and find out.

TUESDAY — Jan.  31

10 a.m — Miami-Dade’s Legislative Delegation will present have a public hearing at FIU, 11200 SW 8th St. The delegation — our elected state reps and senators, both Democrat and Republican — base their legislative priorities on these public hearings so it is important that people attend. County commissioners may attend to discuss their own pet projects or programs. Among the topics open for discussion: economic development, education, environmntal concerns and natural resources, health and human resources, mental health issues, public safety, special taxing districts, children and family issues, That’s why the delegation has the Grand Courtroom in Rafael Diaz-Balart Hall until 3 p.m.

2 p.m. — The Doral City Council will have its own workshop on legislative priorities with details about each project, including storm water improvements, the stabiliation of canal banks, the widening of 87th Avenue, a pedestrian/cyclist bridge over 41st Street by the Turnpike and the installation of air monitoring devices near the Medley landfill and Covanta Waste to Energy facilities. On the table: close to $3.8 million in potential state funding (more on that later).

4:30 p.m. — Immigration activists and people who are just plain outraged that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez would kowtow to President Donald Trump so quickly with the detention of immigrants plan to peacefully protest his actions, again, at County Hall, 111 Nw First St. Watch them be blocked out of the building, again, like they were on Friday. This event was posted by a new page on Facebook called Recall Gimenez, which is the best thing that’s happened in nine days.

6:30 p.m. — Miami-Dade Democrats will meet to discuss getting local campaign finance reform. The participants at the meeting will share information about efforts around the country and start drafting “a plan of action to tackle this issue locally.” This is probably new Florida Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Bittel‘s idea, only because the powwow is at the same building where Terranova, where he CEO and President, has their offices. Or maybe it’s just a perk.

WEDNESDAY — Feb. 1

7:30 p.m. — The West Miami City Commission meets at West Miami City Hall, 901 SW 62nd Ave. The agenda had not been posted online as of this weekend. But this is where Sen. Marco Rubio got his start so who knows if there’s another future presidential candidate in the making over there. The people sure like their West Miami electeds; the elections were cancelled last year after nobody bothered to challenge any of the incumbents, Mayor Eduardo Muhiña and commissioners Candida Blanca and Luciano L. Suarez.

THURSDAY — Feb. 2

6 p.m. — The Miami-Dade Democratic Party is having a fundraiser to help elect more blue candidates in 2018 and 2020. This looks like another one of Bittel’s actions in his first 100 days, since he is one of the hosts. Other hosts include Rafael A. Velasquez, Luciana Velasquez, Raul F. Rodriguez (who is lending his home for the event), Marcos Azevedo, Juan C. Cuba, Cynthia F. Seymour, former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora, Miami Beach commissioners Kristen Rosen-Gonzalez and Michael Grieco, who is running for mayor, and political consultant Christian Ulvert, who is likely running somebody else for mayor. Awkward. There’s also a special guest and a $1,000 “champion” contribution gets you a dinner reception with him or her — the $2,500 host level gets you a photo! — but Ladra doesn’t know who it is. Could it be DNC Treasurer Andrew Tobias? Really? Don’t worry. Contribution levels start at $25 and you still get a churrasco dinner. For more information: Rafael Velasquez at rvelasquez@sunsetgroup.org or 305-303-9098.