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.

Local Democrats are stuck between a rock and a hard place in tonight’s vote for a new state committeeman, which would be a stepping stone for the Florida chair position the same year that the Democrats lost the traditionally blue state to a rabid Republican in a crazy presidential contest and a no-show Senator that spent most of the year campaigning for president.

In one corner, they have former Sen. Dwight Bullard, a longtime legislator who has had their back, someone who fights for the little people, whose family legacy is steeped in the Miami-Dade blue party but who couldn’t even win re-election in his own seat this year.

In the other corner, they have prominent developer Stephen Bittel, a proficient fundraiser who has likely raised millions for dozens of Democrats, who leaders have bent over backwards to put in the running because they say it’s a matter of life and death for the Florida party.

No pressure now.

The Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee will meet at 6 p.m. tonight to discuss the pros and cons and take a vote. But the campaigning has been fierce. Committeemen and women have been bombarded with phone calls — both live and recorded — and emails in the past week to sway them one way or another. Or mostly Bittel’s way.

In what seems like a dirty campaign move, there was an email sent out to recruit new committee members — so long as they promised to be available Tuesday to vote for Bittel. Who cares if they never show up again, right?

But, ladies and gentlemen, it’s all legal. As disgusting as it may seem. The process allows for this.

Read related story: Juan Cuba is back with Dade Dems in time for Hillary

A couple of low-level Democrat activiststs called Ladra over the past week, completely disgusted with what they see as a repeat of the national race — having a party-chosen candidate rammed down their throats. It’s Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton all over again for them. They say the rich man is trying to buy the position.

“Taking no credit away from Bittel. He seems like a great guy and he’s done a lot of good for the party,” said one of them. “But this makes the rest of us feel worthless. What does this say to the little old lady who gave $10? What does this say to the person who stands on the corner holding a sign for 12 hours? This tells them they are worthless, that they don’t matter.”

Well, certainly that they don’t matter as much as a guy who can leverage millions of dollars for blue candidates, a guy who has had President Barack Obama at his Coconut Grove home for a fundraiser.

Thats what some leaders, who also did not want to be identified, told Ladra was the justification for the convoluted process by which tomorrow’s vote came. First of all, Bittel was not even a precinct captain until earlier this month at some midnight hour vote with a questionable quorum that party leaders did not expect anybody to ask about (but grassroots Dems have) because it may have violated the party’s own bylaws. Then, almost immediately like a well choreographed dance, State Committeeman Bret Berlin resigned to pave the way for a special election so that Bittel, the newly appointed precinct captain, could run. All this so he can run for the chair of the Florida Democratic Party.

Some high-level Dems told Ladra that we want the Florida chair to be someone from the 305. That this would be good for the area and that we also need someone who can raise the money that will be necessary for Sen. Bill Nelson to hold onto his seat in 2018. That person, they say, is Stephen Bittel. Surrogates like newly-elected State Rep. Daisy Baez tell anyone who listens how Bittel’s advice and support was pivotal in her victory. 

But can’t Bittel do that without the chair title? Can’t he continue to raise funds for the Dems he deems deserving and keep his day job? Apparently, he’s been doing great so far. Certainly, he would still have the ear of young no-name Democrats running for open seats formerly held by Republicans. What does he get out of it?

Read related story: Annette Taddeo loses once again — and needs a new hobby

“People want to invest where they have complete trust in the leadership and know that the leadership has also invested first,” Bittel told Ladra in a telephone interview Monday. “I’ve had their trust for years. 

“This will enable me to marshall the resources of every Democratic organization in the state. We need to start working as a team, build a progressive infrastructure that will be our highway to successful campaigns. We need to plan together and right now we are too busy shooting at each other. This circular firing squad has to end.”

“My heart is broken after this election and I am tired of losing,” he said, adding that he wants to beef up the blue bench through the Sunshine State. “We need a significant investment of time, money and resources in training candidates and we need to be competitive in every county, city and school board race.

“The goal is to have Democrats win elections.”

Ladra told him she was skeptical. He can still stay involved and keep his day job. Florida Democratic Chair seems like a full-time gig, especially in the wake of 2016’s losses and Dem senators coming up with their own fundraising arm. Is Bittel going to retire as CEO at Terranova Corporation, where he leads “a team of professionals in the ownership and operation of a commercial real estate portfolio valued at nearly $1 billion,” according to the website?

“This is a full-time commitment but I have many full-time commitments. I work seven days a week. I’m a bad sleeper,” Bittel said.

He seems to be convincing everyone. He’s got the teachers behind him, other labor unions, and now Congressman Alcee Hastings. Bullard, who could not be reached for comment and may be out of town for Tuesday’s vote, is backed by Bernie Sanders and his revolution-minded Dems.

But by no means is it going to be easy. The #StandWithDwight group is still complaining loudly and will likely make their case Tuesday night. 

For his part, Bittel said he, too, was concerned about the convoluted steps he had to take to get here.

“We have a complicated set-up. I prefer to let people run and vote. I hate the process,” he said. “It’s how most of our party chairs have run in the last 10 years. And I gotta get in so I can change it.”

But Ladra is skeptical again. Why would he change the mechanism by which he got this far? Especially since Bittel believes the end justifies the means?

The Coradito Calendar is getting fatter already, just in its third week. And it is thanks to many of you readers who emailed me and messaged me with events that you think should be included. So they are.

Please keep ’em coming. Government meetings are easier to find and politicians promoting themselves at holiday basket giveaways are a dime a dozen but not what I had in mind.

However, if you have a homeowners association meeting and invited your county district commissioner to address traffic and infrastructure issues, I want to know. If your school board member is visiting your PTA, please tell me. If even your neighbors are getting together for coffee to talk about government inaction, like Palm Springs North residents discussing quarry blasting and the effects on their homes and quality of life (more on that later), please tell Ladra.

Because other people should know about these happenings. There is more strength in numbers.

So, again, the email to send any events you think should be featured here is edevalle@gmail.com.

And thank you for the great response.

MONDAY — Dec. 19

9:30 a.m. — A talk about the haves and have-nots: Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Jean Monestime‘s Council for Prosperity Initiatives will meet to discuss “racial wealth divide in Miami” and  the “summary review of the Council for Prosperity Initiatives.”

TUESDAY — Dec. 20

8:30 a.m. — The $600 million renovation of the convention center will be the topic at this week’s Miami Beach Breakfast Club meeting. The city Project Manager Maria Hernandez, on behalf of City Manager Jimmy Morales, will bring the audience up to speed on the progress of improvements. The helical parking ramp and grand ballroom are well underway on the north end of the property. And Hernandez is expected to announce an end soon to any bookings for a period of several months. This image to the right is a rendering of what it should look like when it’s done. There is no charge for the meeting, but you’re buying if you want breakfast at Manolo’s Restaurant, 685 Washington Ave.

9:30 a.m. — Miami-Dade Commissioners have their last meeting of the year. New Chairman Steve Bovo is expected to lay out his committees and committee members — or, at the very least, will get recommendations from the old chairman, Commissioner Jean Monestime. Mayor Carlos Gimenez will present his final report on the “assessment of available tools to create a resilient transit system” — which could mean that they found expanding MetroRail and MetroMover is going to be less expensive than starting several new independent light rail lines. Among the other topics of discussion: criteria for appointments to the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, a $1.65 million renovation of the Dade County Auditorium, the creation of a workforce housing program and a $9.7 million gift (financial incentive bond funds) to a company that wants to build a custom boat manufacturer on the Miami River. Also: Commissioner Joe Martinez begins to undo everything that former Commissioner Juan Zapata had done in the last couple of years.

6 p.m. — Newly-elected Doral Mayor J.C. Bermudez and Councilwomen Christy Fraga and Claudia Mariaca will be sworn in at Doral City Hall, 8401 NW 53rd Terrace. Fraga, the only incumbent, was re-elected Nov. 8. Bermudez and Mariaca won their races in runoffs on Tuesday.

7:30 p.m. — Local Democrats will meet for some convoluted meeting in which they will choose the next chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. The race is between developer and mega fundraiser Stephen Bittel and former Sen. Dwight Bullard. It should be kind of interesting since there has been major lobbying going on both sides — but mostly for Bittel. More on that later.

WEDNESDAY — Dec. 21

9 a.m. — The first Doral Council meeting for founding and back again Mayor J.C. Bermudez and newby Councilwoman Claudia Mariaca begins at City Hall, 8401 NW 53rd Terrace.

Chalk another loss up for Annette Taddeo.

The former chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, who has lost four elections for public office, lost a fifth race Tuesday night when former North Miami Beach Assistant City Attorney Dotie Joseph was elected vice-chairwoman of the same body by about 200 local Democrats after three hours of hand-wringing in what had become a contentious and curious Dade Dems election.

Dottie who? The immediate past president of the Haitian Lawyers Association with a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University — where she co-founded Yale’s Haitian Student Alliance and served as the Political Action Chairperson of the Yale NAACP — beat both Taddeo and this year’s chair and former Sen. Dwight Bullard. She’s pretty and smart and could have a great future in 305 politics. Ladra smells a state legislator in the making.

Still, that means the same group Taddeo led as chair three years ago rejected what many might assume was her last ditch effort. Maybe she should have never abandoned her position — and a half dozen noname Democrats she had strong-armed to run against incumbent House members in 2014 — mid term to run for lieutenant governor alongside Charlie Crist. Which was before she ran for Congress against Joe Garcia in this year’s primary, but after she ran for county commission against Lynda Bell in 2010 and waaaaay after she ran for Congress the first time against Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in 2008.

Tuesday’s loss must hurt the most, though. After all, these are her peeps. The true believers. And if even they don’t support her, maybe she should hang it up once and for all.

Read related story: Annette Taddeo has not gone gently into the good night

That’s what you or I might think, but Taddeo has what looks like an addiction to running for office. There was a lot of speculation in the week leading up to Tuesday’s vote that Taddeo was just running as a stand-in and would step aside to make room for heavy Dem donor and fundraiser Stephen Bittel. But Ladra never believed it. Maybe someone else was going to do that but there is no way that Taddeo would give up any elected office if she were ever to get one. Because it is an addiction. If it were truly a real hankering for public service she would just volunteer somewhere like the rest of us and be done with it.

A friend and fellow political observer speculated that Taddeo has some empty void in her life that she could feel elected office will fill. The saddest thing, as he said last night, is it won’t.

And also sad is that there is no 12-step program for perennial candidates addicted to running for office. So, Ladra has come up with some healthy (okay, okay… healthier) alternatives for Taddeo, who needs a new hobby more than she needs un despojo:

Binge watching — You’ve binged on ballots so try it with something else. This is a great time to catch up on shows you probaly missed while you campaigned for the last 10 or 20 years. House of Cards and Orange is the New Black are only available on Netflix but worth the $9.99 a month, and it’s also good for cancelled shows like The Good Wife or Breaking Bad. Current shows On Demand now that are worth a few days of marathon viewing include Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, Shameless and The Walking Dead. Live vicariously through Olivia Pope or Alicia Florrick.

Scuba diving — This is South Florida, after all. There is a lot to see under the sea. And you should already be used to feeling underwater and dealing with scaly things.

Therapeutic coloring — It’s a trending hobby for 2016 and you can now find adult coloring books in every major book store. Ladra has one with mandala patterns and bohemian paisleys and let me tell you, it is very zen.

Theater — Ladra saw those commercials. You have talent, woman! If you can act like a leader, you can try it on stage. Here are some liberal political monologues you can practice that are right up your alley. And I know some local theaters, like Area Stage, hold open auditions a few times a year. Acting is also very therapeutic.

Scrap booking — Now, this is kind of cliche, but think about it: You must have multiple volumes worth of pictures and memorabilia from the different campaigns that will keep you busy at least through the next election cycle.

Coupon cutting — Now, I know you don’t necessarily need to save money but I hear it is a real high to go into a grocery store and come out with $2.05 cents more than when you walked in. And you’ll finally feel like a winner.

Online poker — Improve your chances of winning something. It’s free, with play chips, or it’s illegal. And you will lose again. But you are bound to win some, too.

Blogging — Anyone can do it. And while it can be frustrating at times, it also provides you with a healthy avenue to express your outrage at local politicians. Because, you know, you can’t just slap ’em in the face like you’re Olivia Pope or Alicia Florrick.

And if you can’t beat ’em at the polls, beat ’em up online. It’s more satisfying than therapeutic coloring.

They need each other at this dark time.

The Democrats of South Dade Club will have a special meeting next week to talk about what happened Tuesday and, from what it looks like on the email invite, hug it out.

“There will be a special format for the November meeting,” it says.

“We will start social time a little earlier and go a little longer. We need to talk.”

The club had cancelled a “wrap party” for Thursday after “the board felt there was no longer an apetite among the members to have a party.”

They just didn’t want it to turn into a pity party.

On Tuesday, they won’t be just mourning the presidential loss to Donald Trump but the defeat of Democrat South Dade Sen. Dwight Bullard, who was beaten by Republican State Rep. Frank Artiles on Tuesday.

The business part of the meeting will be shortened to 25 minutes and the speaker, lobbyist and former State Rep. Mike Abrams, will start a little later at 8:10 p.m. “So we can all take a breath and have time to decompress amongst ourselves,” the email says.

“Extra food and extra wine will be provided during social time,” it ends. Key words: Extra wine. It’s in red type.

The meeting begins at 6:45 p.m. “to talk this through,” at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami, 7701 S.W. 76th Ave. 

Bet you the turnout is bigger than usual.