First step victory for mayoral candidate is appealed
The wannabe dictators at Miami City Hall just got a hard slap of reality from the bench. And Ladra is here for it.
In a fiery ruling, hot enough to singe the mayor’s eyebrows, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr on Monday declared what most Miamians already knew in their gut: The Miami City Commission’s shady decision to cancel next year’s election and hand themselves an extra year in office without first taking it to voters was unconstitutional.
Basically, they tried to cancel your vote. And got caught and slapped on the ballot.
And thanks to former City Manager Emilio González, who is running for mayor, the election is back on.
Well, maybe. Fingers crossed. “While we respectfully disagree with the trial court’s decision,” City Attorney George Wysong said in a statement, “we are confident in the strength of our case and remain optimistic about the outcome on appeal.” That appeal was filed before the ruling came down based on Wednesday’s hearing. Because the city already knows the case is a stinker.
The issue is pressing, since the ballot for this year has to be ready for printing by September, so the judge has set a date of Aug. 8 to resolve it. Knock on wood.
Read related: First lawsuit filed to stop city of Miami from cancelling November election
González sued the city days after the commission voted last month to move municipal elections from odd to even years, effectively postponing the 2025 election until 2026 and extending their own terms without so much as a “¿te importa?” to the voters.
The ordinance — sponsored by “reformer” Commissioner Damian Pardo — is purportedly about increasing turnout a lot and reducing costs a little. The idea was to empower voters, Pardo said. But the change also just happened to keep voters out of the loop and ignored an earlier vote to limit terms to a max eight years by giving the bonus year to even term-limited commissioners.
“This is not just a victory for me,” González said in a statement, polishing his halo, “it is a triumph for all voters in the City of Miami and across Miami-Dade County who believe in upholding our charter and the rule of law.”
His legal team — including former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson (the big guns) — called the move what it was: a charter-busting, power-hungry hijack. They compared it to stunts pulled in places like Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Cuba — countries where elections get postponed for “reform” and never really come back.
Sound familiar, Miami?
Lawson argued that the charter — Miami’s own governing rules — and the county’s Home Rule charter say you need a vote of the people to make election changes like this. And they trump any state law the city was relying on.
But city attorneys argued that, no, no, they were just tweaking the city code. Not the charter. As if voters can’t tell the difference.
The judge did not mince her words to say that the city was playing a magic trick with, um, words.
“The City’s contention that its Ordinance did not ‘amend’ its City Charter is nothing more than semantic sleight of hand. In one sense, of course, the City is correct, it did not effectuate a permissible amendment to its Charter because the Florida Constitution and Miami-Dade County Charter do not allow the City to amend or repeal its provisions by ordinance. That can only be accomplished with a vote of the electorate, as the Plaintiff correctly contends.”
Sounds like a Catch-22: “We didn’t change the charter because that would require a vote of the people. No, we don’t need a vote of the people because we’re not changing the charter.”
Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year
Even Assistant City Attorney Eric Eves had to admit, awkwardly, at a hearing last Wednesday that the city’s new ordinance puts the charter and code at odds. “Yes, it conflicts with our charter. But I haven’t heard anyone claim our charter supersedes the state.”
The city and Pardo kept using the example of North Miami — where they extended terms by 18 months in 2023, and later upheld by an appeals court — to say that, well, if that municipality can do it, why can’t we? Eves suggested that Manno Schurr read the opinion of Judge Reemberto Diaz in that case and copy/paste. “There’s no need to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
But the González team argued that the North Miami case did not set a binding precedent. “There’s no procedural value whatsoever in that opinion. The issue you’re being asked to decide was not raised in that case,” Lawson said, calling it irrelevant.
Assistant City Attorney Eric Eves, Judge Valerie Manno Schurr and plaintiff’s attorney, Alan Lawson
Pero, por si las moscas, the hearing was also attended by a North Miami resident who wanted to tell the “horror story” about the change of election in that city. “We ended up with someone serving 25 years in office,” said Eileen Bicaba, president of the NoMi Neighbors Association, who last year filed a lawsuit against three council members for violating the state’s Government in the Sunshine Law.
“This was nothing short of a coup in North Miami,” Bicaba said, passionately.
In her ruling, the judge mostly relied on one aspect: She said the city’s reliance on state law was misplaced. Perhaps a better word would be “selective.” Because the city actually omitted a tiny little wee part of the law it relied on, which reads, “The Florida Election Code… shall govern the conduct of a municipality’s election in the absence of an applicable special act, charter, or ordinance provision.” The judge’s bold letters, not Ladra’s.
The second part of the law only exists, Manno Schurr repeated, apparently for emphasis, “in the absence of an applicable charter provision.” Again, Ladra has to compliment her on the use of bold font when appropriate. In other words, you can only apply that law when the county or the city don’t have laws that conflict.
“Here, there are two charters that together apply and control: the Miami-Dade Charter and the City Charter,” Judge Manno Schurr wrote in her 14-page decision. So the state law “cannot be construed to authorize the City’s passage of the Ordinance.”
The Miami-Dade charter “unambiguously prohibits the City from cancelling an election, moving an election, or extending the terms in office for city officials without the consent of the electorate given at a properly held election,” the judge wrote. Keyword: Without.
“Furthermore, the Court will not presume that the Legislature intended [state law] to be construed as permitting municipalities to extend existing terms or change the term limits in the absence of express text granting such authority,” she writes in the ruling. Boom! She gets it.
“This omission stands in stark contrast to section… which expressly allows a municipality to effectuate ‘changes in terms of offices necessitated by . . . changes in election dates,’ provided the issue is not ‘preempted to a county,” Manno Schurr writes.
Which, as established, it is.
Read related: Miami commissioners should shorten their terms for election year change
All of this was unnecessary. Pardo could have taken this concept to the people, you know, like in a democracy. He could have campaigned for it. He already put lifetime term limits on the November ballot. It would have been easy to add the change in election year and let the voters decide. But it’s way easier to just bulldoze ahead because he “had the votes” on the commission, and, as he says, he had to seize the moment.
Who cares if people had already spent time and money campaigning for this year’s election? Ladra bets Pardo would have felt differently, however, if they had pulled this in 2023, when he was running for commissioner. Perhaps, as some critics say, extending his own term is the only way he’ll serve more than four years.
On Wednesday, Pardo posted a statement on social media that was the exact statement provided to Political Cortadito by the city’s spokeswoman on behalf of the city attorney. So it’s an echo chamber over there at City Hall. They got nothin’ to say.
Commissioner Joe Carollo, who has also threatened to run for mayor and voted against the election year change, had attorneys attend Wednesday’s hearing after they filed an amicus brief in support of Gonzalez, which is a nice change of pace. Not that González needed it or welcomed it.
Denise Galvez-Turros, an activist in Little Havana who filed to run for commission in District 3, also filed a lawsuit last week that challenges the validity of the ordinance and asks the court to find it void and unenforceable.
“This unlawful act is not merely a procedural defect. It is a calculated effort by a narrow majority of the Commission to entrench themselves in power, override the will of the electorate, and circumvent the very Charter provisions they are sworn to uphold,” wrote attorney Reid Levin on behalf of Galvez Turros.
“The people of Miami are entitled to choose their representatives at the ballot box; not have them imposed by ordinance.”
There is a little more than two weeks left before the Aug. 8 deadline to hear the city’s appeal of Manno Schurr’s ruling. Expect another round of lawyerly acrobatics from the city attorney’s office.
Maybe more excuses about turnout, costs, traffic, climate change, Mercury in retrograde — anything to avoid putting this to a real vote.
Emilio T Gonzalez v City of Miami — Judge says ordinance to change election year without public vote uncon… by Political Cortadito on Scribd

The post Miami-Dade Judge: Miami Commission can’t cancel election without public vote appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who has been campaigning for the mayor’s race for months, has filed a challenge to the city commission’s cancellation of the November election — the first of what could be several lawsuits.
City commissioners voted 3-2 last week to change the election date from odd to even years, effectively cancelling this year’s election for mayor and commissioners in districts 3 and 5 and extending everybody’s terms by a year. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier had warned them a day earlier that they could not do that and that there would be consequences. But he has not filed any legal motion to stop the change.
Could he, like some other would-be candidates, be waiting the 10 day period before Mayor Francis Suarez‘s deadline to veto the measure? Because that’s not gonna happen. This is his idea, after all. Sure, the ordinance was sponsored by Commissioner Damian Pardo but that’s only because Baby X convinced him.
Read related: Miami commissioners should shorten their terms for election year change
Both Suarez and Pardo are named in the lawsuit, as are every other commissioner (even though Commissioners Joe Carollo and Miguel Gabela voted against it), City Clerk Todd Hannon and Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia.
“The City of Miami Commissioners unconstitutionally bypassed the democratic will of the people in a way that the Florida Constitution, the Miami-Dade Charter, and the City’s Charter expressly prohibit,” said Alan Lawson, former Florida Supreme Court Justice and lead counsel at Lawson, Huck, Gonzalez PLCC, which is representing Gonzalez. “This repugnant and deliberate act was done without a single electoral vote in defiance of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s clear warning that doing so was illegal. Miami voters are the only ones who can decide to change the election date thus extending the terms of elected officials, which is the immediate concern of our client,” Lawson said in a statement.
“We are stunned by the brazen actions of Miami’s elected officials,” Gonzalez said, though he should probably be the least surprised.
“Canceling a regularly scheduled election and extending their own terms in office is in direct defiance of Florida law. Doing so without the consent of voters is an outrageous abuse of power. Attorney General James Uthmeier has already warned that this violates the law, and Governor Ron DeSantis has strongly supported that position. Disenfranchising voters undermines our democracy and robs citizens of their voice at the ballot box,” he said.
“If they can steal an election, what else can they steal?”
In the complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, the attorneys for Gonzalez write that the commissioners did “three legally impermissible things” when they passed the ordinance on final reading Thursday.
“First, they cancelled the election scheduled for November 4, 2025, less than five (little  more than four) months away — the stuff of failed regimes around the world,” the complaint states. “Second, they fundamentally changed when the General Municipal Elections — i.e., the  elections for the city of Miami Mayor and its City Commissioners — occur, from being held in odd numbered years, as the City of Miami’s Charter unambiguously mandates, to even years concurrent with midterm and general elections.
“This point bears repeating: Without a referendum — i.e., without a single vote cast by  the people of the City of Miami — the Commissioners have overridden the City of Miami’s Charter (its constitution) to change how and when the City of Miami’s elections take place,” the lawyers wrote. “But it gets worse.
Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year
“The third, and perhaps most concerning, thing the Commissioners did …  is decide that they and the already-term-limited mayor get to stay in office longer than the voters elected them to be in office.
“The Commissioners unconstitutionally bypassed the democratic will of the people in a way that the Florida Constitution, the Miami-Dade Charter, and the City’s Charter expressly prohibit. Once more, they did so without a single electoral vote,” the lawsuit states.
“Reminiscent of regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, or Cuba — the very places so  many of Miami’s people come from—those in power, while in power, forced upon those voters what  they think is best for elections going forward—and secured for themselves additional time in power,  without a vote of the electorate.
“That cannot stand.”
Meanwhile, Gonzalez has not stopped campaigning.
Emilio Tomas Gonzalez v. City of Miami, Et Al by Political Cortadito on Scribd

The post First lawsuit filed to stop city of Miami from cancelling November election appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Expect lawsuits and challenges to follow term extension
Most people think that moving the city elections in Miami from odd to even years, to coincide with the midterm and general election, is a good idea to both save more than $1 million a year and, more importantly, boost turnout from the low two-digits to more than 65% or 70%.
But there is a better way of doing it than what happened Thursday, when three commissioners voted to cancel this November’s election for mayor and commissioner in dictricts 3 and 5 and move it to 2026 — and, effectively, give themselves an extra year in office. Which, by the way, could be a violation of the city’s own charter and Miami-Dade county’s ethics laws, which prohibit electeds from voting for anything that benefits themselves — like an extra year in office and the salaries and benefits that provides.
They each just voted to give themselves an extra $100,000 or so. Ladra smells a Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust investigation.
Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year
Expect lawsuits and injunctions to stop the ordinance from taking place. The Florida Attorney General had said earlier in the week that the state would not stand by and allow this without going to a public vote. AG James Uthmeier‘s office has not returned calls for reaction to Thursday’s vote. Probably too busy planning and boasting about Alligator Alcatraz (more on that later). Other candidates have also said they were preparing to take legal action.
But if this stands, voters will have just elected Ralph Rosado, who voted in favor of the change, to a five-year term. Chairwoman Christine King, who also voted for the change — surprisingly, since as a lawyer she usually likes to avoid legal challenges — won’t have to run for re-election until next year. And Commissioner Joe Carollo, who voted against it, is not termed out this year, but next year. The first terms for Commissioners Miguel Gabela, who voted against it, and Damian Pardo, who sponsored this ordinance and was the third vote in favor, would be five years long as their re-elections are moved from 2027 to 2028.
Which brings up another point, this change flies in the face of the decision that voters did make in 2012 to limit terms to a total of eight years. With this change, every single one of the commissioners up there, whether they voted for it or not, could get nine.
Or would they be barred from running again after serving the first five years?
Expect at least one of the legal challenges to be based on that.
Which leads us to the better way: Rob Piper, the leader of the 2020 recall effort against Carollo who is, or was, running for commission in District 3, said Thursday during public comments that he would be willing to shorten his term by a year if voters passed the change on the ballot. “But cancelling the election is undemocratic,” Piper said.
Former Commissioner Ken Russell, who is, or was, running for mayor told Political Cortadito that he would, also, take a year off his term if voters approved it beforehand. The petitions circulated by Stronger Miami include a change in election year taken to voters and starting in 2028. “If voters say yes, they understand that means truncating the terms,” Russell said.
Former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who has also filed papers to run for the mayor’s seat, has publicly said he would be willing to serve a shorter term if it was the voters’ wish. In a text, former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla said he would be “good with anything the people decide.” Keyword: People.
Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who has also filed to run for mayor this year, said she, too, would take a year hit.
“Every resident deserves a voice in shaping our future, and that starts with fair elections and transparent leadership,” Higgins said in a statement provided to Political Cortadito. “That’s why I would support reducing the new Mayor’s term by one year and moving the election to 2028 to achieve optimal voter participation.
“As Mayor, I will propose this within my first 30 days in office, to let voters – not politicians – make the decision at the ballot box in 2026. I’m ready to cut through the dysfunction and build a safer, more affordable, and responsive Miami.”
That’s really the only way to do this without disenfranchising voters. Nobody elected Carollo or Pardo or Rosado or King or Gabela to serve a five year term. If they put the change on the ballot, with the change taking place in 2028, voters could be informed that anybody elected in 2025 or 2027 would have truncated terms. That sounds infinitely more fair and appropriate.
So why not do that? Pardo has said that he had to hurry because the appetite to make this change was now, not later. But that’s without even taking it to a public vote, That’s not a good enough reason. Does he just not want to shorten his own term by a year? Because if he were re-elected in 2027, and they went this way instead, his term would end in 2030.
Others say that Pardo wants to run for mayor himself next year.
Either Pardo or Rosado or King — one of the three who voted for this monstrosity — should bring it back for reconsideration and vote against it so that this much more equitable and reasonable model can be taken.
Read related: Miami election change to 2026, term extensions hinge on Christine King
This is not Haiti or Venezuela.
Stronger Miami, the newly-formed coalition of residents and community-based organizations collecting petitions on the change in election, as well as expanding the commission to nine districts and putting fair districting into the city code, issued a statement calling this vote an example of “backroom politics” and political manipulaiton.
“Extending elected officials’ terms without voter approval is not reform—it’s disenfranchisement, plain and simple,” the statement reads.
“We are especially concerned by this decision’s apparent intent to benefit term-limited politicians under the guise of administrative efficiency. Democracy is not an inconvenience. Elections are not optional. The people of Miami deserve a voice in shaping their future—not to be sidelined by those in power.
“This vote underscores the urgent need for Stronger Miami’s proposed charter amendment, which offers a clear, community-led path to genuine reform. We will continue to mobilize, organize, and advocate until every Miamian’s vote—not just those with political connections— is protected and respected.”
 
The post Miami commissioners should shorten their terms for election year change appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

¡Sacrilegio! Nothing is sacred in Miami politics.
Former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla is known to take advantage of every opportunity when he is campaigning to send any message to voters that will keep his name in mind. The naming of a new Pope seems like a good one.
A mail piece paid for by his political action committee landed in mailboxes this week with the picture of the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter — Robert Francis Provost, the first U.S.-born pope, who took the name of Leo XIV — on one side and a message from ADLP on the other. “We have a Pope,” it announces in Spanish.
It is not “we have potato,” like they might announce at a grocery store in Cuba.
And once again, Diaz de la Portilla — arrested in 2023 on public corruption charges that were dropped last Fall — mentions the “unjustly accused” in his spiel. He always has to make it all about him.
“¡Habemus Papam,” the message starts, which is the Latin phrase used to announce of the election of a new pope, which is traditionally made by the Protodeacon of the College of Cardinals or senior cardinal deacon participating in the papal conclave.
In other words, not by a political candidate with a super shady past.
Read related: Alex Diaz de la Portilla is knocking, giving out mameys to be Miami mayor
“Let us pray for Pope Leo XIV so that God can bless him and guide him to bring hope to the desperate, love to the abandoned, peace to the tormented and justice to those who are unjustly accused,” Diaz de la Portilla writes in his Spanish message.

ADLP is threatening to run for mayor, but he hasn’t filed any paperwork or opened a campaign account, yet. He has been knocking on doors, visiting senior housing and handing voters mameys in recent weeks. He has printed materials through his PAC, Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade County, but they just have his name on it. That way, he can switch to the county commission race in District 5 when and if Eileen Higgins resigns to run, which she must do before qualifying in September.
Or he could run for mayor against Higgins and what is looking like a clown car of candidates: Commissioner Joe Carollo is also actively threatening to run. Former Commissioner Ken Russell and former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez have filed papers.
And he is famous for holiday mailers, whether he is running for office or not. Earlier this month, he sent voters a Mothers Day mailer — even though the mayoral race isn’t until November. A photo of him and his mom, Fabiola, is on the top right corner and, once again, justice — or the lack of it — is the subject.
Read related: Alex Diaz de la Portilla’s PAC raises nada, spends $108K on Miami campaign
“There is no judge or court as just as mothers when they know their children have been unjustly attacked,” the piece says. “Today and always, in gratitude, I celebrate my mother and all the mothers who give and sacrifice so much to protect their children and who celebrate when they see their children’s names vindicated, not only by God’s divine justice, but also by the systems of just human law. To you, my sincere words of recognition for a labor of love for your children.”
Seems really specific. How many mothers have had to see their sons arrested and charged with bribery and money laundering and suspended from office by the governor?

Both mailers are paid by his PAC, which spent $108,000 in the first there months of this year, according to the campaign finance records filed with the State Division of Elections, which also show that he is working with Absentee Ballot Queen Sasha Tirador.
“She is the boss,” Diaz de la Portilla texted Ladra on Thursday.
The next report, recording transactions through June, is due in mid July.
Asked if he had gone too far with the Pope mailer, using the announcement of the new pope for his political gain — isn’t that a sin?– Diaz de la Portilla texted Ladra: “You don’t love the Pope? I love the pope.”
That’s surprising since the Leo XIV is a considered a progressive pope who has advocated for economic justice and immigration fairness. These are not the tenets of the Republican Party and Diaz de la Portilla’s favorite hero, President Donald Trump. and everyone says they’re headed on a collision course as the two most powerful men in the world.
But Ladra is certain he forgives you.
Help Ladra keep them honest. Consider making a contribution to Political Cortadito today and support independent watchdog journalism. There are important elections this year. Thank you.
The post Holy Papa! Alex Diaz de la Portilla uses new Pope to campaign for Miami mayor appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

On her 50th birthday, Denise Galvez Turros — a longtime resident, marketing professional and community advocate — will officially announce her candidacy Tuesday and file paperwork to run in the November election for the commission seat in District 3.
Today, that is Commissioner Joe Carollo‘s seat. But he is termed out and threatening to run for mayor.
Galvez — who lost a previous bid for office in 2017 — says her vision is to “create an Efficient, Safe, Clean and Smart Miami.” ESCSM? You can’t even pronounce that. A marketing guru should know better.
Read related: Is Miami’s Joe Carollo using District 3 public money to campaign in District 4?
Galvez has been a champion and activist for Little Havana for several years and has spoken out against corruption at City Hall and, specifically, Carollo, who she often blasts on her social media. She served on the city’s Historic Preservation Board and is taking credit, in her statement, for exposing City Attorney Victoria Mendez‘s family scheme involving the state Guardianship program and the homes of elderly, vulnerable people. Mendez and her husband have been accused of gaming the system to buy properties for much less than they were worth. She was eventually fired, though it was for far more than that, believe it or not.
And, here, Ladra thought it was the dogged reporting by WLRN that exposed Tricky Vicky.
In 2017, Galvez ran in District 4 against Manolo Reyes, who won and passed away earlier this month, and lobbyist Ralph Rosado, who is running to replace Reyes in the June 3 special election against Jose Regalado, son of the former mayor and current property appraiser and brother of the county commissioner. Galvez got 534 votes out of 7,413 for 7%.

She had sued to get her name first on the ballot as Galvez instead of Turros, which is the name of husband, a well-known local musician. It would have given her an edge, but would have delayed the election, and a judge ruled against her. The court battle, however, caused Ladra to sniff around and learn that Galvez, sans Turros, was arrested in 1994 for credit card fraud and 2010 for driving under the influence.
Since the redistricting, her home has been shifted into District 3 and she could be running in a crowded field that includes former Commissioner Frank Carollo, brother of the current commissioner who served there previously, and Brenda Betancourt, president of the Calle Ocho Inter-American Chamber of Commerce and a frequent speaker at commission meetings, too.
Read related: Jose Regalado resigns city job to run for Miami commissioner in District 4
Thee other candidates have filed paperwork intending to run: Oscar Elio Alejandro, Yvonne Bayona and Rolando Escalona, who reported raising the most in the first quarter with $37,722 — $5,000 of which came from lobbyist and former State Rep. Manuel Prieguez, who also helped elect former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and current District 1 Commissioner Miguel Gabela.
“After years of pushing for meaningful change from the outside as an activist, Galvez Turros is now stepping forward to deliver results from within City Hall,” said an email announcing her candidacy. “Her campaign focuses on enhancing public safety and public transportation, revitalizing neighborhoods, preserving Miami’s historic character and tree canopy, and cutting government waste and corruption.
“Miami deserves a government that works for them. Galvez Turros’ priorities will include a review and overhaul of our entire City codes including the many conflicts in Miami 21 that have for years been a barrier for small businesses and residents navigating the bureaucracy.”
“I’m ready to get to work,” Galvez said in a statement. “I’ve been building a list of priorities since 2017. I know exactly what needs to be done — and I’m not here to make a career out of politics. I won’t be deterred by political games or special interest pressure.
“Let’s fix what’s broken, protect what matters, and plan boldly for Miami’s future.”
The post Denise Galvez Turros announces she’ll run for Miami Commission in District 3 appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Pero por supuesto.
Former Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo, brother to the current commissioner, has filed to run for the District 3 commission seat that he served two terms, from 2009 to 2017. This was expected and is not good news. He may not be as bad as his big brother, Commissioner Joe Carollo, but Frank Carollo is still not a good role model as a politician.
He took a mysterious free trip to Spain in 2011 and stayed at a swanky hotel (value: at least $1,635) and said it was paid for by AirEuropa, which had gotten a key to the city months earlier.
Frank Carollo also got out of a traffic ticket in 2012 by calling then Police Chief Manuel Orosa when he was stopped for crossing the double yellow line on a street in Coconut Grove. He got off with a warning. The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust determined that there was probable cause that he abused his power.
And, in 2015, he was questioned by WLRN about the connection between some of his campaign donors and the upzoning (read: gentrification) of Little Havana.
Maybe it’s in the Carollo DNA.
Read related: Frank Carollo pleads ‘no contest’ to ‘call the chief’ ethics charge
Also running for the District 3 seat so far are Oscar Elio Alejandro, Rolando Escalona and Brenda Betancourt, who is president at Calle Ocho Inter-American Chamber of Commerce and a frequent speaker at the commission meetings. She is, so far, the frontrunner by all accounts. And she’s not worried.
Al contrario.
“It was no surprise because he had announced like three months ago,” Betancourt told Political Cortadito. “I think it’s better for me now that he’s in the race, because there’s more reason for voters to choose me. Before, we couldn’t really talk about him. What for? But now, we can remind voters that we had eight years of Frank Carollo and what did he do? Nothing.

“Now, the ‘Why vote for me’ is very easy. We have to stop corruption. We have to keep the city safe and we have to safeguard the tax dollars of our people.
“I’m happy that he’s in the race,” said Betancourt, who has been involved in civic activity for 34 years.
In the mayoral race, it was not expected that former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell would jumping (more on that later). And that is good news. He may get to run against Joe Carollo and/or former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who was removed from office in 2023 after an arrest on public corruption charges that were later dropped. Other potential candidates include Commissioner Manolo Reyes and former city manager Emilio Gonzalez.
Read related: Long list of potential 2025 Miami mayoral candidates starts to take form
None of them have filed any paperwork, however, to indicate that they have opened a campaign bank account.  The other candidates who have, so far, are Ijamin Joseph Gray, Michael Hepburn, Maxwell “Max” Martinez and June Savage.
Russell announced last week and said that giveaway of $10 million to the Miami Freedom Park developers for the 58 acre park in their property was the deciding factor. He was the deciding vote in 2022 on the lease and only voted in favor because those $10 million had been promised as a “public benefit” to acquire and improve parks in other areas.
He is the first announced candidate who sounds like he could be good for Miami, even though he is also recycled.
Like award-winning filmmaker and activist Billy Corben has said repeatedly: “In Miami, we don’t recycle our trash, we re-elect it.”
The post Recycling in Miami: Frank Carollo and Ken Russell on the November ballot appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story