Miami City Commissioners will get another chance this week to take back a public park and reverse a vote that was basically bought through public corruption and led to the September arrest of former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla on bribery and money laundering charges.

In April of 2022, Diaz de la Portilla convinced his colleagues to give away the city-owned Biscayne Park, right next to historic Miami City Cemetery, to The Centner Academy so they could build a “state-of-the-arts” sports center (read: gym) for their students and also for profit.

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First to burn: City Attorney Tricky Vicky Mendez

Ladra is still reeling from the last Miami City Commission meeting. So much torture and pleasure at the same time. So much happened in a span of eight and a half hours. Forgive the tardiness, but we’re still shellshocked over here.

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He was absent from the redistricting process when the Miami City Commission disenfranchised black and Coconut Grove voters by dividing their districts and diluting their votes. He let Commissioner Joe Carollo carve up the Grove so he could put his own house into District 3 and he let Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla take his only real challenger out of District 1. Mayor Francis Suarez didn’t say ni pio.

But now he wants to be involved? Now he wants to work?

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Miami City Attorney Victoria Mendez should be shopping for a new job.

Newly-elected Commissioner Miguel Gabela, who said on the campaign trail that he would fire Mendez, has put her termination on the agenda of his first regularly scheduled meeting Dec. 14.

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Talk about awkward: Steven Miro, the former chief of staff fired by Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo in 2018, is back at City Hall this week as special advisor to newly elected Commissioner Miguel Gabela.

Miro said his job would be to run the district offices and “make sure the constituent services are up to par, which they haven’t been.” He is going to be making $60,000 a year, which is more than he did as Carollo’s staffer before he became a whistleblower and got fired in 2018. Miro had gone to the State Attorney’s office to report PaellaGate, Carollo’s use of district funds to campaign with Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, in the county commission race of 2017, with the Spanish dish at elderly housing.

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As always, the candidates in our local elections are not the only ones who win or lose come Election Day. A bunch of influence peddlers, lobbyists, developers, consultants, environmentalists, preservationists and other special interests will float up with the winners on the ballot, or go down the losers’ proverbial drains.

And this has become somewhat of a tradition on Political Cortadito. So, without further blah blah blah, here are the winners and losers of the Miami 2023 elections.

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