Miami’s political consultants are going to be de luto.
President Donald Trump announced over the weekend that he’s drafting an executive order — all by himself, of course — to ban absentee ballots and mail-in ballots before the 2026 midterms. Because, claro, nothing screams democracy like one guy deciding how 150 million people should vote.
But anybody who’s been around Miami-Dade politics longer than five minutes knows absentee ballots are the OG battlefield. Trump didn’t invent this paranoia. And there are plenty of people in the 305 who are crying in their cafecito and doing Santeria rituals right now to try to stop the president from doing this.
Absentee ballots here are as much a part of elections as pastelitos and senior housing. Who can forget the 1997 Miami mayor’s race that got tossed because of dead voters and ballots from outside the city limits? Or Sergio“El Tío” Robaina — uncle to ex-Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina — who was famously caught up in the absentee game of the 2012 election and was charged with several felonies, including tampering with the ballot of a voter who had dementia. Or Anamary Pedrosa, an aide to then Miami-Dade Esteban Bovo was caught with 165 ABs in the trunk of her car at Bovo’s district office. Or Deisy Cabrera, who police said handled at least 31 ballots.
All of them made plea deals — which kept the elected officials they were working for safe.
Congressman Carlos Gimenez was running for re-election as Miami-Dade mayor in 2012 when his Hialeah campaign office was caught up in this absentee ballot fraud operation. After he won, Gimenez dismantled the public corruption squad at the county’s police department that had found the AB fraud.
Longtime political consultant Sasha Tirador, the absentee ballot queen who’s worked both sides of the aisle, built her whole reputation on delivering votes before the polls even opened. And there’s a whole rogues gallery of boleteros and boleteras — campaign operatives “helping” abuelitos at the senior centers — who turned absentee ballot harvesting into an art form. And a lucrative business.
Candidates knew the score. They budgeted for it: palm cards, T-shirts, radio ads — and the boletera network.
And now here comes Trump, pretending he’s discovered the problem, saying the states are just “agents” of the federal government and must do what the el presidente says. Somebody should hand him a copy of the Constitution. Spoiler: He doesn’t have that power. Not even close. Legal experts are already lining up to call this EO what it is: a pipe dream.
Read related: More than half a mil Miami-Dade vote-by-mail, absentee ballots favor Dems
The irony? Florida Republicans, the same party that kisses Trump’s ring, perfected the absentee ballot game. They used them for years to lock in older Cuban voters from their recliners — or their hospice beds. Trump himself mailed in his vote from Palm Beach. But now, because Democrats leaned more on mail ballots during the pandemic, suddenly they’re a communist plot.
Even Vladimir Putin, Trump says, “agrees” with him on ending mail-in voting. Which should tell you everything. Is that where he got the idea? Alaska?
Look, Ladra isn’t here to defend the absentee ballot hustle. Too many elections have been tainted by it — from Hialeah to Sweetwater to Homestead — to call it “clean.” June’s special election in Miami’s District 4 has been marked by allegations that ABs were signed after senior voters were threatened that they would lose services. It’s supposed to be under investigation.
But let’s be real: Trump’s order isn’t about protecting democracy. It’s about kneecapping Democrats while giving his boleteras in Westchester, Allapattah and La Saguesera a nostalgic hug.
And if Miami’s long history teaches us anything, banning absentee ballots won’t kill fraud. It will just force the players — Sasha, Tío Robaina’s spiritual heirs, and the rest of the absentee mafia — to find a new hustle.
Because in Miami, where there are votes, there’s always alguien trying to hustle them.
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The Republican Party of Florida just got a lesson in trademark law — and maybe in taste, too.
Over the weekend, the RPOF quietly yanked a line of deportation-themed merch from its website after someone apparently realized that ripping off The Home Depot’s iconic orange logo might not be the best idea. The shirts, hats, and assorted tchotchkes were branded “The Deport Depot” — a nod to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ latest immigration stunt: a new detention center in Sanderson Florida, that he proudly dubbed the “Deportation Depot.”
Subtlety clearly wasn’t on his mind.
Read related: Daniella Levine Cava finally takes a tougher stand vs Alligator Alcatraz
The merch mimicked The Home Depot’s extremely recognizable branding so closely — same orange box, same stenciled font — that it looked like a MAGA makeover of aisle 12. But The Home Depot wasn’t having it. Spokesperson Beth Marlowe confirmed last week that the company had not approved the use of its logo and was “reaching out” to the RPOF to resolve the issue.
Translation: Cease and desist, folks.
Saturday afternoon, the items were still up for sale, priced between $15 and $28, with proceeds going straight into the party’s coffers as political contributions. But by Sunday, the merch — and the party’s proud post on X — vanished faster than a campaign promise after election day.
Party chair Evan Power didn’t respond to requests for comment (shocker), but on Friday, before The Home Depot weighed in, he insisted the design was legally sound. “No reasonable person would think it’s the logo of a company,” said Power, who is clearly color blind or something.
And nothing says “reasonable” like using the corporate logo of a hardware store frequented by undocumented immigrants — who flock to the parking lot for day jobs — to promote a detention center and mass deportation effort.
Read related: Independent medical access must be given to detainees at Alligator Alcatraz
This isn’t the first time the RPOF has tried to cash in on DeSantis’ cruel immigration antics. When the governor unveiled, Alligator Alcatraz, the party rolled out a matching line of swamp-themed swag. Those are still for sale and $30 gets you a heather gray or charcoal jersey t-shirt.
Because this isn’t just a cruel immigration policy. It’s a revenue stream.
But this time, they messed with the wrong brand. The Home Depot has long been a flashpoint in immigration politics, with ICE agents targeting day laborers outside its stores. Raids have been particularly acute in California, where tensions boiled over in June after immigration agents reportedly chased people outside a Los Angeles store, sparking neighborhood protests. Just this past Thursday, a man was struck and killed by a vehicle while fleeing immigration agents at a Home Depot in Southern California.
The company has been criticized from all sides for largely staying out of the issue. “We aren’t notified that ICE activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in them,” Marlowe said.
Still, the optics are brutal. And now the RPOF has tried to turn that trauma into a punchline — and a profit. Perhaps the Gulf of America beach towels at $35 ain’t selling as much as everyone thought they would.
Maybe the Florida GOP should leave the immigrant-bashing out of their fundraising strategy altogether.
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Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago and Actualidad 1040 AM have officially kissed and made up — or at least signed on the dotted line — in that defamation lawsuit Vinnie filed last year over comments made on the Spanish-language “Contacto Directo” morning radio show in 2023 about an investigation of a possible conflict of interest in the aggressive plan to annex Little Gables.
After two years of back and forth — trying to get the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust to disclose the anonymous sources of the complaint, serving subpoenas on union leaders, commissioners and journalists — it’s suddenly all over. This is the same case where yours truly was subpoenaed as a witness, so Ladra is, frankly, a little disappointed that she won’t get to continue to fight. Also, it was a losing case so it would have been nice to see L’Ego eat a little humble pie.
It’s all a little anticlimactic.
Read related: Judge in Vince Lago’s ‘defamation’ lawsuit suddenly recuses himself
The settlement comes two months after the previous judge recused himself and the new judge made it clear he wasn’t going to play games. Circuit Court Judge Javier Enriquez seemed to think this had taken too long already and wanted to get the case resolved. Then, he delivered three strikes to L’Ego’s legal team last month when they were told the mayor had to sit down for at least two hours for another deposition — in a scenario with a mediator where he would be forced to actually answer questions — that the subpoena for McClatchy, publisher of the Miami Herald, was successfully quashed and that the complainants’ identity did not have to be disclosed because they had whistleblower protection.
This last blow is why Lago really decided to give up. It was a hunt for the complainants all along. And it was probably costing him a dandy dime. According to City Attorney Christina Suarez, the city is not paying the mayor’s legal bills on the Actualidad case.
Let’s rewind: Back in February of 2023, veteran journalist and Contacto Directo host Roberto Rodríguez Tejera and then–Coral Gables commission candidate Ariel Fernandez (who was elected two months later) told listeners that Lago was under an ethics investigation for a possible conflict of interest involving a trailer park, an annexation fight and his brother, the lobbyist.
Lago took issue with the word investigation because, well, the investigation was technically called a “matter under initial review.” That’s internal agency jargon that uses three more words than it needs to. Because a preliminary investigation is still an investigation. Sparked by an anonymous complaint, it was treated the same as an investigation. It was assigned an investigator, his official title, who investigated the claims by looking at records and interviewing people, same as in any other investigation. Six months later, the ethics commission decided it wasn’t “legally sufficient” to go forward and closed the case. A case they had open because it was being, you know, investigated.
Lago said the wording “deliberately fabricated the narrative” to smear him. Actualidad’s lawyers countered that, even if the phrasing wasn’t “perfectly or technically accurate,” the “gist” was true enough for talk radio.
The complaint said Lago flat-out lied in a sworn affidavit — dramatically signed at a live public commission meeting — when he claimed neither he nor his immediate family had any business interest in Little Gables. Because everybody knows his brother, Carlos Lago, was registered to lobby for Titan Development — the owner of the Little Gables trailer park, the largest piece of property in the unincorporated Miami-Dade enclave. He was registered in the city of Miami, however. Maybe because Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is Lyin’ Lago’s BFF.
Carlos Lago’s lobbyist registration, first filed in 2014, stayed active all the way until March of 2023, six days after the Actualidad segment aired. Probably because the Actualidad segment aired. So he has spent almost 10 years without doing any work for Titan? Please. Besides, in Miami-Dade, once you’re in, you’re in. Being a “consultant” doesn’t require any registration paperwork. It doesn’t erase ties. It just makes it easier to pretend they aren’t there.
The radio segment was about the very real investigation, prompted by three complainants, into whether Lago violated the truth in government provisions of the ethics code, not just whether or not he had a conflict of interest.
Read related: Vince Lago revenge tour includes witch hunt for critics, confidential sources
According to a report filed with the court Aug. 8, Lago and Actualidad entered into a settlement through JAMS mediator Joseph P. Fariñas, who happens to be a retired chief judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit, having served in the position for 14 years. So, he knows what he’s doing.
The terms of the settlement are confidential. Florida Politics reported sources quoting a six figure payout. But Ladra doubts that. Actualidad had no reason to pay him when Lago was on a losing streak. He had no case and Enriquez saw right through that. No, Ladra bets it has something to do with Lago not wanting to have to pay Actualidad’s legal costs once he lost. So he cut his losses.
Lago did not return calls and texts from Ladra. He never does. He feels free enough to subpoena me for no good reason (read: intimidation) but can’t bother to return a text about his attempt to silence critics and flush down the first amendment. One of his attorneys, Mason Portnoy (left), could not be reached. Two messages were left at Portnoy’s office. Actualidad’s attorney, Antonio “Tony” Castro, did not return calls and messages to his cellphone.
But the Miami Herald reported that both sides sent them a joint statement Wednesday. Talk about settling your differences.
“The parties have amicably resolved their dispute, and Mayor Lago has agreed to dismiss his lawsuit.”
Amicably? Right. So does that mean that the drama is over? Not necessarily.
Read related: Joe Carollo and staff set Ladra up to serve Vince Lago’s newest subpoena
Ladra still plans to file her first ever complaint with the same Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust against Lago and Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, and Carollo’s publicist Karen Caballero, for conspiring to trick me into a fake interview in order to serve me with a subpoena for my testimony in this case (more on that later). There was even someone waiting to record Ladra on video at the District 3 office.
He really didn’t have to go to such dramatic efforts. I’d already been served at home.
And the Miami-Dade Citizens’ Bill of Rights prohibits municipal officials and employees from knowingly furnishing false information or omitting significant facts when providing information to the public.
So now, Lago’s going to get investigated all over again. No matter what he wants to call it.
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Dariel Fernandez gives county hall $26 million gift
While Miami-Dade is drowning in debt and digging under the couch cushions looking for a staggering $402 million to close Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s budget gap, blaming the constitutional offices for a big chunk of the shortage — one of those offices is swimming in a big $9.6 billion infinity pool.
Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez sent out a very polished “we’re doing great” memo late last month, reminding everyone that his constitutionally independent shop is funded by state-set fees and a 2% commission on collections — not the county’s strapped general fund. Translation: Our lights stay on even if your budget’s bleeding red ink.
And Fernandez is apparently offering to provide $26 million to plug the hole in the Miami-Dade budget, even though he has earlier said that county should have planned for the constitutional offices, which were approved by voters in 2018.
Read related: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava defends new budget, service cuts
Let the numbers sink in: The same county that collects nearly $10 billion from residents and businesses is somehow $402 million in the hole, hiking bus fares and park fees and cutting services like meals to the elderly. The Tax Collector’s office, which handles property taxes, fees, and other revenue streams, has never looked richer. But the county budget — which funds public services, infrastructure and community programs — is bleeding red.
It’s a tale of two ledgers.
How does that happen? What kind of math is this? And more importantly — where’s the money going?
The almost $10 billion in collected taxes are then distribute not only to the county, municipalities and school board, but also all the special taxing districts and agencies, like The Children’s Trust.
“We are not a branch of County government,” Fernandez said in a statement. “We are a constitutionally independent office at the local level.” His budget was submitted Aug. 1 directly to the Florida Department of Revenue’s Property Tax Oversight (PTO) program for independent review.
Fernandez — a rare government official because he isn’t crying poor — stressed that independence matters, because it keeps him focused on service, not politics. Ladra will stop now to give time to the open laughter. Okay, are we done? Because in Miami-Dade, politics is like glitter: You can’t keep it out of anything.
And while the county could have been bracing for him to keep the full 2% commission, as the state allows, Fernandez says he’s giving back more than 61% of it this year, plus waiving it completely for municipalities and the unincorporated county. It amounts to nearly $40 million back into local coffers. Fernandez even bragged about $15 million in interest earnings sent to taxing authorities.
Read related: New Miami-Dade Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez launches new license desk
The tax collector, one of five new constitutional offices approved by voters in 2018, has taken over and expanded the Department of Motor Vehicles services in Miami-Dade — new offices, kiosks at Publix, Saturday hours, reduced waits. Fernandez has painted a picture of an efficient, modern, cash-moving machine. He says the office has already collected and distributed $9.6 billion in just 200 days, with more than $10 billion projected next year.
Fernandez has repeatedly explained that the office is supposed to be self-sufficient. “The State of Florida did not just assign us new responsibilities. It clearly defined how we are to fund them,” he said in a statement. “We operate using the fees we generate through services and the limited commissions we are authorized to retain from tax collections, as outlined in state law.
“We are a self-sustaining model that not only covers our costs but also distributes billions to local governments. Importantly, we do not have a surplus. Each year, we start at zero” Fernandez said. “Every dollar we manage belongs to the public, and we treat it that way. We are not here to build bureaucracy. We are here to build trust and return value to Miami-Dade residents.”
In that vein, we assume, Fernandez and Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez announced this week that they found $26 million in the tax collector’s coffers — $20 million in accelerated funds (out of the $78 million estimated due to the county in October 2026, so that’s just postponing the shortfall) and $6 million from what they anticipate as this year’s surplus — that can be transferred to the county’s general fund.
“My top priorities are clear: protecting the taxpayers of Miami-Dade County, keeping our finances in order, and making sure that our residents, especially the most vulnerable, have access to vital public services they need to thrive in our community,” Rodriguez wrote in a memo dated Aug. 11 and titled “Proposed Path for Partial Restoration of Budget Cuts – Framework for a Path Forward.”
“Crafting a balanced budget in today’s economy means making hard choices, thinking strategically, and a commitment to financial stewardship,” Rodriguez wrote, taking credit for “extensive negotiations and conversations” with Fernandez to make this $26 million windfall happen. “I remain steadfast in my responsibility to lead with purpose and ensure that every public dollar is spent wisely and transparently.”
Rodriguez, who has encouraged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to send his state DOGE squad to Miami-Dade, has said he plans to use these new-found funds for cultural arts funding, community organizations, parks and the reserve funds.
“Setting aside nearly one-third of these funds to build County reserves demonstrates long-term planning and discipline, an essential protection for taxpayers against future economic volatility,” he wrote in his memo. “I further recommend that a healthy portion of all future revenue returned by the county’s tax collector be allocated toward the continued strengthening of our reserves.”
Yeah, that’s a nice plan. But can we feed people first? The current budget slashes subsidized meals for the elderly.
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
“Equally important is the partial restoration of funding to community organizations, parks, and cultural programs. These services are not merely amenities,” Rodriguez said. “They are lifelines that uplift our neighborhoods, strengthen our community, and preserve the unique cultural fabric of Miami-Dade.”
Again, súper good ideas — when the county is flush. Right now, the current budget would shut down two senior activity centers. Maybe keeping those open should come before we fund any festivals.
This promises to be an exciting point of discussion at the Aug. 20 meeting of the whole, where commissioners will go through the. budget with a microscope and an Exacto knife to find efficiencies and restore some of the programs and services cut.
There will also be two public hearings next month (Sept. 4 and Sept. 18) for public input where commissioners can make final changes before the 2025-26 budget gets final approval. The fiscal year starts Oct. 1.
More information on the Miami-Dade 2025-26 budget can be found on the county’s website here.
Miami–Dade Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez did not set aside any of his $6 million surplus to help support Political Cortadito’s mission, monitor our local electeds and public officials. That’s why Ladra depends on readers like you to help keep the Fresh Colada brewing with a contribution to grassroots, government watchdog reporting. Thank you for your support!
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Former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla hasn’t filed any official paperwork to run for mayor this year, but you’d never know it judging by the money trail and the paltry little care packages he has been leaving on doorsteps in The Roads.
After more than a year of reporting no contributions, Diaz de la Portilla’s political action committee, Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade County, reported a new $275,500 collected in the second quarter this year, through June 30. More than half, or $142,000, is his own money. From where? Who knows? In his divorce case, Diaz de la Portilla has gone after his estranged wife to pay his legal fees. But he has $142K to slip into a PAC account. ADLP listed his profession as a consultant, but the money could have easily come from the sale of another one of the properties he stole, er, bought from his parents.
Read related: Alex Diaz de la Portilla is knocking, giving out mameys to be Miami mayor
The largest outside gift is $100K from David and Leila Centner. Yes, the same Centners who own the private school and who tried to bribe Diaz de la Portilla before, leading to felony political corruption charges filed against him in 2023. Allegedly.
ADLP was removed from his seat by the governor after he was charged with bribery, money laundering and 12 other felonies in September of 2023. He was accused of taking more than $300,000 — $245K in PAC donations and the rest in hotel accommodations, meals and booze — in exchange for getting the commission to agree to give away a public park for the school’s exclusive use most of the time. The Centner Academy, across the street from Biscayne Park, would build a $10 million sports dome that would be open to the public about a third of the time — and probably for a fee.
The criminal charges were dropped last year, but that might only mean that the Broward County State Attorney — who had to handle the case after our own esteemed prosecutor said she had a conflict (again) — didn’t really care too much about it. It doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. In fact, the lobbyist arrested with Diaz de la Portilla — attorney William “Bill” Riley, who represented the Centers — is suing them couple to recover thousands of dollars he spent on his defense, saying they let him “take the fall.”
A story from earlier this year in the Miami Herald said Riley’s attorneys say the Centners “feigned ignorance” about the contributions and gifts to ADLP, even though “they well knew what he had done at their specific direction.”
So, is this $100,000 their way of saying “Thank you for not suing us?” Or are they seriously thinking that the park could still be theirs if Diaz de la Portilla miraculously becomes the mayor?
Read related: Public corruption charges dropped against Miami’s Alex Diaz de la Portilla
Diaz de la Portilla is also spending the PAC money like he’s running, burning through almost $110,000 in three months. The PAC spent $108,000 and raised nothing in the first quarter and spent $68,000 and raised nothing in the last two months of 2024.
Of the recent expenses listed, almost $17,000 has gone to Julio Guillen, his family’s longtime gopher and one of his ghosts employees when he was a commissioner. Another $11,000 has gone to Sasha Tirador, the absentee ballot queen who is more at home in Hialeah.
And $3,000 was paid in May for legal compliance services to attorney Yesenia Collazo, the former chairwoman of the Proven Leadership PAC, who also got a rather questionable $175,000 grant from the city’s anti-poverty funds from the former District 1 commissioner five months before he was arrested. Collazo is also billing the city’s taxpayers $208,000 for defending Diaz de la Portilla — one of five attorneys billing a total of $1.3 million — in defense of those very same public corruption charges that were dropped last fall.
What? The Centners can’t pay Collazo directly?
Read related: City of Miami may pay $1.3 mil for Alex Diaz de la Portilla’s criminal defense
The PAC also reported spending at least $13,000 on printing, which you can’t tell by the old collaterals Diaz de la Portilla is dropping off with voters this week. Both of the printed pieces are old.
Hell, there’s even one from when the new pope was named — and that was in early May. People already got this in the mail and now they’re getting it again in his little green bag.
At least $8,100 seems to have gone to Reyes del Mamey, for the typical Cuban fruit Diaz de la Portilla has been passing out at senior housing and dropping off at doorsteps — most recently, with a can of milk so voters can make batidos de mamey.
How sweet.
Maybe they should write a thank you note — to the Centners.
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Newly elected Miami Commissioner Ralph Rosado has a whole new staff at his District 4 office that are not new to politics. Heck, some of them are not new to Miami.
Rosado’s director of constituent services is Lazaro Quintero, the former director of constituent affairs for Mayor Francis Suarez and the guy who was the go-between for the mayor and developer Rishi Kapoor — who was paying the mayor a $10,000 a month “consulting” fee, an arrangement that is under investigation by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
Quintero was the one who made a call to the zoning department on behalf of Kapoor that paved the way for a zoning waiver and, ultimately, a building permit in late 2022.
Quintero also happens to be the cousin of Gloria Fonts Suarez, the mayor’s wife.
Quintero is clearly Suarez’s man in the D4 office and may be why he in invested $1 million from his political action committee to get Rosado elected. But is he also there to help Rosado achieve the level of success (read: side gigs) that Suarez has reached.
Read related: Francis Suarez, Joe Carollo spend $1.6 million to elect Ralph Rosado in D4
Rosado’s new chief of staff is his old chief of staff from when Rosado was the city manager at North Bay Village. This is a reward for Leo Cosio‘s stalwart campaigning during the election June 3.
“The last month has been a wild ride and I’m grateful for every minute,” he wrote last month on LinkedIn. “From being named a finalist for City Manager of Biscayne Park, to knocking doors for my dear friend and one of the most qualified candidates (now elected official) I’ve ever known, and ultimately deciding to join his team, I am not the same person today that I was just a few weeks ago. This is Leo 4.0!”
Leo 4.0 is paid $159,800 a year. He is the highest paid new D4 staffer. Quintero is next with a salary of $145,631 a year.
Meet the rest of the new staff:

Christian Molina, the deputy chief of staff at $116,400 a year, is also a refugee from North Bay Village, where he was a legislative aid to the manager for 10 months and a chief of staff for the mayor and commission for 11 months. After that, he worked the last eight months as an legislative assistant to Miami-Dade County Public School Board Member Joe Geller.
Jennifer Torna is the commissioners new director of communications. She was the communications manager at the city of North Miami for a year before that and worked at WDNA as a development assistant and membership director for more than five years.
Director of Community Affairs and Special Projects is Alex Duran was the parks and recreation director in the city of Sweetwater for two years and worked as a staff assistant for Marco Rubio for six months when the secretary was a senator. He also served as an executive committeeman for the Miami-Dade Republican Party. He makes $94,500 a year.
Ihosvany Romero, who just got his Bachelor’s degree from Florida International University with a major in political science and government, is the D4 legislative coordinator at $62,300.
Joaquin Bierman gets $59,500 as another legislative coordinator in the D4 office.
Special Projects Coordinator Yovani Pinero was a property management supervisor for three years before he was hired June 10 at a salary of $58,500 a year. He was also on city of Sweetwater’s Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Board.
Milagros Loyal is a known boletera who is now the senior affairs liaison and is paid $55,700 a year. This is likely a reward for her work on the special election, where she collected ballots at the Smathers building. Loyal has worked for the city before — and was fired by Commissioner Miguel Gabela for misusing a city vehicle. But hey, she can get votes.

Notice how there is not one but two legislative coordinators. Does that mean we’re going to see a lot of proposed legislation coming out of Rosado’s office?
Read related: Bromance break-up at Miami City Hall as Joe Carollo and Ralph Rosado split
Rosado, who replaced the late Manolo Reyes, kept five district aides as well as District Director Anna Fernandez and Office Manager Christina Casanova, who las malas lenguas say got a pretty big raise (she makes $87,500 a year now) from Rosado and eyebrows are raised about maybe her having helped the campaign from inside.
Taken together, the District 4 staff is costing the city almost $1.2 million — just in salaries. That does not include benefits and expenses.
Hopefully, it will be worth it to residents.

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