15-member committee has lobbyists, contractors
Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Anthony “A-Rod” Rodriguez is now leading the charge to strip away inefficiencies in the county’s bloated and Byzantine procurement system.
Yes, you read that right. The same Anthony Rodriguez who helped build the maze — and recently came under fire for awarding millions to a shady charity to put on an event in his district — has promised to guide us out of this mess with something he’s calling the “Special Task Force to Reduce Inefficiencies in Procurement,” or STRIP.
Because why not add a gimmicky acronym to a government boondoggle?
Read related: Shady charity with political ties gets $450K from Miami-Dade Commission
The legislation establishing the STRIP passed unanimously May 6 and Rodriguez says, with a straight face, that the new task force will “overhaul the county’s procurement system to better serve taxpayers and encourage broader participation from vendors, including small businesses.
“Our current procurement process is bogged down by over 200 pieces of legislation and an average of 100 individual steps per request,” Rodriguez said in a statement after the legislation passed May 6. “For contracts exceeding $1 million, it takes over 349 days to procure. This inefficiency not only drives up costs but also creates an uneven playing field, favoring only those who can afford to navigate the delays.”
You could literally get pregnant, deliver a baby, and go back to work before the county finishes a big contract.
Unless, of course, you’re one of the usual suspects who already knows which back door to use.
Like A3 Foundation, a nonprofit with no track record, led by his close friend and former aide, Alexander P. Anthony, was awarded a no-bid, $8 million workforce contract. No paperwork. No competition. No transparency. Just one juicy, backroom-deal contract handed out like a candy bar at Halloween.
It doesn’t look like commission district funding for non-profits is on the list, however. According to the resolution passed in May, the STRIP is established “for the purpose of reviewing existing laws, codes, and procedures relating to the County’s procurement (including the procurement of goods and services, professional services agreements (including agreements for architectural and engineering services), public works and construction contracts, P3 agreements, leases, and concessions) and providing recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners for needed changes or improvements to such laws, codes, or procedures.”
And they have a lot of homework in order to dig deep into every clogged pipe in the procurement plumbing. They’re looking at everything. The endless delays. The “delegated authority” that lets the mayor’s office greenlight contracts without commission votes. The red tape that keeps small businesses locked out. Even the local preference policies that sound good but might be costing more than they save.
They’ll be asking whether procurement should work differently for buying toilet paper vs. building transit stations (spoiler: it probably should). They’ll check if the County’s online procurement portal is a relic of the dial-up era (also: yes). And someone even dropped the A.I. buzzword in there — because of course they did.
The task force’s objectives align with ongoing efforts to improve government efficiency, such as the Government Efficiency and Transparency Ad Hoc Committee, have already begun identifying areas for improvement across various departments, Rodriguez explained. STRIP “represents a focused approach to tackling one of the most critical aspects of county operations.”
Read related: Another procurement battle for traffic signals looms at Miami-Dade County
Rodriguez emphasized that the reform is not about adding complexity but about removing unnecessary layers that hinder progress. “By stripping away red tape, we can ensure that our procurement process works for the people, providing better value and fostering a more competitive environment,” he stated.
Oh, and this is Miami-Dade, so accountability for contractors is also on the menu. Which makes Ladra wonder: Will the task force have the teeth to actually bite someone, or is this going to be another toothless commission-approved chew toy?
Well, let’s take a look at the 15 members, who were all handpicked by Rodriguez himself. Commissioners were allowed to submit up to three names, but ultimately, A-Rod got the final say.
The group is supposed to reflect Miami-Dade’s glorious cultural flavor — you know, the political rainbow — and include people who know a thing or two about how contracts are actually handed out in Florida. In other words: Insiders. They won’t be paid, so of course it’s only for people with time, independent wealth, connections or ulterior motives.
The lucky winners are literally stakeholders:

Al Dotson Jr., a prominent lobbyist and managing partner, Bilzin Sumberg, Miami who has been named one of Florida Trend’s “500 Most Influential Leaders” in the state. He is the oldest of four siblings.
Aldo M. Leiva, an attorney specializing in information technology, data security and privacy, data breach notification and other data protection compliance. As a Cuba law/policy analyst, he has also briefed the U.S. State Department, lawmakers and presidential candidates provided analysis of Cuban trends to multiple universities. He also served as a board member of the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
Diana Mendez, a lobbyist and partner at Bilzin Sumberg where she represents clients “through all phases of the government procurement process, from identifying government contracting opportunities to bid protest litigation.” According to her LinkedIn profile, Mendez helps clients “navigate the legal and public policy landscape surrounding procurement opportunities.” She specializes in identifying government contract opportunities and holds clients hands through the bidding process. And she is the STRIP chair.
Erin Hendrix, a lobbyist and partner at LSN Partners, she leads the firm’s aviation practice. Does that mean she knows about the mess at Miami International Airport?
Jina Braynon, an international business consultant and managing director at Accenture, where she leads “innovative transformations partnering with state and local governments to execute comprehensive operational improvements that bolster efficiency and enhance organization sustainability.” Whatever that is. She is also the daughter of former State Sen. Oscar Braynon.
John Elizabeth Aleman, client account manager at Jacobs, a consulting firm that provides professional architecture and engineering services for the airport and seaport, was also a Miami Beach city commissioner from 2015 to 2019. She currently serves on the Board of Governors and Executive Committee for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. And she gets props from Ladra for resigning from the Miami Downtown Development Authority in 2020 after a power shift at City Hall, when it became clear that “working within the current political climate is untenable.”
Josenrique Cueto, the former deputy director and “chief project delivery officer” at the county’s Department of Transit and Public Works, now vice president of Real Estate Development at UniCapital Asset Management Group, a real estate development firm specializing in mixed-use projects.
Kenneth Naylor, president of development at Atlantic|Pacific Companies, a fifth-generation, vertical integrated real estate company with expertise in acquisitions, development, property management and investments.
Maira Suarez, senior vice president of Lemartec Corporation, which is a MasTec company — they have a ton of county contracts — who also used to work for Munilla Construction Management, which also has won a ton of county contracts and was involved in the building of the FIU bridge that fatally collapsed in 2018, killing six people.
Miguel De Grandy, a lobbyist and former state rep who did the hugely inappropriate and invalid redistricting for the city, later found by a court to be racially gerrymandered to keep the incumbents in office. De Grandy also admitted to intentionally putting Joe Carollo‘s house into District 3 and intentionally cutting Commissioner Miguel Gabela‘s home out of District 1 as a favor to former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla.
Rey Melendi, Chief Operating Officer and partner at 13th Floor Investments, a leading opportunistic real estate private equity firm in Florida. He oversees the development, construction, and operational asset management of the company’s investments. He is also former president of the Builders Association of South Florida.
Rudy Ortiz, founder and chief executive officer of CES companies, which specialize in construction management and program management of fast-track and large-scale capital projects and programs.
Victor Herrera, senior vice president of BCC Engineering, which helps clients connect resources to plan, deploy, and manage infrastructure projects. “It’s all city and county business,” Herrera openly admitted at the introduction meeting June 25. According to the BCC website, “his focus is on the expansion of the firm’s municipal market presence.”
Willy Bermello, one of the founding partners of Bermello Ajamil and Associates, a renowned and award-winning architectural and engineering firm, which has also won lots of big facility bids from the county. He is the task force’s vice chairman.
Carolina Vester, who rose through the ranks in the city of Coral Gables from lifeguard at Venetian Pool to deputy city manager, a position she was promoted to in February from parks and recreation, where she was deputy director since 2016.

Can you spot the many conflicts of interests? One of the participants even said “I think it’s developer corner over here,” at the first meeting after he introduced himself.
These are all very capable, qualified people. Okay, there are some qualified, capable people here. And certainly — the odds are there — some of them are well intentioned. But how do we know they are all going to do what’s best for the taxpayer’s wallet and not what’s best for their next bid on a multi-million dollar terminal project at the airport?
Read related: Miami-Dade could give design of $270 mil MIA project without a second look
Why do we need a fancy named task force to identify efficiencies in procurement anyway? Wasn’t this something that Commissioners Raquel Regalado and Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez, chairman of the Government Transparency and Efficiency Ad Hoc Committee, were already working to fix? Isn’t this what we elected them for?
And what is the difference between STRIP and GTEAHC, except that the Bermudez committee doesn’t have a nifty acronym?
Rodriguez claims STRIP is about helping the little guy — small vendors who can’t afford to wait a year for a yes or no. But the track record and the stakeholders suggest that STRIP might just stand for Slick Tactics Rewarding Inside Players. “I wanted this to be driven by the folks who do business with the county every single day,” Rodriguez said. In other words: the usual suspects.
“The idea here is not just to help the private sector and business, which is all of you guys,” Rodriguez said in his welcome statements at the first meeting. “But it also helps residents.
And let’s not forget the timing. With the 2026 budget hearings around the corner and rumors swirling about bigger ambitions for Rodriguez, this little reform parade might just be a campaign commercial dressed up as policy.
Still, the measure passed unanimously at the May 6 commission meeting, probably because nobody wants to be on record against stripping red tape. And maybe, just maybe, something good comes of putting a magnifying glass on what is a county swamp.
If anyone is actually looking. So far, there have been at least three Zoom meetings — June 25, July 2 and July 15. The task force’s first report is due 60 days after it was established, so mid August. Ladra will believe the reform when we see it.
This task force can be more than a STRIP show if it actually addresses the real problems in procurement, which is apparently not access.
The post STRIP show: Miami-Dade’s Anthony Rodriguez wants to fix procurement appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Is Congressman Carlos Gimenez really thinking of jumping ship in D.C. because he didn’t get a fancy committee chair? That’s what the queen of conspiracy, Laura Loomer, says. And while Loomer has made a career out of conspiracy theories, stunts, and playing the victim every time someone dares to call out her nonsense, for once, Ladra has to admit, the chisme kinda tracks.
This might not be one of her regular tinfoil-hat chats.
Loomer has been banned from more platforms than Ladra has cafecitos in a day — and that’s saying something. Twitter, Facebook, Uber, Lyft, PayPal — even GoFundMe had banned her at one time because of her hate speech. But she’s back on Twitter, where she posted Wednesday that she allegedly got a scoop about Gimenez licking his wounds after losing out on the Homeland Security Committee chairmanship and is now seriously considering a run for City of Miami mayor in 2025.
Read related: Will he or won’t he? Congressman Carlos Gimenez for Miami mayor?
And that started a Twitter beef with Gimenez, who struck back.
“Once again, Loomer doesn’t have the faintest idea of what she’s talking about. She doesn’t like that I stand with the Venezuelan people in their fight for freedom,” Gimenez posted. “Instead, she would rather funnel millions into the pockets of the leaders of the Cartel de los Soles — a criminal narco-terrorist regime headed by none other than Nicolas Maduro and an officially designated global terrorist organization by President Trump.”
As one could imagine, Loomer responded with long screeds about false accusations and Gimenez being a RINO who didn’t deny he’s leaving congress — and he did not — and who has promised his son, onetime Trump lobbyist Carlos “CJ” Gimenez, his District 28 seat.
No, Laura. It would be his daughter-in-law, Tania Cruz Gimenez, who would run for congress. Cruz Gimenez, who ran the successful campaign of the newly-elected Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz, is a Republican now and made a big deal out of switching from the Democratic Party with a totally unnecessary swearing-in ceremony, pledging her loyalty to the GOP, officiated by none other than House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The photos will make for great campaign mailers.
Ladra’s been hearing about a possible run for months. The rumors started circulating long before the chairmanship opened up and a new the Homeland Security chair was named last week. But maybe that was el colmo ya.
Gimenez, who was mayor of Miami-Dade from 2011 to 2020, was the first Republican to launch a bid to chair the powerful committee after U.S. Rep. Mark Green stepped down earlier this month. In a letter announcing his candidacy, Gimenez highlighted his background in public safety, executive leadership, and crisis management as qualifications for the position.
But the gavel went to Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York instead, and reportedly that didn’t sit well with Carlos. Word is, he’s stewing in his district during August recess, plotting a potential homecoming.
Loomer frames it like a betrayal of Trump and the House GOP — which is hilarious, considering Gimenez has been the political equivalent of a wind sock when it comes to Trump. Don’t forget: he voted for Hillary in 2016, only climbed aboard the Trump Train after it was already barreling down the tracks, and got booed at a Miami Trump rally like he walked onstage wearing a Fauci T-shirt and handing out vaccine cards.
There is some room for doubt because Gimenez loves the national spotlight. He is on every cable news show he can And he is still chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s Transportation and Maritime Security subcommittee as well as a member of its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection subcommittee. He is also a member of the Readiness subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee and the U.S. House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and Chinese Communist Party, which sounds made up but it’s not.
Also, the idea of a former county mayor parachuting into a city mayor’s race is classic Gimenez. He started his career as a firefighter in Miami and has always loved the idea of saving people. This gives him the chance to pitch his campaign as a hero coming home to save us from Commissioner Joe Carollo, who is also threatening a run for mayor.
Gimenez also likes being a big fish in a small putrid pond more than being a small fish in a big, dark swamp. And he might be sick of taking the hits for Trump’s chaotic and cruel immigration policy and mass deportation fiesta, which is affecting his own constituents more than Gimenez would like.
Read related: Video blasts U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez for silence on ending TPS, deportations
And if he does resign his congressional seat, it could trigger a special election in a swingy district — exactly the kind of opening Democrats are dying for as they try to flip the House. They only need three seats. Gimenez, who has been included in a number of mayoral election polls, has until September 20 to qualify in the Miami mayoral race. So he can still mull it over for a while.
He would be entering a crowded clown car clusterbunch race, but that might help him stand out and become the frontrunner right away.
“If Gimenez does, in fact, resign from Congress to run for Mayor of the City of Miami, he would be abandoning President Trump’s agenda and would set his congressional seat up for a special election, which could be disastrous for the Republicans as they fight to keep the House majority in 2026,” Loomer wrote in her Twitter post. 
Disastrous? Sure, the right Democrat could seize the opportunity and take that seat. But it seems a safely red district that State Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez can just slide into without breaking a sweat. Other potential wannabes include Miami-Dade Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez, who is ultra-right and has been super active on the dais lately, since he won the veto overturn on removing the fluoride in the water.
You know the type. They get one little win — maybe a headline, a hashtag, a handshake from someone with a title — and suddenly they think they’re the second coming of Lincoln. Or at least the next savior of South Florida.
Ladra calls it “getting drunk on their own press clippings.” One sip of success and they’re already measuring the drapes at City Hall, forgetting that local voters are not as easy to charm as the three people liking their Facebook post.
So is Laura Loomer suddenly a reliable source? No, she’s more like a performance artist — and not even a good one. More like bad improv at a MAGA open mic event.
But if The Simpsons is prophetic and a broken clock is right twice a day, then why can’t Loomer be onto something?
The post Laura Loomer: Carlos Gimenez to ‘abandon’ Trump, run for Miami mayor appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Melissa Castro suggests ballot language for referendum
The city of Miami’s court battle to move municipal elections from odd to even years — effectively cancelling this year’s mayoral and commission races and extending electeds’ terms by a year — may have reverberations in Coral Gables, where the commission voted to move the elections from April of odd years to November of even years.
Same sin. Different direction.
Miami-Dade Judge Valerie Manno Schurr — in a lawsuit brought by former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who is running for Miami mayor — already ruled last week that the city violated its own charter and the county charter when commissioners approved an ordinance changing the election date. The city appealed, but the reaction to oral arguments heard Tuesday indicate that they are going to lose that, too.
Read related: Third DCA seems skeptical of Miami city election change, cancellation
Manno Schurr’s ruling hinged on one self-evident truth: You don’t mess with the lengths of electeds’ terms without going to the people who put them in office in the first place. Period. Whether you’re adding months or shaving them off, it’s not up to mayors and commissioners with itchy calendar fingers. It’s up to the voters.
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, and Commissioners Ariel Fernandez and Richard Lara voted in May to move the next municipal election from April 2027 to November 2026 — skipping a referendum entirely, just like Miami did. Except now Miami’s in legal hot water, maybe The City Beautiful should reconsider.
Nope, they doubled down, instead. Lago, Anderson and Lara, did anyway. While Fernandez was away for health reasons, the commission last month discussed joining with other cities to rebuff any legal challenges from the state.
City Attorney Cristina Suarez has issued a formal legal opinion stating that the change is “legally sufficient in accordance with applicable law.” But it is a non-binding and advisory opinion only. Is that her way of saying it won’t hold up in court?
Read related: Miami-Dade Judge: Miami Commission can’t cancel election without public vote
Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro, the lone holdout on the vote to change the election — the same one who got censured by her “colleagues” for having the independent gumption to ask the Florida Attorney General about it (how dare she!) — wants the commission to reconsider. She told Political Cortadito she was not going to back down.
“Elected officials just deciding on their own that they are going to serve a year more or a year less? What is that? That’s a very dangerous precedent, that’s what it is,” Castro said.
“People — not politicians — have the sole right to decide when elections are held,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “It was the voters who put officials in office, and it is the voters alone who must decide if and when election dates change. Bypassing the people and moving elections without their approval is not only unethical, it’s illegal and unconstitutional under the Miami-Dade County Charter and Florida Constitution.
“I will fight tirelessly to defend your right to vote and ensure your voice is never silenced by political maneuvering,” she said, referring to the censure, which is like a slap on the wrist from elected colleagues. Unenforceable, but meant to chill dissent.
“Democracy belongs to the people, and I will never back down from protecting it,” Castro said.
She asked the city attorney on Tuesday to a draft a resolution for the first August meeting directing that a ballot question be presented to the electorate, asking whether they prefer Coral Gables municipal elections to continue being held in April, as has been the tradition for nearly 100 years, or be moved to November.
“The question must be binding, and the result should determine the city’s future election schedule,” Castro wrote in an email. And in order to make it super easy and trnsparent, she wants the ballot language to be simple: Under the title “Selection of Municipal Election Date,” voters will be asked to check a box for when they want to have future municipal elections — in April “dedicated local election focused on city issues” or November “combined with national and state elections.”
Read related: Coral Gables commissioner Melissa Castro challenges election date change
And what if someone blocks her or censures her again? Well, she might just take it to Gov. DeSantis.
“I won’t hesitate to take it further,” Castro wrote in an email to Gables residents last week. “I will continue siding firmly on the side of the law, transparency and, most importantly, the people.”
But let’s be real: Coral Gables doesn’t need Tallahassee swooping in to clean up its mess. What it needs is a little bit of spine and a whole lot of common sense.
Because even if the reasons for the change — higher turnout, lower costs, civic alignment — are legit, process still matters. Democracy doesn’t get waived for convenience. And a 4-1 commission vote deciding for 46,000 Gables voters when their elections happen? That’s not leadership. That’s laziness.
Gables commissioners have a choice. They can dig in their heels and go into a losing legal battle. Or they can put their trust in the people who elected them and let the voters decide, in a way that they know their next elected is going to serve a shorter term.
Ladra knows which one smells more like sunshine and less like naranja agria. Does Mayor Lago?
Because if the commission doesn’t do it now, a judge might do it later — and by then, it could be messier. And costlier.
Just ask the folks at Miami City Hall. (Assuming they’re not too busy appealing everything.)
The post Judge calls Miami election change unconstitutional; is Coral Gables next? appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

In what smells an awful lot like another scripted rubber-stamp moment, the City of Miami Commission last week passed the controversial Transit Station Neighborhood Development (TSND) ordinance, which gives developers the green light to drop a 12-story tower next to single family home within a one-mile radius of any Metrorail, Brightline or Tri-Rail, too. Existing or future.
So, basically, this new zoning category opens up nearly half the city — critics say up to 48% — to high-density, high-rise construction.
And it’s all under the guise of “affordable housing” and “transit-oriented planning.” But that’s the PR campaign. This has about as much to do with affordable housing or real transit policy as Commissioner Joe Carollo has to do with yoga and inner peace.
This new law is being sold as sustainable, equitable, and progressive. But critics see it as a Trojan condo (no, that is not a typo), filled with profits for developers, cloaked in buzzwords like “workforce housing” and “smart growth.” As Ladra has said before, it is an insult to everyone who worked for months and had many public meetings to establish the Miami 21 code.
Residents last Thursday asked — politely, persistently, and repeatedly — for the vote to be deferred. They didn’t ask the commission to kill it. Just to give them until the next meeting in September to digest and comprehend a law that rewrites the future of half the city. And maybe find improvements? Could that even be possible?
But the Commission said no. Too busy. Too urgent.
Read related: Critics say Miami’s new transit zoning ordinance = loophole for developers
However, an email from Commissioner Damian Pardo‘s office the afternoon before the meeting suggests that the change is being driven by a particular development. Pardo’s community liaison, Alejandra Alexieva, wrote that Pardo wanted to defer the item, and another on transit oriented districts, but that he was under the nail gun. Get it? Nail gun?
“He would have preferred to defer both items. However, there is a significant project requiring the creation of a rail station relying on some of these changes.  The commissioner’s concerns have been appropriately addressed by staff and, as such, he will be supportive of these items and seek to explain them further from the dais at the meeting,” Alexieva said.
There was not any further explanation at the meeting. Not once did Pardo address how this anticipated TriRail station on 79th Street and Northeast Second Ave is “relying” on this ordinance.
So now we know what’s really important — not the long-term impact on Miami’s neighborhoods or residents, but keeping one anonymous developer’s train dreams right on schedule.
In fact, this is custom made ordinance may also be tied to the development dreams of another prospector.
At least 37 independent parcels near St. Mary’s Cathedral, the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami at 7525 NW 2nd Ave have been snatched up since August of 2021 for a total of more than $82 million — way above the market rate — by the same entity, Chicago-based LRMF Owner LLC. They include vacant lots, industrial warehouses, multifamily buildings and at least one single family home which, together, totals more than 24 acres.
LRMF is an affiliate of Nashville, Tennessee-based Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners, and most of the properties were paid for in two deeds — one for $19.1 million and one for $56.3 million. The seller was Miami-based commercial real estate firm MVW Partners, through dozens of LLCs managed by co-founder Matthew Vander Werff.
Las malas lenguas say that developers are going to present at least one, but possibly two affordable housing projects on those aggregated properties. The AJ Capital website calls the Miami project“Little River.”

A common thread in the concern of residents is that the city’s own previous guidelines — including from another item on the same agenda — define a quarter-mile or half-mile radius from transit corridors as the appropriate area for density bonuses. These distances are standard in urban planning. Logical. Walkable. Scaled to people, not cranes.
But now? Suddenly, a full one-mile radius is the new benchmark for building big and building fast. That’s not walkability. That’s blanket overdevelopment. And nobody gets a blanket like that unless they’re screwing someone under them.
Read related: Miami-Dade and city of Miami to meet re zoning density along transit routes
Case in point: An internal memo obtained and published by the Coconut Grove Spotlight, a must read for fans of Miami government cosplay, shows that there were secret changes made to the legislation just two days before the vote. City Manager Art Noriega approved several amendments that expand the number of eligible properties, ignore minimum lot-size standards and allow developers to make modifications to large-scale projects without public notice or input, which was required under the city’s old rules.
This might give opponents of the change the opportunity to challenge the TSND ordinance in court. But that would mean hiring an attorney and residents are already fighting so many things at City Hall. The sale of the Olympia Theater should get legal attention, too.
Commission Chairwoman Christine King actually tried to shield historic districts from the fallout. She proposed an amendment to preserve neighborhoods with cultural and architectural value from the coming storm of 12-story shadows. At first, it didn’t look like the amendment was finished. But she was assured Thursday that it was there.
But who knows if it made it into the final draft. That’s how fluid this ordinance has been.
When nearly half the city gets rezoned in 36 days, without proper input, in the dead of summer — that’s not good urban planning. That’s a power move. And the people of Miami just got Brightlined.
The post Miami approves TSND zones to bring ‘affordable’ housing to transit hubs appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

The Third District Court of Appeal hasn’t dropped its ruling yet on whether the City of Miami can just cancel its elections like a bad brunch reservation, but the smart money is on Emilio Gonzalez — the former city manager who sued to undo the shady ordinance that postponed this year’s mayoral race (and two commission contests) until 2026.
Gonzalez wants to run for mayor now, not next year. After all, he’s been campaigning for months. Last week, Miami-Dade Judge Valerie Manno Schurr agreed, ruling the city commission’s change of the election by ordinance without a voter referendum was unconstitutional because it violates both the city and county charters, which trump state law. So, super duper unconstitutional.
Read related: Miami-Dade Judge: Miami Commission can’t cancel election without public vote
In other words: Commissioners cannot just cancel the election because they feel like it. Not even if they say it really fast in legalese. Or hold up props, which is what the city’s hired gun, outside attorney Dwayne Robinson, did in moment of legal theater that would make Shakespeare cringe. Robinson stood there holding two printed copies of the city charter — one from before the election-postponing ordinance passed and one from after — and told the court: “There is no change. There is no amendment. Nothing is repealed.”
Nothing’s changed? Except the whole part where the city commission gave themselves another year in office, moved the election to 2026, and completely ignored the charter’s very clear instruction that elections be held in odd-numbered years. But yeah, nothing’s changed.
Robinson barely made it a minute in before Judge Monica Gordo interrupted with a polite but pointed, “The charter is the city’s constitution, is it not?”
“Why would the commission hang its hat on a permissive state statute when they have a constitution confronting them with a ‘shall,’” Gordo asked, rhetorically because you could tell she already knows the answer is they cannot.
You could almost feel the eye rolls from the bench. And Gordo wasn’t the only one wondering why she was there. Because the city’s legal logic would get laughed out of a mock trial at Jose Marti Middle School.
Judge Kevin Emas seemed frustrated with the city’s argument that, hey, moving an election without voter approval was totally legit and not at all a coup in slow motion. Judge Fleur Lobree seemed bored. She scooped up her documents and notes to leave before the city’s rebuttal was even finished.
Several times Emas made the point that Gonzalez and his attorneys were making: You can’t have a charter and a code that contradict each other and expect this not to end in chaos.
Read related: First lawsuit filed to stop city of Miami from cancelling November election
Attorney Alan Lawson, a former Florida Supreme Court Justice representing González, called the city’s argument “a semantic sleight of hand.” Well, that could describe a lot of discussions at city commission meetings. Basically, Lawson said, if the charter says elections are in odd years, and you pass something that says otherwise, then you’re changing the charter — and you need a referendum. Voters get a say. It’s really not that hard.
“They say, ‘We didn’t amend the charter. The words are still there in the charter,’” Lawson said about the city’s argument. “They say that this is just an alternative means of rule-making in an area historically limited to the referendum process. They say it’s an alternate path.”
And if the commission can take an “alternate path,” why bother with a charter at all?
“Lincoln famously said that you can call a tail a leg but it doesn’t make it so,” Lawson said. What if they call a tail the head?
In other words: saying “we didn’t change the charter, we just ignored part of it” is the legal equivalent of “it’s not cheating if I close one eye.”
Even Miami-Dade County showed up to remind the city that they’re not above the rules. And when the county feels the need to weigh in on how broken your logic is, you know you’ve lost the room. Assistant County Attorney Michael Valdes told the judges that under the Miami-Dade Home Rule Charter — aka our local constitution — changes like this must go to the voters. You’d think that would be obvious to a city with more lawyers than potholes.
The city’s rebuttal? That the charter isn’t a “magic document that cannot be altered unless there’s a referendum.” Oh really? So is it a suggestion box? A pirate map? A mood ring? A souvenir from when there was democracy in Miami?
If it’s not binding, then what is? The whims of three commissioners?
But, you know, a Miami courtroom drama isn’t complete if there’s not a Carollo cameo. And here, there were two.
Frank Carollo watches intently while county attorney Michael Valdes argues the home rule charter trumps state law
Commissioner Joe Carollo wasn’t there Tuesday — but he wanted to be. As if he didn’t have enough legal battles of his own, Carollo — who always wants to be el protagonista — wanted to insert himself into someone else’s courtroom drama. Crazy Joe loves the sound of his own voice. Y como un colado in a quinceañera he wasn’t invited to, Carollo asked the court to let him speak at oral arguments in a case he’s not even a party to.
The Gonzalez legal team told the judges that this was disruptive and that Carollo simply wanted to grandstand. Ya think? The DCA judges — who may have seen Carollo drone on and on and on at commission meetings — told him nananina. They saved themselves.
But his brother was there. Former Commissioner Frank Carollo, who has filed to run again in District 3, sat behind Gonzalez in the audience and looked glum. He later made a comment to the press outside because he doesn’t want Gonzalez to be the only one getting a ton of earned media for suing the city.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, was also in the courtroom, in the front row. Suarez is hoping the city prevails so he can have an extra year in office to increase his net worth even more.
Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year
Observers expect the judges to issue a ruling soon. Ladra is surprised it’s taken them this long because their skepticism was pretty evident at the hearing.
This isn’t about “clarifying” the charter or “modernizing” elections. This is about commissioners handing themselves an extra year in office and hoping no one would notice.
Well, guess what? People noticed.
So did Judge Manno Schurr, and now three appellate judges seem poised to deliver the same message: You want to change an election date? Ask the damn voters.
A ruling is expected soon. Ladra just hopes the city doesn’t try to drag this into extra innings with another appeal. Haven’t we wasted enough taxpayer money already?
The post Third DCA seems skeptical of Miami city election change, cancellation appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Looks like Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago was playing with fire when he went on a full verbal assault of the firefighters union president at a public commission meeting earlier this month. And what are firefighters good at? Putting out fires that are out of control.
IAFF Local 1210, the city’s firefighter union, just slapped the mayor with a cease-and-desist letter (posted below) that should douse the hothead with a good jarra de agua fria. Apparently, L’Ego’s July 1 rant — where he lobbed insult after insult at union President David Perez (who, by the way, wasn’t even there to defend himself) — got their attention.
And, also, a nice, formal legal warning from one of the most respected firefighter labor attorneys in the state, who must have taken a Tums after he watched the video of the meeting and called the tirade what it is: sour grapes and political retaliation.
“It is clear from the video that you are upset the Local 1210 failed to endorse you in your last political campaign. That disappointment does not, however, justify these unlawful personal attacks,” wrote attorney James Brantley, who’s been doing this kind of work for over 45 years — longer than Lago’s been in politics, though maybe not longer than he’s been dyeing his hair.
In a three-page letter, Brantley, who was a firefighter for 28 years, says the mayor’s behavior was not only “unprofessional and threatening,” but it “creates a hostile work environment” and could easily be interpreted as union-busting.
“Most disturbing is that these comments were made by you, in your official capacity as Mayor of the City of Coral Gables, against an active employee of the City. These comments were understood as a threat,” Brantly wrote.
Florida’s Public Employees Relations Act was written to prevent elected officials from interfering in union representation.
But Vinnie doesn’t let labor law or democracy stop him from running his mouth, does he?
Read related: Coral Gables fire department flunks reaccreditation attempt — for now
Let’s recap what Lyin’ Lago said at the dais on July 1, shall we?
“This is what you call politics. Politics at its finest,” Lago said. And he’s right about that. But it’s him who is playing political theater. He brought up the union at the meeting because of a true and accurate story in the resurrected Coral Gables Gazette about the fire department’s deferred reaccreditation. Rather than address the legitimate concerns, Lago decided it was an opportunity to unload on Perez in a public meeting — without rebuttal, without facts, and, most importantly, without class.
“This is David Perez, the head of the union, the same guy who goes out there and goes scorched earth on people, on their family. He went home by home spreading rumors about me, handing out ridiculous flyers,” Lago said about Perez and the union endorsement of his opponent, former Commissioner Kirk Menendez, Because, you know, democracy. Ladra didn’t see any flyers, btw, that attacked his family.
“We have amazing firefighters in this community, they are not represented by David Perez,” Lago said, because now he’s just delusional. And disrespectful to them because they did choose him. “The union should wise up and get rid of David Perez and move on.
“David Perez is a disservice to the city. He’s not a professional. He’s a disservice to the fire union. He’s a disservice to the fire brand. And all he does is hurt himself and hurt this community,” Lago went on, for almost four minutes. “He thinks that by attacking and attacking and attacking and attacking, he’s going to achieve some sort of goal for the fire department. All he does is embarrass the fire department and himself.”
And Ladra says Lago should look in the mirror.
“He’s shown time and time again that he’s nothing but a mere pathetic individual who is desperate for attention,” he said.
He must own a couple of mirrors, doesn’t he?
Okay, now, let’s set the vampire’s record straight:

Lie: Lago called Perez a “pathetic individual,” and accused him of “hiding in the shadows.” Truth: Lago does not return Ladra’s calls and hides his attacks on his opponents through a political action committee. Perez has been to the city commission to speak and publicly confront Lago about his lies on several occasions. What’s pathetic was Lago’s show.
Lie: Lago claimed Perez “puts out falsehoods.” Truth: Lago is the one who sends misleading texts to voters through his PAC and has repeatedly lied to residents about shortages at the police and fire departments. He also dramatically signed an affidavit swearing to have no family members tied to Little Gables when his brother was a lobbyist for the largest property owner in the unincorporated Miami-Dade enclave that the mayor was desperately trying to annex into the city. That is putting out real falsehoods. The lies became so egregious during the campaign, that the fire union and police union issued a joint statement to set the record straight.
Lie: The mayor flat-out declared that Perez “does not represent the fire union.” Truth: Much as Lago was elected by the voters, Perez was elected by a majority of the firefighters to represent them. In fact, he represents them so well that they elected him twice. Perhaps Lago’s hate only helps Perez keep getting elected.
Lie: Lago says all Perez does “is hurt himself and this community.” Truth: Perez has been a firefighter in Coral Gables for almost 15 years. Before that he worked at the county’s emergency management department. He only helps the community. Lago wants to force the annexation of Little Gables down the city taxpayers’ throats, even though overwhelmingly rejected it.

Read related: Coral Gables police, fire union: Lying Vince Lago is no pal of public safety
Brantley didn’t mince words in the July 24 missive to the mayor, which reads more like a legal flamethrower than a letter.
“Your public comment suggesting that the men and women of the Coral Gables Fire Department should ‘wise up and get rid of David Perez’ was clearly intended to interfere with the rights of Coral Gables Fire Department bargaining unit employees to be represented by a union of their choosing, a right that includes the right to select the union leadership of their choosing,” he wrote.
The letter also references the Firefighter Bill of Rights. Apparently, someone could infer, from Lago’s words, that Perez is under investigation when he is not. And saying so in a public meeting that is broadcast live and recorded for anyone to see later is illegal.
Brantley said the union had gone as far as to make a public records request for any complaints or investigations into Perez. To see, you know, if Lago was bluffing. “If, on the other hand, no such records exist, then accept this letter as a demand that your comments suggesting otherwise cease immediately.”
Because he knows what all his favorite servers at Bachour know: That his  diatribe from the dais was nothing more than part of the his revenge tour, targeting everyone who didn’t support him and his lackeys in April’s election, including IAFF Local 1210. In fact, Perez drove around with Menendez in a golf cart during the campaign. Because, you know, democracy.
And while that may have bruised his fragile ego (and his vote count), it doesn’t give the mayor a license to trash the union’s elected leader on the dais like it’s open mic night at Versailles.
Let’s not forget the backup singer on this track: Commissioner Richard Lara, who chimed in with his own carefully considered suggestion — after little more than two months in office — that Perez should “resign his employment.”
What a lovely duet. They could bring in Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, who called the article “fear mongering,” and name the band Political Retaliation. It’s a whole new genre. Instead of grunge, it’s called grudge.
Brantley also referred to Lara in his letter, saying the commissioner’s words “were intended to chill employee support for [Perez] as a Union leader, and therefore also serve to violate Section 447.501, Florida Statutes.”
The letter from the IAFF attorney was copied to City Manager Peter Iglesias, Fire Chief Marcos De La Rosa, — who had his own long brown-nosing speech on July 1 — Human Resources Director Raquel Elejabarrieta, and City Attorney Cristina Suarez, who might be stocking up on Maalox right about now (someone should forward it to PERC). It warns that the fire union is ready to “defend itself and its elected leaders to the full extent available under the law.”
Plus, this is the only warning the city is going to get. If Lago continues to violate labor laws and create a hostile work environment for Perez, there may not be another letter. Just a subpeona.
The union sees it as part of a pattern of retaliation: first the budget fights, then the policy shifts, and now this. It isn’t just another spat between the mayor and the firefighters union. This is about intimidation, abuse of power, and the absolute tone-deafness of a mayor who should know better.
Lago didn’t just pick a fight with a union leader. He picked a fight with an entire department of beloved firefighters — the very people who run into burning buildings while politicians throw gasoline on arguments.
This could be the fuel that finally leads Lago’s political career to go up in smoke.
Prende una velita.
Cease & desist to Gables Mayor Lago by Political Cortadito on Scribd

Read Full Story