Commissioner then mysteriously withdrew his request
Coral Gables newly-elected Commissioner Richard Lara — who repealed the prior commission’s increased salaries and talks a lot about fiscal responsibility — tried to nickel and dime the city himself with a reimbursement request for a ticket he bought to the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce’s Centennial Gala. A ticket he bought before he was elected.
Less that two weeks after Lara beat attorney Tom Wells, 55% to 45%, in an tense campaign where he said he would repeal raises commissioners gave themselves in 2023 and cut taxes, Lara — who, btw, has gone along with not cutting taxes — sent the city attorney an email asking for reimbursement of a $650 ticket to the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce Centennial Gala, which was on April 29, part of a series of events celebrating the city’s 100th anniversary. It was held a week after his election victory.
“Please find the attached documentation for your review and reimbursement. The enclosed purchase, in the amount of $650, was made to cover the cost of a ticket to the Coral Cables Chamber of Commerce Centennial Celebration Grand Gala, which I attended in my official capacity as Commissioner,” Lara wrote in the May 5 email.
Read related: Vince Lago scores with Richard Lara’s Coral Gables commission runoff win
¡Que atrevido! Does this mean that he wouldn’t have gone if he hadn’t been elected? Who believes that? These two love their galas!

Lara included a receipt that showed he purchased two tickets in December, four months before he was elected, for him and his wife. At least he didn’t try to get his wife’s ticket paid by the city.
An attorney by profession, Lara also cited the city charter section and resolution that provides for this to be an eligible commission expense. But he either doesn’t know the charter as well as he thought or he must have realized this was not a good look. Because when Ladra got the reimbursement request from the city, there was what looked like a Post-It on the email noting that it was “withdrawn at the request of the commissioner.”
Or was it because he ended up sitting at the mayor’s table? The one the mayor said he paid for himself?
Lara did not return calls and texts to his phone.
Read related: Coral Gables: Developers, lobbyists lead, giving $753K to elect Richard Lara
Subsequent emails to the city clerk and the city attorney about when the reimbursement was withdrawn and how — via email, phone call — have not only not been answered, they’ve been downright evaded.
“At the request of the Commissioner the request for reimbursement was withdrawn, I do not have a document that answers your questions,” wrote City Clerk Billy Urquia on Monday when Ladra asked again. But someone in the city has to know when the commissioner asked for it to be withdrawn.
Was it after Political Cortadito asked for the document on June 18?
The gala included a cocktail reception, a premiere of a stage play called “Greetings From Paradise,” and a grand gala dinner under the stars. But it looks like Lara is going to have to pay for it out of his own pocket. 
The post Richard Lara sought repayment for gala ticket bought before Gables election appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Ay, Damian. ¿Que te pasó?
The progressive darling of District 2 — the man who ran on transparency, accountability, and standing up to the political establishment — has started to look a lot like, well, the political establishment. And people are noticing. Loudly.
When Commissioner Damian Pardo was elected in a historic victory almost two years ago, becoming the city’s first openly gay commissioner — which seems like such a nostalgic notation nowadays — over a much better funded, establishment-backed, incumbent-like candidate, he seemed like a breath of fresh air. People thought that sunlight was coming into a dark place.
But he was apparently full of hot air and has seemingly closed the blinds at City Hall.
He said he would bring reform, public engagement, an end to backroom deals. But he’s just brought more of the same.
Okay, he hasn’t been all bad. Pardo helped get rid of former City Attorney Tricky Vicky Mendez and voted against the $10M giveaway to the Miami Freedom Park developers in February. But he has been an enormous disappointment to a lot of people who still can’t believe this is the man they supported in 2023, and he’s been on the wrong side of the vote or issue more times than not.
Let’s start with the big one: Pardo sponsored the ordinance to cancel the 2025 mayoral election and push it to 2026, effectively extending everyone’s term by a year, including current Mayor Francis Suarez — the same guy Pardo asked to resign in 2023. Now, he’s carrying the mayor’s water. It was a move that stank of political payoff, not people power. And the worst part? He did it with a straight face while calling it a “cost-saving measure.”
He actually keeps saying that the election wasn’t cancelled — because there are a couple of ballot questions. The election for mayor and two commission seats was definitely cancelled. But this is how Pardo speaks these days. All politician, no activist.
Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year
Come on, Damian. Miami’s voters aren’t stupid. We know the cost of democracy — and it’s a lot higher when you decide it’s too inconvenient to hold an election.
Then there’s the Olympia Theater deal. You’d think the guy who won in large part thanks to preservationists, urbanists, and civic watchdogs would have raised a red flag or two when the city tried to quietly sell off a historic landmark to a charter school for $10. But nope. Pardo didn’t only back the deal, he praised it. He practically lobbied for Sports Leadership Arts Management charter school and Academica, who are stealing the city’s jewel.
A giveaway of public land, no open bid, no community referendum, no long-term vision for cultural use — just a warm handshake with a politically connected charter school empire. What happened to public process, Commissioner? What happened to being the check on the same old politics?
Even his allies are confused. Former supporters have started calling him Disappearing Damian — because apparently once he got elected, access to him vanished. Constituents who once had his ear say now they get silence, staffers who shrug, and very little actual follow-through.
And as one Grove resident told Ladra, “I didn’t vote for him to become Francis Suarez’s wingman.”
In more than a dozen interviews with residents from Coconut Grove to Morningside, Miamians told Political Cortadito that they wouldn’t vote for Pardo again. Some are longtime friends. Others didn’t only vote for him, but wrote him campaign checks.
Now, he doesn’t call them back.
“He doesn’t listen to anyone anymore,” one old friend said.
“He gotten too big for his britches,” said an ex supporter.
“I think he saw how well it’s gone for Mayor Suarez and he wants to do the same thing.”
The list of failures began when he went on vacation and missed a meeting — and Commissioner Joe Carollo got the best of him and put the outdoor gym at Maurice Ferre Park on the citywide ballot, against the wishes of the downtown residents who had complained to the planning and zoning board, which found that the gym was builit. But in addition to that early gaffe and the election year change and the Olympia Theater giveaway, Pardo’s base says he has been on the wrong side of a series of important issues and/or votes, surprising them with his position on:

The noise ordinance
The tree ordinance.
The mess the PAMM billboard, which is still up there, and he’s bending knee.
The watering down of ‘lifetime’ term limits, which now won’t apply to Carollo or former Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez. even if they are passed in November by voters.
Sidewalks in Morningside that many residents say are being forced on them.
A yes vote on the Transit Station Neighborhood Development ordinance, which will upzone certain areas and seems custom written for a large property owner in Little River.
The abolishment of the Bayfront Park Management Trust.
The refusal to put the Downtown Development Authority tax on the ballot.
The move to sell five acres of public land on Watson Island to developers for two condominium towers and a gifted waterfront park.

To make matters worse. He’s not accessible. Not if he doesn’t want to hear what you have to say. He won’t return calls. He won’t give you an appointment. So people can’t tell him what a complete and total tonto util he’s being. He stopped calling Ladra back weeks ago. He doesn’t like anyone to question him or hear a contradicting point of view. He says any critical or opposing voices are limited to a few radical malcontents and troublemakers.
“He has not responded to one email,” said Morningside resident and environmental activist Sandy Moise, who has battled Pardo on the tree ordinance and the 15-foot wide Bay walk he wanted to build in Morningside Park.  She believes he is prodevelopment and, honestly, his votes do seem to go that way. Moise didn’t vote for Pardo. But most of the people who spoke to Ladra spoke on background in part because they did vote for him and got others to vote for him — and now they feel guilty.
Read related: Longtime activist Damian Pardo joins Miami District 2 commission race
Damian is a big boy. He wasn’t a total political newbie when he was elected. Pardo had been the co-founder of SAVE, which used to be SAVE Dade, the LGBTQ advocacy group that was able to get the county to pass the first gay rights protection ordinance in the 1990s. He has also been involved in the 4Ward Miami advocacy group and their Gay8 Festival on Calle Ocho, as well as Care Resource and the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
That’s why we all thought he would be the perfect public servant. Because he had fought the system before. People always tell Ladra that she has to stop believing there are any good politicians. There are good people who run for office, but once they become politicians, it’s over.
Pardo’s term is only halfway through, however. There’s still time to course-correct. To remember who got him there. To start acting like the reformer he claimed to be — not just another player in the palace drama that is Miami City Hall.
But if Pardo keeps voting with the King-and-Carollo faction, rubber-stamping insider deals, and treating public meetings like formalities instead of the democratic bedrock they are, his progressive base might not wait until 2027 — or 2028 — to get him out.
There has been some talk about a possible recall effort. Pardo’s primary and most persistent critic, Downtown Neighborhood Association President James Torres, — who endorsed Pardo after he lost the D2 in the first round in 2023 — commissioned a survey last month that found more than half the 476 respondents would recall him if they could. Based solely on the cancellation of the election, which didn’t go well with residents.
Turns out, people want to vote on a big thing like that.
This decision is the main one pushed by a mobile phone poll with one question: “Commissioner Damian Pardo voted to cancel the 2025 election for Mayor and Commissioners, giving himself and others an extra year in office — even after Florida’s Attorney General said this ordinance is unconstitutional. Do you support recalling Commissioner Pardo for this overreach?”
The poll of 476 likely voters conducted on July 1 and 2 shows that just over 52% would support recalling Pardo if a recall were initiated, while just over 40% would oppose it. The rest are reportedly undecided.
Torres says that Pardo isn’t doing himself any favors by acting like he’s the smartest guy in the room. “The cockiness and arrogance is not the vision he gave us,” Torres told Political Cortadito.
“Damian Pardo has become the face of failure in our local government, pushing flawed policies through broken processes, shutting out the voices of the community, and doing it all with a level of arrogance that insults the very people he was elected to serve,” said Torres, who was on a Zoom call Sunday with about seven people to “explore” the recall.
And, yes, it seems he is campaigning for a rematch already. Thank goodness someone is.
Read related: Miami-Dade Judge: Miami Commission can’t cancel election without public vote
The poll’s partisan breakdown of respondents reportedly mirrors the district’s demographic and is a diverse cross-section of the electorate. Democrats accounted for 39.7% of the sample, NPAs (No Party Affiliation) made up 30.8%, and Republicans represented 29.5%. White respondents were 49.4% of the sample, Hispanic accounted for 44.0%, and Black made up 6.6%.
Overall, the results indicate that a recall effort could gain support across political and demographic groups.While there remains a small undecided segment, the existing margin suggests that, if an election were held today, the recall would likely pass.
One might think that Pardo would ease off the gas pedal on moving the election, pero no. Pardo has dug in his heels, supporting the city’s appeal of a court decision earlier this month that invalidated the ordinance changing the election because it’s unconstitutional. He could save face by going along with the judge and putting it on the ballot for voters to decide.
But maybe he is doubling down on that extra year in office because he knows he is a one-and-done commissioner and will not win another election again.
The post Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo loses support, inspires recall threats appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Final deal postponed until more details fleshed out
The shady deal to hand over the historic Olympia Theater to the operators of a charter school for $10 is so half-baked that even Miami city commissioners, to their credit, asked Thursday for a more complete picture before they rubber-stamp it.
Commissioners voted instead and unanimously to have City Manager Art Noriega negotiate the agreement with Sports Leadership Arts Management, a 6-12 school which is operated by the giant and politically-connected Academica, the Walmart of charter schools, which also owns about $115 million in Florida real estate, mostly schools that don’t pay taxes. Noriega can’t execute the agreement until he brings it back to them in September for approval. He was tasked with bringing appraisals of the property and more guarantees about community partnerships and public benefits.
The city manager admitted at last week’s meeting that the agreement, which has been in flux with changing drafts, was only 80% complete. One would think that, by now, he would be better at giving away multi-million dollar public properties on the fly. He also added that any agreement would be contingent on having miami Dade College involved.
Under the draft deal, the city would sell the deed to the Olympia and its adjacent 10-story tower — basically a whole city block downtown — to SLAM, which has 2,000 students, for a measly $10. They will operate the school out of the building and restore the aging theater. SLAM’s parent company, Academica — the Walmart of charter schools — promises to invest $50 million to renovate the 1926 Mediterranean beauty. And they’ll throw in 180 days of “community programming,” though the contract doesn’t spell out what that actually means. Or what happens to the other 185 days of the year.
Read related: Miami city commission set to give away historic Olympia Theater — for $10
Even Joe Carollo sounded reasonable (which should be a red flag on its own): “We need to get all the facts so we can make a sound judgment,” he said. “Not one in emotions.” Someone should put that recording on a loop. We might need it later.
Always the contradiction, Carollo also gave $5 million at the same meeting to Centro Mater Academy, another school affiliated with the owners of Academica (more on that later).
Chairwoman Christine King said she wanted to”assurances in writing that children in my district can attend this school.” That’s usually all it takes for her — a bone or two thrown at District 5.
Many residents have come out against the proposal, mostly because it’s an inside deal with zero transparency, but also because they’re scared to lose the integrity of the theater. They point to the Miami Forever bond monies, of which $79 million had been earmarked for parks and cultural facilities — none has been awarded to the Olympia — and say the city can afford its own renovation with grants and by selling the development rights of the theater, which can’t build to its maximum capacity because of it’s historic designation.
They’ve had press conferences and an online petition drive that has more than 1,000 signatures and practically begged commissioners Thursday to slow their roll.
“Living in the city of Miami is being heartbroken over and over again,” Morningside resident Jessica Johnson told commissioners. “Because time and time again, we watch you abandon what matters most: Our shared spaces, our history and historic buildings, our culture and creativity, our small businesses and homeowners, our trees — don’t weaken the tree ordinance — our green spaces, our waterways — all sacrificed in favor of real estate developers, political favors and money.”
Johnson grew up in Miami. Her father founded the Miami Jazz Festival at Bayfront Park. Then, she lived in New York City for a while, where she was able to experience what it was like to have world-class institutions that are accessible to the public. “And, more importantly, what it feels like when your city values them. Institutions that are preserved, funded and treated as essential to civic life.
What makes matters worse, she says, is that the city is deaf to residents’ pleas. When they “offer real solutions and plead for fairness, it feels always like we are being met with contempt. Our protests are brushed off. Our demands for transparency are met with gaslighting, blame shifting, cover ups and lies.”
Welcome back to the city of Miami, Jess.
Lifetime Miami resident Zully Pardo called this deal what it smells like: “a no-bid giveaway.” She also blamed the city for having failed in the stewardship of the historic landmark and this “manufactured pressure campaign to transfer ownership of the theater to a charter school and its private for profit management company.
“There are no safeguard or commitments that can justify giving away this valuable resource,” she said, begging the commissioners to stop the deal and open a “clear and transparent” public bidding process where the city would provide incentives before the “treasured landmark will be lost to the public realm.”
Read related: Petition aims to add Miami commission districts, change election to even years
Cuban-American pianist and producer Orlando Alonso urged commissioners to put the deal on pause and look at alternatives, like the one he has presented twice to the city manager to restore and operate the Olympia much like the Lincoln Center in New York. He called on newly-elected Commissioner Ralph Rosado, who served on the Miami Forever Bond oversight board when the funds were recommended for the Olympia, to stop the sale.
“You can now realize that as a commissioner. Now you can do it. This is your moment,” Lopez told him. “Don’t be the commissioner that gave away the Olympia. Be the one who saves it.”
Denise Galvez Turros, a former member of the historic preservation board who is running for District 3 commissioner, said that most of the opposition wasn’t because Academica was behind the deal. She said it was because residents don’t trust the city — and she doesn’t trust the city manager to negotiate the agreement.
“He said in public comment ‘Oh, historic preservation has never been a priority.’ It could be,” Galvez Turros said, citing the money spent on SUVs for the commissioners and syphoned from Bayfront Park. She said the money for the theather’s restoration found.
“For years on a monthly basis, we would ask for updates on the Olympia Theatre. We knew it was in dire need of repairs. Nothing was done,” Galvez said. “The opposition and the skepticism is because of the distrust with the city of Miami’s past deals with Melreese, Freedom Park, Marlins Park. All of those.
“This is not about Academica being a bad steward, this is about transparency.”
But there were some who said it was, indeed, about the for-profit hiding behind a non-profit to get this deal.
“This is a genius scheme by Academica to rip away taxpayer dollars,” said Maria Gonzalez. “Who wouldn’t want that deal? Truly genius. Academica you get an A for swindling the people.”
Many of those who spoke in favor were students and teachers or staff at SLAM. Principal Carlos O. Alvarez gave an impassioned speech about the theater coming “back to life” — even if it seemed like it was reading from talking points from Academica’s PR branch.
“The Olympic Theater won’t be driven by students and a school. It will be driven by our community, the passion for bringing back the performing arts. ” Alvarez said, and it would be nice if he would call it by the correct name, Olympia not Olympic. “That same drive will be infused into our classroom and spark curiosity and passion for students that thrive in the performing arts.
“Together we can create programs and pathways in music, entertainment, arts, audio visual, all with the main purpose of enabling and empowering students to give back to their community through workforce development and college readiness,” Alvarez said.
So it really is driven by students and a school.
Others supporters said they see this deal as the best way to save the Olympia Theater, before it’s too late to stop the wrecking ball. And they trust the school and Academica to be able to do it.
“This project isn’t just about preserving a historic building, it’s about transforming our cultural landscape,” said Armando Lopez, an artist and musician who reminded everybody how few good venues there are for local talent. “With SLAM leading the way, the Olympia has the opportunity to be the heart of the arts community again.”
“It’s such a beautiful building,” Miami-Dade Professor Stella Santamaria told commissioners, “and most of the time it is just laying there empty. What makes this proposal different is the group that is stepping up are true stewards. They are not just patching things up. They have a real plan and they are not asking taxpayers to foot the bill.
“I keep picturing how great it would be to go again to the Olympia.”
The city, meanwhile, “has failed as a steward of the Olympia Theater,” said Debbie Dolson. And she’s not wrong.
Read related: Secret giveaway of Miami’s Olympia Theater is on city commission agenda
In 1975, philanthropist Maurice Gusman gave the Olympia and its office building to the city — but not without strings. He insisted the Miami Parking Authority manage the property, because even then, he didn’t trust Miami politicians with cultural treasures. He just knew.
Fast-forward to 2011: MPA stepped away and the building became increasingly neglected. In 2018, the city’s own code compliance division basically said there would be a demolition order if repairs weren’t made and the building wasn’t brought up to standards. That’s sorta like telling your roommate you’re going to burn the house down if she doesn’t do the dishes.
The next year, Gusman’s heirs sued to take it back, citing the broken covenant. That lawsuit is still pending — and is basically why we are here now. The Gusman family is completely on board with this new deal, as long as SLAM gets it, said their attorney, Timothy Barket, who so eloquently told residents at a community meeting that this was never their building and to basically shut up because they have no real say in it.
At that same community meeting before the vote, Academica CEO Fernando Zulueta said the Gusman family called him “months ago” to ask if they were interested in doing something. But Ladra thinks this has been cooking since Zulueta was a guest on Mayor Francis Suarez‘s podcast, where Baby X called him a “genius” who was transforming education.
In other words, this is a backroom deal that has been cooking for a while.
City commissioners will revisit the negotiated agreement in September, assuming they’re not too busy moving elections around or yelling at each other about one stupid thing or another.
Before that, Rosado asked the city administration to prepare an FAQ because he had received a “barrage of questions” about it.
May Ladra suggest some questions that should be answered: Why are we giving away one of our crown jewels for pennies? Why no open bidding? Why the rush? And who really benefits?
One thing is certain: if the Olympia Theater ends up in the hands of a charter school empire for less than the price of a two-topping pizza, it won’t just be another Miami story.
It’ll be another Miami tragedy.
The post Miami commissioners vote to negotiate sale of historic Olympia Theater appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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‘Miami-Dade’s soul is not for sale,’ commissioner says
Faced with a $402 million shortfall and serious cuts to county services and programs, Miami-Dade Commissioner Kionne McGhee wants to take back the $46 million that has been approved in cash incentives and in-kind services to FIFA World Cup for the activities surrounding the matches that will be here in 2026.
McGhee has asked the administration to halt any World Cup funding to pre-empt what he called “devastating budget cuts” — including senior meals, child nutrition programs, and even rape kit testing services — in Mayor Daniella Levine Cava‘s proposed 2025-26 budget.
“This is not fiscal responsibility — it is moral failure. Entertainment cannot come before humanity,” McGhee said.
He was one of the commissioners who voted for the expenditure of $21 million in cash and $25 million in in-kind services like police and fire rescue. But now, he’s got buyer’s remorse.
Read related: Miami-Dade could cut back services, give millions to FIFA for World Cup
“I was proud to support bringing the World Cup to Miami-Dade, believing it would showcase our world-class community and drive economic growth,” McGhee said in a statement. “But the Mayor’s proposed budget, which guts critical nonprofits and our county’s Community Action Agency, changes everything.
“When our residents are facing the loss of programs that keep communities alive, safe, and dignified, spending millions on FIFA stadiums and events becomes indefensible. I can no longer support it.”
McGhee cited severe recent cuts to:

Senior support services (meals, transportation, healthcare)
Summer lunch programs for food-insecure children
Trauma counseling and mental health resources
Testing of backlogged rape kits for survivors
Cultural arts grants sustaining local artists and educators
Non-profits providing direct aid to vulnerable families

Meanwhile, there are $46 million earmarked for FIFA “while seniors lose meal deliveries, children go hungry without summer lunches, rape kits gather dust untested, and trauma survivors are turned away from counseling,” McGhee said.
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
The FIFA allocation was sponsored by Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, whose district includes Miami Gardens, home to the Hard Rock Stadium that will host seven matches, including a quarter-final and the third-place game, between June 15 and July 18, 2026. 
Lobbyist Rodney Barreto, whose firm represents the Dolphins and who serves as co-chair of the World Cup hosting committee, told The Miami Herald that economic boost from the events will more than make up for it. “The hotel tax revenue produced will be more than enough to justify the item,” Barreto said.
But that was before international visitors started canceling their travel plans because of the aggressive U.S. anti-immigration movements and rhetoric. And les mauvaises langues, or las malas lenguas across the pond, are saying that FIFA is seriously considering moving the U.S. matches to Canada or Mexico, which are also hosting games, simply to avoid the entry visa nightmare and potential detention of players, staff and fans.
McGhee is serious about his demands. He doesn’t just want the immediate suspension of all funding for World-Cup related activities or projects, he wants the full $46 million refunded and he wants the unspent dollars redirected to restore grants for non-profits.
One more small thing: McGhee also wants a public audit of World Cup expenditures to date to “ensure swift return of taxpayer funds.”
“Until the Mayor’s proposed budget fully restores the $46 million to the organizations saving lives in our neighborhoods — not stadiums — I will oppose every dime spent on FIFA. Miami-Dade’s soul is not for sale.
“We choose communities over stadiums, people over spectacle, and compassion over glamour.”
He will have to get at least seven other commissioners to go along if he wants to reverse the vote. And only three voted against the subsidy already: Commissioners Marleine Bastien, Juan Carlos Bermudez and Roberto Gonzalez, who also voted against the flat tax rate proposed with the millage. But that vote for the FIFA allocation was in May, so it was before the budget cuts were announce.
Maybe someone else will have some post-decision dissonance with the gift.
The post Buyer’s remorse: Kionne McGhee wants refund on $46M to FIFA World Cup appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Attorneys for former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla will have to wait a little while if they want their $1.3 million from the city’s taxpayers, because his successor, Commissioner Miguel Gabela, wants the city to more carefully review the invoices.
The city commission could have approved the payout on Thursday, and Gabela said he understands that the city is technically liable because ADLP was a sitting commissioner when the accusations were made and he was suspended after being arrested on charges that included bribery and money laundering. But Gabela was able to convince his colleagues to defer 4-0 (Carollo stepped away) so an outside attorney can “go over the records that have been submitted to us,” because, well, they seem sus.
“Look, it’s clear that we’re going to pay. That’s not in play. The question is how much are we going to pay, and what is fair and what is inflated,” Gabela said. “This isn’t going to be settled today.”
He suggested the appointment of an independent attorney “to examine what has been given to us on the bill, and make sure what is in there is correct what is incorrect is taken out, and then we decide on a number.
“It’s a question of a dollar amount,” Gabela added, as if we didn’t already get that he wants a second opinion.
Doing the math, if all the attorneys were each paid $500 an hour, they would have had to work 2,600 billable hours between them on ADLP’s defense. That’s dedication! Maybe that’s why Diaz de la Portilla got off?
The bill the city got was divided into six parts, for five different lawyers and then a separate and unclassified $110,000 with no attorney’s name attached, that everyone assumes is for Diaz de la Portilla’s time and trouble.
Read related: City of Miami may pay $1.3 mil for Alex Diaz de la Portilla’s criminal defense
The lion’s share of the ADLP legal fees, or $705,055, goes to Kuehne Davis Law and his main attorney, Benjamin Kuehne, who also represented Commissioner Joe Carollo in the federal First Amendment lawsuit that got the two Little Havana businessmen a $63.5 million judgement, the appeal of which was lost just last week
The rest of the monies would be spread out as such:

$208,000 to Collazo Law Firm and attorney Yesenia Collazo, the former chairwoman of ADLP’s Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade PAC, who also got a questionable $175,000 grant from the city’s anti-poverty funds from the former District 1 commissioner five months before he was arrested.
$121,723.33 to Susy Ribero-Ayala, who was already paid $16,110 last summer from ADLP’s PAC and represented him in the civil case on the alleged shakedown for the new Rickenbacker Marina contract.
$98,535 to Richard Diaz., which is also the name of an attorney that has represented Commissioner Joe Carollo.
$86,097.50 to Gunster, a law firm that is friendly with Mayor Francis Suarez, an attorney.
$109,926.81 goes to “costs as reimbursement for legal fees and costs in the case.”

Kuehne was at the commission meeting and spoke during the public comments, just to tell commissioners he was there if they had any questions. But they didn’t ask him anything.
On Friday, the attorney told Political Cortadito that the city’s move to assign a lawyer to review legal bills is a common one.
“While this step will unnecessarily delay payment of the earned legal fees, I will work with the lawyer to expedite the process of obtaining payment,” Kuehne wrote in an emailed response to a request for comment.
“As the Commission recognized, Alex Diaz de la Portilla is absolutely entitled to payment of his legal fees for his successful vindication against the now-dismissed criminal charges. His exoneration was the expected and correct result of his actual innocence.” Kuehne said.
“His legal team is proud to have vigorously represented Alex in the scope of his public service commitment. No elected official should be put through what Alex has overcome in his defense of the weaponized misuse of the justice system. Respect is due the thoughtful and correct decision of the Broward County State Attorney’s Office for recognizing this abuse of the criminal process.”
Read related: ADLP gave $175K in Miami anti-poverty funds to political pal in Doral
Commission Chairwoman Christine King wanted to just sign the checks. “One thing I don’t want to see is this drag out,” she said. “I’m satisfied that the bill is fair.
“This was a horrendous miscarriage of justice. Horrendous! It just goes to show what can happen when people overreach.“
Wait a minute. Let’s back up.
Diaz de la Portilla was arrested in September of 2023 after investigators learned that he and attorney William “Bill” Riley, a lobbyist for The Centner Academy, had funneled more than $300,000 in payments to the commissioner’s political action committee, and his lavish lifestyle at the luxury East Hotel in Brickell, in exchange for the school’s near total control of a public city park. There were thousands of dollars worth of food ordered from room 801 and a rented a penthouse and several guest rooms rented for a watch party for Renier Diaz de la Portilla’s failed bid for county commission. There was an all-expense trip to Boston for ADLP and his then girlfriend, now estranged wife in a bitter divorce battle.
There are receipts.
“But he was not even charged,” King moaned at the meeting, like she could be another one of his delusional groupies.
Um, yes, he was. Diaz de la Portilla was booked into the county jail on 14 charges, including felonies. There were the well-known bribery and money laundering charges, but also counts of unlawful compensation, criminal conspiracy, official misconduct, campaign finance violations, and failing to disclose gifts. The former commissioner, who has threatened to run for mayor, should have been charged with witness tampering, too, after he harassed an ex staffer to keep her from testifying.
The charges were later dropped. But Diaz de la Portilla was originally charged with, it’s worth repeating, 14 different crimes. The only miscarriage of justice here is that there was never a trial. But that’s because our esteemed Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy Fernandez Rundle had yet another conflict — she knew Riley’s family — she had to pass the case along to Broward, where the prosecutors didn’t care as much and just decided it was not worth their time and effort.
Read related: Miami’s Alex Diaz de la Portilla arrested on corruption, pay-for-play park deal
Gabela, who beat Diaz de la Portilla in 2023 with a comfortable 8-point lead to take over the District 1 seat, is taking the time and effort with the bill. He said it was not political. “For me it is not a question of who is right or wrong. I’m not even touching that.
“I’m tired, since I got here, of paying attorneys fees left and right, left and right, left and right,” said Gabela, who compared the city’s legal expenses to a piñata party and has also questioned the legal fees paid by the city for the civil case against him filed by Diaz de la Portilla, over his residency requirements, and the whistleblower case against Carollo by the two former Bayfront Park Management Trust employees who said they were forced to resign after they found financial discrepancies that indicate the commissioner abused his power as the chair of the agency.
Gabela has also asked for the city to seek reimbursement from Carollo for defense fees in the civil case brought against him by two Little Havana businessmen, which he lost the latest appeal on. Those expenses are estimated at around $5 million.
“I wonder who’s making a referral fee here,” he quipped Thursday. “This should be examined because this isn’t coming out of our pockets. It’s the taxpayers at the end of the day.”
City Attorney George Wysong read the statute that requires the city to pay “reasonable and necessary” costs for a case that stems from something a city official or elected did while on the job. “This case is eligible for reimbursement,” Wysong said.
Eligible? Maybe. It’s arguable if conspiring with the owners of the school to give away a public park for hundreds of thousands of dollars is part of a commissioner’s job. But okay. In Miami, maybe. Reasonable? That’s the issue here.
“It’s a question of the dollar amount,” Gabela said.
Wysong said he will get an “independent counsel” to look at it and come back to the commission with a recommendation in September, “based on a thorough review of the bill.”
In a text message Friday, Diaz de la Portilla told Ladra that he welcomed a second look. But his answer also seemed to warn that the city should be careful what it asks for.
“I want the same. He and I agree,” Diaz de la Portilla said, referring to Gabela. “It’s a tally closer to $2.2 million, without punitive [damages].”
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Dignity? In this bill? Don’t buy the branding
Isn’t it a little adorable when members of Congress dress up immigration bills like they’re offering you a free spa day instead of a seven-year parole sentence with no chance of freedom?
Actually, no. It’s sickening.
Under fire for having absolutely no spine when it comes to Donald Trump‘s  mass deportation fiesta in the U.S., Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar — a former TV host moonlighting as a lawmaker — is touting the “Dignity Act of 2025” like she’s Mother Theresa of the Migrants.
But she’s actually more like Maleficent.
According to Salazar and Democrat Congresswoman Veronica Escobar from Texas — who doesn’t realize she is being used — this “bipartisan breakthrough” would let some undocumented immigrants, only those who’ve been here since before 2021, apply for a shiny new seven-year temporary legal status. There’s no path to citizenship, no access to federal benefits, no skipping the long line of check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Oh, and the lucky immigrants get to pay restitution, too. Because clearly, working for years under the table in a field or kitchen or paying social security taxes for benefits they’re never going to get isn’t sacrificing enough.
Read related: Cuban American congress members stay silent on TPS, immigrant detention
“If you’ve been here more than five years and you do not have a criminal record, and you have been working and paying taxes, in construction, hospitality, agriculture, slaugter houses, uh, fisheries, dairies, you can come out of the shadows, and pay $7,000 over seven years plus one percent of your earnings for seven years. You can go home for Christmas or bury your mother, and you can come out and buy homes and continue contributing to the economy, paying taxes and working in those jobs that other Americans don’t want to participate in,” Salazar said on CBS News earlier this month.
Isn’t that generous?
She said it would be a special, separate “dignity status,” not a green card. “There’s no path to citizenship for seven years. And if you want to renew it for another seven, perfect!”
Perfect!
Let’s call this what it is — probation with a W-2. A legislative fig leaf trying to (1) cover up the chaos caused by masked ICE agents raiding workplaces and (2) tamp down the protests that have been sprouting up all across the U.S.
But you immigrants shouldn’t get too comfortable. While you’re paying taxes and contributing to the economy like a model guest at a dinner party you’re never invited to join, the bill also calls for a nationwide E-Verify mandate, just to make sure you never forget you’re being watched.
And, of course, there’s beefed-up border security, because the best way to get GOP support for the bill is to throw more money at the wall (figurative or literal). Salazar says, quickly and as often as she can, that this is not amnesty, because that’s a dirty word for Republicans, and touts the bill as the first “common sense” solution in decades.
“For 40 years, every president and Congress has looked the other way while millions have lived here illegally, many working in key industries that keep our economy running. It’s the Achilles’ heel no one wants to fix,” Salazar said in a statement. “The Dignity Act offers a commonsense solution: Certain undocumented immigrants can earn legal status — not citizenship — by working, paying taxes, and contributing to our country.
“No handouts. No shortcuts. Just accountability and a path to stability for our economy and our future.”
Handouts? Shortcuts? Ladra would argue that working your fingers to the bone in agriculture and food service for decades without papers or protection, paying federal taxes without getting benefits, and constantly looking over your shoulder scared you’re going to be ripped from your home is about the opposite of a shortcut.
Read related: Maria Elvira Salazar takes credit for judge extending TPS for Venezuelans
Salazar didn’t come up with this on her own and out of the goodness of her heart. She is taking a cue from her false God, Donald Trump, who popped up on Fox News last month to tease his own “sort of” plan for “temporary passes” — but only for agricultural, hotel and restaurant workers, because nobody else wants to pick our fruits and veggies or wash our dirty dishes. And while he’s still leading the charge to deport as many people as possible, he doesn’t want anyone messing with the production of U.S. tomatoes, because, ketchup.
Or cheap labor.
“We’re going to let the farmer sort of be in charge,” he said. So, feudalism is making a comeback? Or is it more like slavery?
Ladra is sort of surprised that Salazar, hasn’t proposed that the immigrants who are already in detention can work the fields. Hey, maybe the government can issue branded ankle monitors and call them “Freedom Bands.”
Meanwhile, ICE continues to raid facilities like it’s Black Friday at a big box store — the most recent example being two ag centers in Southern California where over 200 workers were arrested. Recent raids in Florida have targeted construction and landscaping businesses, resulting in the detention of more than 100 individuals at a Tallahassee worksite alone. At least six people detained at Alligator Alcatraz — the cruel and unusual punishment facility where detainees have report maggots in their food and being left out in the sun for six hours — have been rushed to a nearby hospital for medical care (more on that later).
All of this has prompted lawsuits, protests and violent clashes.
And so much dignity.
Actually, Salazar wouldn’t know dignity if it was lucky enough to slap her in the face. This is the same woman who toured Alligator Alcatraz and said it was just great. She sat on the beds and they were really soft! Everybody there said they were just chillin’, she told the press after her chaperone visit.
“They had three metal toilets with a little wall to cover people when they’re doing their business. They had two telephones where they can call their attorneys or loved ones… [and] some grass where they could run or do some exercise,” she told the media after her tour earlier this month. “It meets the highest standards.”
Three metal toilets with a little wall just scream high standard and oh-so-much dignity. At least she didn’t say what Gov. Ron DeSantis said — that these conditions are better than what the detainees have at home. Es un ignorante.
Meanwhile, Democrat lawmakers who visited the makehift plastic prison in the Everglades said that detainees begged them to be let out of this nightmare. One man shouted that he was an American citizen. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called the facility an “internment camp” and said “apalling” conditions inside were completely inhumane.
“They are essentially packed into cages,” Wasserman Schultz said of the detainees. “These are really disturbing, vile conditions and this place needs to be shut down.”
This can’t just be a partisan disconnect. Who’s lying?
Ladra’s money is on Salazar, who lied about keeping TPS protection for Venezuelans when it was really a California judge who did that. And she just keeps digging a deeper hole, making herself more vulnerable for next year’s midterms.
Read related: Internal poll has Richard Lamondin in striking distance vs Maria Elvira Salazar
Richard Lamondin, a environmental tech entrepreneur who has filed to run to replace the congresswoman, said her proposal is more political theater than it is true reform. “Just more broken promises for families who have lived, worked, and contributed to our communities for decades,” he called it.
“And while my opponent blames immigrants, it’s Washington’s failure to tackle inflation and bad policies like tariffs that are hurting our economy,” Lamondin said in a statement. “As a business-owner, I’ve seen it firsthand: tariff-driven price hikes have disrupted supply chains and made key products harder to find — with constant uncertainty making it harder for businesses to grow, plan, and hire.
“We need comprehensive immigration reform that honors our values, strengthens our economy, and includes a real path to citizenship. And we need leaders who understand the stakes and deliver results – not more political stunts that trade dignity for headlines,” Lamondin said, adding that she has introduced this same legislation twice before and each time failed to even get the bill out of committee.
So, while Salazar and Escobar slap a bipartisan bow on their undignified, halfway house of a proposal, vamos a hablar claro: This isn’t a path forward — it’s a temporary hall pass for people to keep doing the dirty work no one else wants to do, while pretending they’re not in legal limbo.
Ladra knows a PR campaign when she sees one. And calling this a “Dignity Act” is like calling a cage at Alligator Alcatraz a “tiny home.”
Maybe next time, Salazar should try honesty and real dignity instead of branding.
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