Democrat: Ground game: Democrats spend big to mobilize voters; GOP attacks Andrew Gillum’s record
Herald: How Tallahassee insiders became friends and leaders on opposite sides of governor’s race
Sun Sentinel: If Florida elects Andrew Gillum governor, will race relations improve?
Part of the outrage with the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority ‘s plan to extend the 836 with the Kendall Parkway along the western edge of the county — and the eastern edge of Everglades wetlands — is the amount of money that went to the slick PR campaign for the yes vote.
MDX reportedly spent at least $150,000 just on a mailer that went out to voters or homeowners in the West Kendall area that has been promised alleviated traffic. The gripe is that they used toll dollars to provide only an option to support the parkway, and not one to oppose it, not that it’s an incredibly inflated amount that looks bogus to lots of legitimate mail vendors.
But what if Ladra told you that what MDX spent on the total “educational campaign” was more than twice that much? And what would you think if you knew part of that money went to Barby Rodriguez, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s daughter-in-law.
Barby Rodriguez-G, as she calls herself works for one of the companies who got part of the MDX pie. EV Services was paid $60,000 of the 836 extension project funding, which from the requested public documents that Ladra has gotten so far — and it doesn’t look like I’ve gotten everything — is close to $390,000.
Read related: Barby Gimenez shows up to no-show job on county dime
And that’s just through May! How much you want to bet it goes over half a million already?
Those are toll dollars spent on PR to convince the public that they need the Kendall Parkway.
EV Services, where Barby Rodriguez is a “public information officer,” is one of three companies that have been paid since at least March to push the Parkway with an “educational campaign.” Bermello, Ajamil & Partners (billed $69,950) and HNTB (billed $258,568.40) are the other two. Both of those are architecture, civil engineering consulting and construction management firms that expect to make hundreds of millions more building the six lane, 13-mile highway estimated at a $1 billion cost.
So the companies who stand to make millions are the ones “educating” us on the project?
That’s for, according to the invoices provided by MDX, various presentations, a briefing with Sen. Annette Taddeo and with Congressman Carlos Curbelo‘s staff, attending weekly meetings, receiving and responding to emails and calls about the Kendall Parkway, drafting radio messages, “printed and cut” 100 more support Kendall Parkway cards, “researched area of 167th avenue for database,” worked on final Spanish translation for a flyer the website, reviewing the script and elements of an educational video, outreach to community leaders and homeowner associations, coordination with content producers and distributors, and multiple mailers, among other tasks.
So if they are handling the “educational campaign” and outreach what is EV Services, which does nothing but public relations (read: propaganda), doing? Or are they just on there for a flat $60K because of the ties to the mayor?
According to one of the March invoices, EV Services did:
Preparation of Leadership Track Educational Campaign and outreach to community leaders, businesses, HOAs and special groups
Attendance in weekly strategy meetings related to Kendall Parkway
Assistance in preparation of collateral materials for Kendall Parkway educational materials
Assist in preparation of digital content for educational campaign
Attendance at coordination meetings with content producers and distributors
So, pretty much they all did the same stuff.
And how much more does EV Services stand to make? And how much of that goes directly to Barby? And did she have to do anything or is she just there so they get the contract?
Ladra is still getting more public records and will report further on this.
In the governor’s race, Republican Ron Desantis might have the Cuban running mate, but Democrat gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum is not giving up on the Hispanic vote.
Nor is he taking it for granted, launching an #UnidosPorGillum campaign and recruiting Hispanic supporters and surrogates.
After having first only one Hispanic listed on his campaign leadership announcement Sept. 17 — Deputy Campaign Manager Cesar Fernandez, from Governor Charlie Crist‘s 2014 bid — Gillum expanded his Hispanic outreach team two days later. He added none other than Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chair Juan Cuba as Hispanic Outreach Director and state activist Millie Raphael — who works with Women’s March, MomsDemand and RiseUp Florida — as Statewide Hispanic Outreach consultant.
Then LGBT activist Jorge Mursuli was called in as Senior Advisor for Hispanic Affairs and Maryin Vargas , who just lost a barely challenge to Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, as deputy Hispanic outreach.
He’s also had a number of Hispanic surrogates do the Spanish-language local TV and radio rounds for him. Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez did Ahora con Oscar Haza and Sen. Annette Taddeo spoke for him on Actualidad radio. Ivette Gonzalez Pekovich, a Democrat activist who ran for state rep once, and Simon Ferro represented Gillum on Al Fondo con Pedro Sevsec. And former State Rep. Daisy Baez — who is still beloved by Dems even though she was forced to resign after she was found living outside her district — started a Facebook page Dominicans for Andrew Gillum.
Gillum himself was interviewed by Marilyn Llanos of Telemundo and attended a Puerto Rican policy roundtable at the Borinquen Medical Center in Miami. Then he invited Gov. Rosello to come to Kissimmee to speak about the future of Puerto Ricans in Florida and on the island. He made a Facebook Live video on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Maria passing through Puerto Rico and tweeted responses to President Trump’s petty tweets challenging the death toll.
He also tweeted in support of U.S. sanctions on the wife of Venezuelan President Maduro.
On Saturday, he is the featured guest at the Miami-Dade Democrats Blue Gala main fundraiser. But on Friday, you don’t have to pay $300 for an event at Little Havana’s Ball and Chain restaurant — just in time for Viernes Culturales. The event, which starts at 7 p.m., also features Kendrick Sampson, the actor from the HBO series Insecure, who is also a national advocate for Dem candidates and causes.
If you go and post any pics on social media, you are asked to use the hashtag #GillumPresente and #UnidosPorGillum.
It’s not like Gillum needs to court the Latino Vote. A Quinnipac poll released Wednesday shows him with a comfortable lead among Hispanics, 59 percent to 41 for Desantis, who has picked our local State Rep. Jeanette Nuñez as his lieutenant (its the only exciting thing about him). An NBC/Marist poll of 600 likely voters surveyed between Sept. 16 and 20 showed Gillum leading among Hispanics by 14 points.
Gillum also got a $200,000 donation to his PAC from former GOP megadonor Mike Fernandez, a Cuban-American businessman who fled the Republican fold over immigration and who could easily raise more money for the former Tallahassee mayor.
So, in Spanish: Esta acabando!
TCPalm: Andrew Gillum will not be in Fort Pierce Thursday, despite rumors