The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is supposed to protect endangered species, manage and regulate wildlife resources and habitats for the long-term well-being of both the species and the public. It is not supposed to go after one of their own biologists for reposting a whale joke in the wake of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk‘s public and disgusting execution.
But that’s exactly what happened to Brittney Brown, a seabird specialist stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, who was fired last month after she shared a snarky Instagram post about the irony of Kirk’s stance on the Second Amendment.
And now Brown is fighting back — with the ACLU of Florida and First Amendment lawyer Gary Edinger on her side — in federal court.
The offending post? A screenshot from another account about whales: “The whales are deeply saddened to learn of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, haha just kidding, they care exactly as much as Charlie Kirk cared about children being shot in their classrooms, which is to say, not at all.”
Not exactly subtle. But also, not a threat. Kirk openly opposed gun control.
Still, the post went viral thanks to Libs of TikTok, which whipped up its followers to demand Brown’s firing. And — surprise, surprise — FWC leadership caved faster than Gov. Ron DeSantis can pick a fight with Disney. Brown was terminated the very next day, Sept. 15, after seven years with the commission.
In a statement, FWC declared it had “zero tolerance” for promoting “violence and hate” and claimed Brown’s post “made light of the assassination” of Kirk, who led Turning Point USA and was a frequent speaker on college campuses.
Read related: Marc Sarnoff rears his ugly head again in WSJ op-ed against academic freedom
But Brown and her lawyers say the opposite is true. She wasn’t celebrating violence; she was criticizing Kirk’s politics on gun control. That’s political speech, which the First Amendment protects — even if it offends.
The lawsuit points out that Brown posted while on vacation on a private Instagram account, not representing her employer. It names FWC Executive Director Roger Young and division director Melissa Tucker as defendants, accusing them of making her a political example instead of standing up for free speech.
And here’s the part that really smells fishy: this isn’t happening in a vacuum. DeSantis’ anti-woke regime, every state agency has gotten the message — play to the conservative base or risk being next on the chopping block. Universities have been purged, libraries sanitized, even Disney punished. Now, apparently, it’s biologists who study seabirds getting caught in the dragnet.
And it’s happening across the country, where dozens of teachers and staff at K-12 schools and universities who posted in the wake of Kirk’s death have been fired.
In South Carolina, former teacher aide Lauren Vaughn filed a federal lawsuit against the Spartanburg County School District, the board and the superintendent after she was allegedly fired over a post in which she shared Kirk’s own words at a Turning Point USA event. Those now-famous words that were also shared by Palmetto Bay Councilman Steve Cody, who refused to resign after the mayor, council members and the public chastised him. Kirk’s own words in 2023: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
Cody is hanging on. But Vaughn and Brown were fired.
Read related: Palmetto Bay councilman is asked to resign after ‘vile’ Charlie Kirk post
In Iowa, teacher Matthew Kargol is suing Oskaloosa Schools and its superintendent after he was allegedly fired for posting “1 Nazi down” in reference to Kirk’s fatal shooting, the lawsuit says. Granted, that’s far worse than what the bird lady posted. But it’s still free speech.
“Mr. Kargol’s comment was rhetorical hyperbole about a widely reported public event. It did not threaten any person, did not incite imminent unlawful action, and was not directed at any member of the school community,” the lawsuit says.
Michelle Bravo, a neurologist at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, said she resigned after her Charlie Kirk post. But she was definitely forced to after the school got barraged with complaints.
Charlie Kirk, Ron DeSantis at the 2021 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA in Tampa.
Florida Republicans love to rail against “cancel culture,” but here’s a state employee literally canceled for making fun of a conservative figure. This is a master class in double standard.
Which is why this FWC lawsuit feels like more than just one woman’s fight to get her job back. Brown could be the test case for how far Florida’s culture war politics will reach into the rank and file of state government. Will every scientist, librarian, teacher, or clerk have to look over their shoulder before posting anything on their personal social media?
Ladra can’t help but notice the irony: The same administration that loves to call this “the free state of Florida,” is all too happy to muzzle its own employees when they post something that doesn’t fit the script — and about a man who claimed to defend and stand for free speech.
And that could end up costing taxpayers a whole lot more than one salty Instagram repost.

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The post State slapped with federal lawsuit after firing biologist for Charlie Kirk post appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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New mayor wannabe calls the guv ‘Uncle Ron’
Two days before the qualifying deadline and 46 days before the November election, someone named Kenneth James DeSantis has entered the Miami mayoral race.
Well, maybe. He isn’t completely decided.
DeSantis, who told Political Cortadito that he is, indeed, related to the Florida governor — “not closely,” but he still calls him “Uncle Ron” — only opened a bank account, which is a prerequisite to qualifying. He still has until 6 p.m. Saturday to do that.
“I think I might be a little too late for this campaign,” he told Ladra, hours after he filed the initial paperwork with the City Clerk. “I’m kind of on the fence still. It might be better to run in the next election cycle.”
For commissioner in District 4, that is. If he runs for mayor, DeSantis knows he’s not a shoe-in, despite his enviable name recognition. But he can build up his political profile — which is non-existent right now — for another run in two years. Or he could wait. With name rec like his, he can build his profile without running.
He might want to get a little involved first. You know, go to a commission meeting or two. Maybe get his feet wet on a city board. DeSantis admits he may have gotten a bit excited after watching Hamilton for the 50th time recently.
Read related: Ken Russell qualifies for November Miami mayoral race; ADLP dips one toe
Las malas lenguas say that “K.J.” DeSantis has been thrust into the race by some political operative to steal Republican votes from former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez — who is running in the non-partisan mayoral race after suing the city to make sure it happened — and Commissioner Joe Carollo, who filed paperwork early Friday (more on that later). Even from former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who has also filed bank account information and must qualify by Saturday. Is that the idea? DeSants wouldn’t likely steal votes from Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins or former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell.
In fact, DeSantis said he likes Russell and Higgins. He met them at a meet-and-greet for candidates and liked what they had to say, he told Political Cortadito. But at the same time, he apparently felt that there wasn’t anybody really leading the race. And that was tempting enough. “I also was appalled as to what passes as a political candidate in Miami,” DeSantis said.
He meant Carollo.
But nobody thinks DeSantis is serious. Not even DeSantis.
A few political observers have thought that maybe someone pulled a Frank Artiles, which is a move named for the disgraced former senator who ran a sham candidate with a confusing name in a state senate race. Running a KJD against a KJR, or two Ken J.s, in the race to confuse people. It may seem far-fetched, but Russell’s sign basically say “KEN” in big bold letters on top of Russell and Ken DeSantis will be on the ballot before Ken Russell — so it’s possible he peels votes away.
Our Miami DeSantis has lived in the city for three years and is currently a resident at the DaVinci on the Douglas Condominiums, which is almost Coral Gables, according to the papers he filed with the Miami city clerk. He is registered to vote as an NPA (no party affiliation) — yes, Ladra was also surprised — and is a junior associate at Cole, Scott and Kissane, where he specializes in general liability cases, including personal injury, wrongful death, negligent security, premises liability, and maritime law, according to the law firm’s website. It’s unlikely the partners are going to like this idea, which could take away from his billable hours. It’s another reason he is rethinking it.
“Prior to joining the firm, Mr. DeSantis worked in corporate compliance, served as general counsel in the mortgage industry, and gained experience in aviation and real estate law,” the website says.
He’s a transplant, having earned his law degree at the University of Richmond, and has lived in Miami for three years. But he still has a White Plains, NY, area code and answers his phone, “James.” When Ladra first called him Thursday he was heading into a deposition, but said he would call back. And he did.
Read related: Neighbor vs neighbor in Miami District 1 as Eleazar Melendez files
And DeSantis asked more questions than Ladra. Who did I think was leading? Should he wait or jump in? Was it too late? How would voters respond to a Democrat DeSantis? Yeah, he asked that. Ladra told him the world would embrace it.
He also asked these questions of Elezear Melendez, a former Daily Business Review reporter who served as chief of staff to Ken Russell and then ran for District 1 against Alex Diaz de la Portilla. Melendez told Political Cortadito that he sat down with DeSantis at the request of a mutual friend. But he did not encourage DeSantis to run. In fact, he encouraged him to wait and maybe work on another candidate’s campaign to learn.
“Obviously, he didn’t take my advice.”
The post Miami election surprise: A Ron DeSantis relative files to run for mayor appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Just weeks into the new school year, Gov. Ron DeSantis and his right-hand anti-Woke doc, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, are taking aim at something else that has kept Florida kids healthy for decades: vaccines.
At a press conference Wednesday, Ladapo said the state is going to eliminate every last vaccine mandate, because forcing kids to get shots to go to school is “wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.” Yes, he really said vaccines were like slavery.
But he offered zero details about how this would actually work. Right now, all 50 states and D.C. require certain vaccines for students to attend school. We’re talking the basics: polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B. Stuff that stopped wiping out kids a generation ago thanks to public health, not thoughts and prayers.
Read related: Gov. Ron DeSantis sends Florida DOGE squad to sniff out Miami-Dade budget
Florida would be the first state to toss those requirements out the window.
Doctors and public health experts are calling it exactly what it is: reckless. Dr. Rana Alissa, president of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said vaccines are especially important in schools because, let’s face it, they are like petri dishes. Smart parents take precautions at home when it’s back-to-school time so they don’t get sick, too.
South Florida has already seen declining vaccination rates. Miami-Dade’s kindergarten immunizations have slipped almost 3% since 2019. Broward dropped by 10%. In 2024, there was a measles outbreak in Weston that infected seven kids at Manatee Bay Elementary. This year, the CDC has logged more than 1,400 measles cases nationwide, including six in Florida.
Miami-Dade School Board Member Luisa Santos told Roberto Rodriguez-Tejera on Actualidad Thursday morning (and it’s so nice to have him back, even temporarily) that there are already exemptions for religious and medical reasons. Nobody really asks any questions, though. And there has been a sharp increase — from 3,700 in the 2019-20 school year to 7,200 last school year. Statewide, Florida had 10,556 non-medical exemptions in the 2024–25 school year, the second-highest total after Texas, according to the Center for Disease Control.
“So it is something this community for different reasons is already saying, ‘I’m going to take this exemption,’” Santos said. “But that puts the whole community at risk.” Particularly immunocompromised children, teachers and staff.
But not yet. Santos explained that students are still required to be vaccinated to be in public schools this year. DeSantis and Lapado can get good press for their red meat base from this, but the state lawmakers would have to make that change for next year. That’s almost a sure bet though, since the Republican-led legislature has been sharpening their anti-woke talking points.
Mirroring the national debate, local parents and leaders are mixed on the topic. Some anti-vaxxers and GOP champions are cheering the move.
“Florida continues to lead the way on medical freedom,” posted Miami-Dade Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez, who has been trying to grow his political profile since he led the county’s drive against fluoride. “Proud to stand with the MAHA commission in protecting every Floridian’s right to make their own health decisions free from mandates and government overreach.”
Others worry that there could be outbreaks.
“Are we losing our minds? This is getting ridiculous and pathetic,” Congresswoman Frederica Wilson posted on X.“Are we trying to kill millions of innocent children? Childhood vaccines save lives. Abolishing them is INSANITY. 
“As a former teacher and principal, I know how vital childhood vaccinations are. Ending vaccine mandates puts the whole community at risk of preventable diseases. Decades of research show the effectiveness of vaccines, and we cannot just disregard the health of our children,” Wilson said. “Joseph Ladapo’s tenure as Florida’s Surgeon General has been marred by misinformation and harmful narratives. Enough is enough — Governor DeSantis must fire him, or Joseph Ladapo must resign before more harm is done.”
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith kept it short: “Today is a great day for chickenpox, measles, and polio in Florida.”
Miami-Dade School Board Member Steve Gallon III seemed offended by the slavery comment. “The comparison of vaccinations to the horrors of slavery is incredible,” he posted.
‘This is devastating news,” Jill Roberts, associate professor at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health, told Axios Tampa Bay. “You’re going to leave kids susceptible to diseases that are deadly and have lifelong consequences.”
Even Republican Sen. Rick Scott was scratching his bald head and told Marc Caputo, “Florida already has a good system that allows families to opt out based on religious and personal beliefs, which balances our children’s health and parents’ rights.”
United Teachers of Dade, the local labor union for teachers in the county’s public school system, issued a statement calling the plan “deeply concerning,” because it could expose vulnerable children to preventable disease. “From our standpoint, for decades, school vaccinations and requirements have played a role in keeping classrooms healthy,” said UTD spokesman Ricky Junquera, who was also a political advisor for former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in her 2024 race for Senate.
Osmani Gonzalez, president of the Miami-Dade County Council of PTAs, was far darker: “This is the type of policy that creates the possibility of preventable tragedies and the unnecessary loss of children’s lives within our schools,” he told The Miami Herald.
And Ladra can’t help asking the obvious: Why are we pretending polio and measles are woke?
Because that’s what this is really about. Not health. Not kids. Not science. It’s about the next culture war headline for a governor desperate to keep his name in lights — even if it means Florida becomes the testing ground for preventable epidemics.
The post Ron DeSantis wants to make Florida the first state to scrap vaccine mandates appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Shady lobbyist defends Florida’s ‘Stop WOKE’ Act
So, former Miami Commissioner turned mega-lobbyist Marc Sarnoff has found himself a pulpit in the Wall Street Journal, of all places, wagging his finger at America’s universities for being too “woke” and praising Ron DeSantis and Jeanette Nuñez for saving Florida’s ivory towers from the Marxist-Islamist menace.
Eyeroll.
Yes, that Marc Sarnoff — the guy who made his political bones selling out Coconut Grove to developers and now cashes in by shilling for giant LED billboards that blind drivers on I-95. Also the same Sarnoff who is one of the lawyers defending none other than Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo in his never-ending parade of lawsuits.
But sure, tell us more about moral clarity, Marc.
Before he took his turn lecturing from the Wall Street Journal soapbox, — in a piece titled “The Stop WOKE Act Makes Florida Campuses Safe for Jews” — Marc Sarnoff polished his reputation on Miami’s development stage, leaving a trail of controversies, whispers, and vote-trading smoke behind him.
Back in 2006, Sarnoff unexpectedly ousted an incumbent by warning voters that large-scale developer donations come with expectations: “When somebody gives you half a million dollars, they expect to get a return on their investment,” he said. Fast-forward to 2015, and his critics embraced that language, slamming him with a “Sarnoffopoly” campaign flyer that portrayed him and his wife (who ran to succeed him) as a political dynasty bankrolled by boosters like The Related Group and other deep-pocketed developers.
Read related: Mrs. Sarnoff makes the move for her hubby’s hand-me-downs
Remember the bloodline brag? Sarnoff once claimed to be the grandson of radio and TV pioneer ‘General’ David Sarnoff, the Russian-American media executive who launched NBC, the nation’s first TV network. That turned out to be straight-up fiction. After relatives and the David Sarnoff institution publicly denied any connection, he scrambled to scrub the claim from his biography, according to the Miami New Times.
Then there’s his staffing insider maneuver. Sarnoff feigned surprise when two of his own aides resigned — only to be hired days later in much more lucrative positions at the Omni CRA, which Sarnoff controlled. That’s not a coincidence. That’s nepotism.
After he left office and started lobbying for Orange Barrell Media, Sarnoff also fast-tracked digital ad kiosks — even as competing businesses pleaded for fair process and access. The Florida Bulldog in 2020 published a story that shows him quietly steering ordinances in favor of one company that would net Miami millions in ad revenue, raising eyebrows in City Hall. Critics called it a backroom pipeline for corporate gain.
Sarnoff has accepted hundreds of thousands from billboard companies for his political action committee, Truth is the Daughter of Time, which he then funneled to candidates like Carollo and former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who was arrested in 2023 on public corruption charges, including felony bribery and money laundering. The charges were dropped last year.
And in 2012, Sarnoff was admonished by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust for failing to report a gift. The commissioner traveled to Brazil for activities associated with the Volvo Ocean Race later that year in Miami. The Greater Miami Convention and Visitor’s Bureau reimbursed Sarnoff for all of his expenses. Miami’s city attorney said that because Sarnoff was taking part in official city business, he did not need to report it as a gift, but the Ethics Commission disagreed. Especially since they also paid for his wife’s travel roundtrip airfare.
Marc Sarnoff has represented Joe Carollo in the 2020 recall against the commissioner and the civil First Amendment case against him for abusing his power with two Little Havana businessmen for political payback.
All told, Sarnoff’s resume reads like a Miami power drama: developmental ambition, coastal real-estate whispers, ethics red flags, nepotism, and showbiz-style big campaign checks. So when he lectures universities about ideological indoctrination, remember: he’s not just speaking from the high moral ground — he’s perched up there atop a pile of conflict-laden foundations.
Sarnoff drops in highbrow quotes from Alexander Pope like he’s writing for the Federalist Society newsletter and then goes full Fox News about “globalize the intifada” chants on campus. His message? Florida is the shining example because DeSantis passed his Stop WOKE Act, gutted DEI, and put political cronies in charge of universities. He even gives FIU’s new and possibly unqualified political-appointee president Jeanette Nuñez — yes, the same Nuñez who spent years in Tallahassee greasing the GOP machine — a glowing shoutout.
Read related: LED billboards could buy their way to Miami streets via campaign donations
Conveniently missing from Sarnoff’s sermon is any mention of actual academic freedom. Or the fact that students in Miami — Jewish, Arab, Black, Haitian, Cuban, Venezuelan, Chinese, whatever — are more than capable of debating tough issues without Tallahassee politicians dictating what’s allowed in their classrooms.
The so-called Stop WOKE Act, or the “Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees” thing — yes, that’s the actual tortured backronym Tallahassee cooked up, because branding — isn’t about protecting anyone from antisemitism, which is real and serious and deserves more than a lobbyist’s op-ed spin. It’s about controlling the narrative, silencing dissent, and reshaping education to fit a right-wing culture war playbook.
Because apparently banning books wasn’t enough, Florida Republicans had to go and ban feelings.
It should be called the ‘Stop Talking About Racism Act’ or the ‘Start Protecting Fragile Feelings Act,’ or maybe the ‘Start MASA Act,” since they like acronyms. It stands for Making America Stupid Again.
Just don’t call it freedom.
DeSantis’ signature culture-war gift to his base, passed in 2022, prohibits schools and businesses from teaching certain concepts about race, gender, privilege and systemic inequality. You know, the kind of conversations that might make people… uncomfortable. The law actually says teachers and employers can’t make anyone feel “guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress” because of race, sex or national origin. Imagine that: a white kid might learn that racism didn’t end with Martin Luther King’s dream speech — and suddenly the state is worried about trauma.
Florida’s Board of Governors has quietly relegated dozens of courses — especially sociology, anthropology, and history—from core degree requirements to optional electives. That means future graduates may skip essential context on systemic inequality—or anything that sounds vaguely “woke”—and still earn a diploma. Schools from UF to FIU are feeling this squeeze. Tenured professors have filed lawsuits.
Of course, courts have already shredded big parts of this as unconstitutional. A federal judge compared it to “1984,”calling it “positively dystopian” for the state to dictate what can and cannot be discussed in classrooms and boardrooms. Even DeSantis’ beloved business donors balked when they realized it could apply to diversity training.
Read related: Gov. Ron DeSantis sends Florida DOGE squad to sniff out Miami-Dade budget
But Tallahassee’s culture crusaders don’t care if it holds up in court. The point isn’t policy, it’s politics. They want to keep the base riled up with the boogeyman of “woke indoctrination,” even if what they’re really doing is dumbing down classrooms and handcuffing teachers.
So now, instead of talking about history, kids in Florida schools get a watered-down version of it. Instead of learning to debate tough issues, they’re learning that free speech has fine print if it makes the wrong people squirm.
And of course, Sarnoff loves it. Because Marc has always thrived in a world where money and influence override messy democratic debate. Now he gets to wrap it all in a bow of “Western civilization” and “citizenship” while his real clients — the billboard companies, the big developers, the entrenched incumbents like Carollo — keep cashing in.
So yeah, the WSJ gave Sarnoff a platform to talk about how “a little learning is a dangerous thing.” Ladra thinks a little self-awareness might be even more dangerous for him.

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The post Marc Sarnoff rears his ugly head again in WSJ op-ed against academic freedom appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Pressure mounted after weeks of inaction, soft words
Finally! After weeks of soft punches and lackluster response, Miami-Dade Mayor Danielle Levine Cava has found her spine and is fighting back against the fascist forces that built and are operating a secret immigration jail in the middle of the Everglades — on an abandoned airstrip that we, the people, own, by the way — without so much as a whisper of due process or transparency.
As far as Gov. Ron DeSantis is concerned, Miami-Dade can go pound sand. Who needs local government or Home Rule when you have emergency powers and delusions of grandeur?
Up to now, Levine Cava has been too polite, citing mostly environmental and financial concerns in very bureaucratic messages. But on Tuesday, she demanded the state provide the county with actual accountability and a peek into the 3,000-bed detention compound plopped down like a giant slap in the face — or federal middle finger pointed at Miami-Dade leaders and residents.
It was almost like she had no political aspirations after this.
But that changed this week, just as the first detainees were getting uncomfortable in their new digs, perhaps in response to a letter sent to the mayor from a coalition of community groups and a pair of billboards that called her out and told residents to urge her to sue the state. Maybe she had to poll first?
In the sharply-worded letter of her own to Attorney General James Uthmeier (a.k.a. DeSantis’ old chief of staff turned full-time enabler), the mayor asked for monitoring access, remote video, weekly updates, and in-person inspections of the sprawling complex, which the AG himself proudly branded “Alligator Alcatraz.” That name ain’t even creative or ironic. It sounds like the punchline of a bad Florida Man joke.
They even have merch. For $30 you can own a t-shirt and for $27, a “trucker’s hat.” Proceeds go to the Republican Party of Florida. Because they see Alligator Alcatraz as a revenue source. Maybe that’s the punchline.

To be fair to the mayor, this quiet power and land grab has happened faster than the cafecito turnaround at the Versailles ventanita. The state took over the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on June 23, and poof — that was the end of local authority. One minute it was county land in the middle of Big Cypress swamp; eight days later, it was a DeSantis internment camp, complete with chain link cages, a 10,000-foot runway to sneak people out of the country and zero press access.
Even Immigration and Customs Enforcement is trying to distance itself from this abomination, pointing fingers at Florida. This is all the state’s doing.
So, what’s changed Levine Cava’s tone in two weeks? Let’s see…
Read related: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s fluoride veto was carefully cast
National horror story newscasts about the inhumane conditions in ICE facilities and poor treatment of detainees, including a 75-year-old Cuban man who was detained for deportation because of an 1980s marijuana arrest and died in custody in Miami, may have gnawed at her. Half of the deaths in ICE custody since the beginning of the year, by the way, have been in Florida. And that’s before they built a concentration camp of soft-sided tents on a patch of flood-prone wetlands at the edge of the Everglades to keep immigrants that are being snatched off the streets.
Videos have been posted of water pooling around electrical wires at the grand opening tour taken last week by President Donald Trump and DeSantis, which was catered — gotta have finger food for the hungry haters — by local eateries that are now being boycotted. Family members of the first detainees have reported their loves are lacking food (they get one meal a day), basic hygiene and access to legal representation. A group of state legislators were denied entry, even though they have a legal right to come up in for a surprise inspection whenever they want.
Digital billboards shaming the mayor into action — at I-95 and NW 135th Street and on the Dolphin Expressway, facing west — followed a letter sent by a coalition of more than 50 organizations asking La Alcaldesa and the commissioners to sue the state and get Alligator Alcatraz shut down. The letter points out how the whole deal is rips off the county, which is smart because the way to our electeds hearts is through their wallets. The state has offered to pay just $20 million for land worth ten times that, and that would be paid out of disaster funds allocated for things like hurricane relief. The annual operation is estimated at $450 a year, while the state expects to see a $2.8 billion budget shortfall next year.

“DeSantis’s move to seize land owned by Miami-Dade County worth an estimated $195 million has been met with almost no resistance by local officials,” starts the letter from the organizations — which include the ACLU, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Rising, Community Justice Center, Dream Defenders and Engage Miami, among others. They expect more from our leaders in a county with the highest percentage of immigrant residents in Florida, where more than 54% of residents are foreign-born and more than 70% are Hispanic. They criticized Levine Cava’s “meek resistance” and said her previous communication with the governor had been “technocratic.”
They pointed to “catastrophic” potential impacts, which range from environmental to fiscal to humanitarian.
“The mad dash to open a 3,000 person detention camp is irresponsible and dangerous. Confining immigrants in cages within tents on the ancestral land of the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes during Florida’s extreme summer and hurricane seasons is a deliberately cruel scheme designed to inflict suffering on those held there. That kind of cruelty is reminiscent of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s inhumane tent city in Arizona, which was shut down after years of lawsuits from mistreated prisoners.
“Environmentally, Alligator Alcatraz threatens one of the most ecologically significant and fragile landscapes in North America. The proposed development site is surrounded by sensitive habitats that are already under increasing pressure from climate change, invasive species, and human encroachment. The heavy infrastructure and increased activity associated with a high-security detention camp, including lighting, road traffic, noise pollution, water discharge, and waste generation, would further fragment wildlife corridors and degrade ecosystems protected under federal and state law.”
Then there’s the slap in the face to the native Americans who were in the Everglades before we were. For Florida’s indigenous peoples, the site is priceless sacred ground. Miccosukee tribal member Betty Osceola has been out there protesting almost every day.
Read related: Miami-Dade commissioners sit silent as resident is dragged out of County Hall
“There are also serious questions about how such a site would protect any semblance of due process for immigrants,” the letter states. “Will those detained in this Everglades Detention Camp have access to lawyers? Will loved ones be able to visit and keep in touch with those in detention? Will there be any oversight by third-party groups on the conditions at this detention camp and the treatment of those detained there? Considering the horrific conditions at other detention facilities in Florida, like Krome Detention Center, the mistreatment and death of detained immigrants seems inevitable – and intentional.”
It’s almost certain that people will die at Alligator Alcatraz. If they haven’t already. Authorities denied that there was a medical emergency even after an ambulance was seen leaving the compound this week. A local hospital official confirmed that they had treated a detainee from the brand new facility. Once caught, authorities admitted someone was transported, without providing any details. But they said he came back and was fine. How can we believe anything they say?
“Authoritarianism festers when executives like Ron DeSantis are allowed to rule by decree. Even before Alligator Alcatraz, DeSantis had defined his political legacy by gleeful cruelty against immigrants. Miami-Dade officials have to unequivocally stand up for all their constituents and push back against those profiting from human suffering in Florida. While we appreciate that Mayor Daniella Levine Cava offered some mild resistance with her letter to the Governor outlining environmental and financial concerns with the project, this moment requires leadership and courage and unequivocal opposition by this body to stop the state law enforcement descension on the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport site in the Everglades.
“We call on Mayor Levine-Cava and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners to file a lawsuit to stop the operation of Alligator Alcatraz, the dehumanization of Florida residents, and the destruction of our shared natural resources. Any failure to act now implies complicity for the human rights abuses and deaths that will follow if Alligator Alcatraz is allowed to operate.”
What’s she gonna tell her grandchildren?

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Their vote to change election year is illegal, he says
What is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waiting for?
Last week, DeSantis said that he could suspend the Miami city commissioners who voted to move the election from odd years to even, effectively cancelling this November’s mayoral and commission races, and giving themselves an extra year in office. This, even though State Attorney General James Uthmeier had warned they could not do that without first going to voters.
Three commissioners voted last month to move the elections to coincide with midterm and national cycles to (1) save at least $200,000 a year and (2) increase turnout quite a bit. At least that’s what they say. The move gives Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Joe Carollo, who were termed out this year, another 12 months in office. As if term limits were mere suggestions. It also gives Commissioner Christine King, who was up for re-election this year, another year before she has to campaign.
Carollo, who has threatened to run for mayor this year, voted against it. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. So did Commissioner Miguel Gabela. And these two rarely agree on anything.
Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year
King and commissioners Damian Pardo and Ralph Rosado voted for the change. They would be the ones eligible for suspension, if DeSantis makes good on his threat.
“The reality is local governments have to abide by Florida law,” the governor told CBS4 News Miami. “Could it come to the point where commissioners can get suspended? The law does provide me that as one of many recourses.”
Well, tick, tock, Ron.
Apparently, the “law and order” governor suddenly remembered the Florida Constitution exists after the public outrage reached DEFCON 3. Ladra can’t help but wonder what political pressure he’s getting. Because it’s not like he didn’t know this was coming. Back in April, the governor said he was “highly skeptical” of the proposal to change the election — which, in Tallahassee-speak, is what you say when you know it’s wrong but don’t want to get your boots dirty just yet.
Why didn’t he act then? Why wait until the ordinance passed? Hmmm. Could he have been waiting for the veto deadline to pass before so he could include Suarez in the suspensions? After all, by signing the legislation, Suarez has endorsed or, effectively, voted for it. And DeSantis is not a fan of Baby X. Not because they were both vying for the presidential nomination — Suarez was just posing — but because the Miami mayor once boasted he voted for Andrew Gillum.
But Suarez didn’t veto the ordinance. And his suspension sounds like a good idea — until you realize that could leave Joe Carollo, the vice chair of the commission, free to appoint all the replacements all by himself. Shudder.
So why has the state not taken any legal action? After all, it is another available recourse.
In fact, the only one who has sued so far is former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, one of 10 announced mayoral candidates, who has asked the court to weigh in on the ordinance’s constitutionality. His lead attorney is none other than former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson — so, you know, not some guy with a fax machine. “The City of Miami Commissioners unconstitutionally bypassed the democratic will of the people in a way that the Florida Constitution, the Miami-Dade Charter, and the City’s Charter expressly prohibit,” Lawson wrote in the complaint.
Read related: First lawsuit filed to stop city of Miami from cancelling November election
Translation: This isn’t just shady and self-dealing, it’s illegal. And it’s especially offensive in a community like Miami, where many voters have been stripped of their ballot box power before. In the lawsuit, Lawson compares Miami to lawless governments in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The city’s attorneys took issue with that in their motion to dismiss.
“As for inflammatory hyperbole and political rhetoric, the complaint references ‘regimes’ like ‘Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, or Cuba’ to argue the City lacks a legal basis to move the date of elections by ordinance. What purpose does this serve? As far as the City can tell, none — except to distract from the weakness of plaintiff’s legal theories,” wrote Assistant City Attorney Eric Eves.
But even AG Uthmeier made the connection in a social media post: “Home to thousands of patriotic Cuban Americans who know better than most about regimes that cavalierly delay elections and prolong their terms in power, the City of Miami owes to its citizens what the law requires.”
Only in Miami, when politicos aren’t out screaming “comunista” at each other, they’re scrapping elections.
There’s a hearing on the Gonzalez lawsuit and the city’s motion to dismiss next week (July 16). Meanwhile, there are 10 mayoral candidates and eight commissioner wannabes in limbo. Should they be knocking on doors? Should they be binging on Netflix?
DeSantis can end all this nonsense with a flick of the wrist. Then Miami voters can have an election in November for the mayor and four commissioners.
The post Tick, tock, Guv: Ron DeSantis threatens to suspend Miami commissioners appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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