There are fewer excuses not to vote on Tuesday in Miami’s election.
Lime, the global leader in micromobility (read: electric ride-share bikes and scooters), will provide free scooter rides to and from the polls so it’s harder to blame car trouble.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has come up with a genius solution to the county’s massive traffic gridlock and mass transit problems: Cars that fly.
Ladra is not kidding. Gimenez wants to be George Jetson.
We don’t have money to expand rail, which is what was promised to the people with the half-penny tax increase in 2002. Not even for one extension south or north up to Broward. Not even for a light rail across the bay to Miami Beach.
But we apparently can find the money to entertain thoughts of a public private partnership with Lilium, a German engineering startup that raised $90 million to build air taxis just last year and whose five-seat jets could be crossing our skies in as little as two years, according to the mayor’s vision.
Read related: Rumors persist of a new recall effort to oust Carlos Gimenez
You know, like those Amazon drone planes only bigger and carrying people. Don’t worry. They have parachutes! These electric-powered jets are safe because they have parachutes that discharge if there is any “in-flight failure” or collision.
“So you can just float down,” Gimenez told Miami Today. And, apparently, they took him seriously.
Gimenez has met twice already with representatives from Lilium, the last meeting taking place with executives Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s definitely cutting edge, so I’m interested,” the mayor told Miami Today after the first meeting earlier this month, because you know how he loves shiny new stuff. “We have an interesting place to try out the new concept. We want to be the city of the future.”
Is that why you are buying so many buses?
Read related: Termed out Mayor Carlos Gimenez gives self undeserved 70% pay raise
Not that this isn’t something that Ladra is happy to welcome into our world, like jetpacks and hologram TV. It’s kinda awesome. It’s just not a transit solution.
The five-seat jet can go 186 miles in an hour. Except there doesn’t need to be five people for a trip that, for now, would start and end at one of the county’s four airports — MIA, Opa-Locka, Miami Executive (formerly known as Kendall-Tamiami) and Homestead. Eventually, there will be ports built elsewhere. The developer of Paramount WorldCenter Miami designed a skyport atop the 60-story building for future air taxis.
And certainly it won’t come cheap. Think Uber Super X.
How does this do anything to take care of the massive gridlock most of us face daily? Answer: It doesn’t. But Gimenez isn’t concerned with that. This air taxi idea seems like a quicker turnaround and he is all about immediate gratification.
And shiny things.
Read related: Add another son to Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s lobbying clan
And immediate graft? Ladra tried to find out who the lobbyist was for Lilium and couldn’t find anyone in the county lobbyist registrations going back to the beginning of the year. But maybe it’s early. Maybe that’s next as they meet with commissioners.
It’s too bad that Gimenez can’t get excited about finding ways to make a public private partnership for rail happen because that is what the people were promised and that is what the people want.
Nothing, not even flying cars, will be an acceptable alternative.
Did you have a nice, loooong weekend? Well, just because it’s a shorter week 
doesn’t meant there’s not a lot going on.
The cities of Miami and Coral Gables have some controversial items this week sure to pack their respective city halls while South Miami has a dejavu on affordable housing and the county has another one of those “we love soccer” meetings about a proposed stadium in Overtown. We also have yet another march downtown. This one is family friendly!
No, it’s not a typo. I got no notice from the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club meeting in Miami Beach. Maye they are skipping this week?
And since when did Saturday become a day to do political stuff? No, really. Please stop that.
Got an event for the calendar on a normal day of the week? Get me the 411 on your 305 government and club meetings, campaign fundraisers and political powwows and get in the calendar. It’s easy. Send an email to edevalle@gmail.com or invite me on Facebook or hit me up on twitter like some of these people did.
9 a.m. — There is going to be a lot of upset residents at Coral Gables City Hall Tuesday. Not only is there going to be 
a 2 p.m. time-certain discussion item on the commission meeting agenda, thanks to Commissioner Vince Lago, about the police major who spied on resident Maria Cruz during a commission meeting in September — will Maj. Theresa Molina be fired or will she pass go and collect $100,000 and a really fat pension for the rest of her life — there may also be talk about the police shortages and a 5 p.m. time-certain second vote on the controversial 33 Alhambra development that seems to have made some cuts in units and parking, but which nearby residents still don’t want. If you want a seat, get there early. Or you’ll be watching on the TVs outside the commission chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 405 Biltmore Way.
10 a.m. — After deferring it last week, Miaim City Commissioners will consider taking Watson Island back from a developer that promised 16 years ago to turn it into a hotel/retail destination with parking and a marina. Commissioner Ken Russell believes that the developer has missed a deadline earlier this month to start construction. Some city staffers say they did enough to meet that standard. It will certainly make for an interesting discussion as there are a group of Venetian Island residents opposed to the development. They and State Rep. David Richardson wants the process to start over. And maybe it should, considering it was made 16 years ago! The special meeting begins at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive.
6 p.m. — The city of South Miami may finally be moving along on the long-promised Madison Square affordable housing project along Southwest 59th Place at 64th Street, next to the St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church. The South Miami Community Redevelopment Agency will consider transmitting the proposal with a variance for four stories rather than the maximum two and another variance for reduced parking. This has been talked about for years but has been held up by one thing or another. In 2015, the original contractor cancelled its contract with the city over delays in getting the necessary variances. Will we see a dejavu on Tuesday? The project now has been divided into two, the East and the West parts. The CRA will also consider two unity of titles for the 15 properties involved. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in commission chambers at City Hall, 6130 Sunset Drive.
2 p.m. — An update on the SMART mass transit plan
for Miami-Dade is coming up at Wednesday’s Transportation Planning Organization’s Transportation and Mobility Committee meeting. County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz will ask the committee to amend the plan to extend the bus express rapid transit (BERT) corridor limits of the Florida Turnpike Express. There will also be presentations on the Miami River tunnel feasability study and on the Miami-Dade Quick Build Program. The meeting begins at 2 p.m. in Miami-Dade commission chambers at 111 NW First St.
6:30-8 p.m. — The city of Miami Beach will have a community meeting on the kayak launch project planned for the waterway north of 73rd Street and west of Dickens Avenue, which will take about two months to build and will not affect the community garden. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the North Shore Park and Youth Center, 501 72nd Street.
8:30 a.m. — The Mayor’s North Beach Plan Steering Committee meets at 8:30 a.m. at the Normandy Shores Golf Club, 2401 Biarritz Drive. Ladra doesn’t know where to get an agenda but this group is on a roll.
Most recently, and at the behest of Commissioner Ricky Arriola, the committee has been pushing to get a version of Wynwood Yard, an outdoor venue in the popular Miami neighborhood with a lot of food truck events and where Shakira gave an impromptu concert the other day, on the city-owned lots across from North Shore Open Space Park. North Beach Yard would be similar to the original concept, but more retail-oriented. There may also be an organic farm for onsite restaurants to use and for locals to buy fresh produce from as well as an artists’ showcase. It would be interesting to see what the committee follows that up with.
6 p.m. — Soccer in Overtown? Some people love the idea. Others hate it. 
There will be a community discussion on Thursday about the sale of Miami-Dade county owned property in Overtown to David Beckham and partners so they can build the Major League Soccer stadium they have been talking about for years. Miami-Dade “officials” and staff are expected to be at the YWCA, 351 NW 5th St., but the notice on the county website doesn’t specifically say that Mayor Carlos Gimenez will be there. He was at the first one of these community meetings but there are at least two more next week.
9 a.m.-1 p.m. — Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban Bovo and the town of Miami Lakes will host a family fun day picnic at Picnic Park West, 15151 NW 82nd Ave. There will be a farmer’s market, free rides, music, and raffles.
11 a.m.-2 p.m. — The March for Truth in downtown Miami Saturday has attracted a bunch of politician candidates. Tallahassee Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, perennial candidate (Senate 40 this time) Annette Taddeo, Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez and Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez — both of whom have announced plans to run for Congress next year since Ileana Ros Lehtinen is retiring — will be at the anti-Trump demonstration, organized by a coalition of groups that include Women’s March, Indivisible 305, Indivisible Miami and RiseUp Florida. They demand truth and transparency, including an impartial investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and ties to President Donald Trump and so many of his friends and family. To get people to go, they are also briging food trucks, musical acts and face painting. No joke. Bring the whole family to the political march! Festivities begin at 11 a.m. at the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW First St.
11 a.m.-2 p.m. — If you don’t know your Hurricane 101 yet, you must not be from around here. The Village of Palmetto Bay is offering a town hall on hurricane preparedness this Saturday at the municipal center, 9705 E. Hibiscus St. And here Ladra thought for sure Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn would be at the march.
Ladra hopes everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend and got lots of love and nurturing comfort from our mamas… because it’s another doozy of a week in the 305 political world.
We’ve got soccer and activism 101 and a group of preservationists’ last stand and the mother of all fundraisers — this last one for Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez, who still doesn’t even have any real opposition yet in his bid to become the second in his family to be Miami mayor (more on that later). Oh, and the county still wants to give Vizcaya away to be run by a private, non-profit board. You know, because that went so well for the Frost Museum.
If we don’t list your event, sorry. It is probably your own fault. Get me the info on your government and club meetings, campaign fundraisers and political powwows and it will be included. Trust me. Nobody gets a no. The easy way is to send an email to edevalle@gmail.com.
And now, with no further ado, I bring you the Cortadito calendar for the current week.
8:30 a.m. — The Miami Beach Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club could rename itself the Miami Beach 
Candidate Speaker’s Bureau since every single one of its speakers has been a candidate for commission (Group 2) or the mayoral seat. Bless their little collective activists soul. Someone had to do it! This week’s guest speaker is Adrian Gonzalez, the owner of David’s Cafe, who is running for commission in Group 3. Former Mayor Matti Bower, who is still so far not running for anything, serves as moderator at the morning meetings, which are at Puerto Sagua Restaurant, 700 Collins Ave. Questions can be submitted in advance via Facebook.
9:30 a.m. — The privatization of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens continues as Miami-Dade Commissioners meet again Tuesday to discuss transitioning the powers and responsibilities of the historic and 
county-owned facility from the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust to the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Inc, which will allow them to grant contracts and manage the considerable budget of county tax dollars with less public oversight. The Carrie Meek Foundation’s lease agreement at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport will also be discussed. Commissioners could also approve an $8 million budget for the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency and $1.6 million for the South Miami Community Redevelopment Agency. They will also consider increasing an agreement with Nova Consulting from a total of $8 million in value to a total of $25 million in value for management of our water and sewer pump system. Oh, and 
Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, who lost her beloved husband last week, wants to increase the number of local people a company must have in its employ to qualify for local preference in procurement. They will also spend a lot of money, again. This includes $22.5 million for the lease or purchase of vehicles, $118.7 million for contract employees for different departments ($30 mil just for Elections) and $3.6 million for enterprise construction project management software. Does that mean the county won’t need individual construction project managers at $200 an hour like Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s BFF Ralph Garcia Toledo? Or is this to make his job easier? If you want to speak on any item on the agenda, the meeting is in commission chambers on the second floor at County Hall, 111 NW First Street.
6 p.m. — Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez wanted to put the sale of the last 
parcel needed by David Beckham for his soccer stadium to the commission Tuesday. But Commissioner Audrey Edmonson wanted to have a town hall with the residents who live adjacent to the properties first. That will take place Wednesday evening at the YWCA, 351 NW 5th St., where residents of Overtown and Spring Gardens are invited to have a conversation with representatives from Miami Beckham United about the potential sale of the property and the future of the site. Its the same place where residents voiced their concern at the first soccer stadium town hall meeting in 2015. MBU already has six acres of property in Overtown acquired. The county parcel is the last piece needed.
6:30-9 p.m. — SAVE, formerly SAVE Dade, wants more people engaged in local and national politics. To that end, they are hosting a townhall Wednesday evening titled Effective Activism for Social Change. And they should know. SAVE has been instrumental in passing several municipal ordinances that give same-sex partners the same benefits of any spouse and was also instrumental in the county’s passage of protection for transgender individuals (fighting ugly bathroom police laws at the state simultaneously). The group has had some notable successes, even if they sometimes support the wrong candidates. This townhall is moderated/hosted by WPLG Local 10’s political reporter, Michael Putney. It is at SAVE headquarters, 1951 NW 7th Avenue, sixth floor.
7 p.m. — The Palmetto Bay Council Committee as a Whole will meet Wednesday to discuss a number of issues 
important to the village community — from an analysis of traffic in the urban downtown district to regulations for special events to evaluation forms for the manager and assistant manager to the noise coming from Thelatta Estate to speed limits around village parks to the upcoming budget process. Mayor Eugene Flinn wants to talk about the FPL property and parking lot regulations. And as if that wasn’t enough, they are also going to discuss the procurement process, light rail “issues,” the launch of the village website and new mobility fees for developers. This looks like a catch all meeting to Ladra. So many important things going on in Palmetto Bay, we may just have to start paying attention. The meeting should last a few hours, at Village Hall, 9705 E. Hibiscus St.
2 p.m. — The Transportation Planning Organization (the old MPO) will meet to discuss four proposed amendments to the Long Range Transportation Plan that affect the 112 Expressway, the Gratigny Expressway and the new two-lane road along NW 7th Street under State Roade 826 and the widening of 97th Avenue. Commissioner Dennis Moss wants the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority to put accent lighting on the State Roade 874 ramp connector bridge to SW 128th Street. Commissioner Javier Souto wants to ask the Florida Turnpike to “refrain from proceeding” with the widening project at Coral Way, which would affect the brdige spanning from Southwest 115th to 118th avenues until there is a public meeting with area residents and a traffic study. The meeting is in Miami-Dade Commission Chambers at County Hall, 111 NW First St.
6-8 p.m. — That big todo in oh-so-hipster Wynwood for Miami City Commissioner Francis Suarez is going to be the 
social gathering of the month for young politicos. Perhaps the season. It’s got the largest host committee in formation I have ever seen, and Ladra has seen a lot of host committees in formation. Even if you were not invited, we are quite certain that you can get in. Just bring a check. The festivities begin at Goldman Global Arts Gallery, 260 NW 26th St., inside Wynwood Walls. Enter through the gallery entrance between Second and Third avenues.
7-9 p.m. — Billed as the “last chance meeting,” the activists who make up the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition will meet to discuss final efforts to save a swath of protected land that is the only known home to an endangered and indiginous beetle. This last piece of pine rockland — less than 2% of which exists today — is slated to become a Walmart parking lot. Believe it. Or help stop it. The tree huggers meet at 7 p.m. at the Tropical Audobon Society, 5530 Sunset Drive.
6:30-8:30 p.m. — Brad Bonessi and J. R. Bult will host a fundraiser for
Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who is runnning for the congressional seat vacated by a retiring Ileana Ros Lehtinen, at the St. Tropez Condominium Friday evening, 7330 Ocean Drive. This is that same block in North Beach that was going to have some huge enormouse highrise until Rosen Gonzalez and other preservationists opposed the developer-financed voter referendum to increase zoning density and height. Ladra expects the campaign to strike it rich.
6:30 -8 a.m. — Rise early if you want to run in the Village of El Portal’s 9th annual Armed Forces Day 5K Walk/Run Saturday. Same day registration is from 6:30 to 7:15 a.m. and the program starts at 8. The race/walk starts in front of Village Hall, 500 NE 87th St., and winds through the small municipality.
After Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban Bovo became the board’s chairman in December, he created the Chairman’s Policy Council, a new sort of super committee to take up the most important issues the county faces in the next two to four years — including the renovation of the historic downtown civil courthouse, which was once a $400-million tax grab emergency many moons ago.
According to the county website, the Chairman’s Council will be responsible for:
That’s a lot of responsibility, ain’t it? It hits all the main community issues and some of the more expensive ones.
And it’s all in the hands of the seven commissioners who voted for Bovo as chairman: Jean Monestime, Audrey Edmonson, Bruno Barreiro, Sally Heyman, Rebeca Sosa, Dennis Moss and Javier Souto. They were rewarded with a juciy spot on this new and important board while Commissioner Xavier Suarez and those who voted for him were left out.
Read related story: Carlos Gimenez, er, Stevie Bovo wins commission chair
Thursday’s meeting has the eight-member board looking at three $11-million contracts for engineering services for the Department of Transportation and Public Works (including one that has the mayor’s BFF listed as a subcontractor, again). The three contracts look like they are for the same thing — engineering work on a variety of projects, including the study of using driverless vehicles (though we need to get cars off the road, not drivers) — and also include side deals for 41 subcontractors.
But they will also be looking at and discussing different possible transportation funding sources, including:
Bovo also wants to talk about “deficiencies” in Transportation and 
Public Works and an update on the construction repairs or renovation to the civil courthouse.
There’s also a $1.5 million contract to consider for Perez & Perez Architects Planners for an update to the 2008 master plan for the court system and the county jails. That money will come from the Building Better Communities general obligation fund.
The Policy Council — or the Bovo Buddies Bunch, because you can call them that — meets at 9:30 a.m. in commission chambers at County Hall, 111 NW First St.
