Residents mourn the city’s removal of an old oak tree
Morningside neighbors aren’t just angry about Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo’s pet sidewalk project and the 75-year-old oak tree that was cut down without warning — they’re lawyering up.
Residents of the historic bayside neighborhood sent a formal legal warning to City Hall Wednesday, telling Mayor Francis Suarez, the city attorney, the city manager and Pardo himself — as well as cc-ing a bunch of county officials — that this concrete crusade for sidewalks could cost taxpayers up to $93 million under Florida’s Bert Harris Act, which protects property owners when government projects wipe out their property values.
That’s right. A sidewalk project that could bankrupt the city. Because in Pardo’s world, Instagram posts and civic club meetings count as “proper notice.” Pardo said in his social media in July that there had been “extensive outreach” on what he calls the “sidewalk safety project” — because inserting that middle word helps sell it — and that it would be focused on pedestrian safety and “tree preservation.”
An independent appraisal sought by homeowners says the project could slash property values by 10%–30% across 200 homes in Morningside — an average 20% haircut that translates into tens of millions in lost equity for residents.
But wait, it gets worse.
Read related: Miami commissioners vote to negotiate sale of historic Olympia Theater
Three of the impacted homes are in the Morningside Historic District, where the city’s own laws require heightened review. The current design shoves sidewalks within feet of bedroom windows, rips out swale vegetation and increases flooding risk. Great planning, right?
“This Project will deprive owners of the privacy they have long enjoyed, will remove vegetation which has been a great amenity to the area, and in general, will destroy the character of the entire neighborhood,” wrote attorney Kenneth G. Oertel in the letter. “This Project is completely opposed by a majority of directly and many indirectly affected residents in the Morningside community; it is unnecessary and a waste of public funds.
“Properties along the proposed route will suffer permanent loss of privacy and parking, and in some cases, the sidewalk will encroach their residence within inches of their windows and habitable living spaces. The affected residences will no longer benefit from swale vegetation and hedge buffers, both of which currently shield children, pedestrians, and drivers from conflict zones. The elimination of these elements heightens risk to pedestrians and exposes homeowners to decreased utility, increased noise, and greater intrusion. The proposal also introduces new elements of risk by creating unmarked crosswalks.
“When a governmental agency considers a public works project, it often undertakes a cost-benefit analysis. In this instance, the “benefits” are non-existent; the cost implications are monumental. I wish the City to reconsider whether this Project is justified,” Oertel wrote. “The unwanted work combined with the potential liability to the City appears to be risky and one-sided.
Translation: More legal bills for the taxpayers.
Read related: Courts killed Miami commission’s election shuffle, but city wants a do-over
Then there is the fact that the city didn’t even bother sending direct legal notice to property owners. Instead, they relied on flyers, social media and the Morningside Civic Association (MCA), a volunteer group with zero legal standing to bind residents.
“While the Morningside Civic Association is a non-profit Florida corporation that exists to promote the general betterment of the community, it is not a homeowners’ association and does not have authority to make binding decisions on behalf of individual property owners,” the lawyer states. “The directly affected residents, those whose homes, driveways, hedges, and swales abut the proposed sidewalk routes, were never given formal legal notice or engaged in a proper consultation process, despite being the parties who will suffer the most immediate and measurable losses.
“Instead, the City relied on the MCA for outreach, which effectively bypassed the homeowners whose property rights and values are at stake. This failure of notice and engagement undermines the legitimacy of the process and compounds the exposure the City now faces, as the sidewalk project threatens to degrade the historic character of Morningside and substantially reduce property values for directly impacted.”
Ladra would go a step further and say the MCA served as a convenient go-between. Or so Pardo thought. Because he made it evident that he doesn’t care what the residents think when city crews came and ripped out the old oak tree on Northeast 50th Terrace for no good reason while the homeowners were away. The homeowners and their neighbors were devastated.
The suspected 75+ year-old live oak was chopped down last weekend after the city pushed through conflicting permits. First, an arborist report on June 2 said the tree was healthy but had to go to make way for the proposed sidewalk. Then, three weeks later, a new permit magically declared the same tree “sick” — a claim Pardo himself promoted on Instagram.
This tree here does not look sick. But the photos of the discarded tree parts are absolutely sickening.

“I never saw this removal posted online, nor was a large, green Intended Decision poster placed on the tree to notify the public and to allow for an appeal,” wrote Morningside activist Sandy Moise to the city Monday, requesting the arborist’s report. “Furthermore, Commissioner Pardo did not include this tree when on June 24, 2025, he posted the Tree Removal Permit Updates on his Instagram.”
Moise said the residents had previously voiced their opposition for removing this specific live oak to Pardo and Charles Alfaro, the assistant director of the city’s resiliency and public works department. “They claimed their sidewalk project was removing, ‘just one tree.’ We asked for a root bridged to be used instead of removing this tree, or to install the sidewalk around it.”
She had written already to Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Wilton Simpson to ask for the state’s intervention in another case where the city removed a perfectly healthy state-protected Mahogany. So, this is not an isolated incident. It’s a pattern, she says: The city has falsified tree conditions on Intended Decision notices — claiming disease or poor condition when both the city’s arborist and independent arborists confirm they are healthy. It removes trees without following the public notice pattern. And last, but most egregious, the city actually causes mechanical harm to existing trees through maintenance practices, including weed-whacker scarring on roots.
Another tree was cut down in July after the city said it had been hit by lightning twice in a year. So, then, why not get a permit? Think about it. Because that would eliminate any chance for the public to appeal or for an independent arborist to inspect the tree and recommend preservation options. Which is exactly what they did.
Oooops.

Read related: Miami tree removal ordinance changes unnecessary and tainted by lobbyists
Johnson also wrote Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to ask her office to review the plan to see if the city had violated any interlocal agreements regarding traffic calming and to provide assurance that further construction activity will be suspended until the proper process is followed. “The actions of the City of Miami, as led by Commissioner Pardo and Public Works, reflect a disturbing pattern of government overreach, misinformation, and disregard for statutory obligations,” she said. “Miami-Dade County leadership must intervene to ensure that resident rights, environmental protections, and lawful governance are respected.
“This is not simply about one tree. It is about a pattern of disregard for the law, abuse of power, and erosion of public trust.”
The county’s chief operating officer, Jimmy Morales, said he would forward it to the regulatory department to follow up.
It is hard to trust the government when there are so many shifting stories. The city says the tree was sick when it clearly was not. Pardo also the tree removal was a mistake. But only since it was supposed to be cut down later. “It certainly shouldn’t have happened now,” he said on an Instagram post, feigning uprise. It was a longterm plan. Is that supposed to make us feel better?
Pardo and Ralph Gonzalez, the city’s arborist, scrambled on social media to promise the tree will be replaced with other two or three native trees that will provide “similar or better canopy” — in the “near future.” Key word: Future. Like maybe in 15 or 25 years, when they’re fully grown?
“We understand the gravity of the situation,” Gonzalez said. “And our top priority is replacement of this missing canopy with two or three Floria native species of equal size if not greater.”
Residents call it deception. And Ladra has to agree — nothing says “greenwashing” like killing a healthy century-old oak for a sidewalk that nobody asked for and that residents are actually fighting against.
The contradictions don’t stop there. Court transcripts show the city’s own engineer admitting that sidewalks could be built by the road — but that option was “too expensive.” Yet City Hall keeps claiming safety is the reason for pushing concrete closer to homes. Pardo, meanwhile, boasted about his “innovative” use of MCA meetings and door-to-door chats as public notice. Neighbors called that a flat-out lie.
Jessica Johnson, one of the residents now leading the charge, summed it up: “Because of Commissioner Pardo’s poor planning, lack of proper notice, disorganized communications, and failure to follow statutory requirements or basic standards of care, residents are terrified and feel unsafe in their own homes. The sloppy and sacrilegious killing of this century-old oak tree is symbolic of Pardo’s policy in Morningside.”
The Bert Harris Act gives residents the right to compensation if government actions wipe out their property value, even without a constitutional taking. That means if Pardo keeps pushing, the city could be on the hook for tens of millions in damages — all while destroying one of Miami’s most historic neighborhoods.
This isn’t a sidewalk project anymore. It’s a sidewalk scandal. And it could become the most expensive concrete pour in Miami history.
It’s also becoming part of Pardo’s quickly growing negative legacy, along with the election year change, the giveaway of the Olympia Theater, the change to the tree ordinance, the gentrification of Coconut Grove, the deafness on the Downtown Development Authority and the vote to dissolve Bayfront Park.
“Miami’s beauty has always been rooted in its foliage, tree-lined streets, and Biscayne Bay. Morningside, founded in the 1920s by James H. Nunnally and embraced by families like the Burdines, was built as a tropical retreat with Mediterranean Revival homes and a canopy of legacy trees,” said resident Brian Hollenbeck. “For generations, residents have protected that character.
Read related: Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo loses support, inspires recall threats
“Now, Commissioner Damian Pardo is stripping that away — cutting down protected trees and bulldozing front yards under the guise of so-called ‘safety walkways’ that have never gone through proper permits, historical review, or mitigation. He lives just blocks away, yet never notified his neighbors. Instead, he’s pushing a project that looks more like a developer’s land grab than public safety,” said Hollenbeck, who supported Pardo in the 2023 election
“With his election shuffle, the Watson Island deal, the Olympia giveaway, and now this, Pardo’s actions reek of backroom deals and a disregard for transparency. He has lost the trust of the very community he claims to represent, and residents are no longer tolerant of this version of the City’s mismanagement.
“We will hold him accountable.”
“As your elected official, I welcome criticism and accountability,” Pardo posted on the platform formerly known as Twitter in July. “However, spreading false claims or personal attacks doesn’t help move our community forward.”
Pardo did not answer multiple calls from Ladra to his cellphone and district office. He did not respond to texts sent over several days. His chief of staff did not answer calls and texts Thursday. Pardo hasn’t responded in weeks, since Political Cortadito took a stance against the cancellation of this year’s Miami mayoral and commission elections, which he had pushed for.
He also did not answer a question about why his home in Morningside, at 421 NE 51st Street, which is a stone’s throw from Biscayne Boulevard, is suddenly gone from the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s property search website.
That doesn’t feel transparent or accountable.
The post Damian Pardo’s Morningside sidewalks in Miami — a $93 million mistake? appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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So much for confidentiality.
Less than three weeks after Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago and Actualidad 1040 AM came to a mediated confidential settlement agreement in that weak defamation lawsuit Vinnie filed last year, and four days after both parties filed a “joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice,” which reconfirms that confidentiality, Lago goes and tells everybody.
On Tuesday, Lago put the station on blast at a very public city commission meeting during a discussion about the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center Association — which the city could enter into a legal battle with —  just to make a point.
“It’s kind of like my lawsuit against Actualidad Radio,” he said about the need to hire an outside attorney to request the non-profit association’s records (more on that later). “They slander you and say a lie about you, and what you do is, you have to hire an attorney to get an apology letter. Not only do you get an apology letter, you also get a huge payday and also get Mr. Tejera fired from the radio station.”
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago settles petty defamation case vs Actualidad
He was referring to Roberto Rodriguez Tejera, the veteran Miami journalist who spoke with Gables Commissioner Ariel Fernandez on the Spanish-language “Contacto Directo” morning radio show in February 2023 about an ethics investigation of a possible conflict of interest in the aggressive plan to annex Little Gables and the fact that Lago lied when he dramatically signed an affidavit swearing that nobody in his family had any ties with the unincorporated enclave. It was a frivolous and losing case: His brother was a lobbyist for the largest property owner in Little Gables — which may be in the mayor’s sights again (more on that later) — and there was, indeed, an investigation into both the possible conflict of interest brought on relationship and whether or not Lago intentionally lied.
The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust closed the matter saying the “information gathered in this matter is not legally sufficient to commence an investigation,” in August of 2023, six months after Rodriguez-Tejera reported on the investigation. The defamation lawsuit was centered on the ridiculous notion that it was really, technically a “matter under initial review,” which all journalist know is just a fancy way to say investigation. The process is the same. The end result, too.
After two years of back and forth — trying to get the Ethics Commission to disclose the anonymous sources of the complaint, serving subpoenas on union leaders, commissioners and journalists — it was suddenly suddenly all over. No more drama.
Or so we thought.
Tuesday’s little tirade may be a violation of the terms of the agreement, which has the word confidential or confidentiality five times in one paragraph in the joint simulation of dismissal.
Read related: What transparency? 22 reasons NOT to vote for Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago
Both Lago and Actualidad Media notified the court Aug. 22 that they had “reached a settlement in this matter and entered into a confidential settlement agreement, which was sealed “to preserve confidentiality,” the document reads.
“The parties further stipulate that each party shall bear its own attorneys’ fees and court costs and request that the court retain jurisdiction over this action to resolve any disputes arising out of or relating to the confidential settlement agreement and mutual release executed by the parties.”

Is this going to be one of those disputes? That Lago squealed. From the dais?
Wasn’t the settlement supposed to be amicable? If there had been a “huge payday,” why would the station and Lago’s attorney issue a joint statement that basically said they did nothing wrong?
“Actualidad 1040 AM would like to clarify: On February 27, 2023, it was reported on the Contacto Directo radio show on Actualidad 1040 AM that there was an ethics investigation against Mayor Lago. To clarify, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust had opened a ‘matter under initial review.’ The matter was opened because unnamed concerned individuals had lodged a confidential ethics complaint against Mayor Lago. After undergoing its internal process, on August 23, 2023 the Ethics Commission determined that the complaint was ‘not legally sufficient to commence an investigation’ and closed the matter. The parties have amicably resolved their dispute, and Mayor Lago has agreed to dismiss his lawsuit.”
That settlement was announced earlier this month, which was less than two months after the first judge recused himself and the case was assigned to Circuit Court Judge Javier Enriquez. From Day 1, Enriquez made it clear he wanted to resolve the case already. Wonder what his honor thinks of Lago’s little nonconfidential rant.
Read related: Judge in Vince Lago’s ‘defamation’ lawsuit suddenly recuses himself
Nevermind that it’s not such a flex for a politician to say he got a journalist fired. Like, maybe in Cuba. But the truth is that Robertico, as his friends call him, is still working at Actualidad. He isn’t doing the same show, but everybody says it was choice to take a break after the November elections. He still hosts a show on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. And he still works with the station’s advertising team as the voice of many local brands.
Rodriguez-Tejera is almost synonymous with Actualidad.
Lyin’ Lago is at it again.
Ladra tried calling Gonzalo Dorta, Lago’s attorney in this civil case. After putting me on hold for a few seconds, his secretary came back to say that Dorta said to have my attorney call him. But there is no case anymore. It was settled. Confidentially.
A public records request was also made to the city for the apology letter, but two sources at the radio station say I won’t get it — because it doesn’t exist. It’s almost a sure bet the “huge payday” doesn’t exist either. In fact, Lago — whose attorneys had taken three big losses in court in the prior month — probably settled with a “you go your way, we go ours” settlement so he wouldn’t have to pay the station’s legal fees later.
So, why is Lago boasting like this? Well, this helps him send a message: Look what I can do. And it has been established that he is a bully. This is nothing more than a veiled threat to try to silence anyone who reports the truth about him. And about the ethics investigation on him in 2023.
Looks like he failed.
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It’s so painfully obvious she gets under their skin
For almost 12 hours Tuesday, Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro took the hits from her colleagues on the dais like a professional boxer who is used to being in the ring for extra rounds with opponents who don’t fight fair.
And even though she was not able to move a single one of her 10 agenda items forward at the very long commission meeting, Castro said she felt victorious because the board voted to put the election year change on the ballot, rather than making the change by ordinance all by themselves. That is something she has been fighting for since May.
“What I most wanted, I got,” Castro told Political Cortadito Wednesday. “And that is that the people will get to vote on when they have their elections.”
Read related: Coral Gables commissioner Melissa Castro challenges election date change
She didn’t get the date she wanted. Castro — who was censured by her colleagues last month for trying to get an opinion on the election change from the Florida attorney general — would have put the question on the next regularly-scheduled election ballot in April of 2027, when her first term expires. Mayor Vince Lago wants the election to be in April of next year (more on that later), and that’s what he got, of course. He is confident that voters will approve the change and wants the next municipal elections in November of 2026, cutting Castro’s term by five months.
Because he’s really out to get Castro and Commissioner Ariel Fernandez — two underdogs who beat his handpicked candidates in 2023 — gone as quickly as possible. In fact, at one point Tuesday, Lago blurted out that he had polled Castro five times. “You’re below 15%. You’re upside down, two to one.”
Five times! That sounds like an obsession. Unless, you know, he’s just lying. It wouldn’t be the first time.
But “upside down, two to one” suggests that Lago polled Castro against someone in particular. Could it be Ivette Arango O’Doski, the Lago candidate she beat by 18 points two years ago? Rumors have circulated that someone is recruiting Cecilia Slesnick, the daughter-in-law of former Mayor Don Slesnick and the late Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick, to run against Castro (more on that later).
But the commissioner just smiled Tuesday and told Lago to chill out. “Don’t be so worried. Don’t be so preoccupied. I would never go into something I can’t win,” she said, practically winking at him.
It’s also not the first time that Lago behaves obnoxiously and acts aggressively toward Castro. But it’s gone from ignoring or sidelining her at public events and refusing to take photos with her after she won — other electeds apologized for him at an Underline event — to badmouthing and embarrassing Castro at the Carnaval de Barranquilla event in downtown Coral Gables in April, just one day after Lago was sworn in post reelection, calling her a “venomous snake” and “bad news” in front of dignitaries and city staffers. And in front of Castrro’s son.
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago lashes out at Commissioner Melissa Castro
And while the commissioner is a fully grown woman who has a master’s degree in industrial-organizational psychology — maybe that’s how she does it — Lago talks down to Castro as if she was a little girl. He openly laughs at her legitimate concerns is if she wasn’t elected by a wider margin than he was last April. It’s a disrespect to the voters, the constituents, the residents.
“Let me provide you with a little clarity,” he tells her, just a variation of the same tone he treats her with in every single commission meeting.
But it wasn’t only L’Ego who took every opportunity Tuesday to bully and harangue Castro, who can’t possibly have a good idea as far as the mayor and his minions are concerned. The expedited permitting for residents who wanted to pay more for the service — which would also have been a new revenue stream — was shot down before they could even start a trial period. On Tuesday, the commission completely shot down her motion to expand the noise ordinance to ban construction in the residential zones before 7:30 a.m., instead of 8 a.m. which is the rule now.
Let that sink in: Castro wanted to give residents one more hour of peace in the mornings. Particularly one elderly handicapped woman who keeps getting woken up by the construction of The Village, a luxury townhome development on Malaga Avenue. And the LALalalala group thought this was a bad idea? Ladra is surprised Commissioner Richard Lara didn’t say that the people elected them to keep the early construction noise going.
That’s their excuse for everything: “The people elected us, so this is what they want.”
“It’s obvious that if I say I have some free bread for the city, they will say no,” Castro said. And it’s become pretty obvious to everyone else that she is right. In fact, Ladra expects them to say the bread would be tainted.
Read related: Coral Gables: Developers, lobbyists lead, giving $753K to elect Richard Lara
Lara sounds like he is chastising her constantly and Lago is dripping with disdain when he addresses Castro. It is so nauseating that at least two residents mentioned it during public comments.
“Please Mayor Lago, I’m disappointed in your frequent condescending of her ideas and comments,” said Lisa Detournay, a resident of the Riviera neighborhood who also added that Castro had asked good questions and that she was unaware of some of the things the commissioner had brought up about the mobility hub (more on that later).
“You guys speak so poorly to Ms. Castro,” said another lady on Zoom. “You may not be raising your voice, but what you say is so embarrassing.”
Castro, who is very much underestimated and smarter than they think — or maybe they know just how smart she is and can’t stand it — just sits there and takes it all in stride. She got very upset and cried publicly after the Carnaval event because she was embarrassed in front of Colombian leaders and her son. Ladra spoke to people there who said the mayor was out of line.
On Tuesday, Castro seemed to just ride it out in stride. She knows she was right about letting the voters decide on the election date. So, she might turn out to be right about some other stuff, too. She can play the long game and watch as Lago and the others — particularly Lago — self destruct.
But the bullies she has to sit with in the meantime are not amusing. They are abusive. Ladra would venture to suggest they are creating a hostile work environment for her.
“I can handle it,” Castro told Ladra. “They’re the ones who are looking terrible.”
The one who looks the worst is Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson. Instead of defending the only other woman from Lago’s and Lara’s intentionally demeaning comments and constant mansplaining — or at least deflecting for her — Anderson joins the bully bandwagon. instead. It sometime looks like Anderson is jealous of Castro. It’s hard to watch.
She should have been Castro’s mentor. Not her nightmare to the right.
Anderson did not return a call from Ladra. She never does. Lago, who doesn’t return calls or texts either, would probably punish her harshly.
But after the long meeting Tuesday, a meeting where Lago took every opportunity he could to disparage Castro, the mayor sent a congratulatory message to his daughter, Catalina, who turns 11 this week. Perhaps he should think of his daughter more when he viciously and needlessly attacks the woman sitting next to him at the commission meetings.
The post Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago, allies bully and browbeat Melissa Castro appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Even before Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins officially threw her hat in the ring for the Miami mayoral race, the Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee was sending out text messages linking the front-running Republican candidate, former City Manager Emilio González, to Donald Trump.
Then Tuesday, a day after Higgins submitted her resign-to-run resignation at the county, the Republican Party of Miami-Dade came out with a social media post that links her to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who has served since 2021 as a member of the New York State Assembly from the 36th district, based in Queens. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, he is the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City in the 2025 election.
There’s that word: Socialist. Miami voters are in for a brutal campaign season.
And if you think it is too early for partisan politics to be creeping in, remember that there are just over two months until Election Day Nov. 4.
Read related: Eileen Higgins officially resigns Miami-Dade seat to run for Miami mayor
First blood was drawn by the Dems, warning that Gonzalez could be “Miami’s first MAGA mayor.” It cites a Washington Times story from June that calls him a surrogate for Donald Trump.
Gonzalez says he is going to be a mayor for all the people, Democrats included. But there’s no denying his red stripes. He worked in the George W. Bush administration running U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and then returned to Miami-Dade, where he served as CEO of Miami International Airport before coming to Miami as city manager.
He emerged as a major critic of President Joe Biden immigration policy and became a founding member of Veterans for Trump, a bilingual surrogate for candidate Trump, a transition team member for the President-elect and was just named a senior fellow at the Trump-connected America First Policy Institute.
And, most importantly, he was the closest behind Higgins in an internal poll announced by her campaign earlier this month. She led with a high 36%, followed by Gonzalez with 15% and former Commissioner Ken Russell, a onetime Democratic candidate for congress, clocked in at 12%. He’s so far sitting pretty, avoiding any attacks as Emilio and Eileen duke it out.
Not to be outdone, the Miami Republicans posted on their Instagram account a response to the two texts against Gonzalez.
“The Miami-Dade Democratic Party and their candidate Eileen Higgins are running scared — and for good reason. They know voters are fed up with their record of higher taxes, reckless spending, government waste, and misplaced priorities,” reads the message posted Monday. “Instead of defending their failed record, they’ve resorted to smear campaigns and desperate attacks against Republican candidates.
“Miami families deserve honesty and leadership, not fear mongering and political games,” they wrote.
Read related: Poll has Eileen Higgins in Miami mayoral runoff with Emilio Gonzalez
But the very next day, they couldn’t resist to succumb to fear mongering and political games, posting a photo collage of Higgins and Mamdani with a warning: “Miami is a refuge for New Yorkers seeking liberty and freedom. Now, Miami faces the same future as New York City if Eileen Higgins @eileenformiami becomes mayor in November. We cannot afford to turn over our city to a radical liberal lunatic.”
Seriously? Can you say hypocrite?
This year’s Miami mayoral election is going to be a doozy. Help Ladra cover all the angles with a contribution today to Political Cortadito and its signature independent watchdog journalism. Thank you for your support!
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Town manager, council member say it won’t be 36%
The Miami Lakes Town Council has set a tentative property tax rate for next year — and brace yourself, Lakers, because it’s higher than anything you’ve seen in nearly a decade. The new ceiling? It’s 2.6372 mills, or $2.63 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. That’s before all the exemptions, of course.
That’s a whopping 36%  increase and, according to the Miami-Dade property appraiser, it’s the second highest tax rate hike after Pinecrest (more on that later).
But don’t freak out yet. Council members swear this is just a “placeholder” while they sharpen their pencils and poke around the $24.9 million proposed budget to see if they can trim a little fat or scare up some new revenue before the September hearings. And the administration has already found enough savings to cut the originally proposed tax rate.
That’s going to be the good news presented at a budget workshop Wednesday night. But Ladra bets it’s still gonna get hot.
Miami Lakes has been bragging about its “tax diet” for years, cutting the millage in 2017, 2018, 2019, and again in 2023, hitting a so-called “all-time low” in 2024 and then going flat this year. Town Manager Edward Pidermann says the belt’s so tight now, the town is choking.

“The multi-year reduction of millage has placed cumulative pressures on town revenues and its ability to provide a high standard of public services,” Pidermann wrote in a July 29 memo. Translation: The town just can’t keep delivering champagne services on a beer budget.
Back then, the manager had proposed a tax hike last that would take Miami Lakes back to the 2006-2007 rates — and would bring in $13.1 million, which is $2.8 million more than last year. Enough to cover everything, including that $500,000 legal settlement with former Mayor Michael Pizzi. Yes, that Pizzi. Because Miami Lakes just can’t get rid of him.
Read related: Miami Lakes votes to pay former Mayor Michael Pizzi $1.7 million for legal fees
For the average homeowner with a taxable value of $293,906, the jump would mean an extra $166 next year. Because everything costs more: contractors, insurance, retirement contributions, and of course, a 5% raise for town staff. And let’s not forget the elephant in the budget — police. Always police.
The biggest line item in the town’s ledger is the $12 million contract with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, sucking up almost half the general fund (48.5%). Next year that bill climbs another $836,194.
The council only capped the tax rate July 29. That means they can make it lower but not higher. And Councilman Bryan Morera told Political Cortadito on Tuesday that he never intended to move forward with the 37% increase, which was a worst case scenario. “Given the information in front of us at that last meeting, I did not have the math to support changing the recommendation,” Morera said. “But there’s plenty of room to come down.”
Property taxes only make up 53% of the town’s general fund — the pot that pays for crossing guards, code enforcement, community events, and yes, those little league parks. The rest comes from fines, permits, utility taxes (16.5%), FPL franchise fees (6%), and intergovernmental revenue (20%).
Morera said he was glad to hear that the town manager had already found ways to make the tax increase less painful.
Pidermann had warned that keeping the current flat rate instead of raising taxes would mean slashing police patrols, skipping a $300,000 infrastructure fund contribution, cutting back on tree trimming and park maintenance, and saying goodbye to new playground equipment. Also: no staff raises, fewer town events, and no council travel.
Some folks might not mind that last one. Electeds can travel on their own dime.
Read related: Critics say Miami-Dade 2025-26 budget could possibly put public safety at risk
But on Tuesday, the town manager told Political Cortadito that changes had already been made after last week’s council meeting, where he got direction for modifications. “Therefore, the most recent version of the General Fund budget that will used in the workshop tomorrow night as the starting point for discussion has some changes,” Pidermann said.
Those changes include:

Increasing the franchise fee agreement with FPL from 3% to 6% — which generates an additional $1,125,000 in FY 2025-2026 and an additional $1.5 million in subsequent years.
Suspend for one year a Miami Lakes ordinance that restricts surplus funds generated by the FPL franchise fee. Normally all funds generated by the FPL franchise fee over $1.27 million must be used for certain infrastructure categories.
Drop the proposed millage rate from 2.6372 presented in July to to 2.2459 — which is still higher than the current 2.0732.
All town committee budgets shall remain flat from current fiscal year.
The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for staff salaries shall be reduced from 5% to 3%.

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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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