Four months after he got sworn in as Coral Gables’ newest commissioner, Richard Lara is finally bringing his first resolution to the dais. You’d think it might be some bold policy idea to set the tone for his term. Maybe something on development, zoning, traffic — or even trees.
Nope. Item F-17 on Tuesday’s agenda is… a street naming. And it’s not even his idea.
Lara is sponsoring a resolution to support the co-designation of a portion of SW 57th Avenue, from Calle Ocho to Coral Way, as “Wayne Russell and Jimmy Fabbricatore Way.” That’s a mouthful. Try to ask directions to that and let’s see what happens.
The naming is to honor the longtime owners and operators of the beloved Duffy’s Tavern — which was done last month by Miami-Dade Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis. Duffy’s Tavern is technically in West Miami, where Milian Orbis was a commissioner before she was appointed by the county commission months ago to replace Kevin Cabrera, the new U.S. Ambassador to Panama.
Can’t Lara, who has so far been an echo chamber for Mayor Vince Lago, have an original thought?
Read related: Richard Lara sought repayment for gala ticket bought before Gables election
Don’t get Ladra wrong: Russell and Fabbricatore are both respected names in local history and may very well deserve recognition. But the timing makes it look like Lara is borrowing from the county playbook rather than drafting something of his own. After four months in office, Lara’s first big idea is… someone else’s.

The street naming is to highlight significant role Duffy’s Tavern has played in the local community for over 40 years, serving as a gathering place for residents and fans of various sports teams like the Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat, Miami Marlins, Inter Miami, and the University of Miami Hurricanes. It is a way to acknowledge the contributions of Russell and Fabbricatore in building the neighborhood spirit and recognizing Duffy’s Tavern as more than just a restaurant but a cherished landmark.
Duffy’s first opened in 1955 by Martin Duffy. But it might not be there for long. This honor comes a little more than a year after Russell and Fabbricatore sold the property, 2108 SW 57th Ave., and the automotive shop next to it for $4.5 million to Doral real estate agent and petroleum dealer Marwan Shihadeh.
We don’t know what he plans to do with it, but whatever development he plans will have a Duffy-esque address: 2100 Wayne Russell and Jimmy Fabbricatore Way.

The post Coral Gables Commissioner Richard Lara’s first legislation = a copycat move appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has a new political target in his crosshairs — the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center Association, the decades-old civic group that safeguards the land where the city’s youth center now stands. But it’s only because former Commissioner “Coach Kirk” Menendez, who had the guts to challenge him in the last election, is its president.
Just another stop on Lago’s political revenge tour. And bonus: Maybe the city gets to control the property.
The mayor began questioning the non-profit organization only shortly after he was re-elected in April, beating Menendez in the first round with 55% of the vote. Lago says the association has gone dormant, lost its nonprofit status and failed to meet regularly. But the Florida Division of Corporations shows that it files an annual report each year except for one: 2005. It was reinstated in 2006 and filed last year.
This is more than an extended political grudge, a new battlefield for the mayor to blast Menendez. This looks like a land grab.
Read related: Vince Lago, Rhonda Anderson handily coast to re-election in Coral Gables
That’s why Lago says the reverter clause — the language that gives control of the property back to the association if it is not used exclusively for a youth center — is a “cloud on the title” that needs to be lifted. Y, por supuesto, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara quickly agreed. That’s their role.
But nobody campaigned on this, which is their excuse du jour whenever they want to force something: They “know what voters want” because they just ran for office and won. But nobody remembers them saying they were going to take on the non-profit that safeguards the Youth Center. And it is hard to believe voters want this.
The beloved youth center is not just a bunch of fields and playground equipment and basketball courts. It is practically sacred ground. It is a community gathering place and an iconic piece of growing up in the Gables. There’s hardly anybody in the city who hasn’t been there for something — a workout, a baseball game, summer camp, a performance, a community civic meeting.
And Menendez is almost synonymous with it. He grew up playing soccer there, turned into a coach and has been a staple on those soccer fields for decades. More people know him as Coach Kirk than Commissioner Menendez.
The association was born out of the post–World War II “living memorial” for veterans. It deeded the land to the city in 1958, but not without the reverter clause that says the property would bounce back to them if the city ever tried to repurpose it. And for almost 70 years, the city has honored that. Well, except for that one time in the 1960s, when they wanted to tear down Coral Gables Elementary for an office building and rebuild the school on the Youth Center grounds. A court upheld the reverter clause and slapped commissioners back in line back then.
Now, Lago wants that language gone for whatever reason. And he’s placing a cloud on the organization.
“I want to see all its documents, and I’d like staff to come up with a plan of action to contact the board and ask for bank records,” Lago said in July, sounding more like an evil king who wants the association’s head on a platter. He asked City Attorney Cristina Suarez to dig through the association’s books, history and bank accounts. She is supposed to report back on Tuesday, but what she may report is that she hit a dead end.
Ladra confirmed that Suarez sent the non-profit a list of documents she wants to see, including tax filings, investments information, internal memos — but there is no indication that she got them.
“We’re a private entity,” Menendez told Political Cortadito. “Like the Coral Gables Community Foundation, Friends of Gables High, a floral shop.”
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago scores trifecta on post-election revenge tour
“Removing the protective reverter clause in the Youth Center deed would be like getting rid of the security guards and dismantling the security system of a bank because there hasn’t been a bank robbery there for years,” Menendez said.
Because, again, this is really about a land grab. That is why Lago said that “our cherished youth center should not have any cloud on title.” Remember, he’s also a real estate agent.
The real cloud is on Lago’s motives.
If the association were to dissolve or transfer the land, it could potentially make the property — 8.6 acres in a valuable, central location near the downtown — eligible for redevelopment, though the City has publicly stated it has no intention of repurposing the site. For now, anyway.
Lyin’ Lago swears there are no plans to redevelop the property. “The city will never, in my opinion, knock down and build housing there,” he mayor promised. Okay. But what about offices? A theater? Ladra’s heard enough about land deals in this town to know you never say never in Coral Gables.
And who stands to gain if the city got the property free and clear? That’s the multi-million dollar question.
Beyond real estate, a freed-up title could shift political leverage. If Menendez keeps control, he could maintain his influence in Coral Gables civic circles. Conversely, Lago’s push to clear the title may be aimed at cementing his control and undercutting Menendez’s foothold. This isn’t just about property—it’s a battle over legacy, governance, and civic authority. The reverter clause ties into who steers future programming, who decides the site’s purpose, and who has a stake in one of the city’s most visible public assets.
Menendez said that past generations knew what they were doing when they put the protections in place. And it looks like he is not going down without a fight. Last week, the Gazette reported, he made a presentation before the Rotary Club, a good audience for civic pride, nostalgia, and some rare photos — including a 1947 Life magazine cover. His presentation was even titled “The Youth Center, A Coral Gables Story.”
For now, the Youth Center is still open and bustling. Parents drop off kids for basketball, seniors play bingo, and nobody outside City Hall seems to think there’s a crisis. But with a ‘roid-rage-fueled political grudge and a juicy piece of Gables real estate at stake, you can bet this “cloud on title” is going to rain plenty more drama before the storm is over.

Help Ladra keep the spotlight on the shenanigans at Coral Gables City Hall with a contribution to Political Cortadito and the grassroots, government watchdog journalism it brings every day. Thank you for your support!

The post Election fallout: Coral Gables Mayor Lago takes aim at Youth Center group appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

County commissioner wants to qualify by petition
For everyone still whispering that Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins might blink at giving up three safe years on the county dais for a risky run at Miami’s top job — stop. It’s done. There’s no room for doubts now.
Higgins submitted her resignation letter as a county elected, as required by law, effective Nov. 5. Which means she’s officially burned the lifeboats.
“I am deeply humbled and honored by the opportunity to run for Mayor of the City of Miami at a time when our community stands at a crossroads and residents are yearning for meaningful reform and real results,” Higgins wrote in the letter sent Monday to Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts Juan Fernandez-Barquin and Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia, knowing that it would be quoted in stories like this.
“For nearly eight years, it has been my privilege to serve the residents of Miami-Dade County’s District 5, representing the communities of Miami and Miami Beach,” Higgins wrote. “I am profoundly grateful for the trust and confidence that my constituents have placed in me throughout my service, and I will always treasure the opportunity to have served as their county commissioner.
Read related: Poll has Eileen Higgins in Miami mayoral runoff with Emilio Gonzalez
“While it is with mixed emotions that I resign my post, I do so with immense gratitude for the honor of serving the residents of D District 5,” Higgins added. “I look forward to the opportunity to continue serving the residents of the City of Miami as their next Mayor. I bring with me a proven track record of accomplishments, a deep commitment to our community, and a readiness to deliver real results for all who call Miami home.”
Higgins, who Little Havana seniors lovingly call “La Gringa” since she first ran in 2018, also announced that she will qualify for the Miami mayoral ballot the hard way: by petition. Her campaign turned in more than 3,000 signed petitions, topping the 2,048 needed, and making a big show of “grassroots momentum” in the process.
“Qualifying by petition takes people — volunteers, neighbors, and supporters across Miami — who believe in our vision and are willing to act on it,” Higgins said. “That’s exactly what this campaign represents: a movement of residents determined to restore trust, deliver results, and make Miami work for all of us.”
Translation: She wants voters to see her as the anti-Carollo, the antidote to dysfunction at City Hall. The clean, ethical alternative who actually gets stuff done. Her press shop even mentioned her record on affordable housing, small businesses, transit and Biscayne Bay — all of which sound a lot better than what the circus clowns over on Flagler Street are doing right now.
Read related: Miami-Dade’s Eileen Higgins gets $250K for new Miami mayoral race PAC
But let’s be clear: She is abandoning her constituency three years before the end of her term and during a financial crisis with a looming budget shortfall and the consequences of that (fewer services, more fees), which she is going to vote on in the next couple of months — and then disappear. The county will likely have a special election to replace her — three years is too long for an appointee — which will cost the county more. Work that into your budget, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
Still, this is a gamble. Higgins had three more guaranteed years in office as the county commission’s senior member. Now she’s chasing history as Miami’s first woman mayor, with fewer than 75 days to make her case citywide.
The field is crowded. But she’s an immediate favorite. A recent poll indicated that the election, if held today, would end in a runoff between Higgins and former City Manager Emilio González, who has been hailed a hero for saving the election with his lawsuit. Gonzalez sued the city to stop the change, by ordinance, of election dates from odd-numbered to even-numbered years, which would have effectively cancelled this year’s mayoral race. He was the only one who took the challenge to court. But that hasn’t stopped Higgins from fundraising off the court’s decision to find the change unconstitutional because there wasn’t a public vote, as required by city and county charter.
There is a clusterbunch of other hopefuls gunning for the certain runoff that includes former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell and former Miami Commissioner and onetime Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez. Commissioner Joe Carollo and former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla — who was suspended after his arrest on public corruption charges in 2023 (charges were dropped last year) — have threatened to run.
The others who have indicated they are running are Laura Anderson, Christian Cevallos, Alyssa Crocker, Ijamyn Gray, Michael Hepburn, Max Martinez and June Savage. But qualification doesn’t start until Sept. 5. It ends Sept. 20. And then we’ll really know how crowded this party is.
Higgins, 61, will need more than good government talking points to survive Miami’s trench warfare politics — where money, mailers and whisper campaigns can flip a race overnight.
Read related: Eileen Higgins pressures Sierra Club and Ken Russell resigns as lobbyist
Still, qualifying by petition instead of checkbook is a smart optic. It gives Higgins her “people-powered” storyline and undercuts critics who call her the establishment choice.
“I am proud to say that the community is behind me and I am ready to get to work,” Higgins said in an Instagram post earlier this month.
Now the question becomes: Can she turn that petition energy into votes come November? Or will she be remembered as the commissioner who left a safe seat for a shot at City Hall glory — and came up short?
Stay tuned. Miami loves a political novela, and this one just turned the page.
The post Eileen Higgins officially resigns Miami-Dade seat to run for Miami mayor appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Well, vecinos, it looks like the Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago has finally found a way to get rid of Planning & Zoning Board member Sue Kawalerski — the only member who regularly sides with residents over developers. All it takes is three votes of the commission on Tuesday in what could be an unprecedented move.
They’re going to use the excuse of a dustup last month between Kawalerski and Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado on the rapid transit zone overlay that gives the county final say on height and density on projects near the MetroRail stations. But make no mistake, that July 2 meeting is just the golden ticket. As if Regalado needs someone to defend her. ¡Por favor!
The Gables commission has always respected a commissioner’s appointee. When Lago needed to punish former commissioner candidate Claudia Miro — who has since kissed the ring to make up — for her vote on the board in a particular item, he got Anderson to remove her appointee for some bogus attendance reason. But when Commissioner Melissa Castro refused the “recommendation” by City Manager Peter Iglesias, he put it on the agenda as a favor to Lago, who doesn’t want his name on it. Be sure that Iglesias wouldn’t have done this on his own.
“I understand that the commission has the votes to remove my appointee, Sue, but I want to be clear bout why I appointed her in the first place,” Castro told Political Cortadito. “She is resident-focused, she asks the questions that need to be asked, and she represents the concerns of the residents who often feel unheard in these processes.
“Every board is made up of individuals with different personalities and different points of view, that is the very essence of democracy,” she said. “We don’t have to agree on style to recognize the value of substance. Sue’s perspective is rooted in advocating for residents, not developers or special interests, and that perspective is exactly what our boards and our city need.”
As president of the Coral Gables Neighbors Association, Kawalerski has been a thorn in L’Ego’s side for years. She and her group supported the election of the two 2023 underdogs who won against the mayor’s puppet candidates and the three candidates who lost this year’s election. She sends out regular emails that inform residents about what is happening at City Hall (shame!).
Read related: Felix Pardo nabs anti-development base from Rhonda Anderson in Coral Gables
Kawalerski, a one-woman defense line against the Brickellization of The City Beautiful, was initially appointed to serve as a member of the zoning board for a two-year term by Castro in 2023 and was reappointed to a second term this past June.
But on Tuesday, Iglesias (read: Lago) will try to paint Sue as “rude” and “abrasive” so they can boot her from the board. Ladra translation: She asked too many questions about a controversial rapid transit zoning overlay at the Bagel Emporium plaza on U.S. 1, where developers plan to build a large student housing complex — like why did some resident say they weren’t notified and why were they approving this over the summer — questions the city manager and commission should have been asking months ago.
Sure, she was a little smarmy about it. She kept interrupting and challenging Regalado’s answers. Some other planning board members said she was “interrogating” the county commissioner and was inappropriate. But Regalado was giving her the runaround with political speak and development buzzwords. “We weren’t getting answers,” Kawalerski said.
Regalado was at the meeting at the invitation of Iglesias to help the city develop its own RTZ overlay. But Kawalerski brought up the student housing project that developer plans to build on the site of the University Shopping Center, which it purchased in 2023, across from the University Metrorail Station. The proposed $70-million, sprawling mixed-use apartment complex, called The Mark, will have 146 one-bedroom units, 99 two-bedroom units, and 151 three-bedroom units in two eight-story towers, which are connected by a bridge on the fifth floor. The ground floor will have restaurant and retail spaces.

Landmark Properties, along with the architects Behar Font and Partners, presented the project to the Coral Gables Development Review Committee in June 2023. The P&Z board heard the developers, which were asking for more height and density, months ago. Residents at that meeting were concerned about the parking and traffic that would be created. The board suggested some changes and asked the developers to come back and try again. But they went to the county instead, under the RTZ.
They completely pre-empted the city because the county would give them what they want.
The project was not on the July 2 agenda. Regalado was there to help explain a different item: a University Transit District overlay as a way to work with the county and still have some control. Several residents spoke about their concerns and urged the board and the city to maintain control over the zoning and hold the line. Kawlerski says the “compromise” was just window dressing, so it looked like they were still in the driver’s seat. She used the Mark project as an example — she had earlier said the Georgia-based developer was a “carpetbagger” — as an example of what the RTZ zoning could do, pre-empting the Gables zoning code.
The county commissioner has been to several if not all the cities along the U.S. 1 corridor in District 7 to explain RTZ and how it’s better than Live Local Act, a Florida law passed in 2023 that is designed to increase the supply of workforce and affordable housing by giving developers incentives like height and density exemptions and tax breaks. It totally obliterates local zoning laws.
“I really have done everything to have Coral Gables’ participation, just as I did with South Miami and just like I did with all my cities,” Regalado said.
Read related: Miami approves TSND zones to bring ‘affordable’ housing to transit hubs
But she also sounded like a cheerleader for the project, saying that it solved myriad problems and would prevent students from invading residential neighborhoods and dividing single family homes up into dormitories.
Kawalerski — who did support former Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner against Regalado in the D7 race — kept pressing Regalado at the July 2 meeting, telling her that people didn’t know about it and that it was the middle of summer, when everyone is on vacation. She asked her to slow the project down. “Now that you are hearing from the people who will be affected.”
“Respectfully, Sue, I hear from people all the time… but if we were to stop a governmental process just because someone says that they did not know about it government would not function, and you should know this as a county employee,” Regalado said, and that sounded a bit like a threat, bringing up her day job. Kawalerski, a former journalist, is now works as a county manager.
“So, you are going to take these comments and say ‘Tough luck,”” Kawalerski shot back.
“No, we have a public hearing,” Regalado answered, staying cool as a cucumber. She is unfazeable. “There’s plenty of opportunities to speak to all the stakeholders. The only time they will not be allowed to speak to stakeholders is if this developer decides to go Live Local, and then we’re all out of the conversation.”‘
“So, the answer to my question is ‘No.’ You’re not going to slow down the process,” Sue said.
“Your characterization is incorrect and I disagree with you, respectfully,” Raquelita shot back.
See? Regalado — who eventually did defer the item from the July 16 county commission meeting to September — doesn’t need Lago or Iglesias to come to her defense. She’s a big girl who can handle herself and give as good as she gets.
But it’s not for her. She’s just the handy excuse. Lago has decided to seize the moment and do a solid for his developer-friendly campaign contributors.
So now, Iglesias has prepared a highlight reel of Sue’s greatest hits — her sharp critiques of bad projects and even some humorous comments — to try to make her look “disrespectful.” The manager did not call Ladra back but instead referred questions to city spokeswoman and Lago ally Martha Pantin, who said the video was produced by Coral Gables Television from existing public meeting footage. “No outside vendor, work order, or additional cost was involved.”
But that doesn’t tell us who asked for Gables TV to produce the short video.
There’s going to be a clip of Kawalerski allegedly calling students “locusts,” but it might be taken out of context as she was talking about the shelves at Publix before a hurricane — or a Hurricane game.
Why don’t we make a highlight reel of Lago’s greatest hits? You know, the insults and obnoxious comments launched against the firefighter union leaders David Perez and William “Billy” McAllister, the disdain dripping from his chin and the daggers flying from his eyes when he talks to activist Maria Cruz, the misogynistic side comments to Commissioner Castro, the digs against Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, and the lies about Billy Corben and yours truly. Basically anyone he disagrees with. There has to be plenty of raw material to work with.
Is L’Ego’s the example of civility that we all need to follow?
Sue calls it what it is — scapegoating. She said they will blame her now for the size of the new project. “Their justification for firing me will be framed like this: ‘We were trying to get Commissioner Regalado to soften her stance on taking over our US 1 corridor but Sue blew it for us,’” Kawalerski wrote in an email to the 16,500 or so residents that the CGNA represents. “You see, they will use me as their scapegoat for their neglect of duty and obligation to protect the city and the residents.”
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago caves on election change; wants public vote
This is about more than one board member. It’s about silencing dissent, again, so the commission can keep approving density projects under the radar, and keeping residents in the dark.
The timing is no accident. Developers want those parcels freed up, the county wants to flex RTZ, and city leaders don’t want any more uncomfortable questions about who’s really steering an unprecedented growth in the Gables. This is not about removing Kawalerski because of her behavior. This is about a plan to get massive projects rubber-stamped by the P&Z board — with new members like former Miami-Dade Transit Director Alice Bravo (more on that later) — and keep residents in the dark until it’s too late.
It’s also a warning to everyone else who sits on a city board: Don’t get cute. Don’t get curious. Don’t get independent.
“Removing her does not just remove a board member, it removes a resident’s voice at the table,” Castro told Political Cortadito. “That is a step backward for transparency, accountability and the democratic process that should guide every decision in Coral Gables.”
But it’s a step forward for Lago and his developer friends.
The post Coral Gables moves to ‘fire’ longtime activist from planning zoning board appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

In her efforts to close a budget shortfall she says is caused by the sudden loss of COVID dollars and the five constitutional offices separating from the county, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava might be compromising public safety.
Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz all but waved a big red siren this week, warning commissioners that Levine Cava’s proposed 2025-26 budget shortchanges her brand-new department — and could leave Miami-Dade residents waiting longer for help. She said the sheriff’s office will be looking at a deficit of deputies by this summer.
The mayor initially gave what used to be the Miami-Dade Police Department an 8.5% bump — about $55 million more than last year — for a total of about $915 million of the county’s $12.9 billion annual expenditures. Savings found since July have resulted in $7.5 million more for the sheriff’s office. But Cordero-Stutz says it’s not enough to keep up with reality.
Read related: Budget Band-Aid: Miami-Dade mayor finds $66M to fill $402M budget hole
“This $63 million does to put one more deputy on the road. It does not even buy a paper clip,” Cordero-Stutz told the commission at last week’s committee of the whole meeting, where the board tried to tackle the budget with an Exacto knife rather than a chainsaw. Her ask? An 11% increase, which she says comes out to $93 million more. That’s just to stop the bleeding.
Sheriff Rosie says she already has 180 vacancies from retirements and resignations and that there are the same number of officers today as in 2007. She warned that there will be more than 260 deputy vacancies by the summer. Ladra’s not sure what’s scarier — that number or the fact that the mayor and the sheriff are already locking horns in Year One.
Cordero-Stutz wants to use $12.5 million for five academy classes to fill the empty positions. “As we’re still trying to recover from this year’s budget cuts where we lost academy classes,” she said.
There are also the special events that are coming next year, like Formula One and the FIFA World Cup. “Can you all imagine the impact on the safety and security at these events,” she asked the commission. She sounds like she’s trying to scare us, but we don’t want a repeat of the 2024 Copa America Final whee the Hard Rock Stadium experience a security failure when thousands of unticketed fans breached gates and checkpoints, ending in a game delay and 27 arrests.
The sheriff’s department is also dealing with expired equipment and 242 fewer civilian positions since 2004.
“I should not even be here fighting for most of these funds,” Cordero-Stutz said, adding that the commission approved a new contract with the police union that they don’t want to fund, she said. And she is saving money where she can, she added. It would have cost the county $4.9 million more to change uniforms to a green color rather than just replace the patch on the browns.
La Alcaldesa‘s proposed budget also wants to shift the cost of the county’s four rescue helicopters away from the countywide property tax, which everyone pays, and dump it onto the special Fire Rescue tax, which is only about 80 percent of homeowners in 29 of the county’s 34 municipalities. Coral Gables, Hialeah, Key Biscayne, Miami and Miami Beach all run their own fire departments. Their property owners don’t pay the Fire Rescue property tax. But they do call for those county choppers when they need a medical evacuation.
Read related: Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wants Fire District to pay for air rescue helicopters
Levine Cava’s budget flip would leave some cities flying free while everyone else’s Fire Rescue money gets siphoned off. And nearly 100 firefighters in yellow shirts packed the chamber — a sea of canary protest that no commissioner could ignore. Their message: Don’t clip the wings of Miami-Dade’s air rescue, which does everything from wildfire response to medevac rescues to search missions with state and federal partners.
“It hamstrings our ability to open new units,” Miami-Dade Fire Union President William “Billy” McAllister told county commissioners at last week’s committee of the whole meeting. That has an effect on response times.
While the department administration has said that the average response times are 6.35 minutes for fire calls and 7.45 minutes for medical calls, McAllister says it’s actually more than nine minutes from the time the 911 call is made.
And that puts people at risk.
In Levine Cava’s budget, there are no new units going into service this year, even though a document says that three dozen more units are needed to bring the response times to the “golden standard” of around five minutes, McAllister says.
McAllister warned that a sudden shift in funding could ground Miami-Dade’s air rescue helicopters for the first time in 40 years. And the fire union is ready to file a lawsuit to stop it because then move robs funds needed to add more trucks, crews and stations so firefighters can actually cut response times.
Miami-Dade Fire Chief Raied “Ray” Jadallah tried to put a brave face on it, saying the department is still adding stations and engines. The 13 additional units are recommended over the next five or 10 years. It’s part of a longterm strategic plan. There could be a unit added midyear, he said.
The real obstacle, he said, isn’t money but land. “Everyone knows the cost of land is expensive or it’s overpriced,” he told commissioners. “So we continue to search.”
He said that some of the projected stations are for later — like where the American Dream Mall will go in Northwest Miami-Dade “Would I put that unit there now? No,” Jadallah told the commission.
He also said that the fire department is working on proposing three new locations at parking garage projects that are still in the pipeline.
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
Commissioner Raquel Regalado — who was the one that called the meeting to go over the budget line by line — said she was more concerned about Southwest Miami-Dade or West Kendall, which are areas where development is booming and asked them to look at county properties that could be used for a fire station.
And she also said that the number one reason people who live in the unincorporated areas want to incorporate or be annexed into adjacent municipalities is because of police and fire response times.
“I want you to recognize what is at stake,” Realado told the chief. “Because if you don’t fix that, it could end up being worse.”
The post Critics say Miami-Dade 2025-26 budget puts public safety at risk appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

And county commissioners look for scapegoats 
As if she was reaching between the couch cushions, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava just magically found $66 million to soften the sting of her doom-and-gloom $13 million budget.
After floating layoffs and slashing nonprofits last month, proposing increased fees all over to stop a $402 million hole from growing, the mayor — who had a bunch of community budget meetings to get public input — came back last week with a sunnier story. While her administration still blames the constitutional offices for the lion’s share of the shortfall, Levine Cava said she “leveraged” unspent money from those same offices, made some adjustments here and there, got a fat $26 million check from the tax collector, and voilà! Suddenly, despite the loss of federal and state funding, the bloodletting doesn’t look so bad.
Here’s where the new-found dollars go:

$12.5M into reserves (because Wall Street watches, too).
$7.5M more for the shiny new Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (because cops always get theirs).
$11.5M to nearly restore arts grants (after artists screamed bloody murder).
$18.4M to partially restore nonprofits (shortening the gap to only $21 million plus).
$5.6M to fully restore parks programs (and cancel those hated parking fees).
$4.4M for sidewalks, roads, and beautification (because beautification is important, too).
$400K for senior services (does that mean all of our abuelos’ meals?).

Sprinkle in a couple million to reduce gas tax and transit fare hikes, so they hurt a little less, and there’s a little for everyone. Nonprofits and arts groups get “partial” or “nearly” restored funding. Parks keep programs. More cracked walkways and streets get some love. But residents still get nickel-and-dimed at the pump and on paratransit. Everyone’s supposed to be grateful the cuts aren’t as cruel as first advertised.
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
At Wednesday’s Committee of the Whole — which is basically a commission meeting with zero public comment — La Alcaldesa tried to sell her new and improved “fair, realistic and compassionate” budget to a roomful of commissioners, firefighters, artists, seniors and non-profits. And nobody was buying it.
Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who basically made the budget workshop happen and came ready with dozens of recommendations — she didn’t even get to make them all — said that any line item that gets increased by 10% or more should come with an explanation.
“There is some padding in the budget,” Regalado said, addressing the administration. “You’re not just planning for something unexpected. You’re actually bulldog a cash drawer you can pull out midyear or at the end of the year.”
Regalado said the county can charge more for the park kiosks that people rent for birthdays and barbecues as well as cremation services at the medical examiner’s office. Technical improvements have to come with measurable savings, she said, adding that the mantra should be “streamline or be outsourced.”
Read related: Miami-Dade’s billion-dollar disconnect: Tax collector flush, county in the red
MetroMover shouldn’t be free, she said, adding that $1 fare would raise $7.3 million with current ridership and $1.50 would raise almost $11 million. Which is about what it costs to operate MetroConnect. The on-demand shuttle provides 2,000 rides a day to parents, seniors and low-wage workers and people with disabilities who can’t exactly jump in a Tesla or wait for the ghost bus that never comes.
Regalado said the trips often go over the extra mile that it was supposed to cover and that it is unfair to provide free rides for MetroConnect passengers while increasing rates for disabled transportation services. She said a small fee would not cover all the costs, but would help save millions.
“It’s still going to be subsidized. It’s just not free,” Regalado told her colleagues. “MetroConnect is really, at this point, just a free driver for many people, and it’s abused by the little group of people that know that it exists.”
La Alcaldesa said anyone cut off from MetroConnect could apply for other county fare subsidies at libraries and community centers.
But Commissioner Eileen Higgins said the service fills the gaps in our broken transit system and cheaper proposals are already coming in from competitors to Via, the private company that now runs the service in a dozen zones. Translation: the final budget might still have some kind of Frankenstein version of MetroConnect, which is turning into a political piñata. One side wants to kill it, the other wants to rebrand it, and the people who actually ride it are left wondering how they’ll get to the doctor, the job, or the classroom if the bus doesn’t show.
Read related: Eileen Higgins pressures Sierra Club and Ken Russell resigns as lobbyist
Higgins apparently likes MetroConnect more than she likes MetroMover. For that, the commissioner — who is running for city of Miami mayor — even floated a $100 a month “discounted” price for downtown residents that would basically translate to an extra $1,200 a year tax. Tourists can pay more, she said.
Doesn’t that go against all the incentivizing the Downtown Development Authority is doing?
Miami-Dade Office of Management and Budget Director David Clodfelter was the main punching bag at Wednesday’s special commission meeting to go through the budget to find “efficiencies” and “savings” — which translates to cuts other than the ones made by the mayor.
Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez said the county staff needed to better identify “between necessities and things that would be nice to have.” At one point, when he didn’t like the answers he was getting about budgeted vacant positions, Gonzalez basically questioned Clodfelter’s honesty. “Are you a liar,” he asked the budget director, point blank.

Read Full Story