Commission already took the bite out of the watchdog
Miami voters did what they were supposed to last year. They turned out at the ballot box in August and voted overwhelmingly — by a margin of 79% to 21% — for a truly independent Inspector General to root out shady shenanigans at City Hall.
But guess what? Voters aren’t going to get what they voted for.
The city commission, which quickly voted last fall to limit the new IG’s powers, may appoint someone Thursday to the position to detect, investigate and prevent fraud, waste, mismanagement, misconduct and abuse of power — which is a busy job in Miami. They might need two IGs. And the name they are getting is someone familiar: Antonio G.Diaz, a retired major with the Miami Police Department with 33 years on the force, including a stint heading internal affairs, before he retired in June.
Oh absolutely, let’s hand the keys to the watchdog office to the same guy who spent 33 years inside the very kennel we’re now asking him to patrol. What better way to ensure independence than by appointing someone who’s been marinating in the same culture for three decades? I mean, who needs fresh eyes or distance from internal politics when you can get someone who probably knows exactly which file cabinets to avoid and which rugs have things swept under them?
Read related: Miami Commission considers Inspector General question on August ballot
And, since he ran internal affairs — which is not a political department at all, right? — he’s already an expert at handling complaints… internally. Quietly. Discreetly. Just the way commissioners like it. Who better to not rock the boat than someone who helped build the boat, paint the boat, and possibly patch up a few bullet holes in the hull?
Miami Polic Chief Manny Morales with Maj. Tony Diaz after Diaz announced his retirement last month.
Because, really, nothing screams “independent oversight” like putting a longtime insider in charge of investigating his former colleagues, supervisors, and friends — many of whom may have been at his retirement party just last month.
It’s like asking the bartender to do a surprise sobriety check on his favorite drinking buddies. What could possibly go wrong?
It doesn’t exactly instill public trust, which is what the late Commissioner Manolo Reyes wanted to do when he first proposed putting the IG office to voters early last year.
This is not against Diaz, the man. Everyone that Ladra spoke to had nice things to say about Tony. He’s smart. Likable. Fair. Someone you want to work with. He’s dedicated. He started as a police explorer in the 80s, volunteering hundreds of hours to the city before officially joining the department as a police officer in 1992.
Growing through the ranks to major, Diaz worked in many divisions, including professional compliance, investigations, personnel resource management, and, finally IA. His career was “defined by purpose, progress and principled leadership,” wrote the Fraternal Order of Police in Facebook when he retired. Again, last month. Like Diaz knew he had another job waiting.
“Antonio earned a reputation for being a humble and steady leader — one who led by example, mentored the next generation, and embraced innovation to improve systems and strengthen public trust. Drawing on transformational leadership models, his style prioritized psychological safety, empowerment, and collaboration-creating space for others to grow and lead with confidence,” the post reads.
Of course, this is the same police union that endorsed former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla in 2023 — after he was arrested for bribery and money laundering, charges that were eventually dropped. So, what do they know?
Read related: Despite arrest, Alex Diaz de la Portilla scores FOP endorsement in D1 race
It’s not like Maj. Diaz is going to be able to do very much, anyway. When the city commission approves his appointment Thursday, he will be beholden to them. It’s like the foxes hiring the henhouse inspector.
And that’s the idea. They don’t want an independent watchdog. That’s why they shortened the leash in October, less than two months after voters approved the office, with all kinds of restrictions on what could be investigated. Voters wanted an OIG who could inspect, investigate, illuminate. What they are going to get is a muzzled figurehead who can’t even look under the rug without a sworn affidavit from someone with first-hand knowledge.
No whispers. No media reports. No tips. No anonymous sources. The IG can’t even initiate an investigation from something he or she saw and heard during a city commission meeting. There has to be an official complaint, on the record, under oath, with someone’s full name, Social Security number, and, possibly, blood type.
Ladra is surprised they don’t have to ride in on a unicorn.
This has a chilling effect: A city employee who sees something suspicious and wants to do the right thing will think twice about it. And that’s not by accident.
Meanwhile, at the county level, we’ve had a real inspector general for decades who actually gets to, you know, investigate. The Miami-Dade Office of Inspector General was established by ordinance in 1997 and inserted into the county charter through a voter-approved referendum in 2020, solidifying its independence. The charter amendment requires a referendum to abolish the OIG, giving the office greater protection from political interference.
The county OIG has also had an interlocal agreement with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to serve as its independent investigative branch, for a price of $1.2 million a year, which is what it costs to staff a squad for them. It can’t cost county taxpayers. Miami city commissioners last year discussed negotiating a similar deal.
Miami Dade IG Felix Jimenez told Political Cortadito that he met once last year with City Manager Art Noriega for “very preliminary discussions” about doing the same thing in Miami for the same price. “But there were no further communications.”
It’s just as well. “At the end of the day, my responsibility is to the county,” Jimenez told Ladra, adding that they have limited resources and staff. “Im hesitant to enter into another interlocal agreement, especially if it’s short term.”
Jimenez, who has been with the Miami-Dade OIG since 2009, also said he has met with Diaz and has offered the county’s assistance in setting up shop. “We’re the big brother on the block,” said Jimenez, who served as third vice president of the Association of Inspectors General, a national organization that provides education and mentorship.
The county’s IG office got over 500 complaints in 2023 — obviously they were not all sworn — and only pursued a little more than a dozen — because that’s how it works. You weed out the garbage. You follow the smoke. You look under the hood. If you find nada, that’s okay, too. But you won’t find anything if you’re not looking.
Read related: Commissioner Miguel Gabela set to expose more Bayfront Park Trust issues
The IG exists to look into the shenanigans that everyone knows are going on in Miami. Maybe Commissioner Joe Carollo would have been caught dipping into the Bayfront Park Management Trust sooner if there had already been an inspector. Maybe we would finally know what happened with those federally-funded COVID gift cards that disappeared.
The post has a deterrent effect, as well. Maybe the city manager wouldn’t have bought so much furniture from his wife.
And while everyone agrees that Diaz is a great guy, and several sources told Ladra that she will not find any skeletons in his personnel jacket or IA file (which have been requested), the same sources did say — unprompted, every single one of them — that he may have some difficulty challenging those he might still consider his superiors. Diaz respects authority a little too much to really question it. And he may not have the stomach to blow the whistle on people he’s worked with for 20-some, 30-some years, they say.
And that, mi gente, is exactly what the commission wants. Someone familiar. Someone safe. Someone who already knows how to look the other way and call it “procedural discretion.” Because heaven forbid we get a real outsider with no loyalties, no agenda, and no stake in the game to really dig into what’s rotting at City Hall.
Instead, after 80% of the voters asked for real oversight, transparency, accountability, what they’re getting may be a loyal soldier in a new uniform, saluting the same old power structure.
The post Retired Miami Police Maj. Tony Diaz could be named city’s Inspector General appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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“TSND” may as well mean “This Sh*t’s Not Democratic”
Miami’s controversial Transit Station Neighborhood Development (TSND) ordinance is barreling toward a final vote this week, and city commissioners are treating it like a routine zoning tweak instead of what it really is: a citywide land-use loophole wrapped in bureaucratic buzzwords and tied with a big shiny ribbon for one lucky developer in District 5.
While the ordinance eases development up to one mile from “existing or approved” fixed rail stations and rapid transit corridors, critics fear that means nearly 50% of Miami could be rezoned with higher density and building heights. Las malas lenguas say the motivation may be a particular group of properties in the Little River area, but there are citywide implications. Preservationists are particularly worried about the potential impact of a “one-size-fits-all framework” to historic neighborhoods.
And did anyone bother to ask the neighbors being rezoned what they thought? ¡Claro que no! This isn’t just undemocratic, it’s an insult to every resident who spent years crafting Miami 21, which is supposed to protect neighborhoods from this exact kind of Wild West development fiesta. TSND bulldozes over the basic protections in Miami 21 — like height transitions and setbacks.
Basically, according to the latest version of the ever-changing legislation, a one story single family home could suddenly be neighbors with a 12-story tower. And, certainly, its property value will go by way of the available sunlight.
“This is something that is going to kill our neighborhoods,” Andy Parrish, a Grove resident who has served on the planning and zoning advisory board for eight years, said at a commission meeting in June. “High-rises belong downtown and that’s the way our zoning code is set up. If you start letting intrude into residential neighborhoods that are low-rise… there’s going to be no eyes on the street, no families with dogs.”
And you know how Special Area Plans (SAPs) require things like traffic studies, community meetings, and transparency? Que cute. TSND sidesteps all that by letting parcels under nine acres skip the process entirely, giving big developers a red carpet straight to overdevelopment without so much as a peep from the public. Worse than spot zoning, this is ambush zoning.
Metrics? Nope. Accountability? Nah. Public benefit requirements? Unenforceable. Infrastructure planning? What’s that?
Read related: Miami-Dade Commission approves 700 homes on 90 acres of mostly farmland
Love it or hate it, Miami 21 was established after years of debate, neighborhood meetings and community input. This legislation has bypassed all that messy public engagement in favor of what looks like a vague, shifting draft that’s been written in a corporate boardroom — with PR-approved buzzwords like traffic calming, crosswalks, “pedestrian and mobility enhancements” and, of course, workforce housing –and is still being edited days before the final vote. The city is trying to ram TSND through just 36 days after it was first presented to the planning and zoning appeals board on June 18.
And the final vote is Thursday. The city is trying to ram this through in just 36 days.
A rushed process = a rotten process.
Mel Meinhardt, a Grove activist who spoke before the PZAB, urged that the city use caution with what he said was a “well intentioned” ordinance. “But there are significant unintended consequences,” especially in neighborhoods that abut the T3 and T4 urban and suburban districts, he said.
How can the public meaningfully contribute to the conversation if the language keeps changing? Even city commissioners have admitted they don’t fully understand it. And they’re supposed to vote on it on Thursday? It’s like a runaway train wreck.
Speaking of which, the idea is that this is a custom made ordinance tied to the promise of a new TriRail station near 79th Street and Northwest 2nd Avenue, which reportedly is already funded. And the transit oriented development that would come with it.
At least 37 independent parcels near St. Mary’s Cathedral, the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami at 7525 NW 2nd Ave have been snatched up since August of 2021 for a total of more than $82 million — way above the market rate — by the same entity, Chicago-based LRMF Owner LLC. They include vacant lots, industrial warehouses, multifamily buildings and at least one single family home which, together, totals more than 24 acres.
LRMF is an affiliate of Nashville, Tennessee-based Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners, and most of the properties were paid for in two deeds — one for $19.1 million and one for $56.3 million. The seller was Miami-based commercial real estate firm MVW Partners, through dozens of LLCs managed by co-founder Matthew Vander Werff.
Las malas lenguas say that developers are going to present at least one, but possibly two affordable housing projects on those aggregated properties. The AJ Capital website calls the Miami project “Little River.”

“Situated north of Wynwood and the Design District neighborhoods, Little River is establishing itself as the foremost epicenter for culture, cuisine, and the arts,” the website states. “Through a thoughtful approach centered on championing local talent, the area has become home to an ever-expanding roster of creative businesses and acclaimed food and beverage concepts, including Sunny’s Steakhouse, a popular restaurant by Will Thompson and Carey Hynes of Jaguar Sun; La Natural, a two-time Michelin-approved sourdough pizzeria and natural wine haven; and Rosie’s, a James Beard semi-finalist and Michelin-approved restaurant serving up soul food from the memories and culture of Chef Akino West.
“With aligned values, MVW Partners and AJ Capital Partners will continue to evolve, elevate, and enhance the historic neighborhood, while retaining the vibrant charm and character that has defined it in years past.”
Right now, Little River is the only area in the city that has Transit Oriented Development designation, paving the way for a massive TSND project. But residents worry that what’s happening there will happen in other neighborhoods near Metro Rail stations.
Read related: Miami-Dade and city of Miami to meet re zoning density along transit routes
The TSND ordinance is being pitched as a tool for affordable housing. But it only requires 10% of units to be affordable at 100% AMI. That’s $86,800 a year for a single person, meaning “affordable” could still mean $2,200 a month for a studio. Which, for the record, is market rate in large swaths of the city. That’s what they mean by “affordable housing.”
Meinhardt said the city should require the affordable housing to be 40% or 50% of the project. Because 10% is a joke, a slap in the face.
There’s also no plan to mitigate permanent displacement. There’s no mention of tenant protections or relocation assistance and this will more likely impact working-class families and seniors living in lower to middle income areas near the Metrorail. So while developers toast with champagne, longtime residents face eviction notices and rising rents.
Put simply, it’s just too much of a change too fast without enough answers to clearly legitimate questions or mitigation of pressing concerns. This could be the single most significant rezoning since Miami 21 and it’s time to pump the brakes on this train. Many residents and community activists have asked the commissioners to defer this vote.
The One Grove Alliance group sent an email this week that says the ordinance “threatens the integrity, livability, and democratic planning framework of our city. Both the process and content demand a full reset.”
Grove activists say the pace is reckless and deeply undermines public trust. But they are not alone.
“This proposal will greatly harm the character and scale of Miami’s neighborhoods,” said Morningside activist Elvis Cruz, who also says that, at the very least, historic districts should be excluded “What is being proposed is far too intense and dense.”
He said that the “intent” section of Miami 21 includes “preserve neighborhoods” in the language. “But this won’t preserve neighborhoods. This will completely disrupt neighborhood character and scale,” Cruz said. “This is one big gift to the developers.”
Cruz was among about 40 participants in a Zoom meeting on Tuesday last week that started late and lasted a little more than 45 minutes. Participants described it as a lecture more than a community meeting. No questions were allowed.
“It was one-way communication, like watching TV,” Cruz said. “They set it up so the participants could not see who else was on the Zoom, could not chat amongst themselves, and could not ask questions.” He also said that an email address to submit questions, provided by the city, kept bouncing his emails back for two days.
This is how they’ll say they didn’t get that many questions. There’s not that much interest in this, right? Wrong.
Read related: Miami Commission ends Bayfront Park Management Trust in surprise vote
Cruz is also concerned that Commission Chair Cristine King has offered an amendment to exclude historic neighborhoods, but it seems that the historic district exemption amendment did not make it to the draft that was being circulate last week. It seem that Neighborhood Conservation Districts are off limits, but aren’t historic districts supposed to receive greater protection than NCDs?
And is that enough? Especially when this seems to be a zoning favor for one particular developer?
The train leaves the station at Miami City Hall about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The meeting can also be viewed live via city’s website.
Want to help Ladra stay on top of the city of Miami and its leaders’ decisions, which impact almost everybody? Please consider making a donation to Political Cortadito to keep the independent, grassroots watchdog journalism going. Thank you!
The post Critics say Miami’s new transit zoning ordinance = loophole for developers appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Miami’s political telenovela just cast another familiar face: Former Miami Mayor and former District 7 Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez wants his old job back — and maybe a rematch with Commissioner Joe Carollo.
Just hours after a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge on Monday declared the Miami City Commission’s election year change by ordinance unconstitutional, effectively rescheduling the cancelled election, Suarez — who had been considering a run and was included in multiple polls — popped out of the shadows to announce its official.
Read related: Miami-Dade Judge: Miami Commission can’t cancel election without public vote
That’s right. The O.G. of Miami’s Cuban political club, the first island-born mayor of the Magic City, and papi to current Mayor Francis Suarez, is officially hitching a ride in the clown car that is the next Miami mayoral election — whenever that is. He said he would file paperwork Tuesday morning for what’s shaping up to be the most dramatic race for Miami mayor since… well, dare I say 1997?
That was the year of the first mano a mano mess between Suarez and Carollo, who’s been threatening to run for mayor for more than a year. Suarez technically won the race, until it was revealed by The Miami Herald that the election was tainted by absentee ballot fraud. Not only did a dead man vote, but people who lived in Westchester and Broward also voted in the city election. Eso no se puede hacer.
Ladra worked that election investigative story and remembers that Suarez was never officially tied to the AB shenanigans. Suarez just got swept up in the scandal when the court threw out all the ABs, effectively handing Carollo the seat.
And we all know how that turned out — with Carollo yelling at everybody and betraying his supposed allies. So, pretty much what he’s doing now, almost three decades later.
In addition to Carollo, Suarez and Diaz de la Portilla, none of whom have filed any paperwork as of Monday, there are 10 other candidates who have opened bank accounts and made their intentions official. They include Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell, former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez — who sued to restore the November election, which commissioners tried to change without voter approval — onetime congressional candidate Michael Hepburn, former Miami-Dade Community Council Member Christian Cevallos, perennial candidates Max Martinez and June Savage and first timers Alyssa Crocker, Ijamyn Joseph Gray and Linda Anderson, who doesn’t stand a chance as an official member of the Socialist Workers Party.
Read related: Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins could join Miami Mayor’s race
But he is also sorta running against his son. Baby X is termed out in November and, by all indications, was counting on a bonus year in office to increase his net worth with side gigs and fundraise for his next influencer trip to Dubai. The city is appealing a ruling Monday from a Miami-Dade judge who cancelled the cancellation of the November election for mayor and commissioner because the vote last month to move elections from odd to even years was unconstitutional.
In his announcement Monday, Xavier Suarez congratulated Emilio Gonzalez for initiating the lawsuit to challenge the city commission’s change (read: cancellation) of election by ordinance — and took some credit. “I was directly involved in the selection of counsel and contributed significantly to the strategic approach, specifically advising that only indispensable parties be named as defendants,” reads his statement. Ladra thinks he means Carollo, whose attorneys filed an amicus brief.
The senior Suarez also said that his political action committee would campaign against the proposed ballot referendum on lifetime term limits, even though there is a carve out for him and Carollo because they did not serve two full, regular terms. He said the ballot question is misleading. “The city’s charter already provides for term limitations,” Xavier said in his statement. “This proposal seeks to implement retroactive lifetime restrictions and unfairly imposes constraints on individuals who previously served when such limitations did not exist.”
Instead, his PAC will support putting two other questions on the ballot, which are the petitions that have been collected by Stronger Miami, a coalition of community groups including the One Grove Alliance: One would move the elections to even-numbered years by a public vote and the other would expand the commission from five to nine members.
Hey! Isn’t that Russell’s issue?
Read related: Petition aims to add Miami commission districts, change election to even years
Suarez didn’t throw his son completely under the bus, saying that the “city has made commendable progress in maintaining public order, stimulating significant private-sector economic growth, and reducing the millage rate.” But, apparently, not enough progress on property tax relief. X said he supported measures proposed by state legislators and dropped the names of State Representative Vickie Lopez and Florida House Speaker Daniel “Danny” Perez.
Suarez, 76, hasn’t held elected office since he left the county commission in 2020.
Now, all eyes are on Carollo, who lives for this kind of political drama. Will he make it official and file paperwork to set up the rematch nobody asked for — but everybody will watch? Or will he just scream from the dais and call everyone a traitor until the November ballot goes to print?
The deadline to qualify is Sept. 20.
¡Aguántate, Miami! Because the ghosts of elections past are running again.

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First step victory for mayoral candidate is appealed
The wannabe dictators at Miami City Hall just got a hard slap of reality from the bench. And Ladra is here for it.
In a fiery ruling, hot enough to singe the mayor’s eyebrows, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr on Monday declared what most Miamians already knew in their gut: The Miami City Commission’s shady decision to cancel next year’s election and hand themselves an extra year in office without first taking it to voters was unconstitutional.
Basically, they tried to cancel your vote. And got caught and slapped on the ballot.
And thanks to former City Manager Emilio González, who is running for mayor, the election is back on.
Well, maybe. Fingers crossed. “While we respectfully disagree with the trial court’s decision,” City Attorney George Wysong said in a statement, “we are confident in the strength of our case and remain optimistic about the outcome on appeal.” That appeal was filed before the ruling came down based on Wednesday’s hearing. Because the city already knows the case is a stinker.
The issue is pressing, since the ballot for this year has to be ready for printing by September, so the judge has set a date of Aug. 8 to resolve it. Knock on wood.
Read related: First lawsuit filed to stop city of Miami from cancelling November election
González sued the city days after the commission voted last month to move municipal elections from odd to even years, effectively postponing the 2025 election until 2026 and extending their own terms without so much as a “¿te importa?” to the voters.
The ordinance — sponsored by “reformer” Commissioner Damian Pardo — is purportedly about increasing turnout a lot and reducing costs a little. The idea was to empower voters, Pardo said. But the change also just happened to keep voters out of the loop and ignored an earlier vote to limit terms to a max eight years by giving the bonus year to even term-limited commissioners.
“This is not just a victory for me,” González said in a statement, polishing his halo, “it is a triumph for all voters in the City of Miami and across Miami-Dade County who believe in upholding our charter and the rule of law.”
His legal team — including former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson (the big guns) — called the move what it was: a charter-busting, power-hungry hijack. They compared it to stunts pulled in places like Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Cuba — countries where elections get postponed for “reform” and never really come back.
Sound familiar, Miami?
Lawson argued that the charter — Miami’s own governing rules — and the county’s Home Rule charter say you need a vote of the people to make election changes like this. And they trump any state law the city was relying on.
But city attorneys argued that, no, no, they were just tweaking the city code. Not the charter. As if voters can’t tell the difference.
The judge did not mince her words to say that the city was playing a magic trick with, um, words.
“The City’s contention that its Ordinance did not ‘amend’ its City Charter is nothing more than semantic sleight of hand. In one sense, of course, the City is correct, it did not effectuate a permissible amendment to its Charter because the Florida Constitution and Miami-Dade County Charter do not allow the City to amend or repeal its provisions by ordinance. That can only be accomplished with a vote of the electorate, as the Plaintiff correctly contends.”
Sounds like a Catch-22: “We didn’t change the charter because that would require a vote of the people. No, we don’t need a vote of the people because we’re not changing the charter.”
Read related: Miami Commissioners pass election date change — and steal an extra year
Even Assistant City Attorney Eric Eves had to admit, awkwardly, at a hearing last Wednesday that the city’s new ordinance puts the charter and code at odds. “Yes, it conflicts with our charter. But I haven’t heard anyone claim our charter supersedes the state.”
The city and Pardo kept using the example of North Miami — where they extended terms by 18 months in 2023, and later upheld by an appeals court — to say that, well, if that municipality can do it, why can’t we? Eves suggested that Manno Schurr read the opinion of Judge Reemberto Diaz in that case and copy/paste. “There’s no need to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
But the González team argued that the North Miami case did not set a binding precedent. “There’s no procedural value whatsoever in that opinion. The issue you’re being asked to decide was not raised in that case,” Lawson said, calling it irrelevant.
Assistant City Attorney Eric Eves, Judge Valerie Manno Schurr and plaintiff’s attorney, Alan Lawson
Pero, por si las moscas, the hearing was also attended by a North Miami resident who wanted to tell the “horror story” about the change of election in that city. “We ended up with someone serving 25 years in office,” said Eileen Bicaba, president of the NoMi Neighbors Association, who last year filed a lawsuit against three council members for violating the state’s Government in the Sunshine Law.
“This was nothing short of a coup in North Miami,” Bicaba said, passionately.
In her ruling, the judge mostly relied on one aspect: She said the city’s reliance on state law was misplaced. Perhaps a better word would be “selective.” Because the city actually omitted a tiny little wee part of the law it relied on, which reads, “The Florida Election Code… shall govern the conduct of a municipality’s election in the absence of an applicable special act, charter, or ordinance provision.” The judge’s bold letters, not Ladra’s.
The second part of the law only exists, Manno Schurr repeated, apparently for emphasis, “in the absence of an applicable charter provision.” Again, Ladra has to compliment her on the use of bold font when appropriate. In other words, you can only apply that law when the county or the city don’t have laws that conflict.
“Here, there are two charters that together apply and control: the Miami-Dade Charter and the City Charter,” Judge Manno Schurr wrote in her 14-page decision. So the state law “cannot be construed to authorize the City’s passage of the Ordinance.”
The Miami-Dade charter “unambiguously prohibits the City from cancelling an election, moving an election, or extending the terms in office for city officials without the consent of the electorate given at a properly held election,” the judge wrote. Keyword: Without.
“Furthermore, the Court will not presume that the Legislature intended [state law] to be construed as permitting municipalities to extend existing terms or change the term limits in the absence of express text granting such authority,” she writes in the ruling. Boom! She gets it.
“This omission stands in stark contrast to section… which expressly allows a municipality to effectuate ‘changes in terms of offices necessitated by . . . changes in election dates,’ provided the issue is not ‘preempted to a county,” Manno Schurr writes.
Which, as established, it is.
Read related: Miami commissioners should shorten their terms for election year change
All of this was unnecessary. Pardo could have taken this concept to the people, you know, like in a democracy. He could have campaigned for it. He already put lifetime term limits on the November ballot. It would have been easy to add the change in election year and let the voters decide. But it’s way easier to just bulldoze ahead because he “had the votes” on the commission, and, as he says, he had to seize the moment.
Who cares if people had already spent time and money campaigning for this year’s election? Ladra bets Pardo would have felt differently, however, if they had pulled this in 2023, when he was running for commissioner. Perhaps, as some critics say, extending his own term is the only way he’ll serve more than four years.
On Wednesday, Pardo posted a statement on social media that was the exact statement provided to Political Cortadito by the city’s spokeswoman on behalf of the city attorney. So it’s an echo chamber over there at City Hall. They got nothin’ to say.
Commissioner Joe Carollo, who has also threatened to run for mayor and voted against the election year change, had attorneys attend Wednesday’s hearing after they filed an amicus brief in support of Gonzalez, which is a nice change of pace. Not that González needed it or welcomed it.
Denise Galvez-Turros, an activist in Little Havana who filed to run for commission in District 3, also filed a lawsuit last week that challenges the validity of the ordinance and asks the court to find it void and unenforceable.
“This unlawful act is not merely a procedural defect. It is a calculated effort by a narrow majority of the Commission to entrench themselves in power, override the will of the electorate, and circumvent the very Charter provisions they are sworn to uphold,” wrote attorney Reid Levin on behalf of Galvez Turros.
“The people of Miami are entitled to choose their representatives at the ballot box; not have them imposed by ordinance.”
There is a little more than two weeks left before the Aug. 8 deadline to hear the city’s appeal of Manno Schurr’s ruling. Expect another round of lawyerly acrobatics from the city attorney’s office.
Maybe more excuses about turnout, costs, traffic, climate change, Mercury in retrograde — anything to avoid putting this to a real vote.
Emilio T Gonzalez v City of Miami — Judge says ordinance to change election year without public vote uncon… by Political Cortadito on Scribd

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Miami taxpayers may end up on the hook to pay more than $1.3 million in legal defense fees for former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who was suspended from office by the governor after his arrest almost two years ago on bribery and money laundering charges that were later dismissed.
Diaz de la Portilla and lobbyist William “Bill” Riley, who worked for The Centner Academy, were arrested in September 2023 and accused of funneling more than $300,000 to the former commissioner through his political action committee and meals, alcohol and accommodations at a luxury hotel in Brickell, in exchange for his sponsorship of and voting on an item that would give the school control of a public park. It was a scam that never came to fruition after ADLP’s arrest.
The case was transferred to Broward (again) because, technically, Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy Fernandez-Rundle had a personal relationship (again) with Riley. But in reality it’s because she is either lazy or complicit with all the corruption in the county. There is no other explanation why that office isn’t booming. And Broward botched it.
Read related: Public corruption charges dropped against Miami’s Alex Diaz de la Portilla
The lion’s share of the ADLP legal fees, or $705,055, goes to Kuehne Davis Law and his main attorney, Benjamin Kuehne, who also represented Commissioner Joe Carollo in the federal First Amendment lawsuit that got the two Little Havana businessmen a $63.5 million judgement, the appeal of which was lost just last week.
The rest of the monies are distributed, as per the resolution before the city commission Thursday, as such:

$208,000 goes to Collazo Law Firm.
$121,723.33 goes to Susy Ribero-Ayala, who was already paid $16,110 last summer and also represented him in the civil case on the alleged shakedown for the new Rickenbacker Marina contract.
$98,535 goes to Richard Diaz.
$86,097.50 goes to Gunster, a law firm that is friendly with Mayor Francis Suarez, an attorney.
$109,926.81 goes to “costs as reimbursement for legal fees and costs in the case.”

The city attorney’s office “has investigated and evaluated this case and has approved the recommendation of this settlement,” reads a memo from City Attorney George Wysong to the mayor and city commissioners. It’s on the consent agenda for Thursday, which means the administration does not expect any discussion.

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Well, that didn’t take long.
It took Joe Carollo less than a month to go from proud political padrino to spiteful ex in the case of newly-elected Commissioner Ralph Rosado, who Carollo helped usher into office with more than half a million from his political action committee and hours upon hours of his unique political strategy.
“He is such a huge disappointment,” Carollo said, on his morning radio show.
This was predictable. Pinky is only the latest name scrawled onto Joe’s ever-growing Burn Book of Betrayals. But it may be a record in the quickness. Even the bromance with former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla lasted longer.
Just six weeks ago, Carollo was allegedly burning the midnight oil during the special election for District 4. He told The Miami Herald he stayed up until the wee hours writing and designing those negative campaign mailers. But
He also burned his own political capital. Literally. According to the most recent campaign finance report, he spent at least $547,000 from his Miami First PAC, mostly attacking Jose Francisco Regalado and his family, which includes former Miami mayor and current Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Tomas Regalado and Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado. He was spotted out in the sun at Douglas Park, directing the TV ad that Rosado filmed with his mother in law. Carollo’s wife Marjorie was there, too, with a clipboard in hand. Taking notes?
In other words, the Carollos poured their time, sweat and money into Rosado’s campaign. And while they were already sorta estranged, Carollo has made formidable enemies out of the Regalado clan. They’re not going to get over it any time soon.
“The worst political mistake of my life,” Carollo said last week on his radio show, about supporting Rosado.
Really, the worst? It wasn’t the weaponization of city departments to target political foes? Or losing a$63.5 million lawsuit for violating someone’s First Amendment rights because of who they supported in your election? Or using public tax dollars to raise your political profile? Or the misspending of monies while you were chair of the Bayfront Park Management Trust?
If political missteps were an Olympic sport, he’d be a gold medalist.
Read related: Joe Carollo wants to abolish Miami’s Bayfront Park Management Trust
Carollo also has a long list of former employees that have turned on him (and testified against him). This new and sudden breakup, which is a surprise to nobody, seems to stem from the swing vote that Rosado made to cancel this year’s mayoral and commission races in favor of moving the municipal election from odd to even years. Carollo has threatened to run for mayor and could benefit from the current clown car of candidates that will definitely drive a runoff.
Rosado was also the swing vote for the lifetime term limits, which would stop Carollo from returning to office, and pushed the dissolution of the Bayfront Park Management Trust to next year when Carollo wanted to do it immediately. Because, while the investigation and audit into the abuse of funds during his chairmanship would continue, the witnesses might scatter to the winds.
So, instead of Carollo getting a majority on the dais with Rosado’s election, he’s been losing all his important votes.
Carollo does not return calls or texts from Ladra. But he talked to The Miami Herald’s Tess Riski and took the credit for getting Rosado elected. “If Mr. Rosado had not had an angel like Joe or Marjorie Carollo, he never, never, never would have gotten elected,” he told the Herald.
Right. Because angels accuse candidates and their families of animal abuse and ties to drug trafficking.
Crazy Joe owned up to the negative campaign — and also said that Ralph “100%” knew what was up. So much for that positive, issue-focused campaign Rosado claims he ran. ¿Verdad, Ralph? He’s got gaslighting down to a science. Remember when he told Political Cortadito that Joe wasn’t even present during his campaign video shoot at Douglas Park? When told there was a video of Joe and Marjorie behind the camera, like Spielberg and Spielbergita, he stammered and said he’d get back to Ladra, which he never did. Then, to the Herald, he claimed Joe just happened to be “in the area.”
In the area? ¡Niño, por favor!
Read related: Miami’s District 4 candidate Ralph Rosado is backed, helped by Joe Carollo
Now Rosado is officially dead to Joe. “I didn’t expect him to come here to be a lap dog — another lap dog — for Mayor Suarez,” Carollo fumed in the Herald story.
Mayor Francis Suarez, meanwhile, says that Carollo’s breakup is the result of “the recent Commission votes that could impact his and his family’s ability to continue making a living out of the city taxpayer’s pockets.
“For the past two and a half years, our office has had a positive working relationship with Commissioner Carollo’s office,” Suarez was quoted as saying in the Herald, in what amounts to a declaration of war. “However, now Commissioner Carollo is throwing out baseless claims hoping something sticks.
“You have to ask: why now, and not a year ago or two years ago? These are the same political tactics we’ve seen for years, and they’re as transparent today as they have ever been.”
But that’s weird. Because everyone knows that Suarez — who dumped $1 million of his own PAC money into Rosado’s campaign — and Carollo worked together to get the urban consultant elected to replace the late Manolo Reyes. It was coordinated, even though Suarez denies it. Las malas lenguas say they are also both raising money for a new political committee that will fight the lifetime term limits on the ballot.
It’s not just for papi. Yes, former Miami Mayor and Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez is threatening to run for mayor. It’s also for the current mayor himself. Baby X is only 47. He might need a safety net in a decade or two.
Read related: Francis Suarez, Joe Carollo spend $1.6 million to elect Ralph Rosado in D4
As for why now? It’s very possible that Carollo is trying to change the conversation. He wants to distract people from the court appeal he and the city just lost to Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who own Ball & Chain, and their $63.5 million jury award for violating their first amendment rights, as well as the investigation into the commissioner’s use of the Bayfront Trust funds as his own political piggy bank, kickbacks and all.
He could also be trying to throw Rosado under the bus for the absentee ballot fraud investigation that is allegedly happening or going to happen after several senior voters reported voting for Rosado because they were told they would lose housing, meals, day care or other services if they didn’t (more on that later).
Whatever the reason is, Thursday’s commission meeting promises to have at least one pelea: Carollo against Rosado or Gabela or Commissioner Damian Pardo — who Rosado was caught having lunch with at Pollo Tropical in what is now a sign of the coming breakup — or Mayor Suarez, if he decides to show up.
And if history tells us anything, it won’t be long before Carollo finds someone new, another gem in his flawless legacy of political backstabbing, to bankroll, micromanage, and eventually denounce.
The post Bromance break-up at Miami City Hall as Joe Carollo and Ralph Rosado split appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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