DERM gets separated, Metro Connect survives
First in a series of county budget coverage stories
Miami-Dade’s $12.9 billion budget squeaked through Thursday night — or, more accurately, early Saturday morning — after another one of those all-night marathons at County Hall that leave everyone bleary-eyed and cranky.
The biggest headline? Bus riders dodged a fare hike. That 50-cent increase Mayor Daniella Levine Cava floated back in July got tossed out like yesterday’s cafecito. Same with the 25-cent bump on paratransit for folks with disabilities.
Instead, Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez waved his magic wand — or, more precisely, dipped into a reserve fund meant for future transit projects — and, just like that, poof! No fare hikes. He even got a unanimous vote on it without a single peep of discussion.
Read related: Miami-Dade budget restores 100% funds to non-profits = self preservation
But if you think that means Miami-Dade is out of the woods financially, think again. As Commissioner Oliver Gilbert put it, this is like slapping a Band-Aid on an amputation. “Eventually we’re going to have to cauterize.”
The county is staring down a $94 million deficit in 2027, which seems small considering this year’s projected shortfall was four times as much. Still, this only means the tough choices just got kicked down the road. Again.
Meanwhile, the meeting wasn’t all hugs and kisses. Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez unloaded on Levine Cava, accusing her of “hiding the ball” and stonewalling him for months. She fired back — voice raised, finger wagging — accusing him of political grandstanding. And in one of those only-in-Miami moments, she pulled out a campaign T-shirt he had his staff handing out earlier that day to prove her point.
La Alcadesa had been silently holding the t-shirt under her desk just waiting for the right moment to shame him. Like a boss!
“I feel my reputation has been impugned,” she said, after he basically called her a liar. “You do need to show some respect.
“This unfortunately demonstrates the lack of knowledge about the budget process by this commissioner,” she said.
Ouch.
By 4 a.m., the commission had rubber-stamped the mayor’s budget mostly intact. That means higher water and trash fees, more than $80 million extra for the new sheriff’s office, and yes, still $46 million in taxpayer cash and in-kind services to subsidize the FIFA World Cup and it’s parties. Priorities, people!
Read related: Madness marathon: Observations from the first Miami-Dade budget hearing
MetroConnect, the neighborhood ride service that was on the chopping block, survives — but with a $3.75 price tag per trip and fewer zones. Some cuts did stick: say goodbye to lifeguards at natural swimming holes and the Office of New Americans, which allegedly helps immigrants navigate the system.
And let’s not forget the sneaky little nugget environmentalists were screaming about: the weakening of DERM, the watchdog that often gives developers headaches. Levine Cava insists the change is just an “administrative shuffle.” Environmental groups say it’s the beginning of the end for meaningful oversight. Guess which side developers are betting on.
Several environmental advocates spoke during the nearly five hours of public comment, which was mostly dominated by a thank you chorus of non-profit heads and arts and culture boosters who got their money after some strong-arming. Other speakers lined up to demand the county divest from Israel bonds, or to blast commissioners for balancing the budget on the backs of transit riders (that was before Rodriguez saved the day).
Read related: Developers get gift-wrapped, weaker DERM in Miami-Dade budget shuffle
Either way, most of the $402 million shortfall is gone now that the money was found in the final version of the budget — proving once again that when enough people yell, the mayor somehow “finds” cash in the couch cushions.
“It doesn’t increase our confidence in the process if when we raise our voices then suddenly you find the resources,” said Commissioner Marleine Bastien, who called the budget saga “taxing on all of us.” Very funny, lady.
It’s not fair to say, however, that the money just magically appeared. It took a lot of work to go through those couch cushions and the only people who really rolled up their sleeves with the mayor to do dive in and find the efficiencies were Commissioners Gilbert, Raquel Regalado and Keon Hardemon. The others pretty much watched from the sidelines and complained.
“The information we had in August was dramatically different from the information we had in July,” Regalado said. “And it was nobody’s fault.”
Gonzalez cried about not being given information but had cancelled or walked out on several meetings with staff and the mayor. He was grandstanding for his Instagram feed (more on that later).
So, bottom line: Riders don’t pay more (yet), nonprofits get their grants, and Daniella gets her budget. But the next mayor — and taxpayers — are going to inherit the hangover from this late-night fiesta.
The post Miami-Dade passes final $12.9 million budget — sans transit fare increases appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins made it official at City Hall this week, dropping off her final paperwork and dropping a shiny new campaign video at the same time. The spot, called “Clear Plan,” is full of feel-good promises about safe neighborhoods, affordable housing, clean parks, and a government that people can actually trust — you know, all the things Miami hasn’t had in years.
“I’m Eileen Higgins and I’m running to serve as your next Miami mayor, but with a clear plan,” Higgins says in the 30 second spot, before rattling off her checklist: housing people can afford, cops on the beat, clean parks for families, and — wait for it — transparency at City Hall.
The ad is all positive vibes. No shade thrown. No names named. Which is almost cute, really. Because in Miami politics, that kind of kumbaya never lasts.
Read related: Eileen Higgins officially resigns Miami-Dade seat to run for Miami mayor
In a statement, Higgins said she’ll bring the same focus she’s had for seven years on the county dais — affordable housing, public safety, small business initiatives — to the mayor’s office on Dinner Key.
“I’m running to serve as your next Miami mayor, but with a clear plan,” she says in the video, which has already racked up more than 5,000 views in three days. “As your mayor, we’ll get things done. Miami, this is our time.”
Higgins also scored a bragging right that none of her opponents can claim: she’s the only one to qualify by petition. That means volunteers actually went out and got more than 2,048 valid voters to sign her onto the ballot. Those same folks will be the first targets for votes come November.
“Qualifying by petition takes people — volunteers, neighbors, and supporters across Miami — who believe in our vision and are willing to act on it,” she said, touting the campaign as a “movement of residents determined to restore trust, deliver results, and make Miami work for all of us.”
That “restore trust” line isn’t an accident. The stench of corruption and dysfunction hanging over City Hall is going to be front and center in this race. Higgins knows it. And so does everybody else.
She already has some practice taking on the city’s political dinosaurs. Higgins won her District 5 commission seat in 2018 after beating both former Sen. Alex Díaz de la Portilla and Zoraida Barreiro, the wife of her predecessor Bruno. In 2020, she trounced ADLP’s brother Renier. And she coasted to reelection last year without an opponent.
Read related: Commisioner Joe Carollo files initial paperwork to run for Miami mayor
In this race, a recent poll shows Higgins and former Miami City Manager Emilio González leading the pack, with the rest of the field fighting for scraps. That field includes former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez (Miami’s first Cuban-born mayor, back for another lap), Community Council Member Christian Cevallos, Socialist Workers candidate Laura Anderson, Alyssa Crocker, Michael Hepburn and June Savage. They’ve all qualified.
On the sidelines — for now — are Ijamyn Joseph Gray, Elijah John Bowdre, Kenneth James DeSantis (yes, a cousin of that DeSantis), and ADLP himself, who’s huddling in the dugout with termed-out Commissioner Joe Carollo, who just filed the initial paperwork Friday. They’ve got until 6 p.m. Saturday to get in the game.
And then there’s software millionaire and tech bro Fred Voccola, who’s spent a fortune spamming voters with texts, a slick website, and digital ads. Problem is, he hasn’t even bothered to open a campaign bank account. No paperwork. No nothing. Big talk, no walk.
If Díaz de la Portilla does decide to jump in before the deadline, it could set up a spicy rematch with Higgins. And let’s be honest — in this circus of a city, Ladra is here for it.

Help Ladra cover the Miami city election for mayor and two city commissioners. Make a contribution to Political Cortadito today. Thank you for supporting independent, grassroots watchdog journalism.

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Updated: He did it! Ending months of speculation, Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo filed paperwork indicating that he is going to run for mayor in the November race in 45 days, after all. He didn’t qualify — yet. But he has until 6 p.m. Saturday to do so.
Carollo said on his morning radio show Friday said he had not actually made up his mind about “taking the final step.” But if he does, “I know I’m stepping into the fire because what’s coming is inhuman.” He said he was going to pray, as if God would listen to him, and talk it over with his wife Marjory, as if he hasn’t talked it over ad nauseam with her already.
But he’s running. Because who else is going to pay his legal bills?
The termed out veteran Miami pol has been hinting at his run, every single morning on his radio show, Miami Al Dia, which he used Friday morning to say how he was going to fix everything “when I am mayor of Miami,” how he fixed everything once before and “acted with honesty and integrity.
Read related: How much longer will Miami taxpayers pay for Crazy Joe Carollo’s lawyers?
“And that is something none of these people can erase,” Carollo said, calling some of the other mayoral candidates “idiots of the extreme left who vomit hate and lies and defamation for ideology or for the little dollars they get.”
He said that the last time he was mayor, the city was “in the worst financial crisis in the history of Miami… and Joe Corollo was the mayor who looked for the solutions and led this city out of it.”
Carollo joins a clusterbunch of candidates in the race. Former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez — who sued the city to make sure the election happened after commissioners cancelled it in May — is a favorite target of his show. As is “leftist” Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins and former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell. He calls former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, a onetime ally before the former senator was arrested on public corruption charges and suspended in 2023, “King Mamey,” because of the fruit that ADLP hands out to voters in his campaign goody bag.
Gonzalez, Higgins and Russell had all qualified by Friday, when Carollo filed his bank account papers. Diaz de la Portilla had not. It’s still just a threat from him. Same goes for Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez, the father of the current Miami mayor who himself was elected the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami. The deadline is  6 p.m. Saturday. People close to him told Political Cortadito that his heart is not in it and that he won’t follow through if he does not see a path forward. He also doesn’t want to keep pissing off his family. Oops. It looks like they were wrong. X qualified Friday.
Software giant Fred Voccola is also a no-show so far, despite spending a small fortune on text messages, a website and digital ads. And the most recent name to pop up, Kenneth James DeSantis — a relative of the governor’s — is “still on the fence.”
Read related: Fred “Who?” Voccola could be a Francis Suarez reboot for Miami mayor’s race
Qualifying so far: Community Council Member Christian Cevallos, Laura Anderson, who identifies with the socialist workers party — but has zero union endorsements — Alyssa Crocker, Michael Hepburn and June Savage.
Carollo has been hinting at running for months. Earlier this week, he said he received calls from Channel 10 and The Miami Herald asking him if he was going to do it.
“And The Miami Herald told me that my entry into the race would change everything,” he said, clearly flattered, even though he calls the paper the Miami Granma, which is the name of the communist party’s newspaper in Cuba. “Can you believe that? That Joe Carollo could change the election just by running?”
He believes it.
A recent poll has Higgins getting into the runoff with Gonzalez, who has gained a lot of free media exposure for his lawsuit against the city of Miami after commissioners in May voted to change the election from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, which effectively cancelled this year’s races for mayor and commissioners in districts 3 and 5. He won in court and is considered sort of a hero for saving the election, a title he is riding all the way to the ballot box. A recent video from his campaign calls the other candidates “cheerleaders” (more on that later).
Carollo is an easy target because of the lawsuits against him — including the First Amendment demand from the Little Havana business owners that got a jury award of $63.5 million — and the costs the city has incurred because of them. There was a failed recall attempt against him in 2020 that was thwarted on a technicality after the city claimed it was not filed before the deadline.
But he also hits hard. His certain entry into the race means it’s going to get uglier than it has already. All we need now is ADLP to jump into the clown car and we have got ourselves one fun 45 days in front of us.
Help Ladra cover the increasingly strange Miami city elections this year. Make a contribution to Political Cortadito today. Thank you for supporting independent, grassroots watchdog journalism.
The post Commisioner Joe Carollo files initial paperwork to run for Miami mayor appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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

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On the surface, it looks like Miami-Dade is just giving its environmental watchdog agency its independence back. But the devil is in the details.
Buried in the county’s $12.9 billion budget vote this Thursday is a last-minute “restructuring” that environmentalists say will actually weaken the Division of Environmental Resources Management — better known as DERM — and hand developers a major win.
Sure, DERM will once again be its own department, instead of a subdivision of the regulatory mega-bureaucracy created a decade ago. Sounds good, right? But here’s the trick: permitting power over wetlands, mangroves, pine rocklands, seagrass beds — the actual teeth of the watchdog — would stay with the department of Regulatory and Economic Resources, better known as RER.
Does that mean that the same folks who sign off on building towers, shopping plazas and seawalls would also be deciding how much Biscayne Bay, the Everglades and your neighborhood tree canopy get protected? Not necessarily, says the mayor’s team and proponents. They call this needed reform that was announced in June and that the mayor is “elevating” DERM to do be better, more efficient and handle more actual environmental issues.
DERM still writes the rules and handles appeals for final review, so they are very much a part of the process. Proponents of the shift say opponents have misunderstood the change and that elevating DERM by making it a standalone department will increase its capacity to take on other big environmental issues, like all the development activity at the Urban Development Boundary and the ongoing discussions about where to build a new garbage incinerator.
Read related: Miami-Dade budget restores 100% funds to non-profits = self preservation
But environmental groups — including Tropical Audubon, Miami Waterkeeper and Friends of the Everglades — say that move could “cripple” the county’s ability to defend its natural resources. They say that without permitting authority, DERM becomes little more than a glorified consultant, writing reports that the builders can file away while they pour more concrete.
They also say that this will not undo the damage caused more than a decade ago by then-Mayor Carlos Gimenez. Now a Republican congressman, Gimenez complained DERM gave him “administrative heartburn” because it slowed down construction. He pushed through a reorganization to streamline development approvals, and DERM’s staff shrank by half while Miami-Dade’s population exploded.
Developers loved it. The environment? Not so much.
Even with fewer people, DERM still managed to enforce some big rules, like forcing FPL to clean up the cooling canals at Turkey Point in 2014. But lately, its resilience team — the one charged with preparing three million residents for flooding, heat waves and sea rise — is down to just 10 positions. Ten.
Now, with this budget move, what’s left of DERM’s bite might get filed down to baby teeth.
Seven environmental groups sent an urgent letter to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava asking her to stop the power grab, warning that “efforts to weaken DERM’s permitting authority have surfaced time and again, attempting to make way for improper development at the expense of critical resources and natural infrastructure.” They asked for an urgent meeting before the final budget vote.
“You have been a trusted champion for our environment, and a steadfast believer in the critical role of the Department of Environmental Resource Management (DERM) in protecting both our community and our natural resources,” reads the letter, which was signed by Lauren Jonaitis, senior conservation director at the Tropical Audubon Society, Rachel Silverstein, chief executive officer at Miami Waterkeeper, Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, Laura Reynolds, science director at Hold The Line Coalition, Elizabeth Fata Carpenter, executive director of the Everglades Law Center, Dave Doubler, co chair of the Biscayne Bay Marine Health Coalition and Bruce Mathson, president of Friends of Biscayne Bay.
Because this is, indeed, a little off-brand for the “Water Warrior” mayor.
“While we welcome the decision to restore DERM as a standalone department, removing its environmental permitting authority and other key functions, such as stormwater management, would severely weaken Miami-Dade County’s ability to safeguard its residents, protect natural resources, and achieve its long-term environmental and resilience goals,” the letter stated.
Read related: Eileen Higgins pressures Sierra Club and Ken Russell resigns as lobbyist
“Our concerns are amplified by DERM’s history of diminishing authority, a gradual dissolution of what was once the premier environmental regulatory department in the county. A robust DERM requires leaders who are empowered to leverage and invest in their team, capacity, and decision-making expertise. But this decision does the opposite. Removing permitting authority would represent the final unraveling of DERM’s regulatory role, making it increasingly difficult and less efficient for the County and your administration to leave a strong environmental legacy and a resilient Miami-Dade. We cannot find any examples of major counties or cities where the environmental regulatory department does not have the authority to implement its regulations through permitting.”
Furthermore, the environmentalists stated, the fear is not that DERM would be necessarily diminished now, but later.
“The fundamental question in this decision is not about the current team or your administration, but rather about looking to the decades ahead, when the leadership of both DERM, RER, and the Mayor’s Office is yet to be determined,” the letter to La Alcaldesa reads. “Removing the statutory authority from DERM makes it easier for a future administration or the Commission to gut it entirely. This is exactly why efforts to weaken DERM’s permitting authority have surfaced time and again, attempting to make way for improper development at the expense of critical resources and natural infrastructure like pine rocklands, wetlands, mangroves, seagrass, and more.
“This proposal is inconsistent with the leadership we have long relied upon from you as our environmental champion. We fully agree that DERM’s efficiency and internal operations can and should be improved, and we fully support measures that strengthen its performance, speed and transparency. However, these measures can be taken while keeping DERM’s authority intact.”
Levine Cava wrote back and said her administration “is committed to leaving a legacy of protections to safeguard our ecosystems and natural resources now and long into the future.” She also said that this had been announced earlier this year and that the county’s chief resiliency officer would lead the new independent department.
“This move enhances our overall environmental and resilience planning and coordination under centralized leadership, while also streamlining County functions to improve key services and make government more efficient,” the mayor wrote. “As part of this transition, we are committed to ensuring we maintain the integrity of environmental permitting processes, while still streamlining and seeking efficiencies to help more small businesses to thrive and save taxpayer money.”
She said she understood the concerns but would remain “steadfast in my commitment to ensuring that a robust environmental permitting process remains in place.
“Our resilience goals remain a key focus for my administration and I am committed to continuing to elevate environmental protection across the County, as we empower staff and better align the work across all departments to deliver on resilience priorities. A more focused, visible DERM will support these efforts while we align and streamline permitting countywide.”
In a statement provided to Political Cortadito by her office, the mayor said this was consistent with her vision.

“As a stand-alone, mission-focused department, DERM will play an even more essential role in safeguarding our environment, including monitoring, enforcement, policy development, and more,” Levine Cava said. “As part of this transition, environmental permitting will become part of our one-stop permitting shop under RER – as we continue our efforts to streamline permitting countywide, to improve customer service by making application processing more efficient.

Read related: Daniella Levine Cava finally takes a tougher stand vs Alligator Alcatraz

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Well, it looks like the mayor blinked.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has closed the $400-million gap in the 2025-26 budget and still somehow restored every single dollar to the community-based organizations, the nonprofits whose funding has more than doubled in eight years and that every commissioner suddenly pretends is the only thing standing between Miami-Dade’s most vulnerable residents and total collapse.
Never mind that she warned everyone, over and over, that this is not recurring money. That these are one-time funds. That this is not sustainable.
But hey, what’s another budget gimmick when you’ve got lobbyists in the chambers, nonprofit directors whispering doomsday tale in everyone’s ears, protestors outside County Hall and commissioners who would rather write checks than take responsibility for actually providing services?
Never mind that the county already shot itself in the foot with two straight years of property tax cuts, fat union raises, $46 million for the World Cup circus, and extra pandemic goodies for charities. The money pit was already dug. And when the mayor tried to patch it by cutting nonprofit funding, the commission balked. Too messy. Too many friends. Too many lobbyists.
Too much political fallout.
Who’s going to vote against abused women? Or homeless seniors? Or hungry families?
Read related: Kionne McGhee has own Miami-Dade budget town hall to focus on non-profits
Commissioner Kionne McGhee had a budget town hall specifically for CBO leaders to make their arguments. Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis asked for a report on who gets picked and why. She’s new here. As the Miami Herald has reported, the same nonprofits get funded year after year. The “competitive process” fizzled out long ago, replaced with commissioners’ pet groups and a wink-wink system that rewards connections.
Commissioner Eileen Higgins said at the first budget hearing that she understood the impact that the constitutional offices had made on the $12.9 billion budget, but that the county had to do better by the non-profits.
“Since July, things have improved,” Higgins said. “We’ve got to make government a little bit skinnier without harming the most vulnerable people in our community and I think we are not there on this funding of our community-based organizations.”
Before restoring 100% of the funds, Levine Cava had nearly cried on the dais about cutting those fund because of her history and background with the groups.
“I am personally heartbroken,” DLC said at the first public budget hearing Sept. 4. “Many of the organizations that have presented today are organizations that I either founded or served on the board or collaborated with for decades. It is personally painful to me to be in a situation where I had to choose between running buses, filling potholes or providing for our nonprofit partners.”
Read related: Financial finesse? Miami-Dade budget shortfall disappears in final version
But La Alcaldesa is not the only one who is elbows deep in the non-profit world. Oliver Gilbert and Kionne McGhee recused themselves from the budget vote at the first public hearing, because both are actually employed by non-profits, Kristi House and Children of Inmates, respectively. But almost every single commissioner is involved in a CBO one way or another. Some are involved in more than one.

Gilbert is listed as a director — along with lobbyists Al Dotson, Rodney Barreto and former Miami Beach City Manager Alina Hudak — of the Greater Miami Sports Commission. Is that why he is so bullish on the $46 million that the county is handing over to the 2026 FIFA World Cup committee for parties? How much of that does Oliver’s non-profit get? Gilbert is also on the board of the non-profit Southeast Florida Regional Prosperity Institute. So are county commissioners Rene Garcia and Kionne McGhee and Pinecrest Mayor Joseph Corradino.
Marleine Bastien is founder and, while she says she stepped down, is still listed as executive director of FANM in Action (formerly Haitian Women of Miami), which gets a county grant of $180,000 a year. The organization also got $1.4 million in May for critical emergency repairs to its building. Commissioners also forgot more than $140,000 in past due rent and agreed to sell the building to FANM for a “nominal price.” Bastien also served on the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, which has not been active since 2020.
Keon Hardemon serves on the board of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, as does Miami Commissioner Christine King.
Micky Steinberg was a director at One Miami Beach, Inc., but that was when she was a Miami Beach elected. And the non-profit is inactive now, anyway.
Eileen Higgins is not listed as an officer of any non-profits in Florida corporate records that Ladra could find, but her county profile bio lists a number of organizations she has served in some capacity, including Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, People Acting for Community Together (PACT), the Miami Climate Alliance, Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Natalie Milian Orbis is an officer at Victory4Kids Foundation, where her husband Manny Obis — former chief of staff to ex Commissioner Kevin Cabrera (who Milian Orbis replaced) — is secretary. It is a family CBO with other Milians listed as officers.
Raquel Regalado shows up on the Florida Division of Corporations records as a board member of the Friendship Circle of Miami.  She says it is an honorary title.
Danielle Cohen Higgins doesn’t have her name associated with any non-profits in the state corporate records, but her campaign and bio materials list her as sitting on several nonprofit boards, such as South Florida American Heart Association, Miami Children’s Health Foundation, Take Stock in Children and Ruth’s List.
McGhee is president of two non-profits — Conquering Hope Blueprint and the Kionne L. McGhee Foundation — with several members of his family. He used to be on the board of Floridians for Equality and Fairness Coalition, the Florida Pastoral Delegation, and For a Better Tomorrow, but they are all inactive now.
Roberto J. Gonzalez was president of Living Hope Community Church of Miami, but it’s been inactive since 2011.
Anthony Rodriguez could not be linked to any non-profit though public documents. But he got into hot water WHEN after he got a $5 million gift in a county contract for A3 Foundation, a politically-connected “charity” that landed millions in county and state cash with barely a glance — until the Miami Herald called it out.
Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez is the president and only officer listed for the Doral Community Foundation, which was founded in 2008 and reinstated in 2019.
René García sits on the board of the Southeast Florida Regional Prosperity Institute. He also founded H.O.P.E. Mission. He isn’t listed on the corporate records, but his very close friend, Terrence “T.C.” Wolfe, is president. Other friends — Miami Lakes Mayor Josh Dieguez and Jeanette Rubio, wife of the former senator and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio — are directors.

Also, Garcia and McGhee, Gilbert and Pinecrest Mayor Corradino — who are all on the South Florida Regional Prosperity Institute — are also listed as members of the executive committee of the similarly named South Florida Regional Planning Council, one of ten agencies in the state that “plan for and coordinate intergovernmental solutions to growth-related problems on greater-than local issues, provide technical assistance to local governments, and meet other needs of the communities in each region.”.
Read related: Shady charity with political ties gets $450K from Miami-Dade Commission
It’s true that many other if not most of these nonprofits do good work. Nobody’s saying they don’t. Farm Share, for example, says it can feed more people, more cheaply, than the county ever could, delivering more than $80 million in food last year
But for every Farm Share, we might have an A3 Foundation, a non-profit run by the Miami city manager’s chief of staff with barely a bank account, zero track record, a ghost website and no contact info. That’s the danger. Once politics infects the process, “charitable giving” looks a lot like patronage.
Now, McGhee has doubled down with a new trust fund idea — taking 2% off certain vendor contracts to bankroll nonprofits forever. Sounds sweet. Especially since he has a history of running non-profits. But it could easily just drive up RFP prices and hit taxpayers again. And it won’t even kick in until 2028, meaning the “one-time” scramble continues ’til then.
So yes, the mayor restored all of the CBO money. Nobody’s against a safety net. But Miami-Dade is acting like it can’t possibly build and manage services itself. Outsourcing charity work to nonprofits has become the easy way out — politically safe, lobbyist-approved, and much less messy than fixing what’s broken inside county government.
Next year, when the same nonprofits line up with their clients in wheelchairs and their cute kids and their sob stories, the $36.4 commissioners will fold again. And the mayor will be told she has to “find” the money — again.
Commissioner Regalado is at least asking the right question: What’s the return on investment? She wants a way to measure the performance of the grantees. These county grants started as a way to provide services, through the non-profits, at a cheaper cost than the county could on its own. But do they still? We need to know.
The amount of money that the county doles out to CBOs has grown dramatically from $36.4 million in the 2017-18 budget year to $73.9 million last year, according to a recent report by the county auditor. Meanwhile, the number of organizations getting funds has dropped from 139 to 114.

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