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.

Read Full Story

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

Read Full Story

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.

Read Full Story

Councilman blasted for Charlie Kirk post on Facebook
The Palmetto Bay lynch mob came out in full force Monday night, and Councilman Steve Cody barely made it out of Village Hall with his seat still intact.
But maybe not for long.
While the mayor, the rest of the council and dozens of residents pleaded with Cody to step down because of a social media post on the Charlie Kirk murder last week, he is doubling down. His face during the public roasting was one of contempt or even boredom. Of course, any reaction would have been vilified. He refused to leave his seat, though. And the council, instead, voted to ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to investigate and remove Cody.
And if that doesn’t work, several residents said he should be recalled.
A standing room only crowd of residents demanded Cody’s resignation after he posted something on social media about Charlie Kirk’s murder that was a bit insensitive — even if it did ring with truth and drip with irony: “Charlie Kirk is a fitting sacrifice to our Lords: Smith & Wesson. Hallowed be their names,” he posted hours after the shocking assassination was caught live at a university campus in Utah. Then he quoted Kirk from something the firebrand said in 2023: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
And while Cody later deleted the post and apologized, the mea culpa didn’t go very far with Palmetto Bay residents who packed the chambers Monday night as if they were pitchforks and the tiki torches from their back yards.
“He shouldn’t be here at all,” one resident shouted.
“You are unwell,” another man said at the podium, directly to Cody, even though the mayor had told the audience to direct themselves to the council. He also threatened to open a Turning Point USA desk — that’s the organization that Kirk founded — in Cody’s “back yard.”
“You have a choice. Resign and disappear quietly or stay and watch your name and reputation crumble,” the man said.
Over and over again, people took turns at the mic and told Cody to “do the right thing” and step down. Parents said he set a bad example for their kids. People who bragged that they were friends of Kirk’s — and isn’t everybody now? — said his apology was worthless. One man said that Cody brought shame on the name of the village because it’s all that comes up now on Google.
Read related: Palmetto Bay councilman is asked to resign after ‘vile’ Charlie Kirk post
The first to speak was former Councilman David Singer, who lost elections to Cody twice and has been a frequent critic and target. In an ironic twist, Singer lost his job after Cody railed against Singer’s social media post comparing the village’s duck eradication program to the Holocaust. It’s interesting to note that nobody at the meeting seemed to remember Singer’s post, which one could argue is just as insensitive and “vile” as Cody’s. And, also, just as protected speech.
“Where was the mayor and council in the last five years,” Singer asked, laying the blame on everyone there for providing the political climate for Cody to attack opponents and poke fun of residents. “He was their guy, doing their dirty work.”
Madeline Roman also said that the council had been hypocritical, ignoring the disrespect toward residents for six years and then chastising speakers when they call a council member out. “Using your voice now, when it’s finally being recognized outside our municipality, is a voice of convenience and completely self-serving.
“You regularly said you will do what the constituents ask. Well, today, we are asking that you hear us.”
And Cody’s political foes, namely Vice Mayor Mark Merwitzer and Councilwoman Marsha Matson — with the dramatic flair of an American flag planted in her lap — have obviously seized the opportunity to bash Cody, who has a smart mouth that gets him in trouble now and then.
“It’s not about the First Amendment, it’s about accountability,” said Matson, who has asked the mayor to sit her way from Cody’s side for two years. She asked again on Monday.
“Councilman Steve Cody has abused his position. His hateful and malicious comments are not the voice of a private citizen they are the words of an elected official who represents every single one of us in Palmetto Bay,” said Matson, who defended herself in 2023 from an ethics complaint filed by Cody, but said it cost the city $27,000 in legal fees. The Village has also spent upwards of $40K defending Merwitzer from a lawsuit Cody filed to remove him from his seat because he was not sworn in properly.
Even Mayor Karyn Cunningham, a longtime ally of the second-term councilman — who said she didn’t know of Kirk before his assassination — asked Cody to step down. She said the post condoned the killing — although it did not — and introduced the item asking for his resignation and censuring him for the post.
Read related: Palmetto Bay Village Council elections could get interesting this November
Cody didn’t respond to the criticism, and sat pretty much stone-faced, often with his arms crossed or his head resting on his fist. But Cody later told a TV reporter that he posted the Charlie Kirk item on his personal Facebook page, expressing his personal thoughts as an individual, not on an official page where he was talking policy “as a member of this body.”
He may not be a member of that body much longer. The council voted 4-1 Monday to ask Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to give him the boot. Cody, of course, was the lone “no.”
The matter now goes to our “Culture Warrior-in-Chief,” who could see it as gift-wrapped hunk of red meat for his base. Booting a Democrat over a tasteless post about his boy Charlie Kirk? Delicious. Plus it comes with a side dish of shifting the headlines away from, you know, property insurance, teacher shortages, the HOPE Florida scandal everyone conveniently forgot and that little presidential flameout nobody talks about anymore.
But DeSantis would have to find a legitimate reason, and a Facebook post ain’t it, according to state law. Florida Statute 112.51 allows the guv to suspend any appointed or elected official after an arrest for felony or misdemeanor or for “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, habitual drunkenness, incompetence, or permanent inability to perform official duties.”
The fate of Palmetto Bay’s most infamous keyboard warrior might better rest in the hands of the voters, who could recall him with the signatures of just 10% of the registered voters. They have a good start with everyone at Village Hall Monday and their plus ones.
But since Cody was re-elected last November, and state law requires a waiting period of a year before a recall can be begun, they have to wait until December, a year from his swearing in, to start collecting signatures. Any collected so far must be tossed out.
Read related: Palmetto Bay budget hearing Monday could focus on “The Woods” property
Ladra wants to express, again, that she does not necessarily like what Cody posted. He probably thought it was clever. But, also, he wasn’t wrong. He didn’t condone the killing or celebrate political violence. What he did was point out the irony in the way that Kirk was killed, given what the conservative agitator and podcaster had said about acceptable gun deaths. It is relevant.
But, most importantly, it doesn’t matter one bit what I think of Kirk or his words or the shocking murder caught live on video and streamed publicly for everyone to watch. Whatever happened to the famous quote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it?” Attributed to Voltaire, it was actually written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her 1906 book The Friends of Voltaire to summarize his views on free speech and religious tolerance. The quote highlights the importance of free expression, even for views one finds objectionable, underscoring the value of open debate in society.
“But there are people who believe you only have the freedom to express what they want you to express,” Cody told Political Cortadito after the meeting. He welcomes any investigation because he says he has done nothing to warrant suspension. In fact, he mused that Merwitzer and Matson could be suspended for dereliction of duty after they walked out of the meeting Monday when it wasn’t adjourned. Merwitzer says he can’t sit on the dais with Cody and has pledged to walk out of every meeting until the councilman is gone — one way or another. There is a meeting and the final budget hearing on Wednesday. If Merwitzer doesn’t vote simply because he doesn’t like Cody, isn’t that a dereliction of duty?
It seems that Kirk himself might roll over in his grave if he would have seen the spectacle on Monday. And Ladra is not going to be afraid to write that because some pearl-clutching people might think it’s insensitive. If Kirk really did stand for freedom of speech — and some might argue that all that was just the gimmick of a really good conman — he would defend Cody’s right to post whatever he wants.
Ladra can’t help but wonder if the outraged people of Palmetto Bay feel better after Monday. Now, you’re not just known for a Facebook post by a goofy jerk that would have been forgotten in a week.
Now, you’re known for trying to censor and silence people who don’t agree with the masses.
The post Palmetto Bay residents cry for Steve Cody’s resignation, removal or recall appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story

Joe Martinez is going to prison. Well… maybe.
The former Miami-Dade commissioner and retired cop was sentenced Monday to 34 months for taking money in exchange for crafting legislation that would have helped a West Kendall supermarket owner. But Judge Miguel de la O wanted to give him less time — saying his hands were tied by sentencing guidelines — and let Joe stay out pending appeal. Which, let’s be real, could drag on for years.
In other words, he’s not packing his boxers just yet.
Still, it was a stunning fall for the once powerful commission chairman and 17-year police veteran who also fancied himself sheriff material — well, after he tried to unseat former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez in a county race and then ran a quick failed bid for Congress. Now, instead of running for higher office, Martinez is running out of excuses.
Read related: Ex Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez cries, prays — maybe walks
Jurors convicted him last November of unlawful compensation and conspiracy after prosecutors tied three $5,000 checks in late 2016 and early 2017 to legislation Martinez had staff draft that would have legalized refrigerated containers behind Extra Supermarket on SW 8th Street. The commissioner pulled the item before it hit an agenda — but not before the checks cleared.
Martinez called it back pay for old consulting work.
Prosecutors called that BS. The payments were bribes, they argued. A jury agreed.
De la O said he would have given Martinez one year, max, if he had showed an ounce of remorse. But without an admission of wrongdoing, the judge couldn’t justify dipping below the three-year minimum. “Sir, I’m sorry it’s come to this,” the judge told Martinez, with his wife and daughters sitting in the second row. “My hands are tied.”
Tied, but not that tight. He gave Martinez an appeal bond and a status hearing in the second half of 2026, which basically means Martinez could spend the next year, maybe two, living free in District 11 while his lawyers — Ben Kuehne, Kendall Coffey and Neil Taylor — try to unwind the conviction.
And of course, Martinez is still saying he did nothing wrong. “I couldn’t bring myself to say I did something that I didn’t do,” he says over and over again.
But Ladra can think of 15,000 reasons why a jury thought otherwise.
Read related: Joe Martinez claims public corruption charge is really a political hatchet job
Martinez showed that he did, in fact, work for Jorge Negrin, the owner of the Extra near 127th Avenue, as a consultant in 2013, after he lost the 2012 county mayor’s race. Court records include two checks from 2013 and 2014 totaling $50,000 for lobbying. That might be its own little side problem: County electeds aren’t supposed to lobby the county for at least two years after leaving office.
However, the case centered on the three $5,000 checks Martinez got years later in 2016. The first, right before he was sworn in, and two others right after. Prosecutors said those were pay-to-play installments on a proposed county ordinance that would increase the limit of storage bins that could be stationed in the parking lot behind the grocery store. They said the commissioner’s aide met with Negrin and zoning officials in early 2017. The proposed legislation was put on a Sept. 7 agenda — but Martinez had it pulled at the last minute.
How do we know that’s not because he didn’t get another check?
The state attorney’s office said that simply proposing the legislation that would benefit Negrin after taking his money was enough to arrest and charge Martinez with public corruption charges of unlawful compensation and conspiracy.
Character letters poured in vouching for him — from fellow cops, from Gimenez, his one time opponent, and from former Miami-Dade Commissioner Sally Heyman.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, on the other hand, wasn’t having it. She said the sentencing Monday “completes a process started when a local jury of six members of our community found him guilty of using his political position to provide himself a financial benefit.
“It is always a community disappointment when an elected official chooses to work for his own personal interests over the interests of those who elected him,” Fernandez Rundle wrote in a statement. It’s ironic, because she is a big community disappointment for choosing the easy peasy cases and letting other people go, like former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, whose bribery and money laundering charges she shrugged off to Broward.
Read related: State attorney: Joe Martinez broke our trust for $15,000, help with bank loan
For 18 years, Joe Martinez strutted around County Hall like he owned the place. The retired cop with the barrel chest and the booming voice relished his role as the commission’s enforcer, the self-styled “bull” on the dais who could intimidate staffers, bulldoze colleagues and still pause long enough to flash that trademark grin.
Known for pounding the lectern so hard you thought he might break it, Commissioner Cranky had a cologne made with his own brand: The Commissioner. Martinez thrived on being the tough guy, the law-and-order commissioner and some considered him a shoe-in for the sheriff’s race.
But the bull has finally been gored. Instead of cracking down on bad guys, Martinez is the one fingerprinted like a common criminal. Instead of writing ordinances, he’s writing appeal briefs. The swagger that carried him for decades in politics and policing is now reduced to courtroom pleas and claims of innocence.
And that sheriff’s badge he always wanted? It may never be pinned to his chest — but he might still get issued a number. An inmate number. Again, maybe.
Monday’s reluctant sentence comes almost more than five year Martinez’s arrest in September of 2022. Martinez said his daughter was 15, a contestant on The Voice, when this started and is 22 now. He said he’d had two heart attacks.
“It takes a huge amount of stress when you’re innocent,” Martinez told reporters outside the courtroom. Because when you’re guilty, you cut a deal and you’re great. You can deal with it.
“But when you’re innocent it takes a toll on the family, on your friends, on everybody,” he said, flanked by his family and friends. Martinez also said he had no choice but to fight the charges.
“It’s either follow the suggestions and say I did something I didn’t do, or go to prison. and everybody who knows me… I couldn’t live with myself if I did that, man,” Martinez said. “I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t look at my children, my friends and supporters, and stand there and say, ‘Yes I am guilty of this,’ when I didn’t do it.”
So now Joe waits. If the appeal fails, he could be spending his 70th birthday in state prison. If it succeeds, he’ll walk away vindicated — and probably blame everybody but himself.
Either way, his political career? Dead. Buried. Cremated.
And we don’t need sentencing guidelines to declare that.
The post Judge sends ex Commissioner Joe Martinez to prison — but not just yet appeared first on Political Cortadito.

Read Full Story