Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez got a few more stamps on his passport this month during a nine-day European jaunt that took him to Spain and Switzerland.
Like always, his wife Lourdes went along.
Ernesto Rodriguez , Lester Sola, Juan Kuryla, Gotzone Sagardui Goikoetxea (Bilbao City Council), Juan Maria Aburto (Mayor of Bilbao), Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, Ricardo Barkala (Port of Bilbao), Manny Gonzalez (International Trade Coordinator, Miami-Dade County), Xabier Ochandiano (Bilbao City Council), Alex Ferro, Luis Gabiola (Port of Bilbao)
So did the mayor’s Chief of Staff Alex Ferro, Port Director Juan Kuryla, Aviation Director Lester Sola, Manny Gonzalez, who runs the county office that organizes foreign trade trips and Miami International Airport’s marketing/routes chief Ernesto Rodriguez.
Oh, and Ferro’s, Kuryla’s and Sola’s spouses also joined them. I mean, why not?
Miami-Dade officials say the spouses paid “their own way, including airfare, meals, etc.” and that the mayor even paid the difference in the room rate to book a double. Did the other staffers do the same? We don’t know yet and will have a full accounting now that they’ve returned.
Read related: Termed out Mayor Carlos Gimenez gives self undeserved 70% pay raise
On this trip, Gimenez “flew into Barcelona and immediately transferred to a train to Madrid, in an effort to save hundreds of dollars on cheaper fare,” an email from the mayor’s office said.
But do all the “savings” really matter? The trip itself is an excuse for these public officials and elected mayor to take a dream vacation and have the taxpayers foot at least half the bill.
The county-funded part of the trip was only the first nine days (Gimenez extended it four days paid personally, his office said). It took Gimenez and his cabinet to Madrid Jan. 4 to meet with soccer executives in an effort to bring more international games to Miami. This includes the president of Real Madrid, the Spanish soccer team that has already held sold-out exhibition matches at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Really?
Read related: Carlos Gimenez and lobbyists in China is same old thing, different language
Then Gimenez met with the mayor of Bilbao, and talked to him about the expansion of that city’s airports — you can bet Carlos had some advice and companies and contractors to recommend — and toured the port there. The county delegation also spent a few days meeting with officials from the country’s Ministry of Economic Development.
They took more selfies again in Geneva signing an agreement with MSC Cruises they say will increase PortMiami business. But did they really need to go there to sign it? Probably not. MSC, which does cargo also, already has 15 ships here and already wants to expand with 14 more, according to the mayor’s own office, which said the vessels are scheduled for delivery by 2026.
In fact, MSC Cruises already signed agreement last summer to build a new terminal at the port. What? Did they forget to dot an i or cross a t?
Same thing with soccer. It’s coming anyway. Same thing with adding new Spanish cities to MIA’s routes. It’s coming anyway.
Rather, these things that are coming anyway give Gimenez et al the opportunity to take another trip on the public dime.
Read related: Miami-Dade mayor, lobbyist pals head to Paris Air Show
Because when has any of these junkets produced anything for the public? Did China last year? Did Japan? What about Paris? Even though the mayor has gone there at least twice since he was elected, we still haven’t seen anything from it. No air shows at the Everglades, of course.
That’s because it was all hot air. Just like this time.
There is no need to go anywhere to sell Miami-Dade as a soccer mecca, especially after voters approved the redevelopment of Melreese Golf Course into Miami Freedom Park. There is no need to go sign anything to expand the port. They will be happy to come here and expand their business anyway.
But then, Lourdes and Carlos couldn’t have gone to Geneva for half price.

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Well, that didn’t take long, did it?
On the eve of the inauguration last week, Florida State Rep. Mike Hill (R-Pensacola) filed a bill Monday that would roll back the gun restrictions passed by last year’s state legislature in the wake of the student shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland.
“The law that was passed last year was a direct infringement upon our Second Amendment, so I was duty bound by my oath to file this legislation to protect and defend our Second Amendment rights,” Hill said, referring to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which, among other things, banned bump stocks, raised the minimum age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21 years old, extended the waiting period to buy a gun to three days and created the “red-flag” provision that allows law enforcement to temporarily confiscate guns from anyone who threatens to hurt themselves or anyone else.
Hill’s bill would repeal those restrictions, which he said would do “absolutely nothing to stop what it intended to and that was mass shootings at our schools.”
The legislation, and a companion bill to be filed by Sen. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala), first have to go through committee before getting to the House and Senate floors.
So this means that we could see a repeat of last year’s emotional testimony and fierce advocacy on both sides of the issue as the NRA again focuses on Florida.
Already, newly-elected Democratic State Rep. Cindy Polo — a Miami Lakes mom who decided to run after the shooting — vowed to fight the bill every step of the way.
“After one of the most devastating mass shootings in our state’s history, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle came together to pass a new set of gun safety laws. This legislation was not perfect, but it was a start,” Polo said in a statement.
“We must continue to move forward with bipartisan consensus on these issues and not backwards. This NRA-sponsored legislation is not the way to honor all of those we lost almost a year ago.
“We have a responsibility to the Parkland families and to all communities in Florida. It’s time our loyalty be with the people and not the NRA. I encourage all of my colleagues to do the same.”
Ladra can’t help but wonder how the survivors and the family of the victims feel about this.
Hill’s loyalties seem to be warped and he’s headed to a pretty big year, ensuring headlines. The other bills he’s introducing pre-session include one to ban the removal of confederate symbols — street names, statutes, whatever — which is already in committee and a controversial “fetal heartbeat” anti-abortion bill, which has been tried state by state to make Roe Vs. Wade moot.
And we haven’t even really gotten started.
 

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When fire department officials and police brass in Coral Gables first raised concerns about the new public safety building the city had designed without their input, they were told it was too late to make any significant changes.
But there have been some minor interior adjustments made just recently after the forced resignation of embattled Assistant City Manager Frank Fernandez, who was also the public safety director and who helped design the original building with office space for himself and a staff of at least two people.
Read related: Coral Gables’ Frank Fernandez is out — but still getting paid 
Fernandez resigned last month, effective in April, and is not going to be immediately replaced. So what happens to that space? It has been reworked, said City Manager Peter Iglesias.
Since Iglesias said he does not plan to put public safety back in the hands of an assistant city manager — and, in fact, already put emergency management back in the rightful hands of the fire department — that space for a wannabe police chief is no longer needed (not that it ever was).
“It’s not a big deal,” Iglesias told Ladra about the “minor tweaks” and said that there were no exterior changes made to the footprint of the 5-story, 118,000-square-foot complex going up at 2151 Salzedo Street, about six blocks north of the current and decrepit police and fire department headquarters.
Also, he said, the last minute changes were done with input from the fire department and police department brass.
“They’re interior changes and we worked with everyone. I can tell you I worked with everyone,” Iglesias said.
Read related: New proposed Coral Gables police and fire HQ raises concerns, ‘propaganda’
That italics is his because even the city manager admits that the fire department and police department leaders were not brought into the loop during the initial design phase, which led to concerns about the allocation of space to firefighter housing and equipment wells — and maybe for staff that wasn’t needed.
The $52.2 million complex was designed with the future in mind and is expected to meet the city’s needs for the next 75 years, Iglesias told Ladra. It will replace the old and crumbling police and fire department headquarters at 2801 Salzedo Street (pictured here).
Site work began about a month ago some piles have been installed, the manager said, adding that the target completion is in September, 2020, which seems very optimistic. But the official ground breaking with all the ladeeda city hullaballo is at 11 a.m. Friday.
Expect it to be well attended by the candidates in April’s election.
 

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The Miami Beach commission will appoint someone later this month to fill the seat of Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who was forced to resign when she ran for Congress by a Republican law aimed squarely at the Democrats in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
City commissioners should reject the GOP measure’s calculated retroactive effect and respect the voters’ wishes by appointing Rosen-Gonzalez for the remainder of her term.
And, naturally, they should reject the allegedly fixed appointment of former commissioner Joy Malakoff, who already tried to get back in the city’s employ with a $50,000-a-year job overseeing the general bond monies.
Is this a second swipe at putting her in control of those funds? Or is someone getting a guaranteed fourth vote on the commission?
Florida’s resign-to-run law only applied to state and local officials until last year, when the legislature approved a measure that would extend the limits to federal seats. This was, of course, after Ros-Lehtinen announced her retirement of a District that was expected to, and eventually did, go blue. So they made the law include candidates who were elected under the old law and many observers believe it was squarely aimed at Rosen Gonzalez, who was the only Dem who had announced by then.
That was unfair already. The Miami Beach city commission has the rare opportunity to right a wrong, and send a message to Tallahassee, by keeping Kristen where she belongs.
Read related: Kristen Rosen Gonzalez wins in Miami Beach race
She may have lost the Congressional race — nobody expected her to win against Donna Shalala, who was sworn in Thursday, same day that Rosen Gonzalez’s resignation became effective — the former commissioner is a good public servant who has said some stupid things and once trusted the wrong guy. Those episodes have gotten way too much attention from all the good she has done in only three years, much of that against a block of political opponents who worked against her.
Still, she was able to bring paternal leave to city employees, outlaw plastic straws and bags and proposed and passed a city law to protect hotel housekeepers from sexual harassment.
She brought the an energy home improvement program to Beach homeowners and the Common Threads program to teach teens about obesity and eating healthy. She got Bell Isle their park, brought affordable solar to the Beach and helped a condo association get the parking lot they needed.
She also championed the next generation of leaders, forming the Miami Beach Youth Commission and the Miami Beach Youth Job Fair. She brought free test preparation for high schoolers and free drug education for teens and their parents.
In between those things she helped hold the line on over development in mid beach, successfully lowered the density and height of many projects and had uncomfortable trolleys retrofitted for senior citizens.
Several active residents and homeowner association members want to see her appointed to serve out her term.
You might think this is a no brainer. Rosen Gonzalez was elected to a four-year term by voters and should be first on the list of potential appointees. But there’s one problem: She votes her conscience. She belongs to nobody.
There are at least two commissioners — Ricky Arriola and John Elizabeth Aleman — who would feel better with their old ally back and some say the fix is in with Mayor Dan Gelber on their side so he can have a fourth vote.
Read related: Ex Miami Beach elected Joy Malakoff got, then dropped juicy $50K city job
Mayor Dan Gelber
Gelber, who wants everyone to see him as a super Democrat and ran on an ethics campaign, should do the right thing and reject the GOP agenda by leading the charge to appoint Rosen Gonzalez to her seat. It would really be a signal to his independence from the former regime that some think he is beholden to. It would be the ethical thing to do. Especially after his role in the bonds job fiasco where he voted to waive the two-year waiting period to hire Malakoff, even after she donated to his campaign.
If Gelber votes for Malakoff again on Jan. 29, Miami Beach voters should ask why.
Appointments already stink because they raise the possibility of cronyism. With Malakoff it’s practically guaranteed cronyism. After all, she is not going to vote against the commissioners who bring her on.
It’s only one more year. If the mayor or anyone else wants someone other than Rosen Gonzalez in that seat, wait for the election, like the voters intended.

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To show how far he’s fallen from a bright future to a powerless present, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez turned into a sniveling baby begging Commissioner Joe Carollo for respect at a public meeting last week.
This was right before the commission approved the first chunk of the $400 Miami Forever bond approved by voters in November of 2017. They voted 4-1 for $58 million to go to:

$10.3 million to fight sea level rise, including a redesign of Brickell Bay Drive and the installation of 50 new one-way valves
$15 million for new affordable housing projects and a single-family home rehabilitation program
$420,000 for upgrades to Fire Station No. 10 located at 4101 NW 7th Street
$7.6 million to improve nearly 4 miles of roadways
$25.3 million to enhance public parks, including upgrading playgrounds, repairing sidewalks, and enhancing accessibility.

Carollo had an issue with the way the money was carved out and, sources say, didn’t get what he wanted, which was basically to wait a little longer so he could get some housing project proposals worked up by his pals for properties he recently convinced the city to buy in his district (more on that later).
That’s why his cries of foul Wednesday were so disingenuous.
Read related: Miami owes $120K in legal fees from Crazy Joe Carollo’s lawsuit
“I know what’s happening here,” Carollo said. “I see the sharks sitting right back there, the guys that raised three and a half million for the strong mayor…just waiting to get some of this money.”
As far as anyone can tell, he was referring to Mike Llorente, Baby X’s former chief of staff — and, Ladra believes, cousin — who joined his brother Marcelo’s lobby firm with Alex Heckler, LSN Partners, in 2016.
Funny thing is, though, the Virginia Key redevelopment project on which Llorente is a paid lobbyist did not get any of the bond funds Wednesday. None of the clients he’s registered lobbying for got anything from the pie. But that won’t stop Carollo from casting scurrilous aspersions that work for his convenience.
That said, Baby X didn’t have to throw a hissy fit with his point of order. You can see the mayor acting like a battered wife on this video clip posted by longtime Miami blogger Al Crespo. Diehard Suarez fans might want to sit down first.
“Again, I’ll ask the commissioner — I’ve asked in private, I will ask in public — to please respect me,” Suarez said, almost babbling. “I’ve always respected you.
“I’ve never said anything disrespectful to you or have ever implied any decision you made or haven’t made is based on anything other than what you think is best for the city so I would respectfully request that you do the same.”
Suarez begging Carollo for respect like that has got to be one of the signs of the apocalypse. It is so unnerving.
Read related: Miami’s Francis Suarez loses big as voters reject strong mayor measure
And really? He has never implied that any decision Crazy Joe has made is not in the best interest of the city? He may be the only one who can say that.
Here is some unsolicited advice to Suarez, who doesn’t return Ladra’s phone calls anymore: So, you lost the stupid strong arm mayor proposition you should never have put forth? So what? Move on, man! Yes, it was a political bruising and your stock went down some. Get over it. You have three years to do the good shit we know you can do and make voters forget about this in 2021. Don’t dwell. Come up with something spectacular.
And kick the bullies where the sun don’t shine. Especially when you have the votes. Take the win!
Don’t beg. It is not becoming. And it’s fruitless.
Carollo is not going to respect you no matter what, because you don’t tow his line. So if you want his respect, then coddle to him. If you want the voters’ respect, stand up for yourself next time and tell him what’s what. Call his bluff and tell him that you will give his friends’ housing projects a fair shot.
But if you want Carollo to bend you over some more — and secure your one-term fate — then keep begging for his respect.

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