Former Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas — who lives pretty much secluded from politics, commenting now and then on Univision 23 but from afar — has come out of relative political obscurity to promote former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine‘s gubernatorial run.
It is his first endorsement since Penelas left office in 2004.
“Friends, On Monday, my friend Philip Levine ended his four-year tenure as Mayor of Miami Beach. I couldn’t be more proud of what he has accomplished in such a brief time,” starts the campaign email blast that arrived Wednesday morning.
But the list of “accomplishments” has more holes in it than a Dunkin Donuts. Let’s take it paragraph by paragraph, shall we?
Read related story: Philip Levine’s PAC started flooding after he got a liquor ban on the ballot
“In a city threatened by sea level rise, Philip campaigned back in 2013 to start solving the problem. And just four years later, under his leadership, state-of-the-art flood pumps have been installed that are keeping streets dry and protecting the homes and businesses of thousands of people.”

Well, Mr. Mayor, everybody started to address the sea level rise problem in 2013. It was like a virus. Climate change were the political buzzwords of the year.  Actually, the city started addressing the problem before he was elected. And those flood pumps? Guess where the first one went. In Sunset Harbor, where Levine owns property. His land was high and dry while the rest of South Beach was flooded, like in the photograph courtesy of Bill Cooke of the Random Pixels blog.
“While many of those people are blessed to live in a prosperous city, thousands of workers across the beach can’t even afford to live near the community they serve,” the former mayor writes. “So Philip took action and successfully passed the first living wage ordinance in Florida, setting an example for cities across our state.”
The minimum wage increase, which was from $8.10 to $10.31 and would take effect in January, is really window dressing for the gubernatorial race. It gives him talking points for the campaign trail. The legislatioin was struck down by a judge because a 2004 Florida constitutional amendmentment only allows the state to increase the minimum wage, not municipalities. Miami Beach attorneys are appealing that because they say that the voters’ intent was to let local leaders decide. Whatever. It was a feelgood measure that Levine pushed strategically as he was building his Democratic voice statewide. It’s like a box he checked under “preparations to run for Governor as a Democrat.”
“But that wasn’t the only example Miami Beach has set under Philip’s leadership,” Penelas continues. “During his tenure, the Human Rights Campaign -a leading LGBTQ advocacy group- has given the city a PERFECT SCORE on its annual Municipal Equality Index, a measurement of how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are for the LGBTQ people who live and work there.”
Read related story: Philip Levine fails to disclose properties, LLCs
The city got a perfect score in 2017. And in 2016. And every year since they started self submitting in 2013. But Ladra is pretty certain that Philip Levine has absolutely nothing to do with that. He always takes the credit, which belongs to the hardworking members of the city’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee, formed by former Mayor Matti Bower — 10 years ago. The Beach, which was the first city to pass domestic partnership benefits legislation, has been the best place for gays to live and work in Miami-Dade, like Wilton Manors is in Broward, for years. For Levine to take credit should offend a lot in the community who have actually done the work. He just happened to be mayor at the time. The mayor before him supported LGBTQ friendly legislation and the mayor after him will, too.
“These accomplishments are just a small piece of what Philip’s ‘just get it done’ attitude has brought to Miami Beach, and they’re the reason why I’m supporting him for Governor,” Peneas gooes on. “Now more than ever, we need less talk and more action. We need leadership that has a proven track record of getting things done and making positive change in our communities. We need Philip Levine, and I hope you’ll join me in making that happen. Together, we can bring a real change-maker to Tallahassee.”
Less talk and more action? Levine is nothing but talk, talk, talk. Even his proposed alcohol ban past 2 a.m. on Ocean Drive failed miserably.
Maybe Penelas doesn’t know how Levine blocks critics from his social media and actually had an independent blogger (yours truly) thrown out of public campaign events. Maybe he forgot about the train to nowhere or the shady Relentless for Progress PAC that Levine collected $1 million for from beach interests. Maybe he doesn’t care that Levine used his influence and money to smear or blackmail others and get puppets elected so he could set his agenda.
And Penelas is going to endorse someone who traveled to Cuba and wanted to bring the Cuban consulate here?
Read related story: Now challenged, Philip Levine also sheds shady PAC
Or is this because Penelas, 55, wants to be relevant again? Some sources say that Penelas — who served as Miami-Dade mayor from 1996 to 2004 and then ran unsuccessfully for senate and was People’s “sexiest politician alive” in 1999 — may want to return to his old seat at County Hall. He briefly toyed with the idea in 2011 after Carlos Alvarez was recalled. Democrats have been trying to make the non-partisan seat more partisan for a couple of elections now and have been looking at him and former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz (pictured here at an MTV event when they were both in office) as candidates. They like Commissioner Jean Monestime, too, but the common thought is that a non Hispanic can’t win a countywide seat, which is why Levine isn’t running, by the way.
Maybe Florida Dems have forgotten that Penelas cost Al Gore the presidency. Penelas was persona non grata among Dems first when he said that local authorities would not help the feds seize Elian Gonzalez and later after he took a vacation to Spain during the final months of the 2000 presidential election, when Gore — who lost Florida by some 537 votes — needed him most.
The former VP even called Penelas “the single most treacherous and dishonest person I dealt with” in the 2000 election. It is probably one of the reasons he lost the 2004 Senate primary so badly, with only 10% of the vote.
Penelas told Ladra that he had no designs on public office. Not now, anyway. He wants to be there for his young daughter, who is 6, like he wasn’t for his two boys, who are 23 and 20. “I missed a lot of years with them and I’ve been blessed with another child,” he said.
But like everyone else always says, he won’t rule it out. “You can never say never, but I don’t think it’s likely. I don’t want to say no definitively,” Penelas told Ladra, adding that he still loves public policy stuff, like transit and housing, but hates how disgusting politics have gotten.
“Es un azco,” he said.
But not so much that he won’t go out on a limb for Levine, who he said has been a friend for 25 years, since Penelas was a county commissioner for District 13.
“I think he’s an honest and decent guy, a hard worker,” said Penelas, who consults part time and owns property on Miami Beach. “I like Philip a lot. He is a straight shooter.”
Told about some of the holes in the email he said was written by the campaign and edited by him, Penelas said it “doesn’t take away my enthusiasm and my friendship with him.”
And, also, at least Phil’s doing something.
“The mere fact that he’s willing to recognize sea level rise as a problem is better than other politicians who don’t believe it exists,” Penelas said.
But now he’s talking about Republicans.

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Last week, Dan Gelber became the mayor of Miami Beach. This week, he is using his new political platform to back former Miami Beach Commissioner Deede Weithorn‘s bid for state rep in District 113.
This is Gelber’s first endorsement since his victory Nov. 7, but with 82% of the vote, it probably won’t be his last. Ladra is certain that he’s already gotten calls from congressional candidates in District 27, which include Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez and State Rep. David Richardson, whose seat Weithorn is running for.
Gelber will also co-host a campaign kick-off event for Weithorn Wednesday at Meat Market on Lincoln Road.
Read related story: Miami Beach elections end as expected with Gelber, Gongora, Samuelian
“I have known Deede for years and she is uniquely qualified to represent our community in the State House,” said Gelber, who served in the legislature for a decade including as Democratic Leader of the House before he became a state senator.
“She has proven herself a wonderful steward of public dollars, which is something we need desperately in Tallahassee,” Gelber said. “And most importantly she is unafraid to stand up against the wrongheaded ideas that are often born in Tallahassee.”
The election is next November.
Read related story: Will La Gwen’s retreat cause more musical chairs?
Weithorn — who has been running for 113 since 2015 when Richardson was supposed to run for Gwen Margolis‘ senate seat but then didn’t because she didn’t retire — was equally effusive.
“Dan has a distinguished record of public service and I’m proud to call him my mayor,” she said. “It means a lot to me that he was willing to come out in support of my candidacy so soon after winning his own race.”
It certainly gives her kick-off some ooomph.
And Ladra is certain that Comeback Commissioner Michael Gongora will also endorse her — but he only won with 65% of the vote.

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Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has basically taken over the procurement process at Miami International Airport, just like that, in what amounts to a seizure of one of the county’s fattest cash cows. Who thinks that’s a good idea?
Certainly not Miami-Dade Aviation Director Emilio Gonzalez, who suddenly resigned Tuesday. While his is among a bunch of names that have been floated for the next city of Miami manager (more on that later), the resignation comes just two weeks after Gimenez told county commissioners that the mayor’s office was going to directly oversee vendor bids and other procurement issues at the airport from now on.
Wanna bet the two are related.
Gonzalez said he was leaving to spend more time with family. But, in the same breath, he said he would pursue other opportunities in January. Political observers, which include two lobbyists who work with airport vendors, believe he would not have left the county job until he had the city job in hand — but then Gimenez basically slapped him in the face.
Despite winning a bunch of airport industry awards for this and that, despite adding airlines so that MIA has the largest number in the U.S., despite overseeing its $6 million expansion and earning high marks from everyone, Gimenez basically threw Gonzalez under the bus when he told the director in a memo late last month that he was no longer going to be involved in any procurement matters.
“There will be no exceptions,” the mayor’s memo to Gonzalez said.
Read related story: Aiport City is dead, but firm gets $65 mil consolation prize
Gimenez later told commissioners that he “realigned the concession area of MIA and the overall supervision of the business (non aviation) areas in MIA to report to me through a Special Assistant for MDAD Landside Business Operations.” He is also moving the procurement staff at MIA to the downtown building so “they can be directly supervised as part of the overall procurement function of the county,” according to his Oct. 30 memo to commissioners. And Leland Solomon, director of the departent of Regulatory and Economic Resources, is that special assistant.
“MDAD’s procurement organization has been operating independently at MIA for many years and I believe that these changes will result in a more streamlined, open and competitive with decision making reestablished in my office and with appropriate board approval,” Gimenez said in his memo, trying to make it more palatable because the commission has to approve anything anyway.
Really? More streamlined? Yes. More open and competitive? Doubtful.
The memo comes at the same time as Gimenez suggests Hurricane Irma breaks in the guaranteed minimum payments wanted by airport vendors who donated bigly to his re-election campaign. I mean, he has a lot of IOUs from his $8 million re-election pricetag and this is one way to pay that off. Which is why he also has a list of RFPs that need to go out “immediately” and other concession bids that need to be approved. It’s no coincidence that some of his campaign contributors are on that list, too.
Ladra is not the only one who thinks this stinks. Both Commission Chairman Esteban Bovo and Commissioner Bruno Barreiro said they were concerned about changing the current process so that the mayor’s office is more involved. Especially since things are going so well. MIA ranked 5th in the nation for customer satisfaction last year, up from 18th place in 2015.
Read related story: Miami-Dade’s problematic procurement helps county lobbyists
“The airport staff should handle procurement. I don’t think it should be the mayor’s office,” Barreiro said. “That should be under the airport professionals.”
He also said it was a “shame” that Gonzalez had resigned. “That raises concerns now about what we’re going to do to fill that vacancy.”
“I don’t know if it’s justified or not,” Bovo told Ladra about the change. “We do have vendors who on a continual basis are trying to get reduction of MAGs or extension of contracts and the director has been pretty steadfast against those things.”
Exactly! Concessionaires complain because “Emilio doesn’t play games,” as one insider said. That must be what Gimenez objects to: His friends and family aren’t getting the red carpet treatment.
But, as a strong mayor, he apparently has the right to just take over the airport procurement.
“This does not require commission action,” Bovo added. “He’s made the decision. He’s determined that this would work better under his perview.
“I would be very cautious about this kind of thing because that’s what we have directors for,” the chairman told Ladra. “This could be a slippery slope.”
Exactly! Because today it’s the airport and tomorrow it could be the seaport. Or maybe the water and sewer department. That’s a lucrative area.
What’s to stop Carlos Gimenez from taking over any other department and giving the county away one piece at a time?
Nothing. Except a recall.

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It could be the underdog story of the decade.
Better ‘an Ken Russell‘s win over Teresa “The Missus” Sarnoff. Better ‘an Kristen Rosen Gonzalez beating Philip Levine‘s puppet. Even better ‘an State Rep. Robert “Who?” Asencio slaying King David “Nine Lives” Rivera last year.
If Alfie Leon, a young, regular everyman beginning his political career, can beat former Miami Mayor and all-around two-faced, paranoid creep Joe Carollo in the Miami election runoff next Tuesday, it would be an extreme upset. Or would it?
Carollo, who was always the favorite, beat the five other contenders with 30% of the vote last week. That is ten points over Leon’s No. 2 position, which was 17 votes over Zoraida Barreiro‘s No. 3 position.
He was expected, however, to do better. Polls consistently had Carollo in the mid 30s to the low 40s. And that may be one of his problems: the low 40s could be his ceiling.
Carollo love is deep. But it ain’t wide. His hate, on the other hand, is as big as the sky.
Read related story: In Miami, Manolo Reyes finally wins and Carollo vs. Leon … or Barreiro?
And in these last two weeks to the runoff, the anti Carollo forces have been building.
Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez — who lost his seat in 1997 to Carollo after an absentee ballot fraud investigation overturned the election (more on that later) — had a fundraiser over the weekend for Leon, calling it the ABC Committee, for Anybody But Carollo. About 50 to 60 people attended, according to one guest who spoke to the Miami Herald. That’s 50 or 60 people with checks because they don’t want to see Carollo elected again. That’s 50 or 60 people who vote or know someone who votes.
“Everybody and their mothers are working against Carollo,” one longtime county consultant/lobbyist told Ladra Tuesday.
“We’re a little ticked off now that people are coming out of the woodwork to go against him,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, husband of candidate Zoraida Barreiro, who came in a close third, missing the runoff by 17 votes. This help from outside sources would have been nice a month ago, he said.
And fear not, those of you who might think that the Barreiros would strike a deal, especially since the commissioner is running for congress next year. “We’re not supporting him,” Commissioner Barreiro told Ladra. “We will probably stay out of it.”
Key word: Probably.
Tommy Regalado, the former mayor’s son, who came in an embarassing fourth place, has not said who he would support. But c’mon, nadie espera that he would support Carollo after he put him in a mailer in diapers! The only thing they may have against Alfie Leon, meanwhile, is maybe the Suarez support.
Read related story: Laughable campaign mailer casts Miami’s Regalados as commie cronies
Two other candidates have said they will support Carollo. Alex Dominguez and Jose Suarez don’t like the fact that Commissioner X is helping Leon, who used to be a policy advisor to former Commissioner Frank Carollo — how awkward is that? — and that Coral Gables Commissioner Vince Lago had a fundraiser for him at the posh Biltmore in tony Coral Gables (where Leon got more checks from more people who can’t imagine Crazy Joe in office). They say the outside support points to Leon being more of an insider than he says.
“I would much rather have Joe on the dais than Alfie Leon. I think people will think twice before they try any shady garbage,” Dominguez told Ladra in a text message Tuesday. “The truth is Joe at least has a backbone and Alfie would be more of the same. You know what you get with Joe.”
Um, not really. Just ask former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre. In 1983, Ferre called a press conference where he expected Carollo, a commissioner at the time, to endorse his re-election effort. Instead, Carollo used the mic to criticize the then mayor and say he was not supporting him.
The truth is Dominguez and Suarez and maybe the other whatever his-name-is, single-digit candidate are angry at newly-elected Mayor Francis Suarez for saying he was staying on the fence when everyone suspects he was secretly sending support Leon’s way. The perfect payback would be to deliver Carollo to Baby X at City Hall. They are the bottom two vote getters, however, who represent only 477 votes between them, and since lots of those are family and friends and neighbors who won’t be as motivated to vote in this runoff two days before Thanksgiving, nobody knows how much they can impact the race.
And the truth is Crazy Joe is nothing if not unpredictable. It’s not just the knife in Ferre’s back. It’s not just the thing with the box of tea bags he threw at his wife’s head. It’s not just the grandstanding press conferences and “investigations” for his personal vendettas. It’s the collection of hysterical antics, smear tactics and uncorroborated accusations and so on and so on. He’s disruptive. He has a huge ego. His election to the city commission promises four years of protagonistic turmoil that Ladra is certain the new mayor doesn’t want to have to deal with. Baby X has said he is staying out of the runofff, too. But how much do you want to bet he has una velita prendida somewhere for Leon? Wouldn’t you?
Likewise, some Carollo supporters are really just Suarez haters. They want to see the conflict. Ladra, too, would be entertained. There is really no bad news for a political blogger here. Leon wins and the wrong guy doesn’t get elected. Yay! Carollo wins and Political Cortadito has four more years of fodder. Yay!
Read related story: Why is Joe Carollo on Mayor Carlos Gimenez camp’s payroll?
Other supporters say that at least you know Carollo “is uncorruptable.” The former cop has a watchdog reputation, waging politically convenient wars he never won against maquinitas and absentee ballot fraud. But that’s the old Joe. Ladra liked the old Joe.
The new Joe Carollo was paid $6,000 a month last year by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez for what? Nobody knows. But we know Gimenez’s campaign was involved in absentee ballot fraud in 2012. So Carollo only cares about absentee ballot shenanigans when they help his opponents? The new Joe helped former Doral Mayor Luigi Boria get elected and then took a city manager’s job at $144,000 a year. Then later, when he was fired, Carollo said the mayor violated campaign laws to get elected and committed other corrupt acts. So he doesn’t really care about corruption until he’s being canned?
Gimenez, his tarrudo son and family are now scratching Carollo’s back. Isn’t that a lot more insider than Commissioner X and freaking Vince Lago?
Carollo must know that he is up against more than just little Alfie Leon. Because he’s already begun the attacks, calling a press conference on Tuesday to question Leon’s residency because he was registered to vote at his father’s Kendall house when he said he was living in the city of Miami. This could be an issue — or it may be nothing at all (more on that later), but Carollo already yelled “investigation!” and got the headlines and ink he wanted. He’s really good at that.
And while he has raised about half a million for the first round to Leon’s $84,000, Carollo says that the underdog is backed by special interests.
Yeah, that may be true. It’s called the ABC group and their special interest is keeping Carollo out of office.

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There were no surprises in the Miami Beach elections, which ended Tuesday with Mayor Dan Gelber getting 82% of the vote against three nobodies who each got single digits and former Commissioner Michael Gongora coming back to the dais, as largely expected, with 65% over restauranteur Adrian Gonzalez, who got 35%.
In the other race, Mark Samuelian, who lost his first bid two years ago, came in with 68% over Rafael “Wild Willy” Velasquez, who still got 32% despite having whipped out his penis last month in an ill-fated effort to woo Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez.
It’s still gonna be awkward for Rosen Gonzalez because she had openly helped Velasquez, but at least she doesn’t have to worry about his willy on the dais.
She also doesn’t have to worry about Mayor Philip Levine messing her up anymore. Levine decided not to run for re-election because, as he announced last week, he is running for governor instead. God help us all.
Read related story: Michael Gongora, Mark Samuelian lead Miami Beach Commission money race
Ladra hopes that this means there is a change in the climate at City Hall, where Levine led with fear and intimidation. Gelber may be his own man or he might be, as some suggest, Levine’s hand-picked successor (after Ricky Arriola tanked in the polls). But he was a senator once and is the son of the great former mayor Seymore Gelber so Ladra expects a lot from him.
Samuelian, too, has a lot to live up to after being endorsed by nearly every former elected in the city. But he lucked out when former Commissioner Michael Grieco — who eventually resigned as part of a deal with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office for his PAC’s illegal campaign contribution — dropped out of the race (more on that later).
Can Miami Beach leave all this nastiness in the past and start new with three new electeds on the dais? We still have Arriola and a couple of other Levine puppets doing his bidding up there, but will Gelber make them moot?
The election ended Tuesday as expected but the real political machinations have just begun.

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