Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez wasn’t getting her phone messages. She wasn’t getting invitations sent to her for events. She missed meetings that she wasn’t told about. She wasn’t getting her message out to the senior citizen centers where she campaigned among the seniors who elected her.

And that’s because her aide may have been working against her.

David Zaret was hired by Mayor Philip Levine, who has been bullying Rosen Gonzalez since before she won her seat a little more than a year ago against one of Levine’s plantidates. He tweets more about Commission John Aleman than he does about his boss, who Aleman went after with her since-abandoned kiss-and-tell ordinance.

Read related story: Miami Beach commissioner wants electeds to kiss and tell

David Zaret

“I felt like I had a Benedict Arnold in my office,” Rosen Gonzalez told Ladra. She couldn’t fire him. So she did the next best thing: “I changed my locks and moved that double agent into the mayor’s office.”

Rosen Gonzalez was the only commissioner who was not allowed to hire her own aide. Her choices were vetoed by the mayor, who gets to approve any hires the commissioners make. She has a problem with that. And on Wednesday she will try to convince her colleagues to put a referendum before the voters that would allow them to hire and fire their own staff.

Zaret has ignored her directives, she said. “I tried to fire him six months ago. I told the chief of staff he wasn’t doing anything that I asked him to do,” she said. “She refused.”

Zaret also ignored calls and emails from Ladra. The first email came back with this message: “Your email has reached the office of David Zaret, however, he is no longer the aide for Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez. If you are attempting to reach the Commissioner, you may do so by emailing her directly.”

He also does not speak Spanish, which Rosen Gonzalez says is important to be able to communicate with her constituents and represent them properly.

“When I get calls from Spanish speakers, my aide can’t help and bounces it over to the mayor’s aide,” she said. She doesn’t get the information or gets it late. “My constituency has suffered and I’ve had to work twice as hard.”

Recently, the commissioner was invited to a cocktail party. The host hand-delivered the invite in a gold box with a purple ribbon. You think she’d remember such a thing. But she never got it. Or sent regrets. Or knew about it — until she ran into the host who said she was missed.

“I was embarrassed,” she said. “I don’t care about not going to the event, but I want to be able to say ‘thank you’ to the person who hand delivered the invitation. And I just happened to run into this person. Who knows how many other things I’ve not gotten that I don’t know about?”

One would think that Zaret would be fired from his job. Anyone who so blatantly fails to perform would be. We will know he’s a spy when he gets rewarded with a new job, instead. Maybe he will be reassigned to Aleman’s office. He’s such a fan, after all.

Read related story: A tale of two aides — Fired and Hired

Ladra bets that Aleman votes against Rosen Gonzalez’s initiative. But the other commissioners really ought to take it seriously. In order for commissioners to be truly independent, they need the freedom to hire and fire their own staff — and to be able to trust that their staff isn’t really working for and taking care of someone else. 

Don’t forget the word fire. Because the mayor can also fire an aide out of spite or revenge. Anyone remember Alex Fernandez? He was former Commissioner Deede Weithorn‘s aide until Mayor Ego fired him for supporting former Commissioner Michael Gongora in the 2013 mayoral race. Fernandez is better off now, working for a county commissioner.

And last week, the spy may have been in Rosen Gonzalez’s office. But tomorrow it could be in yours, Commissioner Michael Grieco. Or in yours, Commissioner Micky Steinberg. 

If Rosen’s item fails — as is likely since Commissioners Joy Malakoff and Ricky Arriola have proven before to be in the mayor’s pocket, as well as Aleman — then she should take the matter to a petition and get it on the ballot despite them. Don’t get comfy just because you got rid of one spy.

There can always be another.

We’ve had enough egg nog and holiday cheer to last us til next December. Now it’s time to get back to work.

After a two week hiatus — because really there are not a lot of events or meetings during period from just before Christmas to El Dia de los Reyes Mago — the Political Cortadito calendar is back.

Pay attention. You want to start the year right.

And please keep the information coming on the meetings, campaign rallies, powwows and other events. Just send to edevalle@gmail.com.

MONDAY — Jan. 9

6:30 p.m. — The Village of Palmetto Bay has a lot on the agenda for the first meeting of the year Monday, including a couple of items about new restroom facilities and the cafe operation at Coral Reef Park, legal fees the Village may pay for Councilwoman Karyn Cunninghman and traffic studies of the “maximum vehicular traffic which would be produced by full residential build-out of the Village mixed use district”  at 17777 and 17901 Old Cutler Road.  Apparently, the district was upzoned last year. Also on table tonight: a $50,000 grant for improvements to the dog park, a contract for $26,000 to William Paving for traffic calming devices, ordinances that try to limit the influence of campaign donors and lobbyists (more on that later) and establishing that the runoff date for any election cannot be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (turnout must have been abysmal Nov. 22).  There is also an ordinance restricting the number of apartments and townhomes in the downtown urban district to 1,000, an ordinance on the process for site plan reviews and an ordinance requiring a minumum of two bidders for contracts worth $5,000 or more and three for contracts worth $15,000 or more. Add to that discussions on the fire station and medical marijuana. Oh, and another ordinance saying that meetings must end at 11 p.m. Which, judging by the look of this agenda, is more difficult than it sounds. Good luck with that. How much you want to bet the lights are on at Village Hall Chambers, 9705 E. Hibiscus St., past midnight?

TUESDAY — Jan.  10

8:30 a.m. — The year’s first Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club meeting features Miami Beach Assistant City Manager Kathy Brooks, who will be disussing the various projects under way by the city… “including what’s next for the recently canceled Light Rail project.” Yes, you read that right. Because even though the Mayor Philip Levine has pretended to put the brakes on for now, that train to nowhere idea is still mulling around. There is no charge for the meeting, but you’re buying if you want breakfast at Manolo’s Restaurant, 685 Washington Ave.

9 a.m. — Coral Gables Commissioners have their first meeting of the year. Among the items on the agenda are a $1 million contract for red light cameras and several zoning and development plan changes, including a mixed used site plan proposed for the 33 Alhambra development. Commission chambers are on the second floor at City Hall, 405 Biltmore Way.

WEDNESDAY — Jan. 11

8:30 a.m. — Miami Beach Commission meets for the first time in 2017 at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive. Will they talk yet again about the light rail train project that has been “cancelled?” Look again on Political Cortadito later today for a story about an item on that agenda.

10 a.m. — The city of Doral has its first meeting of the new year, with a bunch of contract reviews and negotiations up for discussion. There are also several items that seem to indicate a lot of future improvement of the police department, which we know was a big issue during the last election (people like to say that former Mayor Luigi Boria told the cops to stop enforcing traffic laws). Council chambers are upstairs at City Hall, 8401 NW 53rd Ter.

THURSDAY — Jan. 12

1 p.m. — A master plan discussion for the future of Lincoln Road begins at 1 p.m. at the CIP conference room, 1701 Meridian Ave.

7 p.m. — A group of environmental activists and concerned neighbors have been trying for the past couple of years to save a tiny spit of native Pine rocklands near MetroZoo from becoming a strip mall, high-density housing and/or an amusement park. They want to step up efforts this year because there are whispers that Miami-Dade is getting closer to a deal with a developer to create that Miami Wilds animal-themed theme park in what basically amounts to the last 1.5% of an endangered habitat. The meeting will bring newbies up to speed and members of the group will share more information about an upcoming field tip to the South Dade Pine Rocklands, which are normally closed to the public. The meeting at the Tropical Audobon Society, 5530 Sunset Dr., should be over by 9 p.m.

FRIDAY — Jan. 13

7 a.m. — Every year, the Homestead and Florida City communities come together to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a free community breakfast. This year’s keynote speaker is Miami-Dade School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and this year’s theme is “Renewing the Dream and Recommitting to Peace,” which is a nod to the headlines of the past year that “highlighted the struggle for equality in the face of rising tensions.” But you won’t be able to count the electeds with both hands as the entire Homestead and Florida City commissions are expected to be there, as well as Congressman Carlos Curbelo and Miami-Dade Commissioners Daniella Levine Cava and Dennis Moss. Maybe even Mayor Carlos Gimenez will stop by, though without a re-election in sight he has no reason to. And Ladra dares Sen. Frank Artiles to show up. The event will honor some local heroes, too. It’s expected to last a couple of hours (but always goes over) at the Phichol Williams Community Center, 951 SW 4th St, Homestead.

So I guess Pedro Diaz is going to have to do another online poll.

No sooner had Ladra hit publish on the screen to post the story about the growing possibilities in the District 3 Miami Commission race — and the new threat of Alex Diaz de la Portilla spoiling it for everybody else — El Nuevo Herald breaks the news that there is yet another family dynasty member looking at the seat.

No, not Tommy Regalado, son of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado. We had him. No, not Zoraida Barreiro, wife of Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro. We had her.

Add to this bowl of fruit loops one Crazy Joe Carollo, former city manager in Doral under former Mayor Luigi Boria, who fired him publicly and loudly during a city council meeting. Joe Carollo was also once the mayor and a commissioner in the city and, in fact, in the very seat his brother, Commissioner Frank Carollo, is vacating due to term limits.

Read related story: Joe Carollo goes off the reservation, naming names in Doral

“After so much time out of office, I have decided that I will aspire as commissioner of Miami, in the seat where I started, which includes Little Havana, and that was where the community initially elected me,” Carollo was quoted as saying in Spanish, speaking to El Nuevo Herald. “I would like to be able to return to that seat to return to Miami the opportunity it gave me to serve the community and make sure it continues on the path to adequate growth and protect its neighborhoods.”

Carollo said he was not using the commission seat as a stepping stone to the mayor’s office and said he has more experience by far of any other declared candidate. His key issue will be public safety, referencing the many youth gun fatalities that have plagued Miami’s neighborhoods for the last few years.

Does this mean Frank is not gonna run for mayor? After all, people are not going to elect two Carollo brothers to the same body of government? Or would they?

Or is this Crazy Joe’s way of trying to derail his brother’s dreams? Dicen las malas lenguas that there’s bad blood there.

In either case, it is an interesting twist in an already fascinating race that promises to get even more exciting. I mean, if Dean DLP was only flirting with the idea before, he’s going to be downright giddy with the challenge now. This would be an epic battle more worth his time. Also, he feels a responsibility to the people of Little Havana, his core constituents (those that got his Christmas card over the holiday). He has to run to protect them from Crazy Joe.

But Ladra thinks Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro will urge his wife to withdraw from the race in order to avoid the attacks that would no doubt come.

Read related story: Doral update — Councilwoman calls cops on Joe Carollo

Because Crazy Joe has no boundaries.

This is a guy who got into a fistfight with a fellow elected — at the dais. This is a guy who fired his police chief after the latter neglected to tell him that federal agents were swooping in on Elian Gonzalez’s family. This is a guy who threw a tea cup at his wife and hit her in the head — and got arrested for it.

During his time in Doral, then Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz called the police on him after, she said, he harassed her and her intern. After he was fired in a meeting where he shot insults back at the mayor, Carollo wouldn’t shut up about alleged bribery and other conspiracies and corruption going on in Doral — but he offered little proof.

At times his drive and advocacy are admirable: Ladra loved it when he came out against maquinitas and absentee ballot fraud. Other times, he is kinda creepy: Always speaking in that low, booming monotone, without much inflection ever, he seldom smiles (this photo, left, is a rarity), probably because he is constantly worried about communist and Chavista conspiracies against him and our community.

Read related story: Why is Joe Carollo on Mayor Gimenez camp’s payroll?

Most recently, Carollo got paid $144,000 by the Common Sense Now PAC to work on the re-election campaign for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez. It’s an obscene amount by any standards. He was paid $6,000 a month for 166 months starting in March of 2015, then $8,000 a month in July and August and then $36,000 in the month of October — in four payments in 17 days. The only reason ever stated is “consulting.”

Please notice that the months that payments exceeded $6,000 is the time when the absentee ballots went out.

But nobody has any idea what Carollo did for Gimenez. And Carollo, apparently, ain’t keen on answering the question.

Let’s see how that plays now in his own campaign. And Ladra can’t help but wonder who his other clients are.

Stay tuned, folks. This is going to be an interesting race.

If former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla runs for city of Miami mayor, he could make it into a runoff with Commissioner Francis Suarez.

And if he jumps into the commission race instead, the Dean will hit the ground as the front runner.

These are the findings of a tiny, very unscientific poll done online by a political operative using Survey Monkey. Is it science? No. Is it interesting? Absolutely.

Pedro Diaz, who is running the commission campaign in District 3 for Alex Dominguez, sent the three question survey to insiders and influencers who are not necessarily voters in the city of Miami — lobbyists, fundraisers, gatekeepers, decision makers and the like. 

Baby X will be happy to learn that he came out on top in the mayoral question — “If elections for City of Miami Mayor were held today, whom are you more likely to vote for?” — with 31% of the 368 responses. But Dean DLP was not too far behind with 27 percent.  The survey had former Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado, who is rumored to be jumping into the race, in third place with 23% and Miami Commissioner Frank Carollo, who is termed out and expected to run also, in fourth with 19%.

Read related story: Will she or won’t she? Raquel Regalado rumors are rampant

Diaz de la Portilla has not filed any paperwork and only came into the picture last month after residents in Little Havana got a postcard in the mail from him wishing them a happy holidays. It doesn’t have a political disclaimer. “Whatever is beautiful, whatever is meaningful, whatever brings you happiness… May it be yours this holiday season and throughout the coming year,” it says, and it is signed by Alex Diaz de la Portilla “and family.”

But many seem to think ADLP — who became active on twitter in 2015 and last year to campaign for his brother and for Sen. Marco Rubio to get the GOP nomination (see photo with Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, left) — would run for Carollo’s commission seat rather than mayor. After all, Baby X and his dad, Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez, went out on a limb to endorse and support Miguel DLP against newly-elected Jose Javier Rodriguez in November’s race. Alex typically rewards that kind of loyalty and support for either of his brothers.

And the Carollo seat in his core base of Little Havana is an easier win — unless Tommy Regalado, the mayor’s son, runs as he has indicated to some that he might. But that depends on whether Raquelita runs for mayor. Ladra doubts both siblings would run at the same time.

Carollo’s open seat has already attracted a clusterbunch of candidates. Five have opened accounts and started to campaign, including Diaz’s client Dominguez — who ran for state rep and property appraiser already — and Zoraida Barreiro, wife of Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro.

Another Diaz poll has Dean DLP leading that race, with 39% and Dominguez, who has been campaigning for months, trailing with 34%. But that poll — this time by telephone and with a sample of 589 actual District 3 voters — only pitted them against two also-rans, Alfonso Leon and Miguel Soliman (17% and 10%, respectively), because Barreiro and Daniel Suarez, a longtime civilian police watchdog, had not yet filed any paperwork when it was done in early December.

The Dean told Ladra in a text message Monday that all the rumors are just that. “I am not running for anything and the ‘mailer’ is a Christmas card,” he texted.

“Now I have to be a grinch like you guys?” Us guys is the media.  “Bah humbug!”

But c’mon! A Christmas card is something you send friends and family, not voters you don’t know! Sometimes there’s a funny family picture on it. Usually, there’s a hand signed note. That wasn’t a Christmas card. That was ADLP staying relevant with his core constituency — like he does with the birthday cards he sends to seniors in public housing. They don’t have to say anything political to be politically motivated and beneficial.

“I am not running for anything at the moment,” he repeated. Key words: At the moment.

Maybe the Dean is getting ready for 2018 and thinks he can take the state House seat back from newly-elected Rep. Nick Duran. Or maybe he plans revenge against J-Rod, who beat his brother Miguel in November after beating Alex himself in the House 112 race in 2012.

But Ladra has to believe (read: hope) he is running for something someday.

And we can dream of an election cycle with a Suarez, a Carollo, a Regalado, a Barreiro and a Diaz de la Portilla on the same municipal ballot, can’t we?

If Hillary Clinton and her supporters think they already regret the day she uttered the words “basket of deplorables,” they will soon realize things can always get worse.

Sure, there has been an explosion of deplorables t-shirts and mugs and mouse pads. But now there is also a movement that could haunt Democrats for years. 

Deplorables Nation casts itself as the counter to Occupy Democrats and Move On. And it could become an umbrella for millions of people who are suddenly engaged and feel empowered by the election of Donald J. Trump.

The non-profit is the brainchild of Evelio Medina, president of the Miami Brickell Chamber of Commerce and creator of myriad local magazines and websites. He’s always inventing something. And he loves politics. So the movement was a natural for this lifetime Republican and Cuban-American immigrant.

“It’s not an idea, it’s a movement,” Medina said. “There’s a big group of people who didn’t have a tent. Now they do.”

Does he mean racists? Or homophobes? Probably not. The statement was so sweepingly general that Trump supporters who are not necessarily racists or misogynist or homophobic — and there are some — have taken it as a sort of badge of honor. Seriously. Medina’s said he did some online research that indicated more than 70 million people used the word “deplorables” in a positive manner after Clinton said her famous three little words.

“The bottom line is that we are the proud deplorables.”

Read related story: Man up, people! Trump election protests are misdirected

Never one to pass up an opportunity, Medina seized the term and trademarked Deplorables Nation. But he didn’t really know what to do with it until the idea hit him to have an alternate inaugural ball. This is a guy whose expertise is expos and events. 

The Deplorables Inaugural Ball Jan. 19 will be at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Medina actually thinks the future POTUS will show up. “He might. He owes his election to the deplorables.”

Tickets are $500 or $1,000 for VIP seats, which Ladra assumes are more comfortable and which come with two souvenir packages instead of one. It’s interesting that Trump has said his All American Inaugural will be more for the everyman and tickets cost $250-$350. 

What true, self-respecting deplorable would spend $500 on a ticket to a fancy party where the headlining musical act is the country group Saints of Havana?

There are 2,000 tickets for the Deplorable Inaugural Ball so that means that Deplorable Nation stands to raise at least $1 million on this one event alone, that’s not counting the $1,000 tickets or souvenirs. Very Trumpesque of Medina to try to become a millionaire on the POTUS’ coattails.

Medina says the funds raised by the sale of tickets and commemorative souvenirs that can also be bought online will go to the non-profit to push Trump’s agenda — and make sure he stays on track.

“If he gets scattered or distracted, we are here to remind him,” Medina said. 

Well, sure, why wouldn’t he go to your ball now with an invitation like that?