The program allocates one hour for the speakers, but Ladra bets the Democrats of South Dade Club meeting Tuesday goes late.

That’s because there are no fewer than eight blue party candidates — one congressional, one state senate wannabe and six House hopefuls — on the schedule. And who knows how many more will just show up to say hi?

Most interesting on the program is Florida Senate candidate Ana Rivas Logan, a former Republican state rep who finally threw her hat in against Sen. Dwight Bullard in the District 40 primary as Ladra suggested and predicted months ago. Was Bullard not available? Or are the South Dade Dems among those who don’t think he can beat State Rep. Frank Artiles in November and want to bet on Rivas instead?

Can you say awkward?

In fact, the only incumbent at Tuesday’s forum is State Rep. Kionne McGhee, who is unopposed (sure, there’s an NPA who opened an account, but she has reported raising no money and Ladra doubts she will even qualify). He almost doesn’t have to speak and can give his time to his party mates.

The other five are:

• Daisy Baez, who is running for the open seat in District 114 left vacated by the term-limited Erik Fresen. It is her second run after getting 44 percent in 2014 with about half his money. There is another Democrat named Albert Santana in the primary, but while he has loaned himself $42,000, he does not look like much of a challenge to Baez, who many expect to turn the seat blue this year.
• Ross Hancock, who wants to run in District 115 against State Rep. Michael Bileca but may face a primary challenge against Jeffrey “Doc” Solomon, who most recently failed a bid for Pinecrest Village Council.
• Robert Asencio, a former Miami-Dade Schools Police lieutenant, is running in the seat vacated by Artiles’ dash for the Senate. The longtime public employee advocate — who has traveled to Tallahassee as president and founder of Florida Public Employees Partnership to advocate against pension reform — is the only Dem running in that race, which has five Republicans listed as potential foes, including former Congressman David Rivera and former Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell.
• Kevin Diaz, one of two Democrats running in District 120 against Holly Raschein. He’s a Miami attorney who grew up in Homestead.
• Daniel Horton, the other Democrat running in District 120, after switching from the Democratic Senate primary in District 39 against Andrew Korge.

That’s from the program. Ladra would not be surprised if Solomon and Santana showed up.

And let’s not forget the congressional candidate, Scott Fuhrman, who is going up against the least vulnerable Republican around, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who hasn’t had a challenge in, well, has she ever? Fuhrman may have an unfortunate name (any relation to Mark of OJ fame?) and rap sheet (several college arrests, a DUI and a fleeing the scene of an accident), but he also has $250,000 burning a hole in his pocket and the Democratic Party’s support in a year when they hope the toxicity of Donald Trump helps them win seats when GOP voters stay home.

Now, how are these eight candidates going to speak in one hour’s time? Ah, because the Kendall Dems have Bob Goldstein, the longtime club president, who has experience cutting politicos off mid-speech.

The event at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami, 7701 S.W. 76th Ave., begins with social time at 7 p.m., followed by club business at 7:30. The candidates will start speaking about 8 p.m.

But don’t hold them to the 9 p.m. end time. Bob’s good but there are bound to be questions from the audience.

We’ve all just figured out what Plan B is for the family and friends of Miami-Dade Carlos Gimenez should he get fired by voters and lose his seat at County Hall in August: Get another seat on the school board.

The mayor’s sister-in-law filed documents earlier this month to run for the Miami-Dade School Board in the seat vacated by Raquel Regalado, who is running against Gimenez. How convenient. I mean, we wouldn’t want any of the Gimenez children to have nowhere to go for handouts. Where would his millionaire friends get their game-changing grants? And his contractor buddies would have to actually compete for work? Shudder the thought.

Sure, sure, I am helping Raquel with her campaign to become the first female mayor of Miami-Dade County. Because it’s about time. Because she has a proven track record at the fourth largest school district in the country. And because she is the best alternative we have to Carlos Gimenez, who lies to the people and gave a $4 million no-bid contract to his son and finds jobs and business for his buddies and million-dollar subsidies for his campaign contributors.

Read related story: Carlos Gimenez’s son’s firm got $4 million PAC repair job

But guess what? I would have been against Mari Tere Rojas anyway.  Ladra would not have believed in the integrity of this surprise candidate nonetheless and would not be — surprise, surprise — impartial.

And guess what? None of that makes what you’re about to read any less true. But since nobody else points out the obvious, the job is left to Ladra.

It’s going to be hard to run a campaign against Rojas. I mean, she’s probably raised $100,000 already. Yes, that’s a lot for a first time candidate. And, no, it isn’t because she was been a teacher and principal at elementary schools for 30 years.

Lourdes Gimenez and CJ Gimenez say words at Mari Tere Rojas’ kick-off

Not a lot of first-time candidates have their kick-offs at the Biltmore Hotel, where Rojas had her first shindig last week (you can see all the usual suspects in her Facebook pics). Not a lot of first-time candidates have the mayor’s wife and son, a known lobbyist, introduce her. Not a lot of first-time candidates — even longtime educators — have the golden, grabby hands of Brian Goldmeier, the mayor’s professional fundraiser, shaking the trees for them.

Read related story: Carlos Gimenez pals own land for/near new soccer stadium

Goldmeier’s probably already made calls to people who have maxed out on the mayor’s campaign. “Hey, here is another way you can help Carlos Gimenez.” Wink, wink. Nod.

So, who is going to want to go up against that?

His name is Richard Tapia. He is a Miami Dade College professor and former public school teacher. And I expect to be learning more about him in the next few months and sharing that with you all. Because, as we have established, Ladra is not impartial. And the fact that he is not connected to the corrupt Gimenez cottage industry is a good thing.

But, hey, now the mayor’s wife or one of his daughters-in-law can run for a city of Miami commission seat. 

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez will lead another dog and pony show today. Or should we call it a dog and cat show?

The opening of the new animal services shelter in Doral is 12 years late, since voters approved it in 2004, but comes less than two months before absentee ballots drop in a hotly contested mayoral race where he is sliding. That is not a coincidence.

It’s also not a solution.

Sure, it’s a little more than a bandaid. This new shelter will be a cleaner facility with newer equipment and space for 100 more dogs, which Ladra bets will fill up in the first week. The dogs will have air conditioning. Woo hoo. But it’s mostly a shiny, new distraction to appease the animal advocate community and another cutie pie puppy photo op for Gimenez et al.

He won’t mention the 15 dogs and 12 cats that were killed in two days last week so they wouldn’t take up room in the new shelter. The dogs had names like Simba and Bruno and Zeus, evidence of a better life once. They were too old or too sick or too ugly to be transported to the new shelter.

Or maybe the county didn’t want to mess up the new “killing room.” How much you wanna bet that’s not included in today’s VIP tour?

Will it take 12 years for the 2012 people’s vote to be respected? Sure, the Pets’ Trust Initiative ballot question was non-binding, a straw ballot. But if 65% of your constituency votes for something, don’t you think you ought to do it? Gimenez has continued to thumb his nose at the 483,491 people who voted for the dedicated funding to a massive spay and neuter program that would bring the county to a no-kill status. Even though that is more than the number of people who have voted for Gimenez. Ever. In all his elections.*

Is that it? Is it jealousy, bruh?

That’s the only reason Ladra can think of that makes any sense as to why he continues to ignore the people’s will, the people’s freaking mandate. That vote was to fund a $20-million plan that would focus on massive spay and neuter programs in retrofitted low-cost neighborhood clinics with an extra $15 a year or so in taxes. The question was exactly as such:

Would you be in favor of the County Commission increasing the countywide general fund millage by 0.1079 mills and applying the additional ad valorem tax revenues generated thereby to fund improved animal services, including:

• Decreasing the killing of adoptable dogs and cats (historically approximately 20,000 annually);

• Reducing stray cat populations (currently approximately 400,000 cats); and

• Funding free and low-cost spay/neuter programs, low-cost veterinary care programs, and responsible pet ownership educational programs?

Carlos Gimenez says we didn’t know what we were voting for. Ladra would argue that the 126,525 people who voted for Gimenez in 2012 didn’t know what they were voting for. That’s much more reasonable.

A dog is visibly nervous, perhaps he senses the other dead animals in the room, as he awaits his fate at the Miami-Dade animal shelter “killing room”

Meanwhile, he has increased the funding and is spending almost as much as the Pets’ Trust plan would have spent, but without making a dent in the stray population. The first year, he increased the funding from $10 million to $14 million for animal services. The next year it went up to $16 million and last year it went up again to $17 million. That is close to the $20 million that was needed in the Pets’ Trust plan, which was written over months and with the participation of our Animal Services Department director and several animal rescue groups and organizations. But instead of going to low-cost spay and neuter services that would lower and control our stray population, Carlos Gimenez hired more veterinarians and technicians at the shelter. The bulk of that money is going to staff salaries and benefits, not to spay and neuter services, which is the only way to make a dent in the stray population control.

About $300,000 went to a consortium of local veterinarians — who fought the Pets’ Trust plan tooth and nail — to do spay and neutering. About 5,000 operations were performed over two years and the money is gone. The Pets’ Trust plan says we need between 100,000 and 125,000 surgeries a year to cut down on the stray population.

And the best thing about it is that the budgeting would have decreased over time. Instead of going up and up like it is now, the budget would be decreasing because fewer surgeries would be needed and fewer animals would be killed.

The numbers the county is reporting from Animal Services now on the 90 percent save rate are a fraud. We have lower kill rates only because they take in fewer dogs and cats. They ship some of what they do take in to other states where we don’t know what happens. They turn people away at the gates. They tell callers to go to Broward. They don’t count owner surrenders if they can convince the owner to euthanize. They refuse to take in strays and abandoned dogs called in by residents.

One drive around the Redland with the activists who go out every evening to feed the strays dumped and abandoned there will prove to anyone that Animal Services is not doing its job (more on that later). A group from Orlando came in one day a few months ago and rescued 54 dogs. In one day. They took them back to Orlando in a caravan of 14 vehicles. You know that if you go out in one day and find 54 stray and abandoned dogs in a 12-hour period that Miami-Dade Animal Services isn’t doing its job.

Carlos Gimenez isn’t doing his job either. He is not representing the people who voted him into office. He just likes to cut ribbons a couple of months before his re-election.

The Pets’ Trust people — now organized as the Animal Power Party political action committee — will have a protest at 10:30 a.m. today in front of the new shelter ribbon cutting, 3599 NW 79 Ave. They ask that protesters wear red in solidarity. The protest has become more about democracy and respecting the people’s vote than even animal welfare.

*Gimenez got 10,844 votes to become District 7 commissioner in 2004, was elected sans opposition in 2008, then got 55,180 votes in the post recall free-for-all of 2011 and 102,445 in the runoff against Julio Robaina, and finally 126,525 votes in 2012 against former Commission Chairman Joe Martinez for a grand total of 293,994 votes. In 2012, a total of 483,491 people voted for the Pets’ Trust.

Disclaimer: Ladra’s alter ego, Elaine de Valle, is working with #TeamRaquel to get Raquel Regalado elected mayor instead of this clown we have now. This blog post, however, is not part of her work product. This is what Ladra does and has done since 2010. This blog has been Carlos Gimenez biggest critic since he was involved in voter fraud in the 2012 election. We will continue to highlight these stories as long as the mainstream media does not. And the fact that Ladra is helping Raquel Regalado does not make any of the aforementioned false. It is all still true.

Everybody is wondering if the news Thursday that Sen. Gwen Margolis was withdrawing her re-election bid and retiring will cause Andrew Korge to switch seats again to the first one he looked at way back before he was a congressional candidate even. Or if it is causing State Rep. David Richardson (D-Miami Beach) to take another look at the Senate run.

Korge, son of Democratic fundraiser and Miami International Airport concessionaire Chris Korge, is currently running against Flores for the Senate seat in District 39 after briefly going after Annette Taddeo in the congressional primary in District 26. But he may go back to his original plan, which was to run for Margolis’ seat before she surprised everyone by saying she would stay put for another term.

Margolis is retiring now, under pressure to apologize for her comment (shouldn’t she still?) in which she dismissively referred to her challengers as “three Haitians, some teacher and some lawyer.”

Read related story: Alex Penelas crowd hosts Andrew Korge’s Senate kick-off

Now, Ladra happens to think that statement is generally true. And it doesn’t have to be a bad thing to be one of three Haitians in a race. There is no other district in which this happens, so there is obviously a significant Haitian electorate in the district. But we know Margolis meant it as a slight. “That’s all they are,” was implied. She is not the most sensitive girl. And it seems she hasn’t learned much since La Gwen got her nickname from Ladra after a spat with Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla over redistricting. He pushed for her district to change due to changes in racial and language minority demographics. She did not want the change and said that Cubans should not be considered a minority.

“The Cubans came in 1960. Believe me, they can speak English,” Margolis said, back then. “They prefer not to, but they do speak English. They went to school in Miami-Dade. Their children go to school in Miami-Dade. They’re English-speaking people.”

Esa es La Gwen. It’s true, but still leaves you a little incredulous. Ah, life and politics was so much easier when there weren’t so many Cubans and Haitians around, right?

Insiders say Margolis had intended to retire after this last term because she was older than dirt, not because she was racist. She was expected to endorse Richardson (D-Miami Beach) but that she got cold feet after Korge, whose daddy can raise a lot of money, got into the race. Both withdrew out of respect to the longtime legislator — a former county commissioner who is also the first female elected Senate President.

So why were there a whole five other Democrats running against her —  the three Haitians and the teacher and the lawyer. Most notably among them is State Rep. Daphne Campbell, who may become the immediate front runner among the wannabes, if only for her name recognition, but not because she has more money. That distinction goes to Jason Pizzo, the attorney of the bunch (a former prosecutor turned land use attorney), who has loaned himself $200,000 for the campaign. The group is rounded out by former State Rep. and radio show host Philip Brutus, who has tried four other times to get back in office (State House, Senate, Congress and county commission), teacher Don Festge and the third Haitian, Anis Blemur, who owns and operates a North Miami accounting firm.

Read related story: Doubletake: David Richardson jumps back to House for 2016

But everybody is wondering if either Korge or Richardson will come back to that race now.

Korge is the obvious choice. He’s lost some key endorsements to Flores (more on that later) and she’s blowing him away with fundraising (more on that later), so it might make sense to move to an open seat race that is less Hispanic.

Richardson, the first openly-gay representative, might be too comfy in an incumbency where he’s popular. Yes, he wants the Senate and there’s opportunity here. But if he’s still seen as La Gwen’s handpicked successor, her Haitian opponents are going to run with that. Who wants a tainted legacy?

Sure, Richardson — who told Ladra in a text message he would have a response after he returned this week from business in D.C. — does have opposition to his re-election. But former Miami Beach Commissioner Deede Weithorn is trailing way behind in fundraising, which leaves her less money to get her message across and her voters out.

Wait a Miami minute! Maybe DeeDe Weithorn will run for that now open Senate seat. Or maybe her husband, Mark Weithorn, who has run unsuccessfully for state House and for city commission. Ladra has also heard that it is a seat Sen. Dwight Bullard could win more easily if he really wants to stay in office, since he’s going to lose in the primary now to Ana Rivas Logan if he stays put.

Am I crazy or could even Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi ditch a sure loss in the town for this more high profile race.

Wait another Miami minute! What about Annette Taddeo? She’s never switched mid-stream so maybe that’s a winning strategy.

Stay tuned. And let the musical chair melody begin. Because we certainly haven’t heard the last of this.

Despite having Democratic opponents in a Hillary presidential year, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Florida are endorsing two Republican incumbents in this year’s election: Sens. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla and Anitere Flores.

They’ve also endorsed Sen. Rene Garcia, but that’s different. Garcia has no opponent. Miguel DLP and Flores, however, are running in hotly contested districts against challengers supported by the Florida Democratic Party in a rush to win seats this year.

And the three GOP senators are the only Republicans AFSCME endorses in a sea of Democrats.

AFSCME is Florida’s fastest growing union, which is part of a 1.6 million member union that advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and prosperity and opportunity for all working families. And like most unions, it typically backs the blue ticket.

But they have broken from the trend for these three.

Why?

“Our wages, benefits, working conditions, health and safety, and even whether we have jobs at all, are in the hands of officials who influence our future,” said Willie Pouncy Jr., AFSCME Florida Region 3 PEOPLE Chair. “After reviewing where Senator Flores stands on the issues important to our state and to the members who live or work in her district, we believe she is the best choice in 2016 for our families, our communities and those we serve.”

And they are not alone. In the case of Flores, who helped kill a law that would have scrapped the county’s wage-theft protection program, she also has the endorsement of the Florida Professional Firefighters Association and every elected official in Homestead, all but one Democrats. Diaz de la Portilla regularly enjoys the support of police and firefighter unions.

“I have a proven track record of effectively fighting for working men and women in our community,” the eldest of the DLP brothers told Ladra.

Said Flores: “During my time in office, I have advocated for a stronger economy, raising incomes and more affordable healthcare benefits for hardworking families— matters important to all Floridians.”

So who is Andrew Korge, who is running against Flores, and State Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, who is running against DLP going to get?