While there are five Miami-Dade School Board seats on the ballot this year, only one of the contests so far seems like it could be a real schoolyard fight.
Three incumbents — Wilbert Holloway, Martin Karp and Larry Feldman (Ladra’s district member) — are so far unopposed (more on that later). One campaign lost its luster when the most exciting incumbent, Renier Diaz de la Portilla, left the near-certain re-election to ru
n for House seat 103 instead (more on that earlier).
So that leaves the race for district 7, where Carlos Curbelo — a campaign veteran and lobbyist who has been busy this year pushing the big casino measure for Genting and raising money for other politicians — has been challenged by public school teacher Eugenio “Geno” Perez, a former U.S. Marine and father of five kids, all public school students. So we can expect Curbelo, a graduate of Belen Jesuit and president of Capital Gains consulting, to get hit not only on his lack of public school ties and his close ties to the casino efforts, but also for his cozy relationship with State Rep. Erik Fressen (Rep., District 111), who has close ties with charter schools. Fressen, whose sister is a principal in Academica Corp. — which operates 12 charter schools in Florida — once worked out of the Curbelo’s company’s Coral Gables office (Curbelo said he moved in after). Here, the two are photographed together at last year’s “Investing in Education” corporate breakfast sponsored by Akerman Senterfitt law firm.
Even Curbelo expects to get hit on those issues. But he says the missiles are misdirected.
“First of all, people try to use the term lobbyist and throw it around like it’s a bad word, but like in any profession, there are good ones and a few bad ones that give the rest of us a bad name,” Curbelo said in a telephone interview Monday, adding that his record shows he has voted against and publicly advocated against charter expansion measures and revenue sharing for capital projects, where charter schools currently do not have a bite. Yes, okay. But he also proposed a half penny sales tax increase that would be earmarked solely for land purchases and construction projects and critics (read: las malas lenguas) say that was an effort to compensate for (read: hide) the millions lost from public school tax rolls to charter schools. Ladra is certain that is going to come up in the campaign as well.
Still, Curbelo said that focusing on his ties to the casino lobbying could backfire on Perez.
“He’s probably not in touch with the district. Most people in the district are for that,” he said, referring to casinos. “And there is a lot going on in our district that deserves attention. If he doesn’t want to talk about that, and would rather talk about what I do in my private life, that’s a disservice to the voters.”
Curbelo told Ladra he does public relations and only registered as a lobbyist for Genting because he knew he would be “running into legislators” and wanted the freedom to speak freely with them about it. But of course he is going to run into legislators. Curbelo, active in local GOP campaigns since he was 14 and a student of former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and that dynasty, is still active in supporting other candidates. He’s on the official campaign team for former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux — who he worked as a staffer for — in LeMieux’s his crowded bid against U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. And he supports other candidates, mostly through PACs, like the $2,000 his Capital Gains firm contributed to the Conservative Leadership Coalition that backed the failed bid for Hialeah mayor by former State Sen. Rudy Garcia. By the way, Genting gave $20,o00 to that PAC (as well as $10,000 each to the dueling campaigns for mayor to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Commission Chairman Joe Martinez. Guess they want to hedge their bets). Ladra can’t help but think they’re being guided as to who to support and will have to sniff around the dozens of PACs formed in recent months for this year’s myriad elections (more on that later) to see where else the casino giant is contrinfluencing.
Perez makes no apologies for making Curbelo’s lobby ties a central theme of his campaign.
“It’s unethical,” Perez said in a telephone interview after he was done teaching for the day Monday at the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial High School downtown, a magnet high school for future cops, lawyers and CSIs. “That’s his major interest on the school board. He’s not a teacher. He’s not an educator. He’s a lobbyist.
“I don’t think he’s interests are really on the school board and I don’t think the children are at the center of his attention,” said Perez, a graduate of American High, Class of ’81 who also made Curbelo’s private school background an issue. “He spent half a year, I think, in public school in middle school in Hialeah. He has no knowledge or experience of public schools.
“I have nothing personal against him,” Perez said. “I don’t know him and he could be a great guy. I just know I can do a better job.”
Perez is getting help from political consultant and attack mail veteran Emiliano Antunez, who already has a hard, er, spot for Curbelo. “I just don’t think lobbyists should be in elected office,” said Antunez, who has long-term plans to tackle that issue on its own, apart from the school board campaign.
While Ladra fully expects Curbelo — who is widely rumored to have eyes on a state or U.S. House seat — to hit back and Perez’s controversial role at the teacher’s union could be a thorn (more on that later), the teacher and union steward (photographed here at a Republican Party of Florida event with presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum) got the first strikes out last week in two mass emails blasted to thousands.
“The incumbent’s lack of real world educational experience, as well as his career as a lobbyist and political operative, is frankly disconcerting,” Perez (or Antunez) wrote. “I have been a public servant my entire adult life… I am running for School Board because I believe that we need the voice of an educator in District 7. We need someone who truly understands the educational needs of our children and can actually bring workable real world solutions to our children’s classrooms.”
Part of the Perez platform suggests that our community has the resources to provide for a world-class education for our kids, but that it is being squandered by management and red tape. Ladra says “Duh.” He also uses the incumbent’s financial strength to make a pitch of his own, and to take another swipe.
“The incumbent is a well-connected lobbyist and political operative who will raise large amounts of money from special interest groups including some whose interests run counter to those of our children’s education,” Perez wrote.
Curbelo is a lobbyist for Genting Group, the Malaysian and New York investors who bought the Miami Herald downtown bayfront property for $236 million and want to build a mega resort and casino there. He has recused himself at least once while he works for the big gaming interest, and Perez says that leaves his family and his neighbors unrepresented. “He’s recused himself and he has admitted he has a conflict of interests,” Perez said. “It’s an admirable thing to do, but by not voting that disenfranchises the district. That prevents him from doing his job.”
And while Curbelo may not vote on matters where he is lobbying, he still could be influencing others. In November, he hosted a fundraiser for colleague Diaz de la Portilla (when he was still in the 
re-election race) along with Baby DLP’s big brother, Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, and their friends Fressen and Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez (in this photo, right, with Curbelo, left, at the December groundbreaking for a $1 million cafeteria expansion at a Miami school. Like that’s what we need.), who is also on the LeMieux campaign team. (Also hosting: former Schools Superintendent Roger Cuevas, lobbyist Ric Sisser and attorney Jorge R. Gutierrez.)
So, yeah, lobby angle — a hot button issue this year — is already a recurring theme in this race. Which brings us to the second Geno Perez email, which Ladra got on Friday and again Saturday afternoon, as the midnight deadline for contributions loomed.
“Who would you prefer voting on issues affecting our children’s education? A lobbyist and political operative with ties to gambling interest, or a teacher that is a former Federal Law Enforcement Officer, Marine, and is also a father of five,” Perez asks in the lead. “As an involved parent, I understand your concerns. As a teacher, I know what your children need to help them succeed in the classroom. Hence, I can’t do this without your help. Campaigns require funds for printing, signage, mailers and advertising.”
Funds, indeed. Curbelo won the seat in 2010 by a 53-47 percent margin against Libby Perez (no relation to the current challenger) with a $270,000 campaign warchest and his own campaign pro, David Custin, another attack veteran known for his negative mail and radio pieces. Custin billed Curbelo — who could collect more contributions this year — somewhere around $200,000 , including $75,000 for phone banks and absentee ballot “operations” and another $75,000 for mail pieces.
Those absentee ballot operations turned out to be key, since Libby Perez beat him by 99 votes in Election Day and early voting. Curbelo had more than 3,600 additional AB votes, though.
He also had Absentee Ballot Queen Sasha Tirador, to whom he paid nearly $18,000 for media buys on TV and radio (she gets a special deal, you know, wink, wink) and Election Day “work” — which could mean driving Alzheimer’s patients to the polls.
Yep. Perez is going to need a lot of those paypal clicks on his website to fight that.
Lobby role is central issue in School Board race added by Ladra on
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