Jorge Forte, one of the lobbyists arrested by the FBI last week in a sting operation that also nabbed two mayors on bribery and extortion charges, had several contracts with the city of Doral, dating as far back as 2009. Three of Forte’s companies had contracts or agreements to do business with the small western […]
An automated poll in Homestead has raised the possibility of yet another candidate in this year’s already interesting mayoral race. Vice Mayor Jon Burgess was mentioned as one of the candidates in a poll of 250 voters done Thursday (and which, ooops, reportedly reached a number of businesses, too). The poll has some people thinking […]
Doral Vice Mayor Bettina Rodriguez-Aguilera has some nice free publicity on the city’s website for her lobbying business. Or had, anyway. Before Ladra called the city to ask about it and they took the link off a little while ago. Oooops. But earlier today, and all through the year, right on the vice mayor’s government […]
According to a recent poll, many people think our county firefighters do a better job than the mayor. A survey of 450 voters who were called live from Aug. 2 to Aug. 5, voters gave our first responders more than twice as many approval points as Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Not So Golden Boy” Gimenez. Almost […]
Miami Lakes Interim Mayor Ceasar Mestre — who was vice mayor until the arrest last week of Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi on bribery and extortion charges after an FBI sting operation — has dropped out of the race to replace Pizzi permanently. In a text message to his friends and other council members, Mestre said […]
Add one more name to what looks like a quite crowded special mayoral ballot for Miami Lakes to replace the suspended Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi, who was arrested Tuesday for his role in a federal grants kick-back sting set up by the FBI. Despite rumors that Miami Lakes Mayor Wayne Slaton, who lost to Pizzi […]
The federal kick-back sting that led to the arrest this week of two Miami-Dade mayors and two of our local lobbyists also sheds light on some stark differences between two council members in Miami Lakes. The feds call them Councilmember A and Councilmember B in the affidavit that supported the arrest of Miami Lakes Mayor […]
Jorge Forte, one of the lobbyists arrested this week in connection with a bribery and extortion scam involving illegal federal kick-backs to willing politicians, worked for Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban Bovo. I mean, during the time that he was orchestrating a scheme to knowingly steal money from the federal government and split it with his buddy […]
The federal undercover operation that netted two local mayors and two lobbyists planning elaborate and illegal kick-backs in one day didn’t just throw a wrench into their plans to steal hundreds of thousands, even millions, from the federal government. It also canceled the highly-publicized charity benefit “mixed martial arts” match next month between former and […]
What some people might see como una desgracia, otros los ven como una oportunidad. The handcuff marks on his wrists were probably still itching him when wannabes started talking about running to replace Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi, who was arrested Tuesday on federal bribery and extortion charges. One obvious hopeful is Vice Mayor […]