Some have wondered if the effort to recall Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruno Barreiro is real. But one of the organizers says that the only reason we haven’t seen petitions yet is that the targetted elected has to be in office for a year first, by state law.
Barreiro was sworn in last January and the effort is said to begin in earnest after the new year.
And it is not being done by gypsy campaign conartist Vanessa Brito, who spearheaded the last effort in 2011, which came close but was abandoned in favor of pursuing the recall against then Commissioner Natacha Seijas Millan.
“Not a fan,” said Tony Diaz, one of the organizers of this new effort.
“That recall was a power play by people trying to intimidate commissioners into their will,” Diaz told Ladra. “Our new recall has been prompted by the inefficient and negligent work of Barreiro.”
Maybe also prompted by a replacement candidate in the wings?
Diaz is part of a new group of campaign consultants calling themselves Lead Public Relations. They work on primarily Democratic races and have helped out in a number of state campaigns. For 2014, they are helping Democrat candidate for Agriculture Commissioner Thaddeus Hamilton of Sunrise against Incumbent Republican redhead Adam Putnam and Daisy Baez against State Rep. Eric Fresen.
But they will also run the local campaigns for activist Pamela Gray against State Rep. Holly Raschien and Marco Antonio Valdes against Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto. And they’re also talking to Homestead Councilwoman Patricia Fairclough McCormick about possibly running against the wounded Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell.
Ladra is certain they would like to run a candidate for this seat as well.
First person who came to mind is Alex Dominguez, who is fresh off two loses — first in the Democatic House primary against State Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, who went on to beat former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla (yes, it still hurts, but less), and then against Frank Carollo last month in a city commission race.
But both campaigns were in parts of Barreiro’s district and Dominguez, who recently bashed Barreiro in a letter to public housing authorities regarding the posted stories about the deplorable living conditions in elderly public housing, said he has been encouraged.
“They’ve asked me but with the money I raised, I couldn’t beat Carollo,” said Dominguez, who spent less than half the amount the incumbent spent and got a 22 percent showing.
“I would have to think about it and have to flip the switch and take money from people other than friends and family,” Dominguez said.
Other potential candidates are former State Rep. Luis Garcia, who got close with 48 percent of the vote in Barreiro’s 2012 re-election and Miami Beach Commissioner Jonah Wolfson, whose ambitions are rather known, who is in a position to look now that he helped some unknown millionaire nobody with a shady business past become the mayor of Miami Beach and who Ladra thinks would not be happy with a paltry City Attorney job in his own city.
Former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora, who lost in a squeaker newly elected Beach Mayor Philip Levine, is also said to be looking at it. That’s when he’s not looking at running for House seat against State Rep. David Richardson (D-Miami Beach).
But there is time for that.
First, the recall organizers have to have their petition approved by the county clerk. Then they have three months to collect the petitions from 10 percent of the registered voters in District 5.
Meanwhile, it’s time for some education (read: propaganda) via the effort’s Facebook page, which had 57 likes as of Friday evening.
“Let’s recall a corrupt commissioner! A commissioner with a disturbingly bad attendance record and one that is not doing enough right for our community,” says the page. It has posted stories about the deplorable living conditions in elderly public housing and alleged ties to developers who contributed to Barreiro’s campaign.
Said Diaz: He has not been present in our community, has let quality of life drop and does not even regularly attend commission meetings. For those reasons, our team will be mobilizing more support, more funds and more effective methods to remove Buffoon Barreiro,” than before.
“When a politician is ineffective, we don’t have to sit with him ’til next election. We have tools to get them to work for our community. Or to at least pay attention,” Diaz said. “A recall is one of these tools.”
Barreiro, meanwhile, doesn’t seem too worried, yet. He did not return a call left at his office and a message left with his chief of staff.
Bruno Barreiro recall might be about the after-race added by Ladra on
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