What is the big deal about Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez changing 
parties from Republican to Independent or NPA? Ladra isn’t so surprised.
And it’s not because he’s never really been that right a Republican. And it’s not because he doesn’t owe anything to the local GOP — which supported former Hialeah Mayor Julio “Need A Loan?” Robaina in the 2011 mayoral recall race and former Commission Chairman Joe Martinez in the 2012 mayoral race. And it’s not, as many are speculating, because Democrat Commissioner Elect Daniella Cava Levine beat Republican incumbent Vice Chair Lynda Bell in a non-partisan race that became pretty partisan.
Not entirely, anyway.
Some of las malas lenguas say it’s because of the influence of Democrat Party insiders like his spokesman Michael Hernandez, who was the Hispanic Communications Director for the Miami-Dade Democratic Party in 2012, and his son’s boss Freddy Balsera, founder of Balsera Communications and a Barrack Obama appointee in 2011 to the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, who was once named one of Florida’s top 10 Democrats by Florida Magazine.
Okay, maybe they (especially Mike, who is with him day and night through extreme thick and unfathomably thin) might have either lit the spark or fanned the flames — and, of course, they are both too smart to admit it — but it’s not entirely their fault either.
Unless it’s a brilliant media move. Because look how quickly the mere talk of the mayor’s possible party switch changes the conversation from the increased debt under Gimenez’s watch, exposed by Doug Hanks in the Miami Herald Sunday, to some silly nonsense that doesn’t really matter — remember, he’s just talking about doing it — by a non-partisan elected whose term is not up until 2016. It took one day. It’s a classic damage control tactic from Media Crisis Management 101: When you don’t like the narrative, give the media something different, something “better” to talk about — because for Cuban Miami radio, political party drama is better than boring, old debt.
At first, Ladra thought this was just a smart little pre-campaign gimmick because the Republicans no se lo tragan anyway and the Democrats have been waging war against Gimenez for more than a year — me thinks it was perhaps in pre-Charlie Crist preparation for former Chair Annette Taddeo to run against him in 2016 — and NPAs are the largest growing segment of voters registering in the county and at the state.
Then I thought it was stupid, because the Democrats aren’t going to fall for this and the Republicans que no se lo tragan are going to dislike him more, especially since the timing couldn’t be worse. The potential defection — remember, he is only thinking about it — is seen as a slap in the face to Gov. Rick Scott a week before his close race with former Gov. Crist, another turncoat, is decided. If he really wanted to change, he should have done so quietly, like we all do. I know he was asked if he was Republican at a radio show, and Hernandez said he just answered the question honestly with no prompting, but he should have said something else, like how partisan politics were not important at the municipal level. “I’m an independent thinker,” seems too much of a hint. Wink, wink, nod, nod.
Yeah, I’m not buying it either. It’s one of the reasons I am convinced it was a brilliant media move.
It may also have some pre-campaign value: The switch could indicate that Gimenez sees himself in a runoff in 2016. 
We keep hearing about all these people who could be real contenders against him — Commissioner Xavier “Mayor Sir” Suarez, Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera — and while party affiliation may not have been key in a race decided in August, it could actually swing the round two result.
Or maybe, just maybe, it is simply habit. Maybe it is because it is the mayor’s modus operandi to change his mind. Maybe it’s because Gimenez typically governs whichever way the wind blows.
In fact, inquiring minds want to know: Did Gimenez poll this? Because, you know, he usually polls everything and anything before he takes a position on it. That’s why Gimenez has not one. but two pollsters working for him. Three if you count lobbyist Jorge Luis Lopez. Is he still doing those weekly email surveys? Ladra was taken off the list a while back after I wrote about it.
Anyway, it’s in the mayor’s character to flip. Just look at his track record.
- The budget: He was originally going to recommend a tiny increase in the property tax rate to cover expanding costs, but backpedalled quickly when he realized commissioners were going to balk.
- The libraries: He was going to close a few, cut hours at the rest. Um, nope, nevermind. We can keep them open.
Police: He first suggested the layoff of up to 400 sworn and civilian personnel from the police department. There was no money until… oh, wait, looky here. Nevermind. Here’s some cash and we can keep the cops with zero layoffs.- Labor unions: At first he says there is no way that the county can restore benefits taken away from employees, known as “snap backs” because they were contractually scheduled to b restored this year, and then he says that it’s not a problem. Not only can they have their “snap backs,” but employees also get a better healthcare system and, oh, he threw in a 1% cost of living increase (read: raise) if certain revenue thresholds are met.
- The strong mayor post: Gimenez was the sponsor of an item in 2010, when he was just a commissioner, that would put a measure before voters to take powers away from the mayor and put them back in the hands of a commission and professional manager — you know, go back to the old system before we went to a strong mayor form of government. He doesn’t espouse that position now.
- The courthouse tax referendum: Gimenez was going to recommend commissioners not put the question on the ballot until he had done more research on the details, and especially possible funding sources. Maybe he got a call from Jorge Luis, who is spearheading the doomed yes vote effort. Maybe he had nightmares about Cielito Lindo caving in on all those nice judges and attorneys that pad his campaign coffers. But the next day, he told them to go ahead and put it on the ballot.
In fact, the only thing the mayor is consistent about is his inconsistency. So, changing his voter’s registration from Republican to NPA isn’t so strange.
Now, if someone were to tell Ladra that his son, attorney/lobbyist CJ Gimenez, switched parties and abandoned the GOP, I would not believe it until I saw the public record myself. And even then, I’d say it was a strategic switch to vote for the worst Dem in every race.
Carlos Gimenez’s party switch talk is consistent, distracting added by Ladra on
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