Three of the six city employees let go by Sweetwater Mayor Jose Diaz last month in what he called a “clean sweep” were re-instated by the commission on Monday. Former Human Resources Director Joanna Rubio was the only department head to be rehired by the minimum required 5-2 margin. But I hope she doesn’t get […]
Thank goodness for the Miami-Dade Democratic Party! Our loyal, local blues turned what could have been a ho-hum year of mid-term elections with very few challenges at the state level into a full House partisan battle. Que fun! Now it’s a party. Dade Dems Chairwoman Annette Taddeo-Goldstein will publicly announce Tuesday, after a press release […]
Developers who want to build that Disneyesque-looking Skyrise Miami building downtown will have $2 million less for construction, now that Florida Gov. Rick Scott included that little legislative gift in the budget items he vetoed on Monday. While this year’s $77 billion budget may have set a state record, these $69 million in cuts may […]
Some call it payback for the 5% loss and the veto override that arguably strained some of his already-limited ability to negotiate with the county employee unions, but Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is proposing new contracts that ask for a 10% cut in base pay and hints at a new battle with our county labor […]
In what has been characterized as a political ploy a full year before what is shaping up to be a heated local election, Sweetwater Mayor Jose M. Diaz — a 12-year commissioner who took over last fall after the previous mayor was arrested on federal public corruption charges — said he has absolutely no idea […]
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine has proved, yet again, how difficult it can be for a millionaire businessman who is used to ordering folks around and getting his way to transition to that public servant role and follow the rules. Let me get this straight: First, Levine bullies and baits a police officer at the […]
It will cost Coral Gables nearly $14,000 to remove 14 Bismarckia Palms along Ponce de Leon Boulevard that have been deemed possibly dangerous due to restricted visibility. Seems like a bargain considering each of the trees cost about $12,000 each — a $168,000 investment in further beautifying the City Beautiful. Related story: Coral Gables must […]
In their drive to get the Miami-Dade Commission to pass a tax hike that was approved by voters in 2012 to fund the no-kill Pet’s Trust intiative, the organization that got the measure on the ballot — the measure since ignored by Mayor “By Poll” Carlos Gimenez and eight commissioners — is going around asking cities […]
State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez (R-Hialeah) is formally in the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s race. Gonzalez, who is termed out at the end of this year, filed Tuesday, making true Ladra’s prediction from last month. Wednesday, he withdrew from the Hialeah Council race that he had originally intended to run in. The representative did not return repeated […]
The palm trees that cost former Coral Gables City Manager Pat Salerno his job — after he was caught in a lie about them — must go, too. An independent consulting firm has found that 14 Bismarckia Palms along Ponce de Leon Boulevard in downtown Coral Gables do present a visibility issue to drivers, after […]