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representing his own best interests and wants his terms.
And if it is such a good idea, then why not open the process up from the beginning? Maybe the mayor should have sent a memo to the commission in January of 2014, 
when Trump’s people first approached him about it, saying that this was something brought to his attention and maybe it was a project the county could issue an RFP for. You know, so that there could be some semblance of an even playing field. Maybe a little public participation, too. Is it too much to ask for a little more transparency?
Ladra’s dear friend and favorite Hialeah firefighter, stubborn Gimenez man Eric “Slick” Johnson, says any deal that gets struck should go to a public referendum vote, like the tennis center (now in the midst of a lawsuit) did. “I’ve paid for that park. I’m paying for it now,” said Johnson, who doesn’t play golf and has never stepped foot on the Crandon course. “It’s ours. It’s not his to give away.”
Maybe that is not a bad idea. A competitive and publicly open bidding process with input from the stakeholders — including the people who live and govern in Key Biscayne — that, if it passes all the other semll tests, goes to a public vote at the end. Because Ladra sorta likes the idea of a private entity taking the risk and investing in our infrastructure. What I don’t like is the idea of missing opportunity for a really good deal because we gave away the farm to someone who was hand-picked because of connections to the mayor — on the golf course or in his DNA.
The perception is bad enough to force the mayor to recuse himself from further discussion Reports today indicate he recused himself recently. I was told he recused himself back in January of 2014 and made the mistake of not getting it in writing. But let’s say we believe him. That might still be a day late and a few million dollars short. We don’t know when Trump first laid the idea on the mayor at the golf course. Ladra was told it went something like this:
Trump: “Whoa! Dude! This course bites! The surroundings are beautiful but the fairways are not. It really could use some pizzazz.”
Gimenez: “You think you could do better? Go for it, pocopelo.”
But how much more back and forth went on after that? Because to recuse yourself after the deal has been cooked doesn’t count. We know that everybody else involved knows what you want by then. Especially if you just hand it off to your lackeys.
Already, the mayor is backtracking, going on Bernadette Pardo‘s radio show to say that he never talked with Trump as his apologists scramble to do some crisis management and change the narrative. But he didn’t talk to him on the golf course at the Leow’s Celebrity Tournament in November 2013? Or the unveiling of Blue Monster a year ago in February of 2014?
I mean, no matter how good a deal comes out of this at the end, the fact of the matter is that we have one more shiny example of our mayor’s love affair with celebrities and billionaires and perceived backroom deals — whether it pans out now or not — that continue to whittle away at the public trust? What was Gimenez thinking? I am beginning to wonder if they are not drugging him slowly — in his food or in the air freshener in his car. Because, no matter how much explaining they do now, this is a gift to the opposition.
No matter who runs against him in 2016, Ladra sees the mailers now with the cozy pics of Carlitos and Don with the words “giving away your public parks” in bold. Some political observers go as far as to say that Gimenez could have lost the race already right here.
That may be why I keep imagining Donald Trump dressed as a fairy godmother presenting Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado with 
a glass slipper on a quilted pillow or the genie from Alladin blinking with his arms crossed to conjure a whole new platform for Miami-Dade Commissioner Mayor Sir Xavier Suarez — both leading possible contenders in a 2016 county mayoral battle.
“This is yet another example of Carlos Gimenez’s commitment to corporate welfare and the lack of transparency and respect for public assets at Miami-Dade county,” Regalado said. “It’s just a matter of time before we’ll be hearing about all the low-wage job that this latest giveaway will produce.”
She’s gotta be a happy camper today. Just when the Skyrise Miami lawsuit started to lose public interest — bippidi, boppidi, boo — she gets this gift. Ladra expects her to be milking this latest Gimenez gaffe for days on radio and TV.
Suarez seems a little more serious.
“Over my dead body,” the commissioner and former Miami mayor told Ladra about the proposal. 
“I’m mystified that this was discussed and I wasn’t aware and I’m the commissioner for that district. Why are we fixing something that isn’t broken? Why are we spending so much time on stuff that is functioning well?”
This sweetheart of a deal comes after sweetheart deals for public dollars for the Miami Dolphins and the Miami Heat and a $9 million subsidy to the privately-owned and financed Skyrise Miami project. Suarez said the mayor should be paying attention to other matters — public transportation, for example.
And he agrees that the perception doesn’t look good and that the mayor keeps shooting himself in the foot with these gaffes.
“It doesn’t look good to be playing golf with Donald Trump and then turn around and take an unsolicited bid.”
No, but it’s beginning to look like standard operating procedure.
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