Next month, just as county employees hunker down to prepare and/or brace for next year’s budget, 
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Mr. Giveaway” Gimenez, his chief of staff, at least five other county employees and a few of his lobbyist pals will travel to France for the Paris Air Show and a side trip to Marseille.
Ah, gay Paris. It’s a beautiful place to spend a few days in June. Especially when you don’t have to pay for it yourself.
No wonder the delegation for this “business trip” is massive. Everyone wants to go.
Gimenez will travel June 12th with Aviation Director Emilio Gonzalez, Port Director Juan Kuryla, Internal Services Director Lestor Sola, Intergovernmental Affairs Director Jose Rasco, and the mayor’s COS Alex Ferro — as well as Ferro’s cousin, former State Rep.-turned-lobbyist Marcelo Llorente, his partner Alex Heckler and former driver turned lobbyist Ralph Garcia-Toledo. Commission Chairman Jean Monestime and Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz will also be going on the junket, er, I mean economic development trip.
Two other county employees are on the preliminary list of those going to Paris: Manuel Gonzalez and Maria Dreyfus-Ulvert, the chief and special projects coordinator, respectively, of the Regulatory and Economic Services Department. They are going under their hats in the Economic Development and International Trade unit.
The whole delegation is 21 people, so far, including William Talbert, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Donna Abood and Larry Williams of the Beacon Council, and attorneys David Willig and Ahpaly Coradin.
But the 
lobbyists are the more interesting travelers, right? Of course, they get to go because they put in “sponsorship” money. LSN Partners (Llorente and Heckler) are “platinum” sponsors with $7,500 contributed to the trip. Maria Molina, of Nova Consulting, paid $5,000 for a gold sponsorship. Some of the delegates are paying passengers.
Read related story: Poll: Mayor Carlos Gimenez is too comfy close to lobbyists
But what they really are buying is access, intimacy — a certain camaraderie built on spending special times together. A lobbyist would pay good money to share a glass of wine on the Champs-Élysées with the man controlling billions of public dollars. They’re also trolling for new clients. But why would any of these business leaders need a lobbyist after meeting Gimenez himself?
Willig paid the executive level sponsorship of $1,500, as did Sifa USA and CMA CGM. The projected budget as of Thursday had none of Garcia-Toledo’s company’s listed.
The county went to the Paris Air Show two years ago and while lobbyist Jorge Luis Lopez did not go on the trip, he met with Gimenez in Italy and the two couples took a little side jaunt to the Vatican to meet The Pope. His exclusion from this year’s European trip may be a further sign of the rumored cooling off of that relationship.
By the way, Ladra can’t remember or even picture former mayors Carlos Alvarez going to Europe but I remember Alex Penelas preferred Spain. These trips are not new. In fact, they are getting kinda old.
The county’s invitation to what is officially a Beacon Council trade mission says that the purpose is to promote Miami-Dade’s unique assets and location as an international trade hub. Specifically, the county has talked about revisiting the idea of bringing an international aviation expo to Miami, vis-a-vis the Everglades Jetport, a single runway so remote and far west that most of it is actually in Collier County.
Ladra can’t help but wonder how many Collier County government officials are going.
And nobody really believes some tiny little airstrip surrounded by alligators and owned by mosquitos in the middle of nowhere is going to be used for
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Look what I found sent in May
From: Sola, Lester (WASD)
Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2015 11:56 AM
To: (WASD) AD & Division Chiefs
Subject: Gift PolicyImportance: High
In the near future, you will receive a formal policy memorandum and policy statement
on our “Gift Acceptance” policy.
In the interim, please ensure that you nor your staff accept any gifts from any current or potential vendor, contractor, or representative.
There is a zero tolerance for any gift or concession to include food.
Should you have any questions, please contact Vivian.
Lester Sola
Director
Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department
3071 SW 38th Avenue
Miami, FL 33146
786-552-8200 – Office
786-552-8647 – Fax
[email protected]
http://www.miamidade.gov/water
The formal policy was sent early this week. Just in time for them to fly to Paris on our tax money
Here’s an interesting comparison (contrast, really).
As Mayor of Miami, my practice in re: trade missions was to require that the trip be based on private-sector demand. In other words, before getting on a plane, I would require that actual entrepreneurs show enough interest to warrant the trip. The metric used was typically 50 real-life business travelers, which had the intended consequence that the travel agency in question would throw in one free ticket for me as the head of the delegation.
Cost to the taxpayers: zero.
Another parameter was to only visit countries with substantial, established trade relationships with Florida.
There had to be a very concrete purpose of enhancing commercial activity between South Florida and the country visited.
I am not sure how traveling to an air show in the company of tons of government officials (and directors of government-subsidized agencies)enhances any trade objectives.
Xavier Suarez
[…] Read related story: Miami-Dade Mayor, lobbyist pals head to Paris Air Show […]
Seriously, yes these trips have gone on for a long time and yes they’re parties. Official business? please! They make a couple of visits to the pavillion which by the way MIA’s booth normally occupies an entire corner. They walk around admiring the weapons and all types of killing machines which is what you see most of at this trade show “air” show. Which I guess explains that the County’s staff is made up of men. But the fact that Mr. Sola is attending is a surprise, representing what? is the County going to be looking at sewer pipes in Paris? Maybe he can look for qualified staff for the Water & Sewer Dept. now that Mr. Sola got rid of the only employee in the entire department that had experience in utility management, anybody knows why he fired Ralph Terrero? Apparently it was because the department has too many Assistant Directors, really? so someone from Elections can be an assistant director at Water & Sewer but not a real utillty guy. Mr. Sola is a great disapointment and a joke, but now he’s going to Paris!
My father is Ralph Terrero and I am very disappointed at the gross hypocrisy at Miami Dade County Water and Sewer. I so agree with Alicia on how we could terminate a long-term committed county employee because there are too many assistant directors, but at the flip of a switch, the county is sending a delegation to Paris. Really???
Someone better check the specs on that plane! Liftoff may not occur on the count of the load of s$&t packed on board!
Face facts people…it will never change.
As long as people like Ralph Garcia-Toledo and Jorge Lopez are pulling at Mayor Toolboy’s knickers, nothing will change in this town. They will have the money to outspend and quash any viable competition. Garcia-Toledo, or “Pizza the Hut” as he is referred to on the 29th floor of County Hall, is as corrupt and unethical as he is overweight. Jorge Lopez is a self-promoting scumbag whose days can’t end soon enough.
Face it people, long lost are the days of decent people running this town.
The Mayor has surrounded himself with absolute garbage…from the previous two clowns to Heckler (while he’s out yanking on the DGA’s checkbook to make a living, all his clients are moving over to more effective firms) to Llorente (another lowlife, just ask the coeds in Tallahassee)…the list goes on and on. And now this ignorant, barely-coherent Commissioners are just falling in line.
Thank you to Juan Zapata and Xavier Suarez for continuing to put up the good fight. The rest are garbage.
But again, when special interests are paying for their festivals and message and ground game, it is unrealistic to think anyone has a shot.
So strap in people, cause it’s about to be strapped-on and given to you.