Part of the outrage with the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority ‘s plan to extend the 836 with the Kendall Parkway along the western edge of the county — and the eastern edge of Everglades wetlands — is the amount of money that went to the slick PR campaign for the yes vote.
MDX reportedly spent at least $150,000 just on a mailer that went out to voters or homeowners in the West Kendall area that has been promised alleviated traffic. The gripe is that they used toll dollars to provide only an option to support the parkway, and not one to oppose it, not that it’s an incredibly inflated amount that looks bogus to lots of legitimate mail vendors.
But what if Ladra told you that what MDX spent on the total “educational campaign” was more than twice that much? And what would you think if you knew part of that money went to 
Barby Rodriguez, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s daughter-in-law.
Barby Rodriguez-G, as she calls herself works for one of the companies who got part of the MDX pie. EV Services was paid $60,000 of the 836 extension project funding, which from the requested public documents that Ladra has gotten so far — and it doesn’t look like I’ve gotten everything — is close to $390,000.
Read related: Barby Gimenez shows up to no-show job on county dime
And that’s just through May! How much you want to bet it goes over half a million already?
Those are toll dollars spent on PR to convince the public that they need the Kendall Parkway.
EV Services, where Barby Rodriguez is a “public information officer,” is one of three companies that have been paid since at least March to push the Parkway with an “educational campaign.” Bermello, Ajamil & Partners (billed $69,950) and HNTB (billed $258,568.40) are the other two. Both of those are architecture, civil engineering consulting and construction management firms that expect to make hundreds of millions more building the six lane, 13-mile highway estimated at a $1 billion cost.
So the companies who stand to make millions are the ones “educating” us on the project?
That’s for, according to the invoices provided by MDX, various presentations, a briefing with Sen. Annette Taddeo and with Congressman Carlos Curbelo‘s staff, attending weekly meetings, receiving and responding to emails and calls about the Kendall Parkway, drafting radio messages, “printed and cut” 100 more support Kendall 
Parkway cards, “researched area of 167th avenue for database,” worked on final Spanish translation for a flyer the website, reviewing the script and elements of an educational video, outreach to community leaders and homeowner associations, coordination with content producers and distributors, and multiple mailers, among other tasks.
So if they are handling the “educational campaign” and outreach what is EV Services, which does nothing but public relations (read: propaganda), doing? Or are they just on there for a flat $60K because of the ties to the mayor?
According to one of the March invoices, EV Services did:
- Preparation of Leadership Track Educational Campaign and outreach to community leaders, businesses, HOAs and special groups
- Attendance in weekly strategy meetings related to Kendall Parkway
- Assistance in preparation of collateral materials for Kendall Parkway educational materials
- Assist in preparation of digital content for educational campaign
- Attendance at coordination meetings with content producers and distributors
So, pretty much they all did the same stuff.
And how much more does EV Services stand to make? And how much of that goes directly to Barby? And did she have to do anything or is she just there so they get the contract?
Ladra is still getting more public records and will report further on this.
MDX spent $400K on PR, including $60K for mayor’s daughter-in-law added by Ladra on
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The Miami Cuban ” Cosa Nostra” y si soy cubano pero digo la verdad .
The Italian Mafia would steal less and run Miami better .
It’s The Old Body Club at MDC as Usual Family ,Friends & Donors Are protected ? Protected is a Mafia Term ! The Public records in Dade County are Ignored as The Conflict of Interest are At Ethics .
I Requested Public Records on ACA G.K.Sanchez Under FOIA and State Statute 119 and Was Told by another Attorney It Will Cost me About $ 230,000, Because I will have to pay Time for an Attorney To Look What They Could Give me .
If They Clean The Dirt What Good is The Public Records , All This Public Officials Are Contaminated ! ” YES RECALL THE MAYOR “
Hey to all,Good luck on your public record requests .I have had experience at trying to get public records from Miami-Dade County employees and this is how it worked or did’nt work for me.I request the Public records by Email and you have to be for the most part specific on Names,if you have an email address that’s very good.names dates & times help too.Make sure you receive a confirmation that you received it because sometimes they say they never received your public records request.Miami Dade County Employees do use their private emails for business and I would bet the Commissioner’s as well as Miami-Dade County Mayor use a private email too, as well as their staff people.So what you have to do is have whoever you want info on and give that information to the I.T people so they can do a general search of certain key words as well as emails.than I have had Miami-Dade County Attorney’s reviewing them to see what they want to give up.I have proof of that happening to me.Also,a bunch of people act stupid and dumbfounded on purpose to try and frustrate you so you’re better to ask for your information from a supervisor or directly from the Information technology Dept.If anyone else is having problems and I know a few people that have trying to get records I would be ready to file a complaint or file a lawsuit to make it easier for people to receive public records faster.Also,we need to get public records from the the Commissioner’s and Mayor Carlos Geminez. The people who have their personal emails are their campaign contributors like Jose Luis Lopez ,Brian May,and rich people.Good luck and pleasant hunting.
Good luck on trying to get emails for public records.These Miami-Dade County employees play a bunch of games.When you ask for anything make sure you receive a confirmation that they received it because they have technically 30 days to do it.Also you may have to file a complaint or lawsuit to get emails from Certain people in high positions like Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Geminez and the Commissioner’s as well as staff members. DEPUTY MAYOR’S ETC because they are using their personal emails to do business with their friends that donate to them.Anyone that is having problems trying to get your FOIA requests means their hiding things because they know they did something that they don’t want you to know about.Anyone that is or have had problems trying to get records we should file a formal complaint with the Miami-Dade County Courthouse. I’m ready when you are
…all functioning big cities rely on rail. When one crosses our downtown causeways. One suspects Greater Miami is becoming a big city. Coral Gables development supports that thought. When one visits Madrid one is impressed with its urban transportation network. Dozens of rail lines, surface and underground,and the majority are privately owned. Madrileños don’t need to drive into the city. Budapest, Paris depend on rail. We have our big chance to complete our metro rail line to Florida City and connect tens of thousands of workers, and offer our youth an incentive in planning their future working lives.
I support recalling Carlos Gimenez!