Quid pro quo Carlos Gimenez gets Super Bowl tickets as a reward

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, king of the pay-to-play game, got two free tickets to Super Bowl LIV this Sunday as a gift from Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium owner Stephen Ross, a longtime ally and campaign donor who (1) got a sweet deal in 2014 where the county pays him up to $5 million a year for doing his job and (2) needs Gimenez to deliver again with the Formula One racing event Ross wants to host over the protests of Miami Gardens residents and that was once represented by his lobbyist son.

But our Ethics chief think it’s all okie dokie.

Basically, because Gimenez didn’t ask for the tickets to the hottest event of the year (he says) and because Ross is paying for them out of his own deep pockets (he says) and because Ross is not an officially registered lobbyist, Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust Director Jose Arrojo issued an opinion Friday that gave the mayor the green light to accept the tickets and go to the game if he wants.

The mayor’s office said late Friday that they did not know what he would do with the tickets. He could go with his wife or one of his lobbyist sons or lobbyist pals. He could give them to a donor. He could sell them.

it doesn’t matter what he does with them. It’s still a bribe.

But when he discloses the gift — and that should not even be a question — Gimenez should reflect their true value, which is not the face value of $4,000 each.

Tickets are now priced between $5,850 and $14,250, and rising by the hour, on TicketMaster, right. Assuming these are not nosebleed seats that Ross gave to his palanca, the mayor’s tickets could be worth $20K.

Me thinks Arrojo did not give this much thought. Gimenez has been doing Stephen’s bidding for a while.

Okay, (1) How do we know Gimenez didn’t ask for the tickets? Just ’cause he says so? People lie to the ethics police all the time.

Not that he even had to ask. Ross was more than happy to provide them.

Because (2) these tickets are a big “thank you” from Ross, not just for the $5 mil a year in county subsidies and for paying the $1 million hotel tab for the NFL players all week — while homeless dodged the rain Friday night — but also for the November veto of a commission resolution that would ban street closures in Miami Gardens, something that Ross wanted and at that point thought he needed for the high-speed Formula One racing to come to town. Gimenez vetoed the legislation, sponsored by the District Commissioner Barbara Jordan, because he said he wanted time to “negotiate” a deal with Ross. He is the negotiator on a project that would bring Stephen Ross many more millions.

Did all that just slip by Arrojo, a former public corruption prosecutor?

“The prohibited gifts section of the Ethics Code… provides that the County elected officials including the Mayor may not accept a gift if it is part of a quid pro quo transaction,” Arrojo wrote. “Put another way, the gifted Super Bowl tickets cannot be solicited or accepted for an official public action taken, or which could be taken by the elected official.

“Thus, while the Mayor is clearly limited by the prohibited gifts subsection of the Ethics Code, he is permitted to accept a gift outside of the described quid pro quo scenario.”

Seriously? What do you call that veto?

Jordan almost cried. And Grimenez ignored her in favor of Ross. He has ignored the people of Miami Gardens, too, because he doesn’t need their votes anymore and he can use Stephen’s money for his congressional race.

So maybe we can call it a reward. Would a reward be okay? Isn’t that the same as quid pro quo? Only, like, in reverse? Ladra doesn’t think she’s ever seen more obvious quid pro quo than this.

Maybe our ethics police should watch the meeting on Tuesday, where the Formula One issue is again on the agenda. Jordan, left, is trying another piece of legislation, an ordinance amending the zoning code to remove auto races from the list of approved stadium district uses and requiring a public hearing and “address community impacts” as part of any approval process. Let’s see what the mayor says about that. Is that what he negotiated?

Or maybe our ethics police chief should be replaced by someone like Broward County Attorney Rocio Blanco Garcia, who had tried to get clarification from the state, because the county is co-sponsoring the game, but could not get an opinion by game time, wrote three reporters at the Miami Herald, which broke the story.

“In light of our discussions with the Commission on Ethics,” she told the Broward County commissioners, “it is our advice that you refrain from purchasing tickets offered to you at face value by the Super Bowl Committee.”

They were warned about purchasing tickets at the low face value. Grimenez got them for free.

This is not new to Gimenez. He’s just not used to getting caught. And the scrutiny is going to be sharper now that he is running for the Republican nomination to congressional district 26. Forget Arrojo, Gimenez has to answer to a higher power now: CD26 voters.

Which leads Ladra to (1), Can’t you just see the Democratic Party’s mailer with Gimenez and Ross and the golden tickets? And (2) The way Gimenez plays for pay fast and loose is not gonna fly in D.C. Federal gift laws are stricter than our lax local rules and so are federal authorities, who aren’t as tolerant as Arrojo or Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy “Look Away” Fernandez-Rundle.

But Ladra has to admit: I kinda want Gimenez to be elected to Congress now. Because it won’t be long after the election that he’ll end up in jail.

Carlos Gimenez, Dolphins stadium, Ethics Commission, Hard Rock Stadium, Stephen Ross, Super Bowl

Quid pro quo Carlos Gimenez gets Super Bowl tickets as a reward added by Ladra on February 1, 2020
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