Miami's Alex Diaz de la Portilla got $740K between the general and runoff

It seems everybody knew who the new papi on the Miami City Commission would be even before the runoff last November.

Former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla only got 39% of the vote Nov. 5 — but it was almost 18 points higher than the number two guy. So the writing was on the Allapattah walls.

And that’s what helped The Dean collect nearly $740,000 in nine days in November between the general election and the runoff.

About $400,000 was collected by his political action committee, Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade. That’s almost half of the PAC’s million dollar fund, which he started in April of 2018, in one single month! Some of the same parties donated to his campaign account, which raised $339,700 between the general and the runoff.

And a lot of it came from people and businesses with business before the city, which is why he sounds and looks so cocky on the dais.

Shortly after he took the Omni CRA from Commissioner Ken Russell (for supporting his opponent but also because that’s where the money is), he basically threatened Commissioner Keon Hardemon by telling him, in other words, cuidado because “we have the three votes” to take his shiny toys, too.

Then, at the last meeting in January, which was about affordable housing, ADLP led arguments against an affordable housing master plan that has been endorsed and applauded by community activists, organizations, residents and the experts at Florida International University who wrote it using data from the U.S. Census.

“All we have heard from is FIU, the academics. I think it is important that we have a workshop and hear from the people that actually do the work – the developers. We are looking for results, some finality before we make decisions about the plan,” Diaz de la Portilla is quoted as saying in a Miami Times article.

Oh, so he wants to hear from the developers? Like the ones that helped him raise three quarters of a million dollars in nine days?

To see who the new power on the commission is representing on the dais, it might help to take a peek at those donations.

On Nov. 6, the very day after the general election, the special interests got busy with ADLP’s Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade PAC, with nine checks for a total of $66,500 Not bad for a day’s work, right?

Those included:

$25,000 from Florida Prosperity Fund, another PAC that got $750,000 in November and December ($530K and $220K respectively) so they could then funnel it out to other PACs and candidates. They get hundreds of thousands of dollars from Big Sugar, Florida Power & Light and Disney, among other business special interests.
$5,000 (and another $5,000 check two days later on Nov. 8 for $10K total) from the Building Miami’s Future PAC, which got exactly $10,600 (read: pass through) in November from the owners of Lancelot Miami River, Michael Adler‘s group, which wants to redevelop the city-owned Miami Riverside Center city administration building, the terms of which are still to be determined. Voters approved the lease last year but some commissioners, and others, are saying that they, didn’t know what they were doing. Last month, the commission pumped the brakes on the zoning and land use changes needed for the project, which could now be in jeopardy. Wonder if ADLP will save the day.
$10,000 from A+ Mini Storage Airport East, the owner of which had already given at least $2,000 from other “storage solutions” businesses. ADLP has already voted to stop storage units from opening in some zones in the city. Was that to prevent his benefactors from getting more competition?
$10,000 in two checks from Darlene Medina‘s two companies, a granite business and a moving company. Ladra doesn’t know who she is but she shares the same address with Reyes Property Investment. Just FYI.
$7,500 from companies owned by Barbara and Alex Havenick, owners of Magic City casino on Northwest 7th Street.
And $4,000 from Marc Sarnoff‘s PAC because he wants/needs to stay relevant.

That was just the day after the general. Other interesting November contributions through Nov. 14 (the runoff was Nov. 19) include:

$25,000 from Sun Ventures, a “mail forwarding service,” in Sioux Falls, SD, founded on Election Day. Yep, that’s right. The company filed with the South Dakota Division of Corporations on Nov. 5, 2019. And it was donating $25K to ADLP’s PAC on Nov. 13, only eight days later? The mail forwarding businesses must be hot in South Dakota. The only registered agent on the documents is a California attorney named David Deloach, which happens to be the same name as a city of Miami arborist, but probably not the same guy.
$20,000 from MCD Miami LLC, which is the other Magic City, the SAP development.
$15,000 from Oko Group, which is building a 57-story luxury condo with million dollar units for pre-construction sale in Edgewater. Ladra wonders what they want. Maybe a contract to build affordable housing?
$15,000 from Edgewater Management Services, who gave him $10K in July pre-election (guess he’s worth $5,000 more now). The company offers management services “within the engineering, accounting, research, and management services sector,” according to BuzzFile. “This organization has been operating for approximately 3 years. Edgewater Management Services is estimated to generate $54,157 in annual revenues, and employs approximately 1 people at this single location.” Sara Oquendo, the principal, also manages 488 Bayshore Drive.
$15,000 from billionaire real estate developer Jorge Perez of The Related Group, but in three separate $5K checks — from RUDG, Llc, PRH Investments and Fortune Urban Construction — all on Nov. 12. He had only given $5,000 before the general election. Guess he was shoring up his chances.
$10,000 from a company called MM Hospitality, a company that has been inactive since August of last year but that was owned by Ricardo Tabet, the same guy who is CEO of Optimum Development, which builds luxury hotels and condominiums, like the Una Residences, a new 47-story, 135-unit tower on the Brickell waterfront that will offer units (and private boat slips) at prices from $1.1 million to more than $25 million when it opens, scheduled for 2021. He also owns property in Little Havana on 8th Street.
$10,000 from Kasim Badak, developer of the planned Okan Tower — a 70-story monster that would become the tallest building in Miami — which was supposed to break ground this month. Badak, by the way, had given $35,000 to Commissioner Ken Russell‘s PAC before the election. (Pssst, Alex, you can get more!)
Another $10,000 at from Grove Bay Investment Group, owned by Eddie Garcia of Treo Group, which is leading a $50 million renovation of 9.5 acres on the Miami waterfront called Regatta Harbour, with plans for more than 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, a new marina, dry boat storage and the restoration of Coconut Grove’s historic Pan Am Airways base. The hangar would house a couple of trendy restaurants.
At least $10,000 from Mountain Valley Mutual, which is owned by Michael Simkins, who wants to partner with the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency — which ADLP is in the process of taking over — to redevelop the historic neighborhood. His plans center on a mixed use village, like this rendering on the right, over 14 parcels. That’s hundreds of millions or billions on the line right there.
$10,000 from Transportation Solutions of Miami-Dade, Commissioner Esteban Bovo‘s political action committee. Bovo, who is running for county mayor, may want an endorsement. Or political advice.
$8,000 in two $4K checks from Jose Rasco, who also gave $12K in October for a total of $20K. He owns two adjacent lots on 8th Street between 1st and 2nd avenues in Little Havana, where residents and neighborhood activists are concerned about zoning changes and gentrification. But it would be a great location for affordable housing!
$5,000 from Events Entertainment Group, the outfit that puts on the Ultra Music Festival, which gave him another $2,500 in October, for a total of $7,500.
$5,000 from Former State Rep. Eric Fressen‘s PAC, Floridians for a Strong 67, which is still around for whatever reason. Fressen dropped out of politics — what is he doing these days? — giving up a Senate run, after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. He has no money to pay his taxes but he has $5K to give to his buddy?

Even in October, there are some interesting contributions that should be remembered and/or investigated:

At least $50,000 was given in two $25K checks from Good Time USA LLC, described as manufacturers and distributors. Only no such company exists with that name on the Florida Division of Corporations website. There are other companies at the address, 4310 NW 35th Avenue, that belong to Humberto and Jorge Lorenzo, property investors with Flagler Street properties.
$20,000 from Ida Adams in Key Biscayne who, according to voter’s records, is an 84-year-old Democrat at that address. That just stinks of a third party contribution.
$10,000 from the owner or operators of Jungle Island that want to build a resort hotel on the Rickenbacker Causeway and will likely need something from the commission.
$10,000 from Optimum Technology Solutions, a “transportation solutions” firm that is based in Jacksonville Beach, according to the Division of Corporations, not Coral Gables, like it says on the PAC campaign report. Or could it be another Tabet company?

And this are just some of the bigger gifts. There are a bunch of smalller $5,000 donations and checks smaller than that. But there was only $1,000 reported in December and nada reported in January.

When Ladra first contacted him, ADLP said he planned to “raise whatever it takes to counter gossipers and defamers like you. The truth still matters in my book.” He followed that with a bunch of insults. Then, after trying for days to get a response about all the business that could and likely would come before the city from his donors — and if he would recuse himself — he texted this (his caps, not mine):

“Contributions are universally recognized as an exercise of free speech. The absurdity of your premise, and confusion, is clear to all thinking people. Every person you have mentioned has contributed to EVERY single elected official in the city of Miami. There is nothing wrong with free speech, even when it results in your brand of so-called journalism.”

When I thanked him for finally providing a response I could print, he said:

“I thought so… make sure you put the whole thing.” And ended with a winky face. So I put the whole thing. And a screenshot to prove it. Wink, wink.

Let’s just hope that when the city has their workshop on the affordable housing master plan — which may not need any changes, after all — there isn’t a committee of developer benefactors rewriting the whole thing.

Alex Diaz de la Portilla, campaign financing, Miami politics, special inters

Miami’s Alex Diaz de la Portilla got $740K between the general and runoff added by Ladra on February 13, 2020
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