Coral Gables voters will be able to cast early voting ballots this weekend for the first time in municipal elections. The election ends Tuesday. As of Friday, almost 4,800 have cast absentee or vote-by-mail ballots already.
Many people have asked Ladra to make recommendations in the commission races, even though we’re going to end up with runoffs in both contests. Everyone knows that Vice Mayor Vince Lago is the only real choice for the mayoral race, despite the one stupid letter he signed (more on that later). But the commission races are harder.
In Group 2, it’s hard because there are so many good candidates.
Ladra likes three of them. Four if you count Claudia Miro, who seemed pretty prepared and may have a chance in the future. But really, the city would be served well by any of the three front runners, which are Rhonda Anderson, Tania Cruz-Gimenez and Jose Valdes-Fauli.
Read related: Here’s who’s on the absentee ballots mailed to Coral Gables voters
They each have good intentions and the credibility to do a good job. Ladra likes Jose Valdes-Fauli more than his brother, Raul, the current mayor. But he’s still kinda arrogant. He hasn’t campaigned as hard as Cruz-Gimenez, who has probably worked harder for this seat than anybody. It looks like he’s counting on his name recognition and the network he’s created as a member of the arts and LGBT communities.
He says he’s retired and, as a former banker, knows more about numbers and can keep a balanced budget. But he also thinks the Gables is going in the right direction and has no new vision for the city. He shrugs his shoulders at the WaWa on Grand Avenue and makes excuses for his brother, one of the worst mayors the City Beautiful has ever had.
Cruz-Gimenez is a workaholic bulldog. If she gets obsessed with a “project,” there’s nothing that is going to stop her. She gets things done. She’s super prepared on the issues and has impressed a number of people who were suspicious at first because she’s the daughter-in-law of former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Mr. Giveaway” Gimenez, who once wanted to give Donald Trump a public golf course.
But Cruz-Gimenez is the opposite of her suegro. Not only because she is a Democrat — a bleeding blue Democrat — but also because she is thoughtful and looks in your eyes when she talks to you. Her best bet is to talk to as many voters as possible, and she’s been out there every day, walking and knocking on doors. And she likes to talk, the chatty little thing. And she wants to be a white hat. She’s idealistic. And Ladra doesn’t think she can keep a secret, which is a good feature in an elected.
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Then there’s Anderson, who has earned it more than either one of them because of her service through the years. Sure, she’s kind of boring — the soft-spoken, librarian type, and not in the sexy way. But she’s strong on the issues and knowledgeable and she already has a track record.
We know she has no ambitions of higher office, she just wants to be a hometown elected to, basically, stop the overdevelopment she has fought against for years. She may be as charismatic as a cardboard box, but she’s all about the residents.
Ladra is torn between Anderson and Cruz-Gimenez. Sorry, José, but this is the only chance to keep a woman on the commission. And, yes, that’s important.
In Group 3, where all the candidates are male, it’s hard because of the opposite: There are no good candidates.
Ladra doesn’t like anybody. But there’s definitely an ABB — Anybody But Baños, Javier Baños — tilt to this site. Even though Juan Carlos Diaz-Padron and Ariel Fernandez, two longtime Gables activists that Ladra respects, are behind Baños, Ladra can’t get over his connection to Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo — who is looking for new fundraising grounds — the mysterious $40,000 loan he got that looks like it came from former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff and his connection to a number of dark money political action committees.
He lied to Ladra about not knowing the PAC that sent the attack on another candidate, when his name and email address are on documents filed with the Florida Division of Elections. He lied to voters when he sent a mailer intended to mislead them into believing that Lago had endorsed him.
Read related: Miami political pals of Javier Baños attack Alex Bucelo in Coral Gables race
So you take out the candidate who has campaigned the longest, mostly on the single issue of pension reform, and what do you have left? A 27-year-old who has never paid property taxes, a “high-riser” who just tripled the value of his Crafts Section properties with the controversial upzoning recently approved and a perennial candidate who is looking for more clients as a personal injury attorney.
Alex Bucelo is a very nice boy. But that’s it. He doesn’t seem prepared for this job and is mostly going to get the votes of his father’s friends. Ladra likes him. He has good intentions. But he needs to simmer a little more. He’s not ready yet. That’s all.
P. J. Mitchell is a nice guy, too. But he is a last-minute candidate and everyone says he does this every election for the free publicity.
That leaves Kirk Menendez. He might not get the votes of the people who were against the Crafts Section upzoning he pushed for. But most people recognize that area as a buffer between the downtown and the residential area. Even thought it’s residential, it already doesn’t look it. The upzoning there is not as egregious as the the changes made to increase heights and density along Miracle Mile.
And Menendez could get the votes of everybody else in the Gables because he is Mr. Coral Gables. Raised in the city, Kirk has coached soccer to more Gables voters and their families than anyone in political history.
Commissioner Coach would bring institutional knowledge and a residents-first perspective to the dais that would be welcome. Ladra doesn’t think he would be for overdevelopment anyplace other than the Crafts Section. Not unless he owns property. And if he’s elected, he’ll be watched more closely.
So, in the end, Ladra hopes voters can hold their noses and pick Menendez.
It’s just too bad that Anderson or Valdes-Fauli didn’t run in this group.
In Coral Gables commission contests: A woman and anybody but Javier Baños added by Ladra on
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[…] baggage. Baños’s experience is outside the Gables, from Miami and Miami Beach. Local blogger Elaine de Valle suggests he has ties not just to Miami Commissioner “Crazy Joe” Carollo, which is bad, but also […]
Agree with J.D.Hammer, she isn’t any different than the rest of the family. She may try to differentiate herself but, they are all the same. Rhonda has worked hard and proven herself. She deserves to be elected.
People should not forget when she was arrested with Diaz de la Portilla in Boston. They both gave the cops the don’t you know who I am statement. That isn’t the kind of person you want in the commission. Coral Gables deserves better.
gables voters stay away from the miami mafia – carollo, suarez, gimenez!!! Tania’s husband is a lobbyist who has a job only because his papi was Miami Dade mayor… Banos worked too long for crazy carollo… he should know about carollos corruptoin… and lago is the suarez pet candidate in this race… xavier suarez had a whole election revoked becuase of corruption, and his son francis suarez had his very own absentee ballot fraud probe (father was surely proud)… gables has too many good-intentioned natives to vote for banos, cruz-gimenez, or lago
The question is he is lying about the 40k loan and hiding behind his fake last name why isn’t he running using the Machado last name?
People seem to forget the level of corruption the citizens of Miami Dade County have put up with as a result of the Gimenez family in the last nine years.
The ethical and possibly criminal violations committed by former Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his family are too many to mention in this comment.
It suffices to say that the sweetheart deals and lack of oversight Gimenez gave to the Munilla Construction Co. resulted in the death and injury of several individuals with the collapse of the FIU bridge. His lobbyist sons have made a mockery of the OIG, the Ethics Commission and law enforcement. His sister in law was elected to the School Board with the same PAC monies as Gimenez and the same political machine Gimenez utilized for years to corrupt everything he touched will be utilized to elect Cruz-Gimenez.
What does it take to get Coral Gables citizens to say “fool me twice shame on me”?
Ladra nailed it with the ABB. Baños is a threat to Coral Gables. He will usher in City of Miami politics like no one else has with Carrollo behind him. He’s already established his credentials as a brazen liar. Imagine if he had any actual power? Scary stuff. CG residents needs to pay attention.
I agree with the comments on Cruz-Gimenez… If you are related thru family to corrupt, less than decent individuals, it’s pretty much a sure bet that you are one, too. My vote goes to Anderson.
Lago has received over $350k to his political action committee from developers. That’s a fact. Do you think they did that because they thought they were not going to be treated well?
Anything related to Gimenez STINKS !
It appears to me at this time that Vince Lago is destined to be the winner in the Coral Gables Mayor race .Patricia Keon started late, in February of this year and had to spend almost two hundred thousand dollars in less than three months to catch up to Lago. Lago began raising money and campaigning early last year. The troubling thing about Lago is the huge amount of money he raised from real estate developers in a city where over development according to voters is the biggest problem
In group 3 Banos and Bucelo have together spent more than $180,000 dollars on their campaigns. Ironically the internal polling numbers I have seen show the Third candidate in the race Kirk Menedez as leading among voters. From talking to the city’s residents I get the impression that Menedez has a strong base of popular grass roots support. A unscientific poll I did counting yard signs in the North Gables showed him leading with 17 signs to Banos 11 and Bucelos 8 . Coach Kirk’s biggest problem, if he makes it to the April 27 run-off is he has spent most of his money and has very little if nothing in reserve. In contrast Banos has $60,000 cash on hand for round two and Bucelo has $70,000.
Sins of the father? Really? At least get the story straight. Ladra knows Trump wanted to buy the course at Crandon and Carlos wasn’t selling no how, no way but was offering a deal similar to what he did earlier with another of the county parks’ under performing crown jewels, Vizcaya, turning the operation over to a private entity.
But even if you want to believe the friends and family narrative pushed by the Carlos bashers, it turns 2 ways,Tania’s daddy could make it rain in the Gables..
Personally I think she would be the most productive in her race no matter who her husband’s father is.
As far as mayor, it’s the lesser of 2 evils. and Ladra is right, group 2 is candidates land o’ plenty and group 3 is cactus and tumbleweed. Too bad it’s not a jungle election, lots of talent out there just not all accessible at once.
Carlos Gimenez was a terrible fireman, terrible employee, terrible Mayor and one of his sons got arrested. Now all his sons are lobbyists taking money from rich people to take advantage of the taxpayers. All members of the Gimenez clan griff money from taxpayers.
If anyone thinks Tania Cruz-Gimenez is totally “divorced” from her father in law Carlos Gimenez you best think again.
The Gimenez family is an organized crime family with many roles and assignments. From politicians, to lobbyists and wife beaters, to drug addicts, to loose women, the Gimenez family has it all. Cruz-Gimenez is the fresh face of the putrid Gimenez machine.