It was bound to happen. Voters in Miami’s District 1 got a mailer last week reminding them that suspended Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla had been arrested on public corruption charges, including money laundering and bribery, in a case mostly about campaign contributions.
It writes itself.
And when you see it, it looks like something ADLP would do. It photoshops him into a tuxedo with wads of cash pouring out of the pockets and bars of gold and money bags surround him. He’s carrying a bottle of what looks like Johnny Walker Blue, which he can afford now.
Read related: Despite arrest, Alex Diaz de la Portilla scores FOP endorsement in D1 race
“While we struggle to survive, Diaz de la Portilla lives the good life,” the piece says in Spanish.
It is made possible by last mont’s arrest of Diaz de la Portilla for money laundering, bribery, criminal conspiracy and a bunch of campaign finance violations. Lobbyist Bill Riley was also arrested for money laundering and bribery. The accusations are that Riley, who works from The Centner Academy, funneled $245,000 to ADLP’s PAC in exchange for help getting almost exclusive use of a public park.
Diaz de la Portilla’s mugshot is on the backside, along with the details about his stay at the posh East Hotel in Brickell, where he spent 53 days, according to the arrest affidavit, and his ghost employee, who earned $53,000 a year in taxpayer-paid salary while she ran his errands.
“Tell Diaz de la Portilla that we have quite enough of the corruption,” it says.
Read related: Alex Diaz de la Portilla is suspended after arrest on public corruption charges
The piece is paid for by a political action committee called “Public Service not Self Service,” which was opened last year and is chaired by Denise Galvez, a resident of District 4 who ran for commission in 2017 and who posts anti-corruption messages on her Instagram account. The PAC has reported collecting $7,100 in contributions, mostly from former City Manager Joe Arriola — who also helped fund the failed 2020 recall effort against Commissioner Joe Carollo — and The Barlington Group, the company owned by Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who won a $63 million judgment against Carollo for violating their First Amendment Rights.
Fuller owns Ball and Chain, a bar on Calle Ocho that was targeted by Carollo, who weaponized the police and code enforcement departments, because they had a fundraiser for his 2017 opponent.
Normally, they like to attack Carollo. But ADLP is the next best thing. And nothing in the mailer is false.
Mailer in Miami District 1 race attacks ADLP, nails him on corruption arrest added by Ladra on
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