Wanted: Challenger to Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz

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Miami-Dade Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz may have a challenge to his re-election this year, after all: At least one group has been actively recruiting for a candidate to run against the former Sweetwater mayor.

Pet’s Trust Miami — the organization that was able to get a majority of the public to vote on funding improved animal services and a no-kill animal shelter with tax dollars, even though the mayor and commissioners refuse to recognize that — has approached a few people about it, according to several sources.

Founding Director Michael Rosenberg told Ladra the group was looking to see if it could replace a number of commissioners, not any one in particular, in response to the total lack of regard for the measure that passed in 2012 with more than 64% of the vote. But more than three sources told me the animal lovers have a bead on Pepe.

So far, they have gotten no bites.

Founding Doral Mayor JC Bermudez — who had flirted with the idea of running for Miami-Dade Mayor in 2012 — confirmed he had been asked about it.

“I’ve been approached but the answer is no,” Bermudez told Ladra. “Right now, at this stage in my life, my focus is on my family and my work.

“I’m not saying I won’t run again. I probably will at some time,” added Bermudez, who has also been named as a possible mayoral candidate again in Doral, since the city seems to be imploding on a near daily basis.

And when Bermudez does decide to run for something? “My wife will be the first to know. Pepe would be second,” he said.

Bermudez would have made that race interesting, though. He would have divided the base. He would have been someone that car mogul and political meddler Norman Braman would get behind. Braman — who admits that he would like to see a number of commissioners replaced, but is feeling the sting of the last defeats — told Ladra recently that he would contribute to a Diaz challenger if “the pets’ trust people can get someone like JC Bermudez to run.”

So, who else is there?

Nobody.

Sweetwater Mayor Manny “Maraña” Maroño — another arguable heir apparent — was arrested last August on federal bribery charges and is sitting in prison, doing his three-and-a-half. Doral Mayor Luigi Boria may have the money and ambition, but he also has problems of his own right now and can barely hold on to power there. Ladra can’t help to wonder if that other political medder, former State Rep. Ralph “*%$@#!” Arza, is looking for a candidate to run for county (again; he worked behind former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina‘s 2011 mayoral campaign). One can’t help but think of Doral Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz, who might also count on Dem Party support. Arza, who is close to Ruiz, likes to play behind the scenes, which is all he can do after he was charged with two felonies and forced to resign his seat in connection with the racial slur and obscenity-filled messages he left on a colleague’s voice mail.

Diaz, for his part, is not too worried, he says. Hurt? Maybe. He said he voted with the pet’s people and has always supported their cause. He seems to fashion himself a man of the people and has been working hard to make his mark a little more than just that Sweetwater guy whose work for a vendor or contractor at Miami International Airport has raised eyebrows. This year, he lobbied Tallahassee hard for stiffer penalties against hit and run drivers and the closing of loopholes for sex offenders.

“Bring it on,” Diaz told Ladra when she told him that someone might be looking to challenge his incumbency. And, really, I thought he’d heard by then, but he seemed genuinely shocked.

“I like to campaign. This is a free country and I think it’s healthy for there to be the debate that a challenge brings,” Diaz said, probably knowing that Bermudez is not running.

But that confidence may be due to a quite comfy head start financially, with $182,000 he has raised so far, and that’s just his campaign account. His PAC(s) probably puts him at over $250,000.

It’s enough to scare even the most qualified candidate. And his or her backers. And their sugar daddy millionaire.

  JC Bermudez, Jose “Pepe” Diaz