UPDATED: A little birdie with inside info told Ladra this afternoon that Ballard Partners, a firm that is desperate to strengthen their new Miami office, stole Chip from the county with an offer he couldn’t refuse. Ballard is the number one lobbying firm in the state, according to Florida Trend, and is currently working on the Genting casino project. Iglesias wouldn’t confirm Wednesday but he did give Ladra a short telephone interview that will be posted shortly.
We’ve been hearing about the pending departure for weeks.
But on Wednesday, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez 
officially announced that his longtime confidante and three-time Chief of Staff, Deputy Mayor Genaro “Chip” Iglesias, had resigned. He is the second top aide with a six figure salary to leave the mayor in a week.
Iglesias’ last day is July 31, which means he is walking out the door more or less at the same time as one-time senior policy advisor and current Chief of Staff Lisa Martinez, who replaced him as COS in the spring in a sudden change of pecking order last March. Martinez resigned last week.
Gimenez, who choked up at the county farewell for Martinez, said he accepted Iglesias’ resignation (as if there was a choice?) “with mixed emotions.” “Chip has an exemplary record of public service to our community that dates back several decades,” Gimenez said about his fellow fireman who served as Chief of Stafff to Gimenez when he was city of Miami manager. Iglesias followed Gimenez to the county where he served as chief of staff for him as a commissioner before Gimenez was elected mayor in 2011 and he served a dual role as deputy mayor and chief of staff. Ladra has a feeling some of one “mixed emotions” the mayor is feeling is relief: Iglesias left that position months ago under suspicion that he and Gimenez had butted heads over labor negotiations. Martinez replaced him. But, apparently, she could only take the heat for a few months. Because she also left but without, allegedly, the certainty of another job.
Read related story: Outgoing COS Lisa Martinez gets her very own day
- And some staffers, employees and political observers have said it looks like rats leaving a sinking ship. These back-to-back resignations of the mayor’s two top aides follows the departures of two of the mayor’s spokespeople, Suzy Trutie and Fernando Figueredo. Now, the mayor has Alex Ferro as his chief of staff and former Miami-Dade Democratic Party Hispanic Affairs Director and Young Democrats Policy Director Michael Hernandez as his spokesman. Bets are already coming in on how long they will last. Ladra’s money is on Hernandez going first. if only because Ferro is more used to the politics of the job — having worked with Gimenez since the 2011 campaign — and may also be more invested: He is cousin to former State Rep. Marcelo Llorente and son of land use zoning lobbyist Simon Ferro.
Read related story: New Gimenez COS Alex Ferro started with campaign
Gimenez’s statement on Iglesias was short.
“Chip has always placed service to others at the forefront of his professional career and he will be missed,” the mayor said. “He is a long-time adviser and friend, and I wish him all the best as he takes his skills and talents to the private sector.”
Key words: Private sector.
Rumor is that Iglesias — whose salary at the county was $225,000 — flirted with the position of City Manager in Coral Gables but ultimately took a position with a local lobbying firm. He did not return several calls in the last few days from Ladra. (To clarify, since he said by text that this was false: He called me back on July 4th after I left a voice mail message on his cellphone the day before. I have called him at least twice, maybe three times this week, and have not been able to reach him. Until this text. Better, Chip?)
But Iglesias might have been pressured to make a decision quickly after Commissioner Lynda Bell passed an ordinance on first reading last week that would double the time that former employees must wait to lobby the city from two to four years. This way, he can get grandfathered in.
As if those laws have any impact anyway. He may just not register to lobby or work the next two years as a consultant to the lobbyists.
According to a couple of sources, the company that stole Iglesias from the mayor’s side is Ballard Partners, named the top lobbying firm in the state by Florida Trend. Client include Genting, the company that wants to bring a casino to South Florida.
Sources say Brian Ballard has been trying to beef up his new Miami office, which only has two associates so far — Sylvester Lukis and Mike Abrams — and made Chip an offer he couldn’t refuse. It probably makes his current $225,000 salary look like a bonus.
Hey, Chip, mi amigo… next time we meet for a cortadito, it’s on you!
Rumors true: Chip Iglesias leaves Mayor Carlos Gimenez added by Ladra on
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When Miami-Dade gets hit by a severe hurricane, this Gimenez band of leaders will be drastically unprepared and their decimated ground forces will be understaffed. Miami-Dade will be a newsworthy rival to the New Orleans Katrina fiasco.
Ladra,
Sigue siendo la misma mierda.
Still wet behind the ears.
[…] Read related story: Rumors true — Chip Iglesias leaving Mayor Carlos Gimenez […]
My bad, guys! He was HISPANIC AFFAIRS director… and policy director for the Young Democrats. I thought he was more than that because he was so damn active.
But do not blame him for padding his resume. I simply assumed I knew something that I had wrong. Take it out on me.
And I’ll fix it, or clarify, now.
Thanks for keeping me honest.
Love, Ladra
Grillo,
Michael Hernadez is just like the young Diaz de la Portilla. These guys don’t realize that their time will come. They inflate their egos by making shit up in their resumes. Yes the young DDLP was in Tallahassee by his arly 20’s with zero political experience other than his brothers’ dynasty. Your pedigree may mean you come from a certain line but it doesn’t automatically qualify you as a good candidate for anything.
Democratic party director? How come you can’t find this info anywhere on the interweb? I smell a big fat stinky rat.
Michael Hernandez, Miami-Dade Democratic Party Director? Director of what? When and in whose timeline? As a 15-year member of the Miami-Dade Democrats who has served as an officer a number of times, my memory is failing to remember him or his position. There was a Michael Hernandez who worked briefly for the Miami-Dade DEC when either Jimmy Morales or Joe Garcia were Party Chairs. But as we say in Spanish: El papel lo aguanta todo (Paper can hold anything).
Unfortunately Chip entered his dual role as deputy mayor and COS thinking the police and other county employees were the enemy. As he became more involved and started interacting more with the hired help he began to change his view. You see, Chip realized that our county is made up of hard-working dedicated people that have become accustomed to doing more with less.
His downfall came when he tried to make Gimenez understand this, and he wanted nothing of it. Sad, very sad. Lisa Martinez was next in line and apparently couldn’t stomach what Gimenez wanted either.
Good for Chip! He is a great guy and has a ton of contacts in the county. I think he will do great in the private sector.
Watched old Chip give his side of the story to Channel 41 last night and I would have laughed were it not that the sight of a defeated coward only wants to make you vomit. In a hypocritical tone Chip explained how it “was time to move on” and he even justified his $200+ salary as just payment for a job well done. Come off of it Chip, tell the truth, the easy ride is over, your master has unleashed your collar like the old Cubans used to release their unwanted dogs in Homestead in the old days. You are yesterday’s news and as the days go by you will be receiving few phone calls from “friends” who don’t know how to cut the lines. You were just the useful idiot for a megalomaniac who used you as rag and then… Well you get the picture. If you feel any cold stares from the guy who picks up your trash, the lady that checks out your kid’s books, the policeman who patrols your neighborhood or the guy fixing the pothole in front of your house don’t despair, you brought that rejection upon yourself.
Let’s be honest here. No one gives up a $225.000 a year job unless the conditions are so horrible and the demands are so unethical that the high salary no longer outweighs the possibility of going to prison. What did Gimenez ask Iglesias to do that was so outrageous that caused Iglesias to balk? We may never know what happened behind the scenes between Iglesias and Gimenez but the departure of three top aides to Gimenez in the past two months just prior to a difficult budget season indicates the fissures in the empire. Gimenez was elected with money from the Dolphins, Norman Braman and associates and the support of The Miami Herald. None of those powerful parties gives a hoot about Gimenez any longer and I believe we are beginning to see the beginning of the end. When Gimenez go, the putrid stench of Jorge Luis Lopez, Freddy Balsera, Ralph Toledo Garcia, Carlos Jr., the Munillas and the cesspool of lobbyists, contractors and consultants may go with him. When the odds of saving Gimenez no longer favor our State or U.S. Attorney, Gimenez will go down, just like Robaina, Pizzi and Morono. Time will tell.
Can you ask him how much money is he taking from Annual Leave and sick time? Please ask!
Wonder what the severance package for this gate keeper will be. Judging by the large salary, the citizens of this county will have to foot the bill for a long time. This, plus a juicy retirement from City of Miami as well as whatever he can scrounge in his new job as a “lobbyist” Eyes open Joe Centorino, plenty of Florida Sunshine law and ethics violations coming your way.
All citizens of this county should welcome the departure of Chip Iglesias with great pleasure. This door mat of a deputy mayor was paid (not that he earned it) a whopping $225K a year plus benefits by Mayor Carlos Gimenez for close to two years! Iglesias’ job was simple, act as a go between with contractors, consultants and lobbyists and grease as much as he could for his benefactor in exchange for juicy contracts. On the other hand, he was also the tip of the spear in use against county employees as he squeezed benefits and pay from those under him without care (this after receiving a public sector retirement himself). Sometime in the future, when the harm committed by the tandem of Gimenez and Iglesias is fully known, this community will understand the magnitude of the ride they have been taken on. Not to worry though, old rotten teeth Gimenez does not skip a beat. Already, Simon Ferro’s kid is in place to continue the process of stealing, defrauding and stepping on those employees who pick up our trash, bring us water, take care of our books and transport us to the hospital when we are in need of medical assistance. Grow a pair Chip, tell this community where all of Gimenez’s skeletons lie!
Very well said!