Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez told Ladra that he was not going to change his strategy in Hialeah now that the political machinery there has publicly announced its endorsement of Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
He said the endorsements last week of Hialeah Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez and the Seguro Que Yes Council — my words, not his — would have “no effect at all” on his campaign. Those are his words.
“The people of Hialeah are very smart and proud. They are hard working, passionate and very involved. They will never forget what Gimenez said about Hialeah, which was a direct insult to their heritage,” Martinez said.
“He basically attacked Cubans.”
Well, Ladra doesn’t know about that. Martinez is talking, of course, about the robocall the Gimenez campaign and/or one of the supporting PACs, unleashed during the post-recall mayoral battle last year with former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina. The message was anti-Hialeahn, not anti-Cuban.
“We aren’t Hialeah. Nor do we want to be,” said the woman, with disdain dripping from her voice. It became an instant rallying cry for the people of Hialeah against Gimenez, who lost the city by about 75 percent.
“Let’s stop Hialeah’s Robaina from importing his brand of shady politics to our neighborhood,” the woman practically shrilled in the ad, which basically traded Hialeah voters for the rest of the county. “We can’t trust Hialeah’s Robaina. Irresponsible development, traffic congestion and noise, backroom deals and illegal gambling — is that what we want in our neighborhood?”
The robocall made headlines for offending the people of the City of Progress and Gimenez denied responsibility for it — does to this day — though it was paid for by a PAC that he had ties to and Ladra knows his campaign did it intentionally and strategically. And Martinez is banking that voters there will remember.
In fact, I suspect his campaign is cooking up a robocall to remind them.
“Hernandez is the one who will have a problem in a year,” Martinez told me, about Mayor Castro’s re-election in 2013. “The real people will not forget.”
Speaking of forgetting, Ladra did a little reminding of her own that we will not let go of the violation of freedom of the press and political retribution that occurred at the Gimenez/Hernandez evil endorsement unveiling Friday when Ladra and some of the Hernandez administration critics were blocked from the celebration.
I have not yet gotten a response to my public records request asking Hialeah City Clerk David Concepcion for any records about the organizing of the event or blacklists. But I did get a partially satisfactory emailed statement from Gimenez Campaign Manager Jesse Manzano that seems to hint that they got to the bottom of what happened — without going into details, however.
“Our campaign has always operated in a transparent and inclusive fashion as our track record demonstrates. Unfortunately, on Friday, we lost control of our event and this resulted in members of the media, friends and supporters not being granted access. For that, I want to reiterate my apologies,” the statement reads.
“We have conducted an internal review to prevent these type of incidents from happening again,” he continued. But what does that mean? What came out of the “internal review”? Ladra and my favorite handler, Hialeah Fire Union Vice President Eric Johnson, want to know whose orders it was to single us out and keep us outside.
“As we continue to campaign in this important election for our County, let us not forget this election is about moving Miami-Dade County forward together,” Manzano finishes — or, rather, is hoping to finish it.
Think again, Jesse.
Let us also not forget that it’s a slippery slope, fellas. And you can slide backward at any time.
Martinez responds to Gimenez unholy Hialeah alliance added by Ladra on
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