This week’s speaker at Miami Beach’s first Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club of the new year is Miami-Dade County Commissioner 
Bruno Barreiro, whose district includes the seaside city.
Barreiro has been the commissioner for District 5 since 1998, when he won a special election after then Miami-Dade Commissioner Bruce Kaplan was arrested for mortgage fraud and resigned from his seat as part of his plea deal. So he’s been to a few of these Breakfast Club meetings and is ready to be peppered with questions.
He expects the ferry to Cuba and the last vacant piece of land at the port to be an issue. “It’s what everybody is talking about,” said Barreiro, who, for the record, is “not in favor of giving it to one ferry company.”
Barreiro, who also served as a State Rep. in the 1990s, had actually proposed another use for a development there of a hotel and offices and retail linked to a marina. He said it adhered to both the Master Plan approved in 2010 and the condition from the city of Miami — which deeded the property to the county — that it be used for maritime purposes. But it was shot down in committee by a commission that wanted to go out to bid for the property.
So why isn’t there a request for bids out? Ah, that is a question for Mayor Carlos Gimenez, whose administration has apparently been having backroom discussions with several ferry companies about a sea shuttle to Cuba
But Barreiro said he expects a bid will go out soon.
He will also likely talk about achievements in 2015 and the long proposed BayLink light rail that would connect the Beach to the mainland. But if the audience asks about the convention center hotel measure on the ballot in March, Barreiro will tell them he has taken no public position on it.
“I do believe that for convention centers to be successful they should have hotels attached. But, unfortunately, they did not go to the bigger scale convention center. They are rehabbing the current one. I would have liked to see a larger convention center,” he said.
Tuesday’s Breakfast Club meets at 8:30 a.m. at Manolo’s Restaurant, 685 Washington Ave., South Beach.
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Sounds like John Smith ruffled Mike Hernandez’ feathers.
John Smith is mostly correct. I was on the case so let me clear some facts:
Fraudulent ballots were being dropped off at Commissioner Bovo’s office by “el Tio”. They were bundled there and then transported to Carlos Gimenez’ campaign office in Hialeah by Daisy. We asked for a search warrant, as we would do in any and all cases involving evidence. The search warrant was denied by the State Attorneys office (who by the way also hired the same group of fraudulent absentee ballot collectors).
Then came another day with a second pick up from Bovo’s Office. Daisy was in route to Carlos Gimenez’ campaign office. Anticipating another drop off, and our going to ask yet again for a search warrant, the police Command staff ordered daisy stopped before she had the opportunity to enter Gimenez’ campaign office a second time.
The orders were followed and daisy was arrested as she was again in possession of fraudulent absentee ballots.
The investigation then became public and Gimenez was incensed that “his” police department would investigate him. The truth is that we weren’t, but rather the investigation of the “boleteros” led us to Bovo and Gimenez.
Shortly thereafter, he did away with the Public Corruption unit and all of us involved were transferred out, despite our stellar reputation and investigative skills.
We did not turn a blind eye and thus paid the price. The Mayor should not be in charge of the Police department. Absolute power corrupts absolutely!
any other questions mike?
I know you don’t like the mayor Ladra, but can you please write about Artiles’s attempt in Tallahassee to create more countywide positions in Dade county? The way he’s going about it is a total slap in the face to the concept of home rule and let’s be honest, an attempt to create more retirement positions for politicians. And also, in the testimony for the bill in judiciary his PBA buddy John Rivera lied about the fact that absentee ballots were found in Gimenez’s office. As I’m sure you recall, they were found in Bovo’s county office.
I get you’re working for Raquel and all but I’m sure we can agree that Rivera’s comment was false as far as where the ballots were found and more importantly that the state is being used to impose something on Miami-Dade voters. Are he and Rivera planning to make all department heads in state government elected too? Taking arguments for that bill to their natural conclusion, doing that would “further democracy.” Just saying. There’s been zero coverage of this bill that I’m aware of and I think that’s alarming considering the impact his bill would have.
Anonymous you are either clueless or ill intentioned. There were absentee ballots found at Commissioner Bovo’s district office in 2012; however, those ballots were dropped off there by el tio Robaina.
Let me refresh your memory. Absentee ballot collector Daisy Cabrera and multiple other absentee ballot collectors worked for Gimenez’s Campaign Manager Al Lorenzo in 2012 and Daisy Cabrera was caught by members of the MDPD Public Corruption Unit only a few feet from Gimenez’s campaign office with ballots in hand.
Gimenez’s campaign office was located on West 68 Street in Hialeah and served as a depository for thousands of absentee ballots collected by multiple boleteras. Daisy Cabrera was caught with ledgers full of voter names that were later “hidden away” by the MDPD. The only reason Gimenez is not in prison today is due to the fact that Al Lorenzo was also Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s campaign manager and that spider of a state attorney managed to destroy the investigation to protect herself and all of those involved.
Sadly, our local FBI office was as clueless as the majority of citizens and the local media and we still have to deal with the likes of Gimenez today. Know this anonymous, Gimenez may have gotten off and he may still be out here corrupting everything he touches but he himself knows he is a sack of shit and in this life or the next he will get his.
John, I think you need a nice cup of chill the fuck out. But while we’re throwing out wild accusations, you’re either a straight up asshole or blowing John Rivera. First, by your own admission in the first paragraph, no ballots were found at Gimenez’s office and therefore you are agreeing with my point that John Rivera lied. You’re relying on a lot of guess work and assumptions to connect Cabrera to Gimenez. Sounds like even if Katherine Rundle were not the State Attorney there would not be much of a case to make. If you have more solid proof, I’m all ears.
Lastly, you totally bypassed the main points of my post. The state should not get involved in what is essentially a local decision. Further, if you listen to the arguments made at that committee hearing, the logic when taken to its natural conclusion does not compute. Most importantly, this is a major restructuring of the government of the largest county in the state and its not getting any coverage as far as I can see and that’s why I even posted to begin with.
So, chill out and hopefully we can have a grown up discussion without Rivera’s dick in your mouth 🙂
Judging by your use of four letter words, it would be impossible to hold a grown up conversation with you since it is obvious you have not moved on beyond the second grade.
I am not sure how much Gimenez, Rundle or the corrupt group of officials they surround themselves with are paying you for coming to this site to curse and disparage but facts are facts and both Gimenez and Rundle along with their campaign manager Al Lorenzo and every ballot worker who in 2012 collected absentee ballots from the mentally ill, the infirmed and the elderly under a guise should have been sent to prison.
I am not sure what type of benefit you have received under the Gimenez administration but if destroying county departments, attempting to give away Key Biscayne golf course or Viscaya or FIU grounds and having a hand in every county contract for the benefits of his friends is your thing then go ahead. Now I’m wondering, since you are posting under “anonymous”, are you Gimenez’s lobbyist son or maybe the other one, you know, the one with the criminal record? Have a nice life.