Add yet another big endorsement to Ralph Cabrera‘s bid to return to the Coral Gables city commission: Former Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas endorsed the former commissioner in a web video released Wednesday.
“As mayor of Miami-Dade County, I had the pleasure of working side by side with Ralph and I always found him to be a forward-thinking commissioner, 
someone who always had creative ideas for the city of Coral Gables,” Penelas says in the 38-second message posted on Facebook.
“For example, we worked together to bring a lot of the trolleys that you see now in Coral Gables because he knew that the residents, visitors and people who work in Coral Gables, they needed that first and last mile option,” he said.
“That’s the kind of leader Ralph was then, and I know he is going to be that kind of leader again now.”
Penelas brings big points on Cabrera’s endorsement scorecard, so let’s take another look at the comparisons between his support and the backing for the other candidate in the runoff, Jorge L. Fors, Jr.
Read related: The war of endorsements is on in Coral Gables commission runoff
Cabrera now has Penelas, City Commissioners Vince Lago and Pat Keon, 
ormer Commissioner and Mayor Dorothy Thomson, former Commissioner Maria Anderson, former Mayor Don Slesnick, the Miami Herald, the police, the firefighters and the gays (SAVE). He also has support, in the form of maximum $1,000 contributions, from Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez and former State Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla.
It’s a nice mix of Dems, Republicans and even an Independent.
Fors, who has never served a day on a city board or committee, has former 
Mayor Jim Cason, former interim city manager Carmen Olazabal and Commissioner Frank Quesada, who has better things to do than run for re-election, and former City Commissioner Wayne “Chip” Withers, who lost his own comeback bid and doesn’t want Cabrera to get one. Sour grapes.
Quite literally, cuatro gatos.
Wonder if the same lopsided results will come out of Tuesday’s runoff.
Alex Penelas comes out for Ralph Cabrera in Coral Gables runoff added by Ladra on
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Daniela Cava is very well qualified to be the County Mayor. Penelas disappeared 15 years ago and for good reason.
I had my own Elian moments, repeatedly, on Fox News predicting blackmail target Reno would illegally seize Elian at gunpoint
Elian was entitled to AN ASYLUM HEARING! This is what the Left wants for children in the caravans. Elian deserved one and so do these latter day Elians.
No deer in the headlights from me, telling millions of Americans what a thug Reno was.
“Alex comes out….”. With that headline I thought the story was going a whole different direction.
I like Alex. My favorite Alex story is a little hazy as it was 20 years ago but it was during Elian Gonzalez fiasco. Nightline was still a big network show and was airing live from Miami with a live audience. Ted Koppel was doing Q and A with US Attorney Janet Reno on a giant screen from Washington.
Then out of the blue Koppel singled Alex out in the audience and basically said “you’ve been trash talking the US attorney. Here she is, say it to her face”.
The room was silent. Alex had that deer in the headlights look.
Eventually Elián went back to Cuba and Alex went into obscurity
Truly a Miami moment.
Alex Penelas? Alex is a contrary indicator. Run, don’t walk to stay out of his shadow. Alex and his cabal of novice scammers ruined Miami-Dade County as they became rich and experienced scammers. Taxpayers are still paying for the former Miami Arena, even after it was torn down. Residents had 20 acres of Bicentennial Park stolen from them so Alex could give the land to serial polluter Micky Arison.
Ladra, are you talking about the same Alex Panelas who arguably gave us the famous half-penny sales tax to fix transit 18 years ago that according to an ongoing lawsuit by both Xavier Suarez (and Vince Lago if I recall correctly), the funds were fraudulently appropriated for other county expenses?
Read this 2004 letter by Panelas to county bond investors about the half-penny funding, it’s a nice trip down memory lane: https://www.miamidade.gov/finance/library/mayor04.pdf
Also read about the Suarez-Lago lawsuit claiming a fraud on the public for the misspending of the same half-penny funding: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article216580535.html
Thank you Ladra for being a warrior on the transit issue, too: https://politicalcortadito.com/2018/10/02/carlos-gimenez-taps-commissioner-to-block-return-of-12-penny-funds/
P.S. Do I need to remind anyone that we’re hearing from Panelas now only because he is running for county mayor? Otherwise, where’s he been for the past 15 years?
P.P.S. Same names also seem to like to hide from the public until enough time passes for the public to (hopefully for the same name) forget those pesky past indiscretions that caused them to leave public life in the first place. For Panelas, that is the failure of his policies to properly manage growth and traffic and politically, his failure to “deliver” the county for Al Gore in 2000.