No appointment in Miami; five qualify for District 1 election, including ADLP

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With a unanimous vote, the Miami City Commission last Saturday decided not to appoint anyone to the District 1 seat vacated by the arrest and suspension earlier this month of Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla. Instead, the District 1 seat will remain empty — like it was a lot when ADLP was still in office — until the Nov. 7 election.

Five people, including the suspended commissioner, qualified for the race by the deadline last weekend. Diaz de la Portilla has no shame. He’s going to play this arrest ala Donald Trump, the victim of a Democrat-fueled plot to undermine him. But even he knows that in the unlikely event he should be elected, Gov. Ron DeSantis will only suspend him again.

Especially after The Dean went off on the guv the first time, calling him “DeSanctimonious,” and saying, in a statement, that it was because, again, of Trump.

“I’m not surprised by his action given my strong support for Donald Trump for President, but his 15 minutes of fame will soon be over after his betrayal of Donald Trump, who got him elected.”

Read related: Miami’s Alex Diaz de la Portilla arrested on corruption, pay-for-play park deal

If Diaz de la Portilla wins it means the city will eventually have to (a) appoint somebody or (b) pay at least $300K for a special election.

Maybe the other four candidates can use that in the campaign. They are:

• Miguel Gabela, an auto parts dealer who forced ADLP into a runoff in 2019. A judge on Wednesday ruled that Gabela is a valid candidate even though his home was meticulously cut out of the district. He is living in the district at a second property that he owns. There is video of SUVs surveilling both properties. He has lived in the district for around 30 years.
• Marvin Tapia, aka Mr. Miami Marvin, a one-time club promoter with very high energy who has turned to promoting Little Havana. He took Jimmy Butler to have his first Cuban coffee at a ventanita and was recently featured in the John Leguizamo Does America program on CNN.
• Mercedes “Merci” Labrada Rodriguez, a one-time DLP lackey who says she is reformed and independent of her one-time mentor. Labrada Rodriguez, who is Diaz de la Portilla’s appointment to the Miami Planning and Zoning Appeals Board, could be a thorn in his side, or she could be thrown in to take votes from other candidates. We’ll know more when we see her funding.
• Francisco “Frank” Pichel, a former cop turned private detective who has done work for Commissioner Joe Carollo. He was caught spying on Mayor Francis Suarez in the Florida Keys and was arrested for impersonating an officer. He hasn’t been an officer since 2000, when was suspended from the Miami police department after he allegedly told a public service aide to file a false police report to cover up the beating of a prisoner who later died. Two years ago, he ran against Suarez.

This is going to be one hell of a race. Even without ADLP it’s a colorful bunch.

Gabela is the only one who has reported raising any money, with $18,000 in contributions as of the end of June. That’s because he has been campaigning since at least February while the others are relatively new to the race.

ADLP, on the other hand, has raised $76,000 in his campaign account and more than $1.2 million for his political action committee, which he uses for daily personal expenses, according to his arrest affidavit.

We will see more campaign funding details after Oct. 10.