The qualifying deadline for the Miami Beach elections this November came and went Friday and nobody challenged Mayor Dan Gelber after his first term. That means Gelber automatically wins re-election without a single vote cast. “I am grateful to all those that have been supportive of my candidacy and honored to have the confidence of […]
The first public hearing for the 2019-2020 Miami-Dade budget Thursday was pretty uneventful. It passed 10-3 and there was very little protest. Most of the speakers simply want more money for affordable housing or some program. Nothing really seemed dire. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez must be doing the happy dance. He seems to have hoodwinked […]
Years past, residents would come to the Miami-Dade County budget hearings to beg for the restoration of police jobs or library hours or to save grant funding for this or that community-based organization. This year, the majority of the speakers at the first hearing for the $9 billion 2019-2020 budget on Thursday had one request: […]
While there isn’t one yet, we can expect a challenge to State Rep. Vance Aloupis in 2020. Someone is polling voters in House District 115, a very flippable seat that state and local Democrats want badly. Voters in the district — which stretches from Doral through Westchester, Kendall, Pinecrest and into Palmetto Bay — were polled via […]
It was a bit chaotic at the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, where a “surprise” interim president was named and members continued to press for a politically-motivated do-over of a selection process to permanently replace the retiring Eduardo Padrón, whose last day is Friday. “A shitshow,” said one faculty observer. “A circus,” […]
It should be packed in room 2106 at the Wolfson Campus of Miami Dade College Thursday morning when the Board of Trustees meets for the first time since it scrapped the search process for a new president last month. Word is that the fix is in. That the newly-appointed members by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis […]
With less than two weeks left before qualifying, a third candidate has filed to run against Miami Beach Commissioner Ricky Arriola. Stephen Cohen, a real estate investor specializing in the South Beach luxury condo market, on Tuesday joined Raquel Pacheco, a retired soldier, business owner and PTA mom, and Jonathan Welsh, a healthcare marketing executive, in the race to unseat […]
State Rep. Javier Fernandez (D-Coral Gables) announced Wednesday that he will run next year in Senate District 39, where Anitere Flores (R-Kendall) is termed out and Democrats have a real opportunity to pick up a seat. But first, he has to move there. There is no other Democrat in the race now. Pinecrest Councilwoman Anna Hochkammer, another carpetbagger who announced in […]
The Coral Gables City Commission could ask their county and city of Miami counterparts on Tuesday to ban hourly rates at motels and hotels, like the Miami Executive Hotel in Little Gables, on the City Beautiful’s border. “It is well established that hotels/motels that allow for the hourly rental of rooms, are frequented by individuals […]
After eight public meetings that were scantily attended — one person went to the Hialeah town hall — the public will have at least three opportunities to comment on the $9 billion 2019-2020 Miami-Dade budget before the commission votes on it next month. The first look comes courtesy of Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, who has her […]