New poll: Robaina drops, Luke #3

Unconfirmed results of an unseen mayoral candidate poll — and this time Ladra only got the same information from two people, not the three we like to have — are not surprising in the sense that Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina may have dropped from two-months-ago numbers. Robaina still leads, but he lost a whopping 10 […]

Robaina gets scorcher of a ruling

Ouch! Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina — now running for the county mayor’s post — might have felt a little burn Friday when the city was ordered to rehire 16 veteran firefighters he summarily dismissed right before a union vote expected to reject $4.4 million in concessions. And right before Christmas. I bet there’s smoke coming […]

Artiles to sponsor Ladra’s law

Embarassed yet accountable State Rep. Frank Artiles (R, District 119 but he doesn’t live there yet) finally called me back today and said he had no hard feelings. “I know you were just doing your job and congratulations,” Artiles said, but maybe a little sarcastically, not like everybody else. While he will take full responsibility […]

Proliferation of the PACs

Newly former county commissioner Carlos Gimenez has more money for that mayoral bid than we first thought. More than half a mil, to be exact. Because he has two accounts. The campaign fund is the one with $229,295 in contributions, but the PAC Gimenez formed in November has raised more than that, with $277,716 in […]

Artiles’ "home" turf, Part II

Ladra had no idea when she started howling Tuesday about the residency violation by State Rep. Frank Artiles (R, Disrict 119, except he isn’t living there) that the post would resonate so loudly and so widely. But we are glad. Maybe all the outrage will lead to some action and common sense. Several people who […]

District 7 hopefuls to talk

Former State Rep. Julio Robaina (R, District 117) and former Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez, running to replace county commissioner and mayoral candidate Carlos Gimenez in district 7 will share time next Tuesday with the Miami Young Republicans, aka the Biscayne Bay Republicans.Both candidates will speak and present their differing visions for the county, discuss their […]

Mayoral forum is a yawner

Maybe it’s because Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and rapper-turned-political-columnist Luther Campbell, the most colorful of the county mayoral candidates, were no shows, but the forum Monday night presented by DFAM at some union building in Allapattah was a real snoozefest. Don’t take it from me. Ask anyone who was there. Better yet, ask those who […]

Artiles lives outside district

Lucky people of Palmetto Bay! You have not one but two newly-elected state representatives looking out for your neighborhood interests in Tallahassee: Rep. Michael Bileca (R, District 117), which encompasses parts of Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay and South Miami and for whom you actually voted, and State Rep. Frank Artiles (R, District 119), whose electors live […]

MIA fire union in Kate’s camp?

It’s not official yet, but the Miami Firefighter’s union — which has publicly aired its issues with city commissioner Marc Sarnoff — are most likely going to support one of his challengers, the polished and polite and professional Kate Callahan in the district 2 race.The endorsement is not out, but Robert Suarez, president of Miami […]

Cancio slams LBA nod to Julio

Imagine how Jose “Pepe” Cancio felt after the Latin Builders’ Association, in which he has been a member for more than 20 years, first snubbed him at the forum for county mayor and then endorsed Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina — without even hearing him out. Cancio goes so far as to call the endorsement a […]