Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, whose term ends in November, has raised $640,000 for his political action committee, Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade. But we still don’t know if he’s going to use those funds for a re-election campaign — he has not yet filed any paperwork for that — or a mayoral run, […]
Magistrate says city gerrymandered new boundaries A U.S. federal magistrate recommended earlier this month that the city of Miami toss out its new districts — finalized last year after weeks of heated meetings, multiple changes, and the objections of many residents — because they were gerrymandered by racial lines to keep the current candidates in […]
Newly-elected Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro was so excited about her first commission meeting on Tuesday, nothing would faze her. Her car wouldn’t start, her heel got stuck in the elevator door, the Uber driver turned the wrong way and made her a few minutes late. But none of it mattered. She was so psyched […]
Coral Gables City Manager Peter Iglesias will live to see another day at City Hall. Iglesias survived an attempt to fire him driven by newly-elected Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, who said at Tuesday’s commission meeting that Iglesias was too secretive and rude to residents and was leading the city in the wrong direction. “The residents have […]
Mayor Jose “Pepe” Diaz gets his slate to run the city Sweetwater on Tuesday was the opposite of Coral Gables because the mayor got all his candidates elected in the city elections. Commissioners Isidro Ruiz and Reinaldo Rey won their races overwhelmingly with 68% and 65% of the vote, respectively. Mayor Jose “Pepe” Diaz — […]
Planned “mobility hub” garage gets a big thumbs down There was a packed house with standing room only at the highly anticipated first town hall Monday hosted by newly-elected Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez. Even Mayor Vince Lago, was there. Lago, who had campaigned hard against the two new electeds — calling Fernandez “unhinged” […]
Critics say it is another vanity project for his wife Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo — in the midst of a federal trial about abuse of power and political retaliation — wants to seize two parcels on the Miami River through eminent domain so he can build a park dedicated to South American liberator Simon Bolivar […]
UPDATED: Well, that didn’t take long. True to his campaign talk, newly-elected Commissioner Ariel Fernandez has moved to dismiss City Manager Peter Iglesias. He has put a discussion on the May 9 commission agenda “regarding the termination of the city manager.” Fernandez, who won with nearly 60% of the vote, has had issues with the […]
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago is not as popular as he thinks he is. There’s no doubt that these recent commission races were a referendum on his leadership. Even though he won re-election with no opposition, Lago worked hard to get his cronies elected. He called people and asked them to put signs in their […]
Newly-elected Coral Gables commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez were sworn in Friday during a short investiture ceremony where they repeated their commitment to put residents first. Oh, yeah, Mayor Vince Lago, who was re-elected without opposition, was also sworn in again. But he didn’t seem to have as happy a day. He seemed pouty […]