Political observers knew it was a bad idea to give Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla the chairmanship of the Omni CRA. Now he is under investigation for having hired a longtime lackey as a ghost employee. Jenny Nillo, a onetime state senate plantidate and longtime campaign and legislative worker for ADLP, is […]
State investigates his involvement in sham senate race Former State Sen. Frank Artiles had his Palmetto Bay home raided Wednesday morning in connection with the sham plantidate that helped Sen. Ileana Garcia win the District 37 race against Jose Javier Rodriguez by a scant 32 votes. Investigators with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office took boxes […]
All together, the 13 candidates in the April 13 Coral Gables election have raised more than $1 million — a milestone reached last month, according to the latest campaign finance reports. Leading the pack are the mayoral candidates, who between them, raised $121,240 just in February. Together, they account for half of the million dollar […]
Two of the frontrunners in the Coral Gables Group 2 commission race were the subjects of a mobile poll last week that tested negative messages against one of them. Voters were asked if they would be more likely or less likely to vote for a candidate if they had been “charged by Boston, Massachusetts police […]
Commissioner Pat Keon has drawn first blood in the mayoral race with a dark money attack mailer against Vice Mayor Vince Lago that calls him “a rubber stamp for big developers.” It’s almost laughable, because Keon is the development darling in the race. Lago has consistently been the lone no vote on several controversial developments […]
But did ‘bad actors’ get some of the $60 million in federal funding? Some renters who are behind on their rent but protected by an emergency COVID eviction moratorium might find themselves on the street soon as Miami-Dade takes steps to resume residential ousters. The county already announced last month that it would start issuing […]
Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo got his way Thursday when the commission voted to throw all the unused COVID19 relief money for grocery gift cards from the CARES federal funding into a new pot and divide it between four of them again. Commissioner Jeffrey Watson and his $360,388 balance will stay in District 5 because, officially, […]
City commissioners in Miami could officially give the redistricting consulting contract to Miguel de Grandy on Thursday. That’s expected. The contract was taken from former State Sen. Bill Galvano, a pal of Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, last month and De Grandy was already spoken of as the chosen replacement. What’s not expected or […]
Even as they talk about the tough times to come and budget shortfalls expected in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic, Miami-Dade Commissioners could spend an additional $19 million on furniture this year — because $21 million is evidently not enough. That’s right, the total amount in the annual budget for furniture could be increased […]
Leaders ignore protests and widespread opposition Coral Gables commissioners approved the controversial zoning code update Tuesday — or a watered down version, taking out potential height increases, a reduction of parking restrictions, and the contentious changes proposed on Miracle Mile for more discussion. But the upzoning for the Crafts Section — three blocks of single […]