At first blush, it may seem like a difficult decision. But it’s really a no brainer. Because the the circuit court race that pits former School Board Member and State Rep. Renier Diaz de la Portilla against Assistant City of Miami Attorney Veronica Xiques Diaz is really a choice between a promise and a puppet. Sure, Baby DLP can be […]
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez will present his budget today for the first time publicly — his proposal to run the $6.2 billion business that is county government and, more specifically, the $4.45 billion that is the general operating budget (the other $1.6 mil is for capital improvements). Oh, that doesn’t mean we aren’t […]
Say it ain’t so, mayor: Please tell Ladra and everyone who lives in the county and pays property taxes that you are not proposing to fire 255 police officers while, with the other hand, you give the Pérez Art Museum Miami $1.5 million more for $4 million in total. How many cops’ jobs can those […]
Forgive Ladra and her friends if we have lost all faith in Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez and the county bean counters. First, there was a $208 million shortfall in the Miami-Dade budget. Then it was $200 million. Then, if I recall correctly, it fell to $160 million. Then it was $90 million. Then it […]
As a Congressional candidate, Miami-Dade School Board Member Carlos Curbelo has said repeatedly that it is time for the voters in Distrct 26 to have a representative that is not embroiled in scandal. Everyone knows he is referring to not just Congressman Joe Garcia, whose chief of staff served a 90-day sentence for absentee ballot […]
The intern did it! Congressman Joe “Wasn’t Me” Garcia deleted on Saturday a tweet posted Friday that promoted the use of the Uber X car sharing service that county officials say is operating illegally in Miami-Dade. At first, Ladra thought that maybe his account had been hacked by mastermind Republicans with a flair for the […]
This is beginning to feel like a recurring nightmare. In his desperate attempt to find a taxpayer bailout for the team he apparently overpaid for, Stephen Ross — one of the richest men in the U.S, according to Forbes — is going on his third try for subsidies from Miami-Dade County. Mayor Carlos Gimenez — […]
The 305 political world is abuzz with the news that former U.S. Rep. David “King Nine Lives” Rivera jumped into the congressional race in his old district, which he lost in the 2012 presidential elections to Congressman Joe Garcia. Jaws everywhere dropped. People gasped and shook heads. The other Republican candidates in the primary reacted […]
One can’t help but think that Coral Gables City Manager Pat Salerno knew he was on his way out and that that is why he made the change in his retirement benefits that not only increased the city’s contribution almost threefold, but gave it to him in one lump sum. Salerno, who abruptly resigned his […]
Among the last things he did — probably before he wrote that long congratulatory letter to himself that was distributed on the city’s enewsletter (more on that later) — Coral Gables City Manager Pat Salerno doled out raises to his favored employees (read: cronies). According to a series of emails obtained by Ladra, Commissioner Pat […]