For years, Miami-Dade politicians have stood behind serious podiums promising to finally stop using the county jail as South Florida’s largest mental health institution. They held press conferences. They commissioned studies. They praised Judge Steve Leifman’s nationally celebrated diversion initiatives. They talked compassion. Reform. Innovation. “Transformational investment.” Then they built the Miami Center for Mental […]
Just days before Miami commissioners are set to decide whether to place Mayor Eileen Higgins’ proposed $450 million “Safe & Ready” public safety bond on the August ballot, a brand-new poll has magically appeared showing that voters apparently love it. What incredible timing. According to the survey commissioned by Higgins’ political committee, nearly 68% of […]
Former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla — once a state Senate leader and the middle brother of a dynasty — may soon lose one of the last surviving pieces of his once-formidable political operation: his longtime political action committee. According to a March notice from the Florida Division of Elections, the state has […]
Questions abound about Bayfront Park, PR costs If Miami voters thought they were getting a reformer when they elected city commissioner Miguel Angel Gabela in District 1, they might want to check the fine print. Honestly, they really had no choice. His opponent, incumbent Alex Diaz de la Portilla, was facing public corruption charges including […]
Miami-Dade’s wildly controversial school bus camera ticketing program is back, everybody. Because apparently the lesson from last year’s bureaucratic dumpster fire was not “slow down,” but “reboot it with better PR.” County officials, school administrators, BusPatrol executives and Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz gathered last week to announce the triumphant return of the AI-powered stop-arm […]
So, Ladra was right. Again. The City of Miami Police Department didn’t exactly conduct a nationwide talent hunt complete with consultants, community forums, glossy binders and kumbaya listening sessions before naming its next chief. Nope. Instead, Mayor Eileen Higgins and City Manager James Reyes went with the same ol’ Miami way: pick the guy they […]
There are ribbon cuttings. There are golden shovels. There are keys to the city. There are politicians handing each other plaques for breathing. And then there are the teachers. The ones buying classroom supplies with their own money while Tallahassee argues over culture wars. The ones answering parent emails at 11 p.m. The ones trying […]
The escalating battle between Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago and activist Maria Cruz — who went from close kitchen cabinet ally to recall organizer — heated up another notch Tuesday when the 80-year-old grandmother dared call the mayor a wannabe king. Cruz, a frequent flyer at City Hall and full-time thorn-in-the-mayor’s-side, took the podium — […]
Featuring former State Rep. J.C. Planas Just when we thought Alex Diaz de la Portilla’s divorce couldn’t get any messier, the former Miami commissioner has gone ahead and done what every embattled 305 politician eventually does when things aren’t going his way: He’s blaming the judge. In a freshly filed, very detailed motion, Diaz de […]
If you thought the fiercest battle in Coral Gables these days was over development, traffic, or pensions… think again. It’s golf. And at Tuesday’s commission meeting, the manicured battlefield will once again be Granada Golf Course — where a surprisingly high-stakes showdown is brewing over who gets to play, how often, and just how subsidized […]
