When was the last time you got a six figure raise? Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez gets a $100,000-a-year raise, nearly doubling his salary to $250,000-a-year beginning in October, because, well, because he can. As strong mayor, he is his own boss and can apparently decide to give himself a raise whenever he wants. No performance evaluation. […]
Before the primary election, many households in State House District 115 were besieged by mailers, mostly from Republican hopeful Vance Aloupis, who won Aug. 28 by touting himself as the most conservative and Republican of the four candidates. Now, suddenly, he’s not so GOP for the genenral. A handout being left at homes by canvassers […]
Authorities need to investigate the latest campaign finance report filed Monday by Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, and not because it’s several months late, for which the commissioner should be fined. One expenditure on the campaign termination report — which closes out the account for the 2017 campaign — smells questionable and should raise eyebrows in […]
Make no mistake. The lack of early voting on college campuses in Miami-Dade is voter suppression. In defiance of a federal judge who said the Florida ban on early voting on college campuses had a “pattern of discrimination,” and while other counties scramble to provide campus locations, Miami-Dade is not opening any early voting locations […]
There may have been no contributions and no activity in the reports for his political action committee until the $5,000 check from Fisher Island developers in late August, but Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez first began soliciting contributions for Miami Dade Residents First in March of last year. Maybe he’s losing his golden touch. According to […]
After almost two years of nada, a political action committee for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez reported this month that it raised $5,000 in the last days of August, raising eyebrows across the county about what Gimenez, who is termed out in 2020, will do with it. Will he run for mayor of Miami in 2021 […]
After a series of major missteps, a protracted and seemingly personal battle with the popular police and several threats, both public and private, to quit her job, Coral Gables City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark resigned Monday after almost four years at the helm of the City Beautiful. Police Chief Ed Hudak wins. And it seems Commissioner Mike Mena is […]
There’s no mention of them in the lawsuit filed Tuesday by Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo against the city and Mayor Francis Suarez in an attempt to stop the strong mayor vote, but the county mayor’s family is involved. While the emergency complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief was filed in Miami-Dade 11th Circuit Court by […]
Let’s say that the mayor of a big city calls one of his employees on a Sunday morning at home. This employee, who years ago he promoted to chief of her department, is in charge of municipal elections and, lo and behold, she changes her mind about a previously hard and fast deadline on an upcoming […]
Sorry Ladra has had to take a week to recover from the primaries and, yes, I am talking mostly about congressional district 27, where I was part of the campaign. My candidate came in third and, even though she was always the underdog and most expected her to do worse, it still hurts a bit. […]