Miami Beach PAC seems to cast wider net than city race

Miami Beach PAC seems to cast wider net than city race

Just what are a couple of Miami Beach electeds who are not in contested races this year going to do with the funds they shake out of city contractors and would-be developers for their political action committee? That’s the $1 million question. The two ads produced so far by Relentless for Progress — the PAC […]

Ethics Commission looks into Miami Beach shakedown PAC

Ethics Commission looks into Miami Beach shakedown PAC

Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Commissioner Jonah “Pottymouth” Wolfson tried hard to quash a motion by Commissioner Deede Weithorn to have the Ethics Commission look into their brazen shakedown of vendors and developers who want to do business, or continue doing business, with the city. And they may have won at the dais, after the motion […]

Poll results are nothing for Carlos Gimenez to brag about

Poll results are nothing for Carlos Gimenez to brag about

The latest poll results on the 2016 Miami-Dade mayoral race may not be good news for School Board Member Raquel Regalado, whose numbers slipped from poll markers released six months ago. But it’s even worse news for Mayor Carlos Gimenez. Sure, he’s got a 23-point lead of his sole declared challenger, a lead you will […]

Try as he might, Carlos Lopez-Cantera ain’t no Marco Rubio

Try as he might, Carlos Lopez-Cantera ain’t no Marco Rubio

Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a former state rep and one-time Miami-Dade property appraiser who wants to replace Sen. Marco Rubio in D.C., is trying to cast himself as a near carbon copy of his would-be predecessor, a 2012 VP contender with the real potential to be the first Hispanic U.S. president. It ain’t gonna fly. Read related […]

Miami-Dade flubs millions in HUD funds, then spends more

Miami-Dade flubs millions in HUD funds, then spends more

Miami-Dade County, accused of  wrongly allocating $13 million in federal grants that must be repaid to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, is about to dole out another $12.5 million of the very same Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) and State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) monies. How do we know we won’t […]

Willy Gort challenger Mike Gabela runs on one issue: Crime

Willy Gort challenger Mike Gabela runs on one issue: Crime

Veteran Miami Commissioner Willy Gort will not get to coast into automatic re-election after all since he now has a real challenge from a former zoning board member who is running on a single issue: Crime. Miguel “Mike” Gabela, a real estate investor and auto parts business owner, filed to run in March but launched […]

Carlos Lopez-Cantera kicks off Senate race right on shedule

Carlos Lopez-Cantera kicks off Senate race right on shedule

Lo prometido es deuda and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera will keep his promise from a month ago to make an announcement for his Senate run Wednesday — and he will do it at 1 p.m. at the Northwest Miami-Dade offices of a politically-connected businesswoman who was charged with tax evasion in the 90s. Well, at least […]

Miami-Dade Commission should limit their speech, not ours

Miami-Dade Commission should limit their speech, not ours

In an effort to shorten increasingly marathon Miami-Dade County commission meetings — and just in time for budget hearings — Chairman Jean Monestime explained rules Tuesday that allow our local government to basically limit the amount of speakers on any given item that is not a public hearing item as well as when and where […]

Carlos Gimenez keeps rejecting voter-approved Pets’ Trust

Carlos Gimenez keeps rejecting voter-approved Pets’ Trust

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez was all smiles as he doled out the good news and budget increases last week: Higher property values give the county $120 million more to play with and the mayor recommends millions in additional funds to libraries, parks and programs — including an additional $2 million to the […]