Miami-Dade Police brass: We’re ‘optimistic’ so keep working

Miami-Dade Police brass: We’re ‘optimistic’ so keep working

Call it the calming before the storm. Miami-Dade Police Deputy Director Juan Perez sent a feel good memo to all department personnel Friday morning telling them that he was going to do “everything necessary” to avoid “this worst case scenario” — the firing of 283 positions, including 228 officers. The memo comes more than a […]

Miami Beach break-up: Philip Levine and Michael Grieco

Miami Beach break-up: Philip Levine and Michael Grieco

It was a short-lived honeymoon and Ladra sees the pending end of the bromance between Miami Beach Mayor Philip “Fix It Phil” Levine and Commissioner Michael Grieco, who ran on the Levine slate last year to overcome longtime Beach incumbents. At Wednesday’s city commission meeting, Levine lashed out at Grieco for being the sole nay […]

Chip Iglesias: Negotiator to lobbyist on Beckham soccer

Chip Iglesias: Negotiator to lobbyist on Beckham soccer

It escaped me Wednesday, but Genting isn’t the interesting client represented by the lobby firm that stole Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Genaro “Chip” Iglesias from the county. David Beckham is. Iglesias has been the county’s lead negotiator on the talks with Beckham and his group of investors to bring Major League Soccer to Miami — and […]

Reward: PBA offers $10K for tips on absentee ballot fraud

Reward: PBA offers $10K for tips on absentee ballot fraud

Days before thousands of Miami-Dade voters get absentee ballots for a number of key races in the August 26 primary, the Police Benevolent Association announced is a $10,000 reward Thursday to anyone who brings them information on absentee ballot fraud that leads to an arrest and conviction. The concern they have, shared by others, is that […]

Forget ‘Sex Tape’! County releases ‘Ethics Tape’ for campaigns

Forget ‘Sex Tape’! County releases ‘Ethics Tape’ for campaigns

Attention, Little Miss Ultra! This video was made for you! And just in time for the primary, too! The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust is selling a three-disc set of its Political Campaign Ethics Conference held earlier this year. It’s like a crash course in government accountability and integrity and includes segments on absentee […]

Rumors true: Chip Iglesias leaves Mayor Carlos Gimenez

Rumors true: Chip Iglesias leaves Mayor Carlos Gimenez

UPDATED: A little birdie with inside info told Ladra this afternoon that Ballard Partners, a firm that is desperate to strengthen their new Miami office, stole Chip from the county with an offer he couldn’t refuse. Ballard is the number one lobbying firm in the state, according to Florida Trend, and is currently working on the Genting […]

Congressional race heats up with Cuban credentials critique

Congressional race heats up with Cuban credentials critique

Ladra never thought she would see the day when a 305 politico would actually campaign on the fact that he or she is not Cuban. You avoid bringing attention to that, don’t you? In fact, I’ve seen it used against non-Cuban candidates or even just not as Cuban candidates. As in, “I’m more Cuban than the other […]

5 questions for Charlie Crist’s new No. 2: Annette Taddeo

5 questions for Charlie Crist’s new No. 2: Annette Taddeo

By MARGIE MENZELTHE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDATHE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, July 22, 2014 — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist announced last week that his running mate would be Annette Taddeo, chairwoman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party and a political consultant’s dream: a Hispanic working mom who runs a successful small business and hosted her own show, Taddeo2Day, on […]

Lynda Bell vs. Levine Cava debate becomes heated spar

Lynda Bell vs. Levine Cava debate becomes heated spar

The long-anticipated showdown between Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell and challenger Daniella Levine Cava came and went Monday night as each worked hard to turn the heat up on the other at the Kendall Federation of Homeowners debate. Levine hit Bell on the recent service cuts in police and libraries and the battle to balance the […]

Lines drawn in battle for Miami-Dade Property Appraiser

Lines drawn in battle for Miami-Dade Property Appraiser

There were no fisticuffs, but it was lively and lines were definitely drawn in the debate last week between the five candidates for Miami-Dade Property Appraiser — a juicy $196,000-a-year job overseeing the assessment of property values, which is the main source of revenue (read: cash cow) for the county budget as well as all […]