At first blush, the item on the Miami City Commission agenda for Thursday’s meeting about expanding the pool of tow companies for the Miami Parking Authority — which currently only uses one company with political connections — sounds like a good idea. It just seems like too sweet a deal to let one company with […]
The controversial and massive changes to Miami’s tree ordinance — which regulates the removal and pruning of trees — are seemingly unnecessary and, worse, directed by the development industry, which taints the legislation. Everyone knows that Commissioner Miguel Gabela, the dope they roped to sponsor this, is going to defer the vote at Thursday’s commission […]
Newly-elected Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia, who beat JC Planas 56% to 44% in November’s historic race, was sworn in last week as the county’s first elected person to that new constitutional office. The ceremony in Hialeah was also a swearing in of two other constitutional officers, Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez and Property Appraiser Tomas Regalado, […]
Campaign finance reports filed last week by the candidates for Coral Gables mayor and commissioner show that nobody did very well in the final quarter of 2024. Donations slowed down big time. Mayor Vince Lago actually gave money back instead of raising any. His campaign report shows zero contributions, but that he returned two $1,000 […]
Two more people have said they will run for office in Coral Gables’ April election. Both have been candidates before: Architect Felix Pardo, who lost a commission race in 2005, and Freebee lobbyist Claudia Miro, who lost one in 2021. In what’s become a new tradition, Pardo — a longtime Coral Gables activist and architect […]
Former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla just keeps on winning. After getting 11 felony charges, including bribery and money laundering, dropped in November, Diaz de la Portilla won another court ruling Thursday when a judge dismissed a civil lawsuit from a lobbyist who says he was shaken down for a vote on a […]
In what turned out to be yet another show of political division in the city of Coral Gables, Deputy City Manager Alberto Parjus was named city manager to replace Amos Rojas, who resigned earlier this month. The appointment will be effective at the next commission meeting Jan. 28, at which the salary and benefits package […]
When Coral Gables City Manager Amos Rojas took the job last year amid the controversy after the firing of Peter Iglesias, he said he would only want to do it for a year. Time’s up. Rojas sent a note to his staff shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday explaining that he would resign, effective Feb. 28. […]
In what seems like a complete abandonment of his stated principles and mayoral campaign platform, former Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid — who was trounced 58% to 23% by Daniella Levine Cava in last August’s election (no need for a runoff) — has taken a newly-created $200,000-a-year job in a make-believe department in the top-heavy administration […]
Healthcare business titan Benjamin Leon Jr., who founded Leon Medical Centers and made a fortune off Medicare patients — and who gave more than $3 million in campaign contributions last year — was appointed this week by President Elect Donald Trump as his new ambassador to Spain. Think of it as a thank you. More […]