Uncle Luke is really a hero

Everybody’s got it wrong. We gotta give Luther Campbell a medal. His endorsement of former Hialeah mayor Julio Robaina for the Miami-Dade mayoral post was not a sell-out, flip-flop documented example of hypocrisy. It was brilliant! Uncle Luke got Robaina to promise a taxpayer-paid position when elected for a political favor, a big no-no according […]

Robaina $ tied to housing scandal

Every once in a while, mayoral candidate Julio Robaina says something that is so true it’s hard to believe it came out of his mouth. Earlier this week, he said “the devil is in the details” at the Miami Foundation’s forum. We are pretty sure he was talking about some budget issue. So are we […]

2 must-read Miami city blogs

While Ladra is concentrating on the very important county mayoral race and other distractions, we thank our lucky stars that Al Crespo and the writers at Investigation Miami are out there keeping tabs on the antics at the city of Miami. Crespo was first to report the pending resignation of City Manager Tony Crapp (Hey, […]

Robaina: Elect "us" as mayor

There was one word that mayoral candidate Julio Robaina kept bringing up in the debate Wednesday night by The Miami Foundation at the University of Miami that caused Ladra’s ears to perk up every time: “We.” Robaina keeps referring to himself in plural. Is he planning to clone himself or suffering from a multiple personality […]

Swearing-in is big ticket event

Their first official meeting is Tuesday, but two new Miami-Dade Commissioners — elected in districts 7 and 13 last month in the recall wake — tried out the dais Monday morning when they were sworn in at county hall before a bevy of elected officials and politicians, almost every single county department head, their extended […]

One-man forum tonight

A mayoral forum for the two candidates in the runoff will be a little one-sided tonight since one of the guys in the June 28 runoff ain’t showing. Guess who? Former county commissioner Carlos Gimenez has confirmed his attendance at the forum presented by the Kendall Federation of Homeowners Associations, which starts at 7 p.m. […]

Gimenez gets gay ‘Go Boy!’

Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Carlos Gimenez got the endorsement Thursday from the SAVE Dade political action committee and all Ladra could do was yawn. Like, duh. Gimenez “has a close family member who is lesbian and understands the difficulties that people who are LGBT face on a regular basis,” the SAVE Dade press release says, adding […]

Gables goodbye on public dime?

A lavish goodbye party for outgoing Coral Gables Mayor Don Slesnick is being planned by his wife, two current and one former commissioner and a slew of supporters — including a few city employees who are reportedly working on details from City Hall. According to a couple of those planners, Coral Gables City Manager Patrick […]

Wannabe candidate’s suit quashed

The Third District Court of Appeal has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the county for violating public notice rights on the District 7 race that one would-be candidate said makes it almost impossible for outsiders to enter the political arena. The three-judge panel does not say why in it’s two page ruling. But, from the […]

Suarez is District 7 commissioner

Well, this just in. Former Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez won the District 7 race, with 53 percent of the vote. But only 214 people more voted for him on Election Day. As expected, Suarez led the absentee ballot race by a whopping 1,200 votes. Hmmmm…Former State Rep. Julio Robaina, who led by a nose in […]