With a unanimous vote, the Miami City Commission last Saturday decided not to appoint anyone to the District 1 seat vacated by the arrest and suspension earlier this month of Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla. Instead, the District 1 seat will remain empty — like it was a lot when ADLP was still in […]
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago is pushing annexation like never before. The city sent petition ballot cards to property owners in the Little Gables and High Pines/Ponce Davis area. Two town hall meetings were scheduled to talk to residents and hear their questions. And Lago has declared himself the lead negotiator with the county on […]
The Miami City Commission will have a special meeting Saturday to decide how to fill the vacancy caused last week by the arrest of Alex Diaz de la Portilla on public corruption charges that include money laundering, bribery and criminal conspiracy. His colleagues see on the dais could do a number of things: What do […]
It didn’t take long for Bill Riley Jr.‘s name to disappear from the list of licensed real estate salespeople at Rosa Commercial Real Estate, the brokerage firm owned by former Hialeah Councilman Oscar de la Rosa, stepson of Hialeah Mayor Esteban “Stevie” Bovo. The brokerage firm that got $640,000 fee for the sale of the […]
All four candidates in the race to replace termed out Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber are expected to participate in a forum Monday sponsored by Miami Beach United, an influential activists organization. Leading the pack are the two Michaels — former city commissioner Michael Góngora and former State Rep. Michael Grieco, also once a city […]
The lobbyist arrested last week with Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla on public corruption charges — including money laundering, bribery and criminal conspiracy — has given campaign checks to other politicians and political action committees. Our local campaign finance watchdog Dani Rivera took a peek at some reports this week and found that […]
So, it was apparently Coral Gables Commissioner Kirk Menendez who came up with the plan to give himself and his colleagues some pretty big raises in salaries, more wiggle room in their expense accounts and brand new car allowances where there were none. Newly-elected Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez apparently agreed, according to City […]
The public corruption charges against Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and attorney/lobbyist Bill Riley Jr. revolve around the two political campaigns waged by the lawmaker’s baby brother, Renier Diaz de la Portilla: The 2020 race for county commission and a 2022 judicial contest. An arrest affidavit lays out the scheme as having begun […]
That was fast. It took just about 24 hours for Gov. Ron DeSantis to suspend Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, after his arrest this week on charges of money laundering, bribery, criminal conspiracy and other public corruption and campaign finance violations. In contrast, it took three weeks for DeSantis to suspend former Miami-Dade […]
The land-use attorney and lobbyist arrested Thursday on money laundering, criminal conspiracy and political corruption charges also has business ties with Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago. William “Bill” Riley Jr. was one of the four real estate agents registered along with Lago at the brokerage owned by former Hialeah Councilman Oscar de la Rosa, who […]