Qualifying week has begun, and after weeks of speculation, former State Senator Annette Taddeo officially announced Monday that she is running for Florida Chief Financial Officer, confirming what Political Cortadito suspected all along: she wasn’t looking at the suddenly vacant Senate seat. She was looking at something much bigger. While Miami-Dade politicians have spent the […]
After first term, Fernandez won’t seek re-election Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago is getting an early Christmas present this week. Commissioner Ariel Fernandez — a former ally who has turned into one of Lago’s biggest critics and targets — announced Monday that he will not seek reelection, ending one of the most contentious and entertaining […]
So the $400 million fuel depot deal is apparently dead. Just days after Political Cortadito asked whether Miami-Dade taxpayers were about to become the proud owners of one of the most expensive governmental “oops” moments in local history — and dopes in what looks like a long con job — Mayor Daniella Levine Cava slammed […]
Could two of Miami’s biggest developers be bluffing for a quick profit? Ladra has a question. Maybe a dumb question. Maybe a smart question. Maybe the kind of question that explains why two top county officials suddenly resigned as patsies of the fuel depot debacle that led Miami-Dade to lose an opportunity to secure a […]
The Miami Downtown Development Authority’s troubles just keep coming. At a contentious board meeting last week, DDA board members openly questioned years of negative vacation balances and what Commissioner Ralph Rosado, the DDA chairman, described as potential “time theft” involving Executive Director Christina Crespi. Now Political Cortadito has learned that on the very same day […]
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago said on Tuesday that he didn’t have to recuse himself from a vote on a variance appeal because he doesn’t do business with Brian Goldmeier anymore. Which raises an interesting question: Since when? The controversy centered on an appeal involving property at 722 Aledo Avenue, owned by political fundraiser and […]
The political fallout from Miami-Dade’s spectacular failure to secure the last major fuel depot serving PortMiami claimed two high-profile casualties late Wednesday when Port Director Hydi Webb and Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Morales abruptly resigned. That’s right. That Jimmy Morales. And just like that, the fuel depot fiasco has gone from embarrassing to career-ending. Read […]
Miami-Dade’s elected officials are kinda freaking out Florida lawmakers this week did something that would have sounded completely insane just a few years ago. They put the beginning of the end of property taxes on the ballot. Not all property taxes. Not yet. But close enough that every mayor, commissioner, city manager, budget director and […]
Jean Monestime, Rudy Moise jump into the bunch Every so often, South Florida politics experiences one of those rare celestial events that only comes around once in a blue moon: an open congressional seat. Not a scandal. Not an indictment. Not a recount. Not a death grip incumbent hanging on until the bitter end. An […]
Family wants to build on 246 acres of wetlands The bulldozers are still in the parking lot. And the Urban Development Boundary is back on the agenda. Again. After months of delays, negotiations, a veto, reconsiderations and enough procedural gymnastics to qualify for the Olympic team, Miami-Dade commissioners are scheduled Tuesday to once again decide […]