Bill Johnson leaves county nest just as billions get ready to fly

Bill Johnson leaves county nest just as billions get ready to fly

From the timing-is-everything department. Water and Sewer Department Director Bill Johnson, who used to be director of the Port of Miami, has been tapped by Florida Gov. Rick Scott as head of Enterprise Florida, which recruits corporations to relocate to Florida and tries to retain companies that are thinking of moving. It’s a really soft […]

Political Pics of the Week: Parades, oaths, keys and Cokes

Political Pics of the Week: Parades, oaths, keys and Cokes

The photogenic highlight of the week has to be the emotional installation ceremony where Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime was installed chairman. But there were other things going on this week, too. A ground-breaking, a ribbon-cutting and even a couple of parades. The first of two parades was last weekend as politicos pressed the flesh with […]

Mayor Carlos Gimenez again misses opportunity to lead

Mayor Carlos Gimenez again misses opportunity to lead

The takeaway from Wednesday’s Miami-Dade School Board meeting is not that members gave their attorney 20 days to present options on taking legal action against the county mayor or the state or whoever it is that is responsible for the backlog at the Value Adjustment Board that has caused annual budget shortfalls in the hundreds […]

Courthouse clean bill of health begs questions, investigation

Courthouse clean bill of health begs questions, investigation

Well, well, well. It appears that there is no huge, life-endangering emergency at the downtown Miami-Dade Civil Courthouse after all. You know… the health and safety hazards like mold and crumbling columns that lawyers and judges told us were killing them slowly day by day or quickly any day now. They lied. The county’s assessment […]

Mayor’s morning café with former aviation chief Jose Abreu

Mayor’s morning café with former aviation chief Jose Abreu

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez was spotted meeting with former Miami-Dade Aviation Director Jose Abreu and chauffuer-turned-lobbyist Rafael Garcia Toledo at Greenstreet in Coconut Grove Friday morning. At least that is how several people in the know, including the new aviation director, identified the folks in the photo. What was that coffee chat about? Inquiring minds […]

County budget director gets love, forgiveness for blunder

County budget director gets love, forgiveness for blunder

While she may have borne the wrath of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez, county Budget Director Jennifer Glazer Moon got a lot of love, understanding and forgiveness from the commission when they voted Thursday to approve the do-over budget. And she also got the fine imposed by the mayor lifted. County commissioners were forced […]

Pot calls kettle black in Tri-Rail bid protest by MCM’s Munilla

Pot calls kettle black in Tri-Rail bid protest by MCM’s Munilla

In a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, Pedro Munilla of MCM has complained that another building company got the recommendation for a government contract because of an inside deal and political palanca — in other words, because of who they know. Yes, this is the same Munilla who is related, by […]

Teachers to sue Carlos Gimenez over lost, delayed tax dollars

Teachers to sue Carlos Gimenez over lost, delayed tax dollars

A group of teachers represented by United Teachers of Dade, which represents more than 35,000 educators and school employees in the fourth largest school district in the country, say that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez has violated the state constitution and shortchanged students at Miami-Dade Public Schools. They plan to file a lawsuit Friday […]

Body cameras are swell — but put one on the mayor, too

Body cameras are swell — but put one on the mayor, too

The violence that erupted in Ferguson — as well as the police shooting that started it — has refueled the debate about body cameras on police officers, including in Miami-Dade, where the mayor and commission have set $1 million aside in this year’s tight budget to equip 500 county cops with video recorders worn on […]

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