We all knew it was coming, but Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava made it official Wednesday, wading into the Miami mayoral election, backing her political BFF, County Commissioner Eileen Higgins among the 13 candidates. Nobody is surprised. But the timing might be key: It comes 12 hours after a less-than-lackluster performance by Higgins at a […]
Residents at budget hearings urge county to defund As it scrambled to cover a $402 million budget gap, raised fees and cut corners on some services, the county still found ways to shovel millions into Israel bonds at a time when most of the world is condemning what can only be described as genocide in […]
DERM gets separated, Metro Connect survives First in a series of county budget coverage stories Miami-Dade’s $12.9 billion budget squeaked through Thursday night — or, more accurately, early Saturday morning — after another one of those all-night marathons at County Hall that leave everyone bleary-eyed and cranky. The biggest headline? Bus riders dodged a fare […]
Well, it looks like the mayor blinked. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has closed the $400-million gap in the 2025-26 budget and still somehow restored every single dollar to the community-based organizations, the nonprofits whose funding has more than doubled in eight years and that every commissioner suddenly pretends is the only thing standing between […]
Was the county’s $402M budget gap just a drill? Remember that $402 million budget hole Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said we were staring down back in July? The one that justified chopping arts funding, pulling the plug on charity grants, hiking transit fees and even grounding the county’s rescue helicopters? Well, guess what. Most […]
Part 1 in a series of county budget coverage stories By the time Miami-Dade commissioners wrapped up their first budget hearing at 4:33 a.m. Friday, the only people left in the chambers were the diehards. And a very tired staff who must have had a lot of cafecito. But most of the 240 speakers during […]
Sheriff gets her millions; firefighters still up in the air Budget season is usually messy, but this summer has been a full-on disaster. And Thursday night at 5 p.m., Miami-Dade residents get their first chance to sound off at the budget hearing before commissioners take their first vote. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has been in […]
In her efforts to close a budget shortfall she says is caused by the sudden loss of COVID dollars and the five constitutional offices separating from the county, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava might be compromising public safety. Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz all but waved a big red siren this week, warning commissioners that […]
And county commissioners look for scapegoats As if she was reaching between the couch cushions, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava just magically found $66 million to soften the sting of her doom-and-gloom $13 million budget. After floating layoffs and slashing nonprofits last month, proposing increased fees all over to stop a $402 million hole from growing, the […]
Miami-Dade fire union has threatened legal action Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava may want to check her smoke alarms — because firefighters smell something funny rising out of the 2025-26 budget: A sneaky move to shift the estimated $30 million cost of running the countywide air rescue helicopters to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, which is funded […]