Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Esteban Bovo has named his new committee 
members, chairs and vice chairs and there are definitely signs that some of his colleagues are buds and some are, well, not.
It’s natural to give chairmanships to those commissioners who voted for you as chairman of the board. That’s a longtime tradition and no surprise here. These are rewards, plain and simple. If you think, gentle reader, that our electeds want to put people in committees that make sense because of their experience or expertise, you would only be half right. Because appointments are also opportunities to help allies and hand out payback to those who aren’t. And this is all real insider baseball, but it can help us understand how things play out in the next two years.
And it is obvious that Vice Chair Audrey Edmonson is the big winner while newly re-elected Commissioner Joe Martinez is the big loser.
Edmonson is sitting pretty, which lends more strength to the widespread belief that she struck a deal with Bovo and 
switched her original vote for chairman from Commissioner Xavier Suarez and steered others to do the same. Edmonson is the only commissioner who got two committees instead of three — she gets a little break — and they are two of the good ones. She is chair of the housing and social services, most likely she wanted that because of the Liberty Square Rising project — and vice chair of transportation and public works, which is probably the most imporant committee (read: most coveted) in the next two years. She also chairs her own Building Safer Neighborhoods committee and is vice chair of Bovo’s Policy Council, that means that there is not a single committee that she sits on that she is not chairing or vice chair.
Read related story: Tight race for commission chair — Xavier Suarez vs Stevie Bovo
She’s also got the most and some of the juicier appointments to various boards and councils, like the International Trade Consortium, which was taken away from Jose “Pepe” Diaz, who voted for X in the chair vote (loser). Edmonson also got appointed to the Public Health Trust Nominating Council and the Jackson Health Systesm GOB Advisory Board, which will oversee spending of the $830 million general obligation bond funds that were approved by 65% of the voters in 2013. She was also appointed to the Youth Crime Task Force with Commissioner Barbara Jordan, who also voted for X and was not appointed to any other board or council (loser).
But at least she got one. And Jordan was also named vice chair of the public safety and health committee. And Diaz gets to be vice chair of infrastructure and utilities as well as the appointment to the Military Affairs Board, which is a nice consolation prize for him in exchange for the trade consortium.
Joe Martinez is the big loser because he is the only commissioner who didn’t get named either chair or vice chair of any 
committee and he got snubbed out of any boards and councils. It’s not like there weren’t enough spots to go around. Edmonson and Commissioners Rebeca Sosa and Javier Souto — both of whom also supported Bovo — have both a chair and vice chair position (winners). Sosa will chair the economic development and tourism committee and serve as vice chair of the government operations. And Souto chairs his beloved Parks and Cultural Affairs committee — arguably the least important of them — and is vice chair of the economic development and tourism committee with Sosa. Say what? Well, the chairman, whose father served in Brigade 2506 with Souto, likes him. And several of the commissioners who voted for Bovo as chair have multiple board appointments.
If Edmonson is the queen of the new court, Martinez is the jester. To add insult to injury, he also gets what everyone considers the “punishment” chair in the seatig arrangement at the county clerk end of the dais, furthest from the door and the coveted county attorney side.
So, it’s more than just about his vote for Suarez. This is probably about Martinez talking smack since he’s come back.
Ladra loves it. Comeback Joe is schooling the other commissioners, asking bothersome questions, making procurement officers squirm. But that means he’s ruffling feathers at County Hall and making some people unhappy. And he must pay Piper Bovo.
Read related story: Carlos Gimenez, er, Stevie Bovo wins commission chair
Also, the chairman admitted that he consulted with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez — who also worked 
behind the scenes to help Bovo become chairman — before making his appointments and its no secret, despite Martinez claiming a buried hatchet, that the mayor is still peeved at Joe for having the audacity to run against him in 2012. The nerve!
Ladra doesn’t think the chairman considers Martinez a threat to his own rumored interest in the open mayor’s seat in 2020. But we suspect that’s why X was also put in a box. It’s no secret that Suarez is also seriously considering a run for mayor. And there was no other reason for Bovo to rub his victory in Suarez’s face by giving the Children’s Trust appointment to Commissioner Sally Heyman (winner) after X told him it’s all he wanted. Then Bovo rethought that one and snubbed Suarez a second time, giving it to Daniella Levine Cava. But Suarez did get appointed to housing and social services committee that has organizational jurisdiction over the Children’s Trust. He also got on the government operations, which oversees budget and finance, and infrastructure and utilities committees.
“Sounds like I get to do some work on the budget,” Suarez told Ladra. “I’m 
happy with all of them.
“Not being on transportation could be seen as negative but I don’t take it like that. I’m not able to move a transportation agenda without outside influences,” Suarez said, adding that he was talking to the CITT about reclaiming People’s Transportation Plan funds and talking to legislators about tag renewal fee monies.
His son, Miami City Commissioner Francis Suarez, is vice chair of the Metropolitan Planning Organization and Suarez has also been trying to get more MDX dollars for mass transit rather than highways.
“I don’t need to be on the committee to move things forward,” he said.
Commissioner Levine Cava, who also supported Suarez, got put on the Parks and Cultural committee and the Public Safety and Health committees and is vice chair of the Housing and Social Services committee. She did get one appointment to the Public Health Trust Compensation and Evaluation Committee, whatever that is. Obscure. Suarez got it appointed to just that also (losers).
Other winners include Bruno Barreiro, who gets to chair the transportation committee and is the commission appointment to the Beacon Council, former Chairman Jean Monestime, who gets chair of the infrastructure and utilities committee and is the county’s representative at the Miami-Dade League of Cities and Dennis Moss, who got chair of government operations and appointed to the Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens Oversight Board and Neat Streets Miami.
New Miami-Dade committee structure winners and losers added by Ladra on
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