Tucked into the Miami-Dade Commission agenda Tuesday is a little item that will make 
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez‘s best friend and campaign finance chair very happy.
One of the multi-million dollar contracts that will likely be awarded lists Ralph Garcia Toledo‘s company as one of the subcontractors. But nobody is going to mention it. Nobody brought up this cronyism at the Chairman’s Policy Council where the contract went up from $11 million to $22 million at Chairman Esteban Bovo‘s request.
Why should they? It’s just part of business at County Hall.
Read related story: Mayor’s BFF is back for another county contract payola
Garcia Toledo already has a piece of another contract, getting paid $200 an hour for mostly clerical work — up to $18 million in 12 years. For work that could be done by a county staffer. Does that sound legitimate to you?
Now he’s getting more? Why not? If nobody stopped him the first time.
The resolution is a contract award for $22 million for engineering services to Parsons Brinckerhoff to help the Department of Transportation and Public Works execute projects in its capital improvements plan and implement the all-powerful Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Plan, including the study and implementation of future technology, such as driverless vehicles.
GT Construction is listed among the 18 subcontractors. We don’t know what his piece of the pie is. Another $200 an hour?
The first contract was awarded after Garcia-Toledo helped Gimenez win the 2012 election. He’s due another bite at the apple.
Read related story: Mayor’s pal Garcia-Toledo eats lobster with county staffers
There are two more contracts being awarded, each for $11 million, for the same thing: professional engineering services for the Department of Transportation and Public Works for their capital improvements and the SMART plan. And there are a dozen subcontractors on the other two — one for Parsons Transportation and one for Aecom Technical Services, which is the same company that messed up the reverse osmosis plant in Hialeah but the county still keeps contracting nonetheless.
That makes for 42 subcontractors — or 41, really, since Manuel Vera is on two contracts — who are feeding from this $44-million buffet.
The funds for the contract awarded to Parsons, and from there to Ralph Garcia-Toledo, are coming from the People’s Transportation Funds. Those are tax dollars approved by voters in 2002 when they approved a half cent tax to fund rapid transit expansion.
The dollars used to pay the mayor’s daughter-in-law for the subcontract that the company she is employed in also are taxpayer dollars.
So the mayor is using public taxpayer dollars to help his best friend and his daughter in law and the commission just rubber stamps it? Is that what we can expect for the next four years?
Mayor’s pal gets more of the millions doled out Tuesday added by Ladra on
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Same as comment from last year by Ignacio R. Gutierrez: “…Just stumbled into it thanks to a mention in a Miami Herald article about the ‘SMART’ plan.”.
Additional comment. The planned SR 836 “Everglades (Toll) Parkway extension to west Kendall will cost, according to official estimates published in the Miami Herald, $71.43 million per mile.
BRT – Bus Rapid Transit from south Dade to Homestead is estimated at $12.15 million per mile.
Why mention these projects at once? Because a commuter rail service could serve BOTH destinations upon EXISTING TRACKS. But COMMUTER RAIL appears not to be on any list
for transit alternatives.
A commuter rail service recently opened in Connecticut known as CT Rail’s Hartford Line. Its cost was less than $12.65 million per mile, slightly more than a bus service but considerably less than the toll road. And note that the specialized buses needed would last less than a decade.
One last observation is that the planned SR 836 extension will offer zero transit service.
I spoke yesterday and am dumbfounded, this is a prelude to the expansion of rail, an ancient technology that is backed by the rail industry and its hired guns. The elected officials here in Miami Beach tried to railroad us, we will have to fight.
Great blog! Just stumbled into it thanks to a mention in a Miami Herald article about the “SMART” plan. Thanks for the info!
With a corrupt State Attorney and a puppet MDPD director furgetaboutit. Gimenez will steal until the cows come home.
In A COUNTY w/ No Ethics , no Inspector General , Who Can We Trust ?
Welcome To The Family and Friends Club ?
Transparency ? Conflict of Interest ? Who will Investigate MDPD ? HA HA
You can’t get rich in politics unless you’re a crook.
Harry S. Truman
33rd U.S. President
April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953
Miami showed their love for corruption by reelecting Gimenez.
BTW this is EXACTLY why the County Commission is as corrupt as the Mayor.
And we are supposed to be surprised by this how??? Just more corruption from the corrupt Mayor Gimenez and Miami-Dade County.
Of course! But who do we have that will confront them? Not the State Attorney! Not the puppet police director! So The thievery will continue. End of story