Miami and Miami-Dade mayors battle again, this time over MIA and COVID19

We finally have proof that Miami-Dade Carlos Gimenez failed kindergarten: He doesn’t play well with others. He can’t share. He can’t sit in circle time.

On Friday, as the number of positive COVID19 county residents grew to 3,364 — and the number of county deaths to 25 — Gimenez told the White House to ignore the letter written to President Donald Trump the day before by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, asking the federal government to temporarily halt international and domestic flights from COVID-19 hotspots around the country and world and prioritize flights with supplies needed to combat the community spread.

“We are at war with a silent, deadly and merciless enemy. I have personally seen its speed, its spread and its lethality among my residents,” said Suarez, who himself was quarantined after testing positive after becoming exposed to the bigoted and homophobic Brazilian president’s delegation.

“Wait just one cafecito minute,” Gimenez must have said to himself when he saw all the Instagram posts of people thanking the celebrity mayor, who also became the first person to give his blood so it could be used to treat COVID19 patients. “That’s my airport!” And like many self-centered, immature toddlers, he’d rather break his own toy than let anyone else play with it.

“No, we’re not closing down the airport,” he told TV reporters in a tele-video interview Friday. “The airport belongs to the county, not the city.”

Glad to see we’re all still #InThisTogether.

“It is unfortunate that at a time when unity is needed, Mayor Gimenez has refused to join me in asking the president to suspend flights from COVID hotspots,” Suarez said in a statement issued later. “As the mayor of the largest city in Dade County, I have an obligation to ask the president — the only person that has the authority to protect our residents — to address this severe threat.”

Heh, heh. He said “Dade.”

The excuse from Miami-Dade Aviation Director and chief Gimenez lackey Lester Sola is that it would disrupt the food supply chain and other the delivery of other essential supplies needed to combat the COVID19 pandemic. But that’s disingenuous, because Suarez specifically said to prioritize flights with these items. Cargo flights would be excluded as well as passenger flights just carrying cargo — since air travel has declined about 60% already according to Fast Company.

According to flightradar.com, the global traffic at 3 p.m. on March 1 was 14,629 flights. At the same time on March 31, it was 5,632 flights.

But that’s globally. And if you look at the live traffic images on the flightradar site (these savescreens are from Saturday evening), you will see that the skies over Europe are pretty clear. There are a couple dozen little yellow planes, indicating flights (the blue bubbles are airports). Two over Spain. Two over Portugal. Five or seven across all of France.

Over by the United States, well, the sky is practically covered in little yellow icons. You know? It kind of looks like a virus spreading all over the country. Some people have said that these planes are just carrying mostly cargo, needed supplies to combat the COVID19 spread, because people aren’t flying. But if that was true, why are there shortages everywhere?

Suarez is not the only local leader looking for a lockdown on landings. Broward County Commissioner Mark Bogen also wants to halt flights from COVID19 hotspots to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport and the commission could take it up this week.

So, this is not just Grimenez — who really wants to be Miami mayor — slapping Baby X around again, as he’s done since the failed strong mayor initiative in Miami. This is him playing with our lives again, as he’s done since he slammed the cancelling of Ultra — then, days later, cancelled the Dade County Youth Fair and a number of other events. As he’s done acting late to shut down non-essential businesses and open testing sites — almost like he was waiting to get out of self-quarantine for the press conference.

Oh, but he has the guts to ban salad bars! Restaurants are closed. And nobody in their right mind is going to go get a salad at Whole Foods right now. If they are, then Gimenez better close the pasta bar and the olive ar and the hot soup bar, too. Oh, wait, that’s coming. He likes doing all this piecemeal.

The genius also said it was okay to go ahead and use cloth masks, you know, the ones everyone was saying we shouldn’t use a month ago. He warned that they may give someone a false sense of security and repeated that social distancing is the best defense against infection. But it’s okay. Go ahead, put a bandana over your mouth and chill. You can play cowboys and cowgirls.

Just a few days ago, Grimenez wanted to keep a cruise ship with hundreds of passengers and crew at sea because some of them tested positive and yet, today, he wants to allow planes to land at MIA from all over the place? Well, not from Cuba. Because on March 12, the mayor himself asked the president to suspend flights from Cuba, which is not a known COVID19 hotspot yet, but is a political hotspot sure to win him votes in the congressional race.

Gimenez said then that he did not believe they only had three cases of coronavirus on the island and he suspected many more. Last week, when Cuba itself suspended international flights in and out, they reported 186 cases.

Not more than in New York City, Mr. Mayor.

Because that was just campaigning. Like the alert text sent to cell phones Friday reminding us to stay home and six feet apart that should have been from the county but was signed Mayor Carlos Gimenez. He is already known to use county resources and the bully pulpit to campaign for office. Using the coronavirus pandemic? Now, that’s new. But not a huge surprise.

Anyway, with his recent track record — amending executive orders and changing his mind on boat ramps and pawn shops — Ladra bets Grimenez changes his tune again about the airport in a number of days. Maybe when it’s 100 dead in Miami-Dade.

Or, the Miami-Dade County Commission can take this up at next week’s meeting and direct the mayor to ask the federal government to limit flights. Lada dares the commissioners, especially the four that are running for county mayor, who can show us what they would be like as leaders during this pandemic. Any different?

Because it’s not really his airport. It’s ours.

Carlos Gimenez, coronavirus, COVID19, Francis Suarez, Miami International Airport

Miami and Miami-Dade mayors battle again, this time over MIA and COVID19 added by Ladra on April 4, 2020
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