Miami Lakes Councilman Nelson Hernandez thinks he can win the special mayoral election by lining up support from the Hialeah-Tallahassee mafia, which is throwing him a fundraiser next week.
Sen. Rene Garcia, State Reps. Jose Oliva, Eddy “Here Comes Hialeah” Gonzalez and Manny Diaz, Jr., as well as Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban “Stevie” Bovo have invited their friends — and donors, one would guess — to The Pampered Chef, 7347 Miami Lakes Dr., at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4, in honor of Nelson’s candidacy.
“Many thanks to the Miami Lakes state and county legislative delegation for their support! Together, we will keep Miami Lakes moving forward with a fresh start,” Hernandez posted on his facebook page.
But, apparently, he doesn’t know the meaning of the word “fresh.” And he may also be counting on an aggressive absentee ballot campaign. Because the host list is the same stale bunch of flying monkeys that have tried to control ABs in Hialeah for years.
Sen. Garcia and State Reps. Gonzalez and Diaz, Jr., were all involved in the case of arrested boletera Deisy Cabrera. Garcia “can’t remember” if he was the man who accompanied Hialeah Councilwoman Vivian Casals-Muñoz to Cabrera’s apartment with a pan con bistec the night she got nabbed. He can’t remember. Nobody believes that. And nobody believes “El Bobo” Bovo was unaware of his commission aide Anamary Pedrosa‘s ballot collecting during last year’s primary.
It’s disappointing because when Ladra first met Hernandez — coincidentally at Hialeah City Hall — he was promoting the just-founded Hialeah Miami Lakes Republican Club, which would advocate for more ethics in government and would call out malfeasance in both parties.
Guess he gave up those lofty goals to get elected.
He was already on Ladra’s doghouse list because he seemed asleep at the wheel when former Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi — suspended by the governor earlier this month after he was arrested on federal bribery and extortion charges — tried to run a scam on the city to put some cash in his pocket in what turned out to be an FBI sting. Now, this?
“I’ve known those guys for years. I have relationships with them. I’ve been working with them since I was in college,” Hernandez told Ladra Thursday morning referring to work he did as a budget policy analyst intern for Garcia and Gonzalez while he was an economics major at FSU.
“I consider them friends and colleagues,” he said.
Well, former Congressman David “Nine Lives” Rivera and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio were friends and colleagues for years and you don’t see the latter — the Great Republican Latino Hope — endorsing the tainted rep, do you?
“These are elected leaders and I respect them and they represent Miami Lakes,” Hernandez told Ladra. “It also shows how I’ll be able to work with Tallahassee and the county to get funding for different capital projects we have.
“It’s about trying to find other sources of revenue for Miami Lakes.”
It’s not about absentee ballot operations, he said, despite his hosts reputations and seeming knack for it.
“I don’t intend to bring any absentee ballot fraud or any type of fraud into this election. That’s not what I’m about” Hernandez told Ladra. Maybe not, Councilman, but that is what they are about.
“Just because I am associated with them, doesn’t mean I’m going to do that,” Hernandez said, which is as good an admission as we’re going to get that he knows they’re involved with these AB shenanigans.
How are these guys going to help him then?
“I’m not sure. They’ll reach out to people they know in Miami Lakes.”
Won’t this be seen as the continued encroachment of Hialeah politics into the Lakes?
“Do I want to partner with neighboring communities and cities like Hialeah, Hialeah Gardens and Miami Springs? Of course, I do. Do I want to bring in outside politics? Absolutely not,” Hernandez said.
“I respect these gentlemen and I consider them friends.”
The only one missing from the bunch is Hialeah Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez.
“I respect him as the mayor, but this is about people who represent Miami Lakes,” Nelson Hernandez said.
No, this is about people who can find you money and ABs and who you will later owe favors to. Tsk, tsk.
Nelson asked me for the benefit of the doubt. But there is too much doubt here to work to his benefit. Sorry, Nel, but if you want to hang with the flying monkeys, you’re going to get shot out of the sky now and then.
Hialeah AB mafia backs Nelson Hernandez in Miami Lakes added by Ladra on
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