You know who may not want Miami-Dade Commissioner Rene Garcia to be the next mayor of Hialeah? His longtime friend, lobbyist Terrence “TC” Wolfe. It could cost him $150,000.
Wolfe is president of the resource referral non-profit that Garcia founded, H.O.P.E. Mission, and a government consultant who works out of the same building as the commissioner’s district office — and has hundreds of thousands in municipal contracts.
That includes a $150,000 contract approved by the Hialeah Council in March with Wolfe’s firm, NCGA Inc., which stands for New Century Government Affairs (Garcia is vice president at a different firm called New Century Partnership). It is a $50,000-a-year contract for three years — actually $49,992, for a total of $149,976 — basically to rub elbows with electeds and push the city’s federal legislative priorities.
Isn’t that the mayor’s job? And wouldn’t it be a conflict of interest if Garcia became the mayor of the city that has a $150,000 with his BFF?
Garcia was pretty insulted when asked about the potential conflict of interest and told Political Cortadito that in 27 years in government — he began as a Hialeah councilman and was a house rep and a senator for eight years each — he has never been accused of any wrongdoing. Well, except for that paper bag he delivered to Hialeah boletera Deisy Cabrera after her 2012 arrest for collecting ballots for several candidates, which he said was a pan con bistec for the hungry old lady and not a cash payoff to keep her quiet.
Read related: Deisy Cabrera plea deal saves politicians tied to AB fraud
Furthermore, he intimated that perhaps Wolfe wouldn’t have that contract if Garcia were to be elected.
“I’m not the mayor of Hialeah now,” Garcia told Ladra. “If I were to become mayor, that could be revisited. We’re talking hypotheticals, but if you know me, you know I’m transparent.”
Wolfe also has a contract with Miami Lakes that won’t be at risk. The $5,000 monthly payment that expires next March was approved last month, with a bid waiver. But he’s been working for the town since 2023 and even helped Miami Lakes get its stand alone zip code — so it’s not confused with Hialeah — and at least $3 million in federal appropriations for the NW 59th Avenue project, Town Manager Edward Pidermann wrote in a memo April 15.
“NCGA has also assisted in the preparation of requests for new appropriations for the upcoming federal fiscal year,” Pidermann wrote, recommending an extension of the contract that would give Miami Lakes time to issue a request for proposals and open a competitive process, “while ensuring that the Town continues to receive the necessary federal support during this transition period without interruption.”
It’s probably just a coincidence that Miami Lakes’ newly elected Mayor Josh Dieguez, a longtime Garcia ally and former town council member, is listed as a director of H.O.P.E. Mission in public records with the Florida Department of Corporations. (BTW: So is a Jeanette Rubio, who Ladra thinks is Secretary of State Marco Rubio‘s wife.)
Wolfe is a respected lobbyist that also has contracts with many school boards across the state. He advocates for education and real estate interests. With an office in DC, Wolfe lobbied the U.S. House and Senate in 2023 on behalf of the Association of Builders and Contractors’ Florida East Coast Chapter.
He is politically active, but just a little bit. According to multiple records, he has donated to a number of Republican campaigns across the state and to Maggie’s List, a federal political action committee founded in Florida in 2010 to get conservative women elected.
Read related: Hialeah Mayor Steve Bovo exits with pension, names Rene Garcia ‘successor’
There’s been a lot of attention lately to the $10 million in Medicaid settlement money that was diverted to (read: stolen by) The HOPE Florida Foundation, the non-profit which aims to get Floridians off public assistance, run by Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife, who is still mulling a possible run to succeed him. Like this was a kingdom or something. Turns out that the non-profit then gave the money to two different political action committees that fought the legalization of marijuana last year.
Turns out, again, that one of the PACs was run by James Uthmeier, who was also chief of staff to Ron DeSantis at the time and appointed earlier this year to attorney general.
It’s only natural to wonder if our local H.O.P.E. — it is a word used in a lot of non-profits — is also a conduit for funds to political committees or candidates. But it’s financial records show that it operates on a much smaller scale.
H.O.P.E. Mission reported almost $138,000 in revenue in 2023 and spent just over $52,000 in wages, according to ProPublica. According to an IRS filing of the 990 form, for tax-exempt organizations, the year before, in 2022, H.O.P.E. Mission reported a total of “contributions an grants” of $186,524 and wages of $45,767. The document expresses that the non-profit also had other expenses totaling $109,000 in 2022 and $85,790 in 2023, itemized as meals, rent, events (probably including backpacks and school supplies for distribution in August) and contracts.
Nothing reported to PACs.
Over the course of five years, from 2019 to 2023, H.O.P.E. Mission reported getting $648,846 in grants and contributions. Ladra was unable to find any IRS filings or financial reporting for 2024.
H.O.P.E. Mission’s address is in Hialeah, in the same building where Garcia has his District 13 office. Garcia also had his district state senate office in that building and Esteban “Steve” Bovo, who just stepped down as mayor of Hialeah to go lobby in D.C., had his office there when he was the county commissioner in that district.
It’s also the address for Wolfe’s consulting firm.
Cozy.
Former Hialeah Councilman Bryan Calvo has suggested that Garcia, if elected, will “continue covering up years of wasteful 
spending,” which he said includes this “shady $150,000 consulting contract handed to a close friend with zero transparency.
“This is how they do business — taking care of themselves while Hialeah families struggle to make ends meet,” Calvo wrote in an email to voters after Garcia announced.
But Garcia said Calvo is making baseless accusations because he has no track record to run on.
He said Calvo is “an immature child” who “has nothing on me,” so he has to make things up. Calvo’s claim to fame is suing the city to get the 911 records and claiming issues with response times, which Garcia calls a political stunt simply to go against Bovo. “His narcissist behavior caused an unnecessary panic in the city of Hialeah.
“I have always been very clear and transparent about how I do my job, since I’ve been in the legislature,” Garcia said, seemingly hurt that it would even cross Ladra’s mind that he would grease the wheels to help a friend. He said he resigned from the H.O.P.E. board “for that reason, to avoid any conflict.
“You can never question my integrity,” Garcia said. “Everything I’ve done in the public arena is in the interest of the people who I serve.”
Miami-Dade’s Rene Garcia connected to lobbyist with $150,000 Hialeah contract added by Ladra on
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