There are gestures, and then there are kneelings. This week in Washington, María Corina Machado , the longtime face of the Venezuelan resistance to its authoritarian government, walked into the Oval Office and placed her Nobel Peace Prize medal into Donald Trump’s hands like a medieval supplicant offering tribute to a monarch. Around the world, […]
Long, chaotic commission meeting features bickering There are city commission meetings, and then there are Coral Gables city commission meetings under Mayor Vince Lago, which increasingly resemble a telenovela written by someone who hates everyone in the cast. Tuesday’s meeting was long. It was contentious. It was rude. It was chaotic. It was — depending […]
Some politicians ease into office. Bryan Calvo walked into Hialeah City Hall last week, raised his right hand, said “So help me God,” and immediately started unplugging things. At 28 years old — now officially the youngest mayor in Hialeah’s hundred-year history — Calvo didn’t waste his first afternoon taking ceremonial photos or handing out […]
After false starts, county approves petition form Back in December, the crew who wanted to recall Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava face-planted on a paperwork technicality. The Clerk of Courts sent them home to rewrite their homework. Many assumed the whole thing would quietly die on a laptop somewhere between a fundraising pitch and a […]
There was a time in America when criticizing an elected official on Facebook earned you an argument in the comments. Maybe a few unfollows. Now, in Miami Beach, it earns you a visit from the cops. On Monday, Raquel Pacheco — a military veteran, soccer mom, two-time candidate for city commission who also ran for […]
Donald Trump has discovered a sudden, passionate love for protesters. Specifically, Iranian protesters. In recent days, the president has floated the idea of U.S. military intervention to “rescue” demonstrators facing repression abroad. He’s warned Iran not to harm them. He’s promised America is “locked and loaded.” He has cast himself as the muscular guardian of […]
Miami’s first official Build-and-Flood™ pilot program is on. Last week, the Miami City Commission gave final approval to an ordinance that will establish a “resiliency infrastructure” slush fund and allow for double allowable density in Edgewater — from 150 to 300 units per acre. Same deal, same sponsor, same developer perfume lingering in the air. […]
New Mayor Eileen Higgins suggests taking a year away Like a bad ordinance in a file drawer, waiting for a new haircut and a better excuse, Miami Commissioners are once again pulling out the proposal to change the election calendar — the same idea that was laughed out of court when commissioners tried to give themselves […]
In Miami-Dade government, nothing really changes — it just gets reassigned And so it was this week, as Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced yet another strategic personnel realignment just in time for what she herself describes as a “critical and challenging” budget year. Translation: brace yourselves. Out goes longtime budget chief David Clodfelter, the […]
If Miami’s new Mayor Eileen Higgins thought her first gavel strike would come with a ceremonial smile and a welcome bouquet, City Hall disabused her of that notion quickly. Very quickly. After the ceremonial but legally required acknowledgment of the Dec. 9 runoff results at Thursday’s commission meeting, things really start to roll. Applause. Smiles. […]