Homestead Mayor Jeff Porter kicks off reelection among pals

Homestead Mayor Jeff Porter kicks off reelection among pals

It was like a Sunshine Law violation waiting to happen: All but one of the city council members showed up to the kick off of Mayor Jeff Porter‘s reelection campaign Thursday night — an intimate affair with about 100 or so people in the Champion’s Club at the Miami-Homestead Speedway. In a rare sign of […]

Sally Heyman spanks Mayor Gimenez on red light cameras

Sally Heyman spanks Mayor Gimenez on red light cameras

Commissioner Sally Heyman says that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is dragging his feet intentionally on installing red light cameras on some of the county’s most dangerous intersections. The county’s Municipal Services Committee voted Wednesday to reject all five of the bids received for the implementation of 150 cameras — in phases of 50 at a […]

Miami-Dade mayor’s PAC’s campaign million — in context

Miami-Dade mayor’s PAC’s campaign million — in context

King Carlos II has already amassed a $1 million war chest to defend his kingdom. With 16 months to go until the election, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Mr. Giveaway” Gimenez has reported collecting $1 million with his political action committee, Miami-Dade Residents First. Sure, it’s a huge amount. But it’s no surprise. Not really. Gimenez is not […]

Lincoln Day Dinner with Marco Rubio, Carlos Lopez-Cantera

Lincoln Day Dinner with Marco Rubio, Carlos Lopez-Cantera

Now that they are competing for the same job, Sen. Marco Rubio will not let Sen. Ted Cruz take his place this year at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner, the biggest fundraiser thrown every year by the Miami-Dade Republican Party. But it’s not an endorsement or a slight on former Gov. Jeb Bush. Rubio was […]

Cuban ‘quiz’ for Ted Cruz is attack on all Hispanic voters, too

Cuban ‘quiz’ for Ted Cruz is attack on all Hispanic voters, too

Mark Halperin should apologize to all of us Political journalist/pundit Mark Halperin is taking a lot of heat for his what really amounts to a lazy interview of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of the Republican contenders for the presidential nomination. In what some have characterized as a test of Cruz’s cubania — the Canadian-born […]

Sweetwater election ends today, but war is just starting

Sweetwater election ends today, but war is just starting

Sweetwater Commissioner Orlando Lopez is expected to become the new mayor of Sweetwater after today’s elections. Not just because his allies, including Commissioner Isolina Maroño, are adept at the collection of absentee ballots. And not just because Deborah Centeno, a Nicaraguan activist who should win because she is the only really clean one, couldn’t muster enough of […]

Jesse Manzano and Carlos Gimenez together again for 2016

Jesse Manzano and Carlos Gimenez together again for 2016

Does this indicate the same type of campaign as 2012? It’s no surprise to some that Jesse Manzano-Plaza would reprise his role as candidate Carlos Gimenez‘s spokesman and message massager for the Miami-Dade mayor’s re-election bid next year. It was announced last week, that Manzano-Plaza had joined the G-Man team as “senior consultant” for the […]

Jeb Bush could announce presidential run in Miami May 18

Jeb Bush could announce presidential run in Miami May 18

The event is billed as a “reception” with Jeb and Columba Bush. But it has all the makings of an official announcement that the former Florida governor, son and brother of two past U.S. presidents, is running for president after all. No big deal. It’s expected. And Ladra can’t guarantee he is going to launch […]

Miami Beach Police already ignore video, so why body cams?

Miami Beach Police already ignore video, so why body cams?

Miami Beach Police are rolling out their body cameras this week. But what for? They have already proven that they are going to act with impunity — whether or not the camera is rolling. An officer who was caught on video clocking and kicking a drunk model in handcuffs was, indeed, found to have used […]

County’s ‘Taste of Haiti’ today paid for by special interests

County’s ‘Taste of Haiti’ today paid for by special interests

If you go to the Miami-Dade ‘Taste of Haiti’ event today promoted by the county and Commission Chairman Jean Monestime, just know that it wouldn’t happen without the help of some of the very people who come to the county for millions of dollars in contracts. Like the Easter Egg hunt and spring festival put […]