Final deal postponed until more details fleshed out The shady deal to hand over the historic Olympia Theater to the operators of a charter school for $10 is so half-baked that even Miami city commissioners, to their credit, asked Thursday for a more complete picture before they rubber-stamp it. Commissioners voted instead and unanimously to […]
‘Miami-Dade’s soul is not for sale,’ commissioner says Faced with a $402 million shortfall and serious cuts to county services and programs, Miami-Dade Commissioner Kionne McGhee wants to take back the $46 million that has been approved in cash incentives and in-kind services to FIFA World Cup for the activities surrounding the matches that will […]
The Olympia Theater, a beloved but distressed 1926 Beaux Arts jewel in the heart of downtown Miami, could go from historic cultural treasure to charter school annex at Thursday’s city commission meeting. Commissioners will consider selling the Flagler Street structure to Sports Leadership and Management Miami, a 6-12 charter school operated by none other than […]
“TSND” may as well mean “This Sh*t’s Not Democratic” Miami’s controversial Transit Station Neighborhood Development (TSND) ordinance is barreling toward a final vote this week, and city commissioners are treating it like a routine zoning tweak instead of what it really is: a citywide land-use loophole wrapped in bureaucratic buzzwords and tied with a big […]
Well, that didn’t take long. It took Joe Carollo less than a month to go from proud political padrino to spiteful ex in the case of newly-elected Commissioner Ralph Rosado, who Carollo helped usher into office with more than half a million from his political action committee and hours upon hours of his unique political […]
Only in Miami can you snatch someone’s phone out of their hands in front of the city commission, city manager, the sergeant-at-arms, and a room full of witnesses — and still get your two minutes at the podium for public comment. Maybe it’s only because the phone-snatcher was Maria “Beba” Sardiña Mann, who is protected as […]
Former Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who has been campaigning for the mayor’s race for months, has filed a challenge to the city commission’s cancellation of the November election — the first of what could be several lawsuits. City commissioners voted 3-2 last week to change the election date from odd to even years, effectively […]
On the heels of an opinion from the Florida Attorney General about the change in election year approved by city of Miami commissioner, Coral Gables Commissioner Melissa Castro wants to reverse a decision by the City Beautiful to move their municipal elections from April of 2027 to November of 2026, effectively shortening everyone’s terms by […]
Expect lawsuits and challenges to follow term extension Most people think that moving the city elections in Miami from odd to even years, to coincide with the midterm and general election, is a good idea to both save more than $1 million a year and, more importantly, boost turnout from the low two-digits to more […]
Chairman Anthony Rodriguez can claim the chaos In what is one of the most egregious abuses of power that Ladra has witnessed in decades of government reporting, the Miami-Dade Commission sat silently by while a resident who had gone to County Hall to have her voice heard was violently dragged out of Commission Chambers last […]