In South Miami, voters are not only casting ballots for next week’s Republican presidential primary, which is already decided anyway. They will also be voting March 19 on whether or not to amend the city charter so that the city-owned property where City Hall is can be leased for more than 50 years. Today, the […]
Elected officials, you are now free to lobby again. A U.S. district judge issued an order Wednesday that strikes down the state’s lobbying amendment, passed by voters in 2018, which bans any elected official from any kind of lobbying during their term of office and for six years after because, she said, it was an […]
The council in South Miami changed significantly Tuesday when a new mayor and two new council members were elected. Mayor Javier Fernandez, a former state rep, and Council members Steve Calle and Lisa Bonich were sworn in on Wednesday. Former Mayor Horace Feliu was rejected by voters once again — for the fourth or fifth […]
Less than two weeks before Election Day, South Miami City Attorney Thomas Pepe issued an opinion last week that the city’s $250 limit on campaign contributions was null and void. It has been since July, 2021. That’s when the state legislature passed a bill that not only pre-empted municipalities from restricting contributions to less than […]
All of the candidates in the South Miami election have agreed to participate in a forum Wednesday organized by outgoing Commissioner Walter Harris at the American Legion Hall. Harris is termed out. Both his seat and the mayoral seat are open, since Mayor Sally Philips is not running for re-election. “Change is coming to South […]
Three ex mayors want to get their seats back In addition to the gubernatorial, congressional, and two county commission races, voters in some Miami-Dade municipalities will also be choosing local representatives for their town councils this November. There are three mayoral races, in particular, that expect to be interesting for one reason or another. In […]
One of the most important Florida Senate races to both parties this year, the open seat vacated by the term-limited Republican Sen. Anitere Flores, was always going to be a general election battle between current State Representatives Javier Fernandez and Ana Maria Rodriguez. The GOP is trying hard to keep the majority, which is at […]
State Rep. Javier Fernandez (D-Coral Gables) announced Wednesday that he will run next year in Senate District 39, where Anitere Flores (R-Kendall) is termed out and Democrats have a real opportunity to pick up a seat. But first, he has to move there. There is no other Democrat in the race now. Pinecrest Councilwoman Anna Hochkammer, another carpetbagger who announced in […]
Our local state legislators have been going to several reunions in different districts and neighborhoods, bringing Tallahassee to us and talking with voters about the upcoming 2019 Florida Legislative Session, which starts March 5. State Reps. Javier Fernandez (114) and Dotie Joseph (108) were at the “legislative briefing and brunch” put on by the League of […]
In the end, the Republican Party couldn’t fool enough NPAs into voting for their ringer and Democrat Javier Fernandez ended up with just over 51 percent of the vote. Fernandez will replace former State Rep. Daisy Baez, who resigned after she was caught lying about living in the district. He has to start campaigning again, […]