Debate a dud, but early voting starts in Homestead

Debate a dud, but early voting starts in Homestead

Voters have been steadily trickling into the Homestead public library for early voting. I don’t know what has them so excited. Because despite mounting anticipation, the mayoral debate in Homestead last week was a little anticlimactic. Here’s a race where one candidate, the former incumbent before he was suspended by the governor, has been arrested […]

High hopes for Homestead mayoral circus show, er, debate

High hopes for Homestead mayoral circus show, er, debate

It almost sounds like an episode of a made for TV drama: While all four candidates are reportedly confirmed for the Homestead Rotary Club’s debate Monday night, there is a lot of buzz on whether the former mayor — who was suspended by the governor last month after he was arrested on public corruption charges […]

Homestead: Jeff Porter comes out swinging with both fists

Homestead: Jeff Porter comes out swinging with both fists

Former Homestead Councilman Jeff Porter may not have as many headlines as the other two viable candidates in the Homestead mayoral race — which could arguably be a good thing. But he came out into the ring this week, with both fists swinging. Not one to bluff, Porter will see “amateur” Mark Bell‘s two-fer mailer […]

Homestead: Mark Bell PAC kills two birds with one mailer

Homestead: Mark Bell PAC kills two birds with one mailer

When we last reported the finances of the mayoral campaign in Homestead, we said that hotelier Mark Bell was winning slightly with a comfortable $3,500 lead over former Mayor Steve Bateman with Bell’s total reaching $18,500 in contributions in half the time. But Bell, husband to Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell, actually has more than three […]

Homestead manager to get pat on back (read: job security)

Homestead manager to get pat on back (read: job security)

Homestead City Manager George Gretsas will very likely get a two-year extension on his contract tonight, in part as a pat on the back for his role in the investigation that led to the arrest last month of former Mayor Steve Bateman on public corruption charges. Gretsas, hired last year, doesn’t get a raise in […]

Arrested Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman wants Round 2

Arrested Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman wants Round 2

He may have gotten arrested and he may have been suspended from his post by the governor, but Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman is not going down without a fight: He is still campaigning to be re-elected mayor. Nevermind the scathing details in the arrest warrant that charges him with multiple counts of unlawful compensation — […]

Who’s behind Homestead poll? Not any of the candidates

Who’s behind Homestead poll? Not any of the candidates

An automated poll in Homestead has raised the possibility of yet another candidate in this year’s already interesting mayoral race. Vice Mayor Jon Burgess was mentioned as one of the candidates in a poll of 250 voters done Thursday (and which, ooops, reportedly reached a number of businesses, too). The poll has some people thinking […]

Mark Bell leads Homestead $$ race vs. Mayor Steve Bateman

Mark Bell leads Homestead $$ race vs. Mayor Steve Bateman

If the Homestead mayoral election this November reflects the race for cash in campaign reports, it’s going to be a two-man face off between Mayor Steve Bateman and hotelier Mark Bell, who just happens to be the husband of the former mayor, current Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell. That’s because the third horse, Joseph Sewell, has […]

Another Bell, the vice chair’s hubby, opts for public office

Another Bell, the vice chair’s hubby, opts for public office

The husband of Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell announced Tuesday (out loud) that he wants his wife’s old job as mayor of Homestead. Mark Bell, owner of the historic Hotel Redland, made public what many had been whispering in private — that he would make a run for office — on the heels of (read: capitalizing […]