Ever wondered why some Miami city commissioners seem unusually polished — press releases at the ready, social media humming, messaging tighter than a campaign ad? Well, the taxpayers are paying for it. Public records show that Miami Commissioner Miguel Gabela has spent nearly $249,000 in taxpayer funds over the past several months on an outside […]
Fellow commissioner estimates tab is $30 million Remember when Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo got slapped with a $63.5 million jury verdict for abusing his office by “weaponizing” city departments to go after someone who had supported his opponent? Well it’s still costing taxpayers every day — and Commissioner Miguel Gabela estimates it at between $27 […]
Attorneys for former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla will have to wait a little while if they want their $1.3 million from the city’s taxpayers, because his successor, Commissioner Miguel Gabela, wants the city to more carefully review the invoices. The city commission could have approved the payout on Thursday, and Gabela said he […]
… Bayfront Trust, affordable housing, traffic calming The Miami Commission agenda for Tuesday’s meeting is 123 pages long and has almost 90 items — and that’s counting the 14 consent agenda items as one. There are 17 public hearings, 25 proposed resolutions, four ordinances on first reading, three ordinances on second reading, an emergency ordinance […]
The political battle between Miami commissioners Joe Carollo and Miguel Gabela — which began in earnest after Gabela took the chairmanship of the Bayfront Park Management Trust from Crazy Joe — erupted into a full blown war this week with several bombs launched. It culminated Thursday at a city commission meeting where Gabela’s wife accused […]
It’s been a little more than three months since Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo was accused of using the Bayfront Park Management Trust as a personal slush fund for himself and his political pals. But we’re about to find out that there’s been even more misuse of the public monies during some of the eight years […]
In what seems like an obvious case of political retaliation, Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo — who is still butt hurt over being stripped from the Bayfront Park Management Trust — tried in vain Thursday to stop the Allapattah Community Redevelopment Agency from moving forward. He used to support Allapattah getting its own CRA, when he […]
The Miami Commission meeting on Thursday was short, less than three hours long, and almost entirely civil. It helped that several controversial items were deferred. But it’s more ’cause Commissioner Joe Carollo was absent for most of it. Carollo — recently named in a whistleblower lawsuit that alleges he abused his position as chairman at […]
It took a lawsuit against him for abusing his power, but Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo was finally stripped of his post as chairman of the Bayfront Park Management Trust, which he has been leading for almost eight years. This comes a month after a whistleblower lawsuit from two former employees who say that Carollo used […]
After several months of holding the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency hostage, Miami Commissioner Miguel Gabela — who has pushed for its expansion into Allapattah, the heart of his District 1 — looks like he is ready to compromise with a CRA all his own. Miami Commissioners last month directed City Manager Art Noriega to expedite […]