Tiny gap in Raquel Regalado poll is huge, but no big surprise

Tiny gap in Raquel Regalado poll is huge, but no big surprise

Watch out, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez. The results of the enormous poll commissioned by auto mogul and political meddler Norman Braman are out and indicate very good news for not only Miami-Dade School Board Member Raquel Regalado, who now knows she can, indeed, take on the current county mayor. The poll bodes well […]

Carlos Gimenez gets Liberty City Rising on a silver platter

Carlos Gimenez gets Liberty City Rising on a silver platter

The breathy announcement this week with the press conference and the interviews and the hundreds of #LibertyCityRising hashtags could be a sign of good things to come for a long-neglected area that has suffered while other parts of Miami-Dade County have thrived. Or it could be a lot of hot air. But Ladra will tell […]

Xavier Suarez petition, barbs keep him in mayoral mix

Xavier Suarez petition, barbs keep him in mayoral mix

It seemed for a while that Miami-Dade Commissioner “Mayor Sir” Xavier Suarez had gone soft on the county mayor and was biting his articulately critical tongue for one reason or another. Some speculate he wants his way on the proposed Museum Park underpass. Others say he’s seeking support on some future transportation initiatives or his […]

Get in line! List of 2016 would-be mayoral challengers grows

Get in line! List of 2016 would-be mayoral challengers grows

Tuesday’s election isn’t even over and many political observes, pundits, junkies, consultants and potential candidates are already sorta looking further into the future — as in November 2016. Everybody’s talking about who might run against Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez, who thinks he’s got it in the bag and really needs to be taught a lesson. And […]

Lynda Bell resurrects $5 mil for builder pal via Xavier Suarez

Lynda Bell resurrects $5 mil for builder pal via Xavier Suarez

We’ve always said that Miami-Dade Commission Vice Chair Lynda Bell has some big ones. In July, Bell had to drop the proposal that monies be transferred from the Building Better Communities general obligation bond to a series of economic development projects — including $5 million for a mixed use parking lot project in Palmetto Bay, somehow connected […]

Xavier Suarez draws plans for Little Havana soccer stadium

Xavier Suarez draws plans for Little Havana soccer stadium

First, he backed the idea on the dais. Then he sent an email pushing for signatures on a petition to “bring the UM Hurricanes home” by having the Major League Soccer stadium located at the Little Havana site where the Miami Marlins live. Now, Miami-Dade Commissioner “Mayor Sir” Xavier Suarez has gone as far as producing […]

Stadium score: Mayor Carlos Gimenez, 2; Joe Public, 0

Stadium score: Mayor Carlos Gimenez, 2; Joe Public, 0

The third time was the charm. Miami-Dade Commissioners gave yet another sweetheart deal to yet another sports team Tuesday– the second in a month — as they voted 7-4 to support a plan concocted by Mayor Carlos Gimenez in which the county will pay the billionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins millions of tourist tax dollars […]

Miami-Dade Commission not sold on port soccer stadium

Miami-Dade Commission not sold on port soccer stadium

All this hand-wringing about the possibility of a Major League Soccer stadium at the Port of Miami may be for nothing. It appears there is not enough support on the Miami-Dade Commission for the giveaway of 20 acres of land at the port to make way for the development of a 25,000-seat stadium. Miami-Dade Mayor […]

County restructuring: Start at the top and with vacancies

County restructuring: Start at the top and with vacancies

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez doesn’t only have his much-talked about five deputy mayors who, combined, make more than $1 million a year. He’s also got 12 aides, six secretaries, three assistants, three media people and one senior advisor who I think is now his chief of staff. Oh, and two student interns. No wonder Gimenez has […]

Miami may not want to remember Nelson Mandela much

Miami may not want to remember Nelson Mandela much

It was the snub heard ’round the world. More than two decades after international civil rights leader Nelson Mandela was rejected in Miami by Cubans who thought he was too friendly with Fidel Castro, the same community mourned the former South African president’s death Thursday — though maybe not as much as they grieved his […]