Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has been silent on the upcoming elections in Hialeah, where one of the mayoral candidates and several council wannabes worked hard for his campaign and recruited family members and friends -- even contributors.
But that silence will be broken before the Nov. 1 election.
Ladra had to find Gimenez at the Miami-Dade Young Democrats meeting Tuesday night-- where he spoke candidly and confidently about the budget cuts he had proposed (more on that later) -- because now that he's got the job, he is so busy with the budget and assembling his dream team staff he is much less accessible and never calls to chat. Sigh. They all forget the morning after. When asked if he was supporting any Hialeah racers, he said "Not yet."
Then he flashed that smile and repeated it. "Not yet."
Which means that he will eventually lend his support, either publicly or privately, eventually. "I had a lot of those people support me and work hard in Hialeah," Gimenez said. "I'd like to show my appreciation."
The candidates that helped Mayor Gimenez are all on the Back To The Future slate against all the incumbents (yes, you are supposed to hear the theme song in your head). It starts with former mayor Raul Martinez, who went on Cuban AM radio regularly to defend Gimenez and blast his one-time protege and successor, failed mayoral candidate Julio Robaina for something or other and who is likely to have former State Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla -- who was crucial to the Gimenez campaign's turnaround -- on his election team. The mayor may also show some loyalty to Professor Alex Morales -- a f
ormer city councilman and housing director who was fired by Robaina and did some research and put together some of Robaina's misdeeds for the media -- and former cop-turned-housing-official Danny Bolaños (in this photo in a Gimenez caravan on West 49th Street in June), who put his own campaign on hold to stand for Gimenez at early voting sites for a couple of weeks (as evidenced by a window of inactivity in his campaign finance report). Former Mayor Julio Martinez, who qualified earlier this month to run against former police spokesman Jose Caragol, and former councilwoman and teacher Cindy Miel, who qualified Monday for a rematch run against Council President Isis "Guttergirl" Garcia Martinez -- because someone has to stop Garcia's public chusmeria -- hosted a fundraiser meet-and-greet for Gimenez at La Carreta before the county runoff. Maybe Gimenez won't go out on a limb and support all of them. After all, there are some colorful characters on this slate -- which, by the way, could grow before it's all said and done.
Las malas lenguas tell Ladra that Frank Lago, the chief of staff to Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroño who lost his bid to replace Esteban Bovo at the state house to Jose Oliva, could join the Back To The Future slate with Martinez, et al. Sources close to the two campaigns say Lago has been courting both Martinez and former State Sen. Rudy Garcia to share resources and my gut tells me he is working the Martinez slate harder (and was spotted chatting with Professor Morales at Maruch recently). The former mayor told Ladra he had not spoken to Lago in weeks but that he had yet to return a call. Lago has told Ladra he was never going to go with acting alcaldito Carlos Hernandez, but felt loyalty to Guttergirl because she helped him with his state house run. Well, that was then. This is now: Guttergirl and perhaps other incumbents urged Lago to switch groups and run against the unbeatable professor -- their only chance to keep Morales out of their hair -- rather than Easy-out Paul Hernandez, another rubber-stamper.
Then there is this telltale sign: Attorney Carlos J. Gimenez, lobbyist son of our new mayor and "absolutely" a Raul Martinez supporter, and his boss State Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, will host a fundraiser for Lago at their Coral Gables office Thursday, Sept. 8. Um... wait... Didn't Lago support and help Robaina and his clan and talk badly about his dad and work against them? "Yes. But then he found out what trusting that guy does to you," Gimenez Jr. said, adding that Lago, a fellow Christopher Colombus grad, helped his father in the runoff. "Was it disappointing to me that he would support Robaina even at first? Yes. But at the end of the day, the political reality is look at where he was running," the future county commissioner (you heard it here first) said about the state house race, which included most of Hialeah in its district.
The fundraiser next week is Lago's campaign kick-off, said Gimenez, who added that one thing became clear during the county mayoral campaign: "Hialeah needs a change for the better, a clean slate," Gimenez said. "It needs people who are competent and honest. That's what I want. That creates an even playing field."
In that effort, he said, there will likely be more fundraisers as Gimenez Junior reaches out to other non-incumbents, council candidates, who supported his dad's run for mayor.
"We are going to be supporting Danny Bolaños, Cindy Miel, Alex Morales," Gimenez told Ladra. "In coming months, hopefully we'll have events for all of them
Ladra just wishes that some of them had come before Lago.
But that silence will be broken before the Nov. 1 election.
Ladra had to find Gimenez at the Miami-Dade Young Democrats meeting Tuesday night-- where he spoke candidly and confidently about the budget cuts he had proposed (more on that later) -- because now that he's got the job, he is so busy with the budget and assembling his dream team staff he is much less accessible and never calls to chat. Sigh. They all forget the morning after. When asked if he was supporting any Hialeah racers, he said "Not yet."
Then he flashed that smile and repeated it. "Not yet."
Which means that he will eventually lend his support, either publicly or privately, eventually. "I had a lot of those people support me and work hard in Hialeah," Gimenez said. "I'd like to show my appreciation."
The candidates that helped Mayor Gimenez are all on the Back To The Future slate against all the incumbents (yes, you are supposed to hear the theme song in your head). It starts with former mayor Raul Martinez, who went on Cuban AM radio regularly to defend Gimenez and blast his one-time protege and successor, failed mayoral candidate Julio Robaina for something or other and who is likely to have former State Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla -- who was crucial to the Gimenez campaign's turnaround -- on his election team. The mayor may also show some loyalty to Professor Alex Morales -- a f
ormer city councilman and housing director who was fired by Robaina and did some research and put together some of Robaina's misdeeds for the media -- and former cop-turned-housing-official Danny Bolaños (in this photo in a Gimenez caravan on West 49th Street in June), who put his own campaign on hold to stand for Gimenez at early voting sites for a couple of weeks (as evidenced by a window of inactivity in his campaign finance report). Former Mayor Julio Martinez, who qualified earlier this month to run against former police spokesman Jose Caragol, and former councilwoman and teacher Cindy Miel, who qualified Monday for a rematch run against Council President Isis "Guttergirl" Garcia Martinez -- because someone has to stop Garcia's public chusmeria -- hosted a fundraiser meet-and-greet for Gimenez at La Carreta before the county runoff. Maybe Gimenez won't go out on a limb and support all of them. After all, there are some colorful characters on this slate -- which, by the way, could grow before it's all said and done.
Las malas lenguas tell Ladra that Frank Lago, the chief of staff to Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroño who lost his bid to replace Esteban Bovo at the state house to Jose Oliva, could join the Back To The Future slate with Martinez, et al. Sources close to the two campaigns say Lago has been courting both Martinez and former State Sen. Rudy Garcia to share resources and my gut tells me he is working the Martinez slate harder (and was spotted chatting with Professor Morales at Maruch recently). The former mayor told Ladra he had not spoken to Lago in weeks but that he had yet to return a call. Lago has told Ladra he was never going to go with acting alcaldito Carlos Hernandez, but felt loyalty to Guttergirl because she helped him with his state house run. Well, that was then. This is now: Guttergirl and perhaps other incumbents urged Lago to switch groups and run against the unbeatable professor -- their only chance to keep Morales out of their hair -- rather than Easy-out Paul Hernandez, another rubber-stamper.
Then there is this telltale sign: Attorney Carlos J. Gimenez, lobbyist son of our new mayor and "absolutely" a Raul Martinez supporter, and his boss State Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, will host a fundraiser for Lago at their Coral Gables office Thursday, Sept. 8. Um... wait... Didn't Lago support and help Robaina and his clan and talk badly about his dad and work against them? "Yes. But then he found out what trusting that guy does to you," Gimenez Jr. said, adding that Lago, a fellow Christopher Colombus grad, helped his father in the runoff. "Was it disappointing to me that he would support Robaina even at first? Yes. But at the end of the day, the political reality is look at where he was running," the future county commissioner (you heard it here first) said about the state house race, which included most of Hialeah in its district.
The fundraiser next week is Lago's campaign kick-off, said Gimenez, who added that one thing became clear during the county mayoral campaign: "Hialeah needs a change for the better, a clean slate," Gimenez said. "It needs people who are competent and honest. That's what I want. That creates an even playing field."
In that effort, he said, there will likely be more fundraisers as Gimenez Junior reaches out to other non-incumbents, council candidates, who supported his dad's run for mayor.
"We are going to be supporting Danny Bolaños, Cindy Miel, Alex Morales," Gimenez told Ladra. "In coming months, hopefully we'll have events for all of them
Ladra just wishes that some of them had come before Lago.
Ladra sigo muy de cerca este interesante blog, le felicito y ruego continué su loable y meritoria labor. El que escribe. El Dr. Alfonso, a pesar de mantener un bajo perfil, soy bastante conocido en los medios políticos de Miami ya que he dirigido campañas hispanas alcaldicias, por ejemplo: Jimmy Morales; Tomas Regalado (el Banco Telefónico de Disuasión y Persuasión de Boletas Ausentes para el que levantamos más de cinco mil setecientas de estas Boletas); Marcos Pizzi, entre otros muchos; Carlos Giménez (para el que realizamos más de sesenta mil llamadas telefónicas al Jimmy dejar vacante el asiento de Comisionado del Distrito No. 7); Asesoramos a Julio Robaina, el alcalde Hialeah, durante su primera campaña, etc. Participamos durante más de siete años en el programa radial “El Mundo al Día con el Coronel Matías Farias”, al cual acompaño regularmente por América Latina en campañas políticas presidenciales y durante los últimos tres años fui Analista Político en el programa “Al Calor de la Noche” en la 1140AM WQBA con altos raitings de audiencia. Desde 1997 tenemos el tabloide digital www.quepasamiami.org dedicado a la lucha contra la corrupción y sobre la política Cuba vs. Miami. Basado en esa experiencia y convencido que en esta gran nación entre las oportunidades de lograr el “sueño americano” que tiene “el hombre de a pie”, esta el ser empleado publico sindicalizado: garantías, estabilidad y seguridad de un salario regular estable con un aumento periódico anual, beneficios de salud, días por enfermedad, inamovilidad laboral mientras dure su vida de trabajo y la seguridad de una pensión bien remunerada, entre otros, y todo ello sin importar el estado económico que atraviesen los residentes que somos en definitiva quienes pagamos por todo ello y consciente del daño que las Uniones están haciendo personalmente creo en el alcalde Carlos Giménez y también seguiré de cerca, a través de tu blogs, las elecciones en Hialeah, donde conozco, y me conocen, todos los actores políticos. Shalón. Dralfonso46@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteAll I ask for is a little respect; a little respect for private property, and the rule of law.
ReplyDeleteI had the unique displeasure of meeting Mr. Isis "Guttergirl" Garcia Martinez today. A black Hummer was parked in my parking lot, emergency lights blinking. Call me prejudiced, but I can't really respect anyone who buys a Hummer, unless they are super rich and it is their 4th or 5th automotive play toy and they ford rivers for fun. The ride is rough, the price ridiculous, the interior not all that plush, the gas mileage terrible, and the resale value drops as the price of gas rises. The political stickers atop the rear window with the names Carlos Hernandez and Isis Garcia Martinez may have also influenced my feelings toward the owner/driver of this vehicle.
I step outside to see where the driver of this vehicle went; a handsome enough man, greying hair, standing on the sidewalk, cell phone in hand. This gentleman sees me checking him out, but makes no attempt to explain his situation. Perhaps he was having car trouble, and was phoning for help. Still, this isn't my first week on the block,so I kept an eye on his activity through my store window. A pickup truck pulls up, workers jump out with a post hole digging tool, and they begin to erect a sign for Isis. I ask the Extra Duty Police Officer who works security for me to ask them to leave without erecting the sign, and if possible , to arrest them for trespassing and destruction of private property.
Hey, I can ask, cant' I? The uniformed police detective ran outside and told them to abstain from their erection (ooo, I love that kinky talk...abstinence works, ha)... he told them they could not erect the sign on this property. "But my wife is a councilwoman," retorted the greying gentleman. The officer respectfully told him that the owner of the property instructed him that the sign was not permitted. The greying gentleman looked at the officer's name plate and repeated the officer's last name, in an intimidating fashion, as if the officer would be held accountable for performing his duty. The greying gentleman then approached me, with his hand outstretched, explaining who he was. So with all the warmth that I could muster, I explained that I asked the officer to arrest him for the aforementioned offenses, and Mr. Guttergirl understood that neither his presence, nor his sign, were welcome.
Every other person who has erected their signs has first come inside, introduced themselves, and then asked if they may post or erect signage. Hey, all I ask for is a little respect. A little head might be nice too, but at least a modicum of respect, before you add to the forest of signs sprouting on my property.