Cutler Bay mayor to kick off congressional campaign against Rep. Joe Garcia

@PatriciaMazzei

Cutler Bay Mayor Ed MacDougall, who has spent the past few months opposing the Miami Dolphins' now-defunct push for a subsidized stadium renovation, plans to challenge Democratic Congressman Joe Garcia.

MacDougall, a Republican who has already opened a fundraising account, will kick off his campaign Wednesday night.

"I've lived in South Dade for 50 years -- this is where I grew up," he said. "My children live here, my grandchildren live here. This is part of my soul, South Dade, and I don't believe it's had proper representation."

MacDougall is the first candidate to file paperwork to run against Garcia for the 26th Congressional district that stretches from Kendall to Key West. Former Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez said earlier this year he would also seek the seat but has yet to begin fundraising. Both MacDougall and Martinez are former police officers.

Miami-Dade's GOP VP candidate draws heat: was Dem, didn't vote in '12, attacked R's by name

@MarcACaputo

In the short time as a Republican, Emmanuel "Manny" Roman has made more than a few enemies at the Miami-Dade Republican Party.

And now that Roman is running for vice-president of the county party, he's feeling the backlash.

Last night, Republican Roxanna Greene sent out a blast email that pointed out Roman voted for and contributed to Barack Obama in 2008, that he became a Republican less than two years ago and that he "DID NOT VOTE in the 2012 general election!"

Miami-Dade school board member sues Hialeah over car crash that killed her daughter

via @joeflech

A School Board member whose daughter died in an accident with a Hialeah police detective has sued the city.

Also suing City Hall: the girl’s boyfriend, who was seriously injured in the Oct. 19 wreck.

Susie Castillo, who was elected to the School Board in November, filed suit Tuesday against the city of Hialeah and Detective Raul Somarriba in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

Castillo’s daughter Andrea, 21, was with her boyfriend Marco Barrios, 23, when Somarriba, who was on duty, collided with Barrios’ SUV at East Ninth Court and 49th Street. The force of the impact flipped Barrios’ black Jeep Compass and sent Somarriba’s unmarked Ford Crown Victoria flying over a median.

Castillo died two days after the crash.

Barrios sued the city on May 1, also in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

More here.

Miami-Dade mayor sees no voter 'animosity' toward him over short-lived Dolphins stadium redo deal

@PatriciaMazzei

The Miami Dolphins’ short-lived quest for a subsidized stadium renovation could have turned out a lot worse for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez: Voters could have handed him a resounding political defeat at the polls had they rejected the deal he negotiated.

But the Florida House of Representatives effectively canceled the referendum, for now shielding the mayor and county commissioners from much of the fallout.

Without a public vote, the politicians who supported the stadium deal cannot declare victory. But they also don’t face the prospect of seeking reelection after a potential loss.

“There’s no animosity toward me,” Gimenez said in an interview shortly after lawmakers concluded their annual legislative session Friday without taking up the bill necessary for the special election to take place.

Gimenez required the referendum, which club executives had hoped to avoid. He also forced the team to make a nearly $4.8 million nonrefundable payment to cover election costs. The county will get to keep the more-than $1 million left over.

But despite those concessions, merely negotiating with the Dolphins has tarnished Gimenez’s reputation among some former supporters who liked him in part for stridently opposing public financing for the Miami Marlins’ ballpark.

More here.

Miami-Dade delays putting affordable-housing developer on vendor list, citing federal probe

@PatriciaMazzei

Miami-Dade commissioners delayed a decision on Tuesday to certify 11 affordable-housing developers because one of the firms, Carlisle Development Group, is under investigation by a federal grand jury.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s administration cited a Miami Herald report on Sunday that revealed that prosecutors suspect Carlisle of defrauding the U.S. government of tax subsidies to build low-income rental apartments.

“One of the firms that is on that pre-qualified pool is now the subject of a federal investigation, so we need to take a look at that a little bit longer,” he said.

The board had been scheduled to approve Carlisle as one of its pre-qualified vendors to develop affordable housing on county-owned public housing sites. Qualifying for the pool does not guarantee future work, but implies that the vendor has “successfully demonstrated its qualifications” for projects in the pipeline.

More here.

Miami-Dade mayor to commissioner: 'Thank me later' for leftover Dolphins election cash

@PatriciaMazzei

Miami-Dade commissioners refrained from referring to the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday in the board's first meeting since Florida lawmakers ended the team's effort to upgrade Sun Life Stadium.

But the renovation plan, negotiated over several late nights by Mayor Carlos Gimenez and approved by a majority of commissioners, came up anyway -- obliquely.

During a discussion over a vending-machine contract, Commissioner Esteban "Steve" Bovo lamented that the contract had come up at two previous meetings "for nothing," because his colleagues and the administration were now changing their minds.

"I sympathize with that," Gimenez said. "I just went through a process for nothing also."

Commissioners, understanding the Dolphins reference, chuckled. Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa joked that Bovo, who had opposed the stadium-renovation deal, should say no more. But he did.

"We're much richer because of it," Bovo said.

The Dolphins made a nearly $4.8 million nonrefundable payment to the county for a referendum that was ultimately canceled. Miami-Dade expects more than $1 million will be left over to spend elsewhere.

Said Gimenez: "You can thank me later for that."

Federal appeals court upholds ruling striking down Florida law banning hiring of firms with Cuba ties

@PatriciaMazzei

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a ruling that struck down a Florida law prohibiting the state and local governments from hiring companies with business ties to Cuba. The ruling continues to block the 2012 law from taking effect.

The law “conflicts directly with the extensive and highly calibrated federal regime of sanctions against Cuba promulgated by the legislative and executive branches over almost fifty years,” 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stanley Marcus wrote on behalf of a three-judge panel in the unanimous opinion.

The judges ruled in favor of Odebrecht USA, the Coral Gables firm that had challenged the law approved by a near-unanimous majority of state legislators and signed by Republican Gov. Rick Scott. The Florida Department of Transportation had appealed the preliminary injunction issued last year by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, who opined the legislation interfered with the federal government’s power to set foreign policy.

The appeals court, Marcus wrote, had “little difficulty” in affirming Moore’s ruling. Signaling their eventual position, the three clearly skeptical appeals judges pointedly questioned FDOT’s lawyer at a hearing in March.

Odebrecht USA, a subsidiary of the Brazilian engineering and construction giant, sued over the law, which would prohibit any Florida or local government agencies from awarding contracts worth at least $1 million to U.S. firms whose foreign-owned parent companies or subsidiaries work in Cuba or Syria. An affiliate of Odebrecht USA’s Brazilian parent company is significantly expanding the Cuban Port of Mariel.

More here.

Wife of ex-lawmaker who resigned in 'sexxxy mama' text scandal to run for Miami Beach commission

via @cveiga 

Real estate agent Micky Steinberg filed to run for Miami Beach City Commission on Monday. 

Despite her qualifications -- Steinberg is a board member of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, and has served on the Public Policy Committee of Jewish Community Services and other boards -- she may be best known for her husband’s deeds.

She’s married to Richard Steinberg, the former Miami Beach state representative who stepped down early last year amid a U.S. Secret Service investigation into inappropriate text messages he sent to a female federal prosecutor.

No charges were filed against him. 

"My husband did the right thing by immediately resigning from office and focusing all his attention to his family," Steinberg told The Miami Herald. "And in terms of my campaign, I'm running for city commission, not my husband."

She said she is running because Miami Beach is at a crossroads and needs a fresh voice at City Hall.

The Steinbergs have two kids under the age of 4, and live in North Beach.

Richard Steinberg, an attorney, practices in Miami Beach with his dad, Paul, who is also a former state lawmaker.

--CHRISTINA VEIGA

This post has been updated with Steinberg's comments.

Why Dolphins owner Stephen Ross — not Speaker Will Weatherford — owns stadium deal death

@MarcACaputo

Success has many fathers in the Florida Legislature. The Miami Dolphins-stadium deal is an orphan.

And it will probably stay that way, ironically, thanks to the man who wanted it most: Stephen Ross, the Dolphins owner.

When the plan to use up to $380 million in taxpayer money to subsidize stadium upgrades died on Friday, Ross sent out a threatening-sounding statement that bashed House Speaker Will Weatherford, essentially accused him of lying and stopped just short of promising to campaign against him.

“I am certain this decision will follow Speaker Weatherford for many years to come,” Ross said in a statement.

“I will look to play an important role in fixing the dysfunction in Tallahassee and will continue to work to create good jobs in Miami Dade and throughout South Florida.”

Just before the statement came out, I asked Weatherford what his reaction would be if Ross or his supporters threatened to spend money against him.

“Oh, wow,” Weatherford said in a voice that sounded anything but surprised or worried. “Good for them.”

Are you scared?

“No,” Weatherford smiled.

Dolphins: No stadium upgrades planned for now

@PatriciaMazzei

The Miami Dolphins do not intend to pay for even modest upgrades to Sun Life Stadium now that the team's push for a subsidized renovation to the 1987 facility have failed, CEO Mike Dee said Sunday.

"We cannot do this without a public-private partnership," Dee told Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS 4. "At this time we have no intention of investing more."

Though he maintained that the Dolphins are still vying for Super Bowls 50 and 51, which National Football League owners are awarding later this month, Dee sounded less than hopeful about South Florida's prospects to host the games without improving the Miami Gardens stadium.

"We clearly have our work cut out for us," he said. "Having a stadium that's competitive is, I think, probably comparable to having a good quarterback when you're playing football."

In a live interview on Facing South Florida with Jim DeFede, Dee gave the first in-person remarks by any Dolphins official since late Friday, when the Florida House of Representatives ended the annual lawmaking session in Tallahassee without taking up team-backed legislation providing public subsidies for the renovation.