Former Beach commissioner wants to move back into city hall. City says ‘no vacancy.’

@KyraGurney

A year after vacating his Miami Beach City Commission office amid a campaign finance scandal, newly elected state representative Michael Grieco wants to move back into the building. But his request to set up shop near the entrance to city hall, which would displace city employees, hasn’t gone over well with some former colleagues.

Grieco requested a space on the first floor — wedged between the elevators leading up to the commission chamber — to use as his primary district office in his new role representing Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Little Havana, downtown Miami and Fisher Island in the Florida Legislature. Grieco’s predecessor, David Richardson, rented office space on the fourth floor of a city-owned building next door for $311 a month, but Grieco argued that the city hall office would be more accessible and easier for constituents to find. He asked for a $1 annual lease, the same price Miami-Dade County pays to rent a space on the first floor for the county commissioner whose district includes Miami Beach.

City Manager Jimmy Morales told Grieco that the space he wanted wasn’t available and offered Richardson’s old office instead. The problem, Morales explained in a memo to commissioners, is that the office Grieco wants is already occupied by the Urban Forestry division and five city employees. Residents visit the office every day seeking tree permits, Morales wrote, which are often required for construction permits that can be obtained in the same building. Relocating the office, he said, “will likely result in added cost to the city, in addition to the inconvenience to our customers.”

Read more here. 

Florida Slavery Memorial back up for discussion in Tallahassee

@ByKristenMClark

State House members wasted no time this week in reviving a proposal for a Florida Slavery Memorial near the Capitol, an idea that stalled amid some controversy at the end of the 2017 session last spring.

Now several months later, the proposal — sponsored by Miami Democratic Rep. Kionne McGhee — takes on new meaning against a backdrop of the growing racial divide across America and of the violent protests in Charlottesville, Va., during the summer over the removal of a Confederate statue there.

“It sends a signal to the entire country that Florida is willing to take a step — like it has always done in certain circumstances — in the right direction. We lead by example. We are Florida,” McGhee said after his bill (HB 67) swiftly passed its first of three House committees by a unanimous vote Wednesday morning. (The bill was the first piece of legislation considered by the House government oversight committee ahead of the 2018 session.)

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: “A senator said a Florida Slavery Memorial would ‘celebrate defeat.’ Lawmakers are furious.”

McGhee said the debate over whether symbols of the Confederacy — including one on the Florida Capitol grounds — ought to be removed is a separate issue from the Florida Slavery Memorial he wants built. But the two matters are nonetheless intertwined in the broader national discussion on race.

Full story here.

Photo credit: Rep. Kionne McGhee, D-Miami [Florida House]

Taddeo joins Florida Senate as first Hispanic Democratic woman elected to chamber

@ByKristenMClark

Beginning her service in Tallahassee this week as Florida’s newest state senator, Miami Democrat Annette Taddeo said she aims to be “a voice of inclusion, a voice of opportunity for all.”

“Just bringing the voice of the people,” Taddeo said at the state Capitol Tuesday morning after she was officially sworn in as District 40’s next senator. “It was not just a hashtag when we said it was ‘a people-powered campaign’ — it was truly born from the community and I’m very proud of that.”

Taddeo won a special election on Sept. 26 to replace disgraced former Sen. Frank Artiles, a Miami Republican who resigned in April. Her upset win over former state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, R-Miami, helped the Democrats secure an additional seat in the Senate, narrowing the Republican majority to 24-16.

In joining the Senate, the Colombian-born Taddeo also became the first Hispanic Democratic woman elected to the chamber.

“It’s a humbling experience; I’m very excited and honored to be given this responsibility,” she said. “I’m ready.”

Full story here.

 

Photo credit: State Sen. Annette Taddeo, D-Miami, center, is sworn in to office by Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince on Oct. 10, 2017. She was joined at her swearing-in ceremony by her 11-year-old daughter Sofia Taddeo-Goldstein, her husband Eric Goldstein and her mother Elizabeth Taddeo. [Florida Senate]

As state Senate election nears, Diaz, Taddeo debate 'lessons learned' from Hurricane Irma

@ByKristenMClark

The impacts and recovery efforts that followed Hurricane Irma have presented fresh fodder for political debate between the two main candidates who are seeking voters’ support in a bitter battle that will be decided next week for an open state Senate seat in Miami-Dade County.

On WPLG Local 10 News’ “This Week in South Florida” on Sunday, Republican state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz and Democrat Annette Taddeo sparred about the “lessons learned” from the storm.

They also used the 10-minute televised debate to trade attacks over which of them caters more to special interest groups and industries that came to the forefront during and after the hurricane, such as utilities and nursing home care.

“What we have learned is that industry has a great impact at the [Public Service Commission], at the Legislature. They have killed certain legislation so it could have prevented the lives that we lost at the nursing home,” Taddeo said on the Sunday morning show, referencing the eight elderly people who died last week in a Broward County facility that lacked air conditioning after the hurricane.

Whether it was the elder care industry or utilities, like Florida Power & Light, Taddeo said: “We need to make sure we have representatives that represent us — not the special interests. And that’s not what we have right now; we have had this problem in Florida for decades.”

Diaz — who’s served in the Florida House for seven years — countered that “it’s unfortunate that my opponent would try to paint me off as someone who’s beholden to special interests.”

“The only special interest that matters to me is the people of my community. Nobody’s worked harder during and after this storm than me,” Diaz said.

Full story here.

Photo credit: Republican state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, left, and Democrat Annette Taddeo, right, debate during Sunday’s episode of “This Week in South Florida” on WPLG Local 10 News in Miami. Diaz and Taddeo are candidates for the open Senate District 40 seat in Miami-Dade County. [WPLG]

Bonuses based on teacher test scores violate civil rights, lawsuit alleges

A state program that awards bonuses to top-rated teachers based on their own SAT and ACT scores from high school violates federal and state civil rights laws against employment discrimination, argues a potential class-action lawsuit filed this week by Florida’s largest teachers union and seven classroom teachers from South Florida.

The Best and Brightest program — first enacted in 2015 and now in its third year — continues to be envisioned by Florida House Republicans as an innovative means to recruit and retain the best teachers in the state’s public schools.

But it’s been a subject of ongoing controversy because the program relies on teachers’ own test scores — sometimes decades old and unavailable — which has no proven correlation to teacher effectiveness.

The Florida Education Association is now asking a federal judge to step in and declare the program illegal and discriminatory against teachers who are older and who are non-white.

The FEA first made the accusation two years ago through a complaint to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — an avenue the union said Friday it had to exhaust before it was recently given federal authorization to file a lawsuit.

“The SAT/ACT score requirement has an illegal disparate impact on teachers based on their age and on teachers based on their black and Hispanic race,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys, John Davis and Kent Spriggs, argued in the 58-page lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee. “The SAT/ACT score requirement is not required by business necessity and is not related to job performance.”

Full story here.

Photo credit: Florida Department of Education [Scott Keeler / Tampa Bay Times]

Trump nominates Trujillo to United Nations post

@PatriciaMazzei

Miami Republican Rep. Carlos Trujillo has been tapped to serve in the United Nations, the White House announced Friday.

President Donald Trump intends to nominate Trujillo to the role of representative to the UN general assembly. The position would make the powerful Florida House budget chief one of UN Ambassador Nikki Haley’s four deputies.

Trujillo, an attorney, would take Haley’s place in meetings and assemblies when she’s unavailable. He would also get the title of “ambassador.”

His nomination has been in the works for months. Trujillo was an early Trump supporter. He missed a budget committee hearing in April amid rumors he was in Washington, interviewing for a possible ambassadorship to Argentina or Panama. He was later said to be under consideration for an appointment to the Organization of American States.

More here.

Photo credit: C.M. Guerrero, el Nuevo Herald 

In Miami senate race, mailer says Donald Trump endorsed Jose Felix Diaz -- but read the fine print

@amysherman1

A mailer in a Miami senate race says that Donald Trump has only backed one of the candidates, but voters will have to read the fine print to figure out when Trump supported state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz.

It appears that Trump supported Diaz in his previous bids for state house years before Trump's successful bid for president.

"Only one candidate in Senate District 40 has been endorsed twice by Donald Trump," states one side of the mailer, showing a photo of Trump and Diaz smiling together giving the thumbs up sign. 

The other side of the mailer states "Jose Felix Diaz supports Donald Trump" and shows a photo of Diaz, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The mailer displays a note written by Trump on an invoice: "Jose -- Good Luck -- we are all proud of you -- you will win!" 

If you read the fine print of the invoice, it shows a date of June 2012. State campaign finance records show that Trump donated $500 to Diaz's house race in July 2012 (as well as an earlier race in March 2009.)

Note that the mailer doesn't say President Donald Trump but only says Donald Trump -- another sign that as president, Trump isn't supporting any candidates in the Miami senate race.

The White House didn't want to weigh in on this mailer, but it would be unusual for a president to endorse in a state legislative race even though Diaz and Trump know each other.

Diaz was once a contestant on Trump's "The Apprentice" reality show. Also, Diaz was interviewed as a potential Miami U.S. attorney candidate for Trump's administration. Earlier in the race, Diaz deleted a twitter photo of himself with President Trump after he was aggressively trolled online.  

Diaz faces former state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla and attorney Lorenzo Palomares-Starbuck in the special July 25 Republican primary election to replace State Sen. Frank Artiles. If Diaz wins, Democrats will emphasize his ties to Trump in the Democratic-leaning Senate District 40. 

Diaz could not be immediately reached to answer questions about when Trump supported him and if he officially endorsed him when he gave him money in state house races.

 

Miami senate district forum will be skipped by at least one major Republican candidate

@amysherman1

Former state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, one of the Republican rivals in the race to replace Sen. Frank Artiles, will not appear at a candidate forum at Miami Dade College's Kendall campus Wednesday night.

"I spend my time with my voters not with elites," he told the Miami Herald in a text confirming that he won't attend.

State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz said he will try to attend part of the forum, but it is scheduled the same evening when he will appear at a Univision event about the condo reform bill that he shepherded through this session along with a few other Miami-Dade lawmakers. 

Diaz and Portilla didn't appear at a forum June 1 due to scheduling conflicts. The forums provide the rare opportunity for voters to hear multiple candidates at once before the July 25 primary in District 40.

Republican Lorenzo Palomares, a lawyer, will attend the forum along with Democrats Annette Taddeo, a frequent candidate and owner of a translation business, and former state Rep. Ana Rivas Logan. 

The format is not a debate -- the candidates will be asked the same set of questions. Generally, the candidates are not going to be given the opportunity to rebut each other unless a candidate attacks another candidate.

Likely topics include the health care legislation, gun safety, restoring felons' voting rights, the environment, and public education. The forum will be moderated by WLRN morning anchor Luis Hernandez. 

The event is sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Additional event partners include the Miami Herald, ACLU Florida, Women’s Fund Miami-Dade, YWCA, Kendall Federation of Homeowners, Engage Miami and National Council of Jewish Women Kendall.

Partners have submitted questions in advance but the public can also submit questions on written cards at the forum. 

The forum will be held at MDC’s Kendall Campus, Room 6120, 1011 SW 104 St.

Miami Herald photo from left to right: Lorenzo Palomares, Ana Rivas Logan, Steve Smith, Christian "He-Man" Schlaerth, and Annette Taddeo participate in a Florida Senate District 40 Forum at the Second Baptist Church in Richmond Heights on Thursday, June 1, 2017. 

 

 

 

Talk of fixing HB 7069 ‘way too premature,’ Hialeah lawmaker says

@ByKristenMClark

Although a major school reform bill was signed into law last month amid heavy criticism and calls that it be fixed immediately, an influential lawmaker from Miami-Dade County indicates that issue won’t be a priority on the Legislature’s agenda for 2018.

“It’s way too premature,” said Hialeah Republican Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., who helms the House’s pre-K-12 education budget committee. “Making adjustments going forward — we first have to see what happens instead of jumping the gun.”

HB 7069 took effect Saturday, prompting myriad changes in statewide education policy — many favorable to charter schools seeking less restrictions to their expansion in Florida.

Among the most controversial of those changes is a new “Schools of Hope” program to help the state’s worst-performing schools by, in part, providing incentives for new charter schools to directly compete with them.

It’s that part of the bill that some senators — led by Republican David Simmons of Altamonte Springs — have argued needs to be revised. They say, as written, the new law forces failing schools to either shut down after getting two “D” or “F” grades or hand themselves over to privately managed charters, with both options leaving the schools’ teachers out of work.

Diaz — who helped craft HB 7069 and shepherd it through the Legislature — contends such critics are misreading the new law and they need to be patient while the Florida Department of Education drafts rules this summer that better clarify how the “Schools of Hope” program will be implemented.

More here.

Photo credit: AP 

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez to fundraise for Jose Felix Diaz's senate race

@amysherman1

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez is the special guest at a fundraiser for Rep. Jose Felix Diaz's state senate campaign at the Biltmore Hotel July 18th.

Diaz is running in the July 25th primary for the special election in District 40 created by the resignation of Sen. Frank Artiles. 

Diaz will face attorney Lorenzo Palomares and former state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla in the Republican primary.