My hometown of Miami Lakes is a quiet suburb of Miami in just about every way. Nestled between Hialeah and northwestern unincorporated Miami-Dade County, it’s almost an oasis in the congested metropolitan concrete desert that is South Florida. With its charming Main Street, canopied roads, and overall small-town feel, it’s hardly the place where one would expect to see the type of dirty, corrupt politics seen just over the canal in Hialeah.
But looks can be deceiving.
Incorporated in 2000, the young Town splits power evenly between the mayor and 6 council members. Except for chairing the meetings and cutting ribbons, the mayor is merely one more vote on the council.
The current mayor, Michael Pizzi, controls the council 4-3 (his vote plus three rubber stamps: Councilwoman Mary Collins, Councilman Nick Perdomo and Councilman Ceasar Mestre).
The loyal opposition consists of the remaining three Councilmen: Tim Daubert, Nelson Hernández, and Richard Pulido.
This year the mayor, two of his rubber stamps (Collins and Perdomo), and opposition member Richard Pulido are up for reelection. This poses a huge risk for the mayor and his majority, as the opposition needs to protect only one seat versus the three the mayor needs to keep. If the mayor loses just one of the three, it will tilt the balance of power on the council, and even if reelected, the mayor will become a lame duck.
This has had the notoriously high-strung mayor very worried for quite some time, and over the last week he went from worried to full-on nervous breakdown when viable candidates filed to run for the seats he controls. One of those seats is occupied by Councilwoman Mary Collins, his most loyal blind follower and dependable of rubber stamps.
Collins, 78, has been a councilwoman in Miami Lakes for 12 years. Her last election in 2008 was said to be her last, and although she even told many in the Town that she would not seek reelection this year, it is widely believed that Mayor Pizzi instructed her to run again in order to help him maintain his majority on the Council. Sources on the ground report rumors that she intends to run for reelection this year and if successful, she’ll then resign so Pizzi can appoint another rubber stamp replacement.
Regardless, first-time office seeker Manny Cid filed to run for the seat last week, which triggered the aforementioned nervous breakdown. Cid is a longtime Miami Lakes resident, conservative activist, and president of the local Republican club. Due to Cid’s position and local activism, he is well-known in the community and has remained politically involved in Miami Lakes for the past several years, making him a formidable candidate.
For purposes of Reaganista.com, I must also add that Cid is a small-government, solid bedrock conservative Republican whom we will likely endorse when the election draws closer.
According to reliable sources, ever since Cid filed to run against Collins, Pizzi has been absolutely obsessed with either forcing him out of the race or poisoning the well for him. Sources inside Town Hall say that he obsessively asks staff and others about Cid and any developments in the race.
So concerned are both Pizzi and his rubber stamp Collins about Cid’s chances in November, that they went ahead and hired Hialeah “Absentee Ballot Queen” Sasha Tirador to run her absentee ballot “chase” program against Cid.
This is not the first time a Pizzi-backed candidate has hired Tirador for her unique absentee ballot “services.” She also worked the campaign of another Pizzi rubber stamp on the council Ceasar Mestre during his 2010 race against then-Councilwoman Nancy Simon. In that race, Simon won a majority of early voting and election day votes, but was overwhelmingly defeated in absentee ballots, which tilted the election Mestre’s way. Ballots were even inspected after allegations of absentee voting irregularities in that race, but nothing was formally investigated (“MIAMI LAKES: Candidates investigate absentee ballots after Miami Lakes election,” Miami Herald 10/17/2010).
However, some may recall Sasha Tirador was investigated in 2008 for some absentee voter fraud allegations. She also ran the absentee ballot operations in 2011 for current Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, who happens to be a close friend of (Pizzi rubber stamp) Miami Lakes Councilman Ceasar Mestre (Hernandez and Mestre served on the Hialeah Police Department together years ago).
Word around Miami Lakes is that Hialeah’s Absentee Ballot Queen Sasha Tirador will work not only for Collins, but for the rest of the Pizzi slate as well, which is confirmed by Tirador herself every time she goes on Cuban radio to talk crap about the other candidates.
Qualifying for the Miami Lakes election ended at noon today, and here is the Pizzi/Tirador slate:
- Tony Lama – challenger of incumbent councilman and frequent Pizzi critic Richard Pulido;
- Nelson Rodriguez – City of Coral Gables firefighter recruited by Pizzi to run for the seat currently occupied by one of his rubber stamps Nick Perdomo who reportedly has been living in Sunny Isles Beach for several months and does not want to deal with challenger, longtime Miami Lakes activist and prominent dentist Dr. David Bennett calling him out for carpetbagging or this little gem;
- Mary Collins, who is running against conservative activist Manny Cid, as discussed above; and of course
- Michael Pizzi himself, who is being challenged by founding Miami Lakes mayor and all-around soft-spoken, decent guy Wayne Slaton. .
So as you can see, Pizzi is running scared, so he has decided to import and foist this type of rancid Hialeah “boletera” machine politics on the citizens of Miami Lakes.
We salute Manny Cid, Richard Pulido, Wayne Slaton and Dr. David Bennett for standing up and providing a better choice, and we urge all Miami Lakes voters to reject the sleaze that is attempting to influence their town’s politics.
**UPDATE 8/9/12**
The ink on qualifying papers wasn’t even dry yet and 12-year incumbent Councilwoman Mary Collins preemptively breaks her promise to run a clean race.
Why preemptively? Because at 9:42 p.m. yesterday (qualifying day) she sends an e-mail announcing her candidacy for reelection and in it she pledges to run a clean race, stating:
I have been told that this will be a nasty campaign, well, I don’t believe in that kind of campaigning, so it will not come from me. I shall just run on my unblemished record and I will win with your help.
But then hours earlier, this mail piece attacking her opponent Manny Cid hit mailboxes throughout Miami Lakes:
Well, I guess Councilwoman Collins is right. This will be a nasty campaign–but only because she made it so.
FURTHER READING: The always-entertaining Miami Politics blog Political Cortadito has extensively covered the exploits of both the Hialeah Absentee Ballot Queen Sasha Tirador and Mayor Michael Pizzi.
Pizzi is bought and paid for by Lowell Dunn. Where do you think he got all that money to run his campaign four years ago and the campaigns in 2010 for mestre and that airhead george ” not the comedian” lopez? Dunn’s going to be the one paying Sasha Tirador directly for all of Pizzi’s candidates like he did in 2010, no reporting no nothing. Sasha is doing that in hialeah right now. Get ready for the fresh smell of cow shit in your back yard, bennet!
Pizzi, your chickens are coming home to roost. We, The People, are sick of your political games. Get ready to have other PI’s staking out the Tirador operation just like you had yours staking out Gimenez’s.
What happened, Mikey? Did you get upset that you didn’t have the political clout to cut any deals at the La Carreta meeting? Perdomo has finally seen the light and is getting away from you and your Mob-style tactics. Its a long time after August 14 until the November election. And, its a presidential election at that! Too many folks coming out to vote to take anything on absentee ballots.
The Monopoly Man is going to get you out!
A debate between Slayton and Pizzi…
Slayton: Its funny that you said that, Mr. Mayor…
Pizzi: Funny how? Am I a clown to yous? How am I funny?
Pizzi and his walk team:
Mary Collins (turns to dust in the Sun)
George Lopez (“Please include your zip code when mailing”)
Perla Tabares Hantman (The Sun! It BURNSSSSSSS)
PTH – Yesss, it does me preciousssssss.
Your article has several inaccuracies. For one, there is no Pizzi slate (although some would like to believe that) and two, not sure how you arrived at the conclusion that all of these candidates are associating themselves with Sasha. Report the truth, but you should make it clear when you are making baseless assumptions.
How could you say that Pizzi has no slate? He always has slates. He took Rodriguez by the hand and got him to qualify, Lama goes around town bragging that he’s Pizzi’s guy, and Mary is using Sasha, who Pizzi introduced her to.
And if you still don’t believe there’s a slate, just compare everyone’s campaign contributors.
The way you fabricate stories is amazing. Nelson Rodriguez is a wonderful family man. He is a law abiding servant of our community. He has chosen to run because he realizes Miami Lakes needs change. The same applies to Tony Lama. Find me one person that Tony Lama said that to? You folks do nothing but LIE behind the guise of the internet. Did Bennet record Tony saying that? He does have a tendency of recording random people and violating people’s privacy. NOW THAT IS NOT A LIE!
Do you have anything else but a claim that these guys are associated to Pizzi? JUST because the mayor believes these folks would do better than Pulido, Bennett, or Cid, doesn’t mean they are on a slate with Pizzi. I hope everyone in ML reads this now that Mirtha has sent this out to everyone. You ALL talk about friendship and civility and ending Pizzi’s intimidation tactics, but you are NO different. None of you are! Reaganista? You feel proud of going after two residents with no political history for trying to do what is right for the community? Do you realize these two guys are conservative Republicans? This is NO REAGANISTA site! No Reagan Republican goes after their own with such LIES!!!
Mr. Lama,
You should not be upset now. It was your decision to be a Pizzi puppet and you must now live up to it. You should have run like Perdomo after the Carreta Meeting. Pizzi is no one and only won elections by lying and buying votes.
Good luck!
I appreciate some of the comments above, but they were certainly not from me. This comment, however, is from me and I don’t have any issues saying so. I don’t use your tactics nor do I hide behind aliases and blindly comment on blogs. Since I have nothing to hide, I have no issues engaging to address a few comments above.
For starters, no one is upset. I am, however, disappointed that you would lie to the people of Miami Lakes. This is exactly what is wrong with politics in our town. You try to pit one person against the other and immediately force people to identify themselves with one faction or the other. You’d rather distract the residents with this nonsense than let them hear about the real issues affecting our community and why new leadership in seat 3 is overdue. You’d rather engage in shadow politics! I would rather address these issues in the open.
I was recently asked by a prominent blogger whether I was with Pizzi or against Pizzi. I respected the question and frankly, I was not surprised by it. It seems like everyone feels the need to associate themselves with one camp or the other. My response: “I am with the residents of Miami Lakes.” I have relied on my diligence, tenacity, integrity, faith in God, the example set by my parents and the support of my family, my wife and my children to achieve what I have achieved thus far. You can call me out on that if you’d like, but I don’t need to live up to your web fabrications and attempts at MISLEADING our residents. It’s comical and I believe the residents of this town know better.
What you don’t seem to know (Nor would you admit) is that I enjoy a good relationship with people on all sides and that includes some who outwardly support my opponent. I’ve reached out to residents, the former mayor, former councilmembers, active members of our community, and yes, Mayor Pizzi. Why wouldn’t I? They all have their unique perspectives and I want to hear about them all.
I made the decision to run, on my own, almost a year and a half ago. Since then, I’ve received an incredible amount of support from friends and neighbors that share my ideals and vision for Miami Lakes. I didn’t know Mayor Pizzi prior to my decision to run. I now know Mayor Pizzi and while he has not openly endorsed me, I would not be surprised if he, like many, feels that I am better suited to represent seat 3 than the current councilman.
Here is what I would live up to:
I support a government that protects the governed and NOT the governing.
I support the low taxes that we enjoy in Miami Lakes.
I support running a government that is lean and optimal.
I support a government that fosters the entrepreneurial spirit and private ownership.
I support the conservative ideals of our community.
I also recognize that there must be a balance and the spirit of our town cannot be sacrificed. That is why I support the programs for our aging population and our youth!
I support and stand by the residents of this town. Do you?
I can go on and on, but I’m sure you don’t really care about the issues affecting our town. Instead, you would rather Shift the Blame, Ignore the Facts, and Name call and I’m certain your response will be more of the same.
The residents of this town agree, we need change and your comment further strengthens our cause!
Thank you!
Respectfully,
Tony Lama
P.S. I’ve been running a grassroots effort and I have a local, Miami Lakes resident, running my campaign. My family and I are knocking on doors and we are out there meeting residents. If you care to join a campaign run by residents, visit my website at http://www.tonylama2012.com and learn how to help!
As a hispanic named Manny and a resident.of Miami Lakes I am.disgisted by this anti-hispanic mailer, I am.ready to file complaint, So this is just like Collins and Pizzi saying that there are TOO many Julios or OYEs out.here? I think.you started a fire you cant put out! Wait for it , all the Mannys, Julios and Oyes will be Voting.in November DONT you Worry, unlike you we wont have Any problems voting for a Bennett and a Slaton!
Lamas – are you serious. Did you really complain that when YOUR back room deal to get support (i.e. money) fell through because your BUDDY, MENTOR, IDOL – Mikey “I can never be trust” Pizzi could not keep his word, that you thought that was “unfair’? HA, HAHA, HAHAHAHAH, ROTFLMAO. A clown by any other name is Lamas.
Pulido is not a Republican. Why is this blog called Reaganista and complimenting a Democrat for shit work?
Something doesn’t sit right with me. Is this site in support of conservatives -as the name reaganista would imply- or is it a front for leftist activists? I’m not too familiar with Miami Lakes politics but Richard Pulido I have heard is a left leaning democrat who has supported some of South Florida’s most dispicable politicians like Raul Martinez. According to the web he’s been seen with Hillary at fund raisers and supported others like Alex Sink. He supports leftist agenda’s including Obama’s. I would be weary of this fellow, ya’ll better start payin attention to your real threat.