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This Week In South Florida: Billy Corben joins journalists to discuss Miami City Hall dysfunction

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This Week In South Florida: Billy Corben joins journalists to discuss Miami City Hall dysfunction


MIAMI – Anyone who thinks local government meetings are boring hasn’t been to one at City Hall in Miami. The latest spectacle of the dysfunction at a commission meeting was the ousting of Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez.

Commissioners Miguel Angel Gabela, Damian Pardo, Manolo Reyes, and Christine King voted to oust Méndez and placed her in an advisory role ending June 11.

“I was doing my job; that’s why you’re upset at me,” Méndez told Gabela during the meeting.

Gabela said he didn’t trust her. Commissioner Joe Carollo was the only dissenting vote. This had just followed Miami City Manager Art Noriega’s furniture scandal.

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Filmmaker Billy Corben met with local journalists to discuss the madness during This Week In South Florida’s Roundtable on Sunday. He compared the city government to a mafia, a dictatorship, and a third-world banana republic.

“It runs on fear and intimidation, and I would say extortion,” Corben said.

The Miami Herald’s Sarah Blaskey, an investigative reporter, and Joe Flechas, an associate editor, joined the conversation on TWISF with Joshua Ceballos, the local government accountability reporter for WLRN.

Blaskey described Méndez’s role as someone who has a hand in “a lot of pots” and went beyond her role as a city attorney to comment on a case that resulted in a $63.5 million legal judgment against Carollo.

“She has been sort of proactive in that case,” Blaskey said adding she had defended Carollo.

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Flechas said the attorney is tasked with interpreting the city’s code and charter. Instead, Méndez went on the record several times defending Carollo’s actions against the businessmen who won the judgment.

“She attacked these Little Havana businessmen and besmirched their reputations often as a means of justifying the taxpayers paying for the legal defense,” Flechas said referring to Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla.

Ceballos said Méndez was allegedly “the go-between” Carollo and Emilio Gonzalez, the former city manager. Corben said Méndez was tasked with spending taxpayers’ money to defend corruption, as Carrollo “weaponized” government.

“She has had a blank check to enable this corrupt behavior,” Corben said.

The furniture choices and the city’s legal costs were not the only scandals mentioned. Blaskey said Méndez’s husband had a company that flipped homes.

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“The allegation is that through her work at the city, she had information that helped, you know, guide her husband’s business towards homes that, you know, could be flipped for a profit,” Blaskey said. “Often these were homes through the guardianship program.”

Blaskey said the program’s homes mostly belong to the elderly and people with disabilities.

“There is a lawsuit that Victoria Méndez and her husband are facing right now about this house flipping business. There’s also a bar complaint into how she has engaged with that business as the city attorney,” Blaskey said.

Corben said the city attorney also failed to intervene on the redistricting maps that prompted a federal racial gerrymandering suit. U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore found the city unconstitutionally drew district lines.

“This perversion of the redistricting is far more corrupt than even the judge decided,” Corben said.

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Blaskey said that to notice the incumbent’s attempt to disqualify Gabela from running last November an observer has to “zoom in on this tiny, tiny little carveout around the part where” one home is.

There was speculation about the impact of the federal judge’s ruling, how this reflects on Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, and how it affects other local governments.

“I think whatever happens in the city of Miami government is something that will influence the way other government officials act in their governments as well,” Blaskey said. “And so I think, that’s how it becomes relevant to everyone else.”

Watch more on TWISF: Debra Hixon talks about Broward schools

Copyright 2024 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.

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South Florida faith leaders call for Miami mental health center to finally open

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South Florida faith leaders call for Miami mental health center to finally open


On Monday, more than 800 faith leaders and community activists from across South Florida, crowded into the Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Miami to demand the Miami Dade County Commission move forward with opening the Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery.

“Are we OK with being told to wait when lives are on the line?” said Quanda Dupree, of the St. Peters Missionary Baptist Church. “Or do we believe real accountability means keeping your word? Even when things aren’t guaranteed. We believe our communities deserve more than a delayed response. We deserve action.”

The center – which was promised to voters back in 2004 – would take mentally ill individuals out of the jail and move them into a place where they can receive comprehensive treatment and support. The county has spent more than $50 million renovating the building and two years ago, a pair of non-profit groups were selected to operate the facility while numerous local groups and agencies have pledged their support, including the Homeless Trust. Funding for the first two to three years of the center is already in place.

And yet, the center remains empty – not helping anyone.



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SNAP benefits will be changing in Florida starting Monday

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SNAP benefits will be changing in Florida starting Monday


New SNAP restrictions will start Monday in Florida.

What we know:

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These changes will ban the purchase of many sugary sodas, energy drinks, candy and ultra-processed, shelf-stable prepared desserts.

Hunger Free America, an advocacy group, is against these restrictions.

Joel Berg, the CEO, said some regulation is a good thing, but he wants to see it support access to healthy foods as a choice.

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“We do support mandates to mandate that healthier food is available in stores that do accept SNAP,” Berg said. “So, it makes a lot more sense to make it easier to get healthier food.”

Berg said these restrictions are unnecessary in achieving a healthier America.

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“We should make America healthier again by making healthy food more affordable, convenient and physically available,” Berg said. “We shouldn’t micromanage the eating patterns of adults to try to achieve that goal.”

The other side:

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This is part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said, “Under the MAHA initiative, we are taking bold, historic steps to reverse the chronic disease epidemic that has taken root in this country for far too long.”

What they’re saying:

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Berg said that these changes, on top of cuts to the program nationwide, will increase hunger.

“It’s not that low-income Americans don’t want healthier food; it’s that they can’t afford healthier food,” Berg said.

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This coincides with the announcement that there will be cuts to WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, which supplies food to mothers and young children.

“President Trump’s budget just announced that he’s proposing taking away fruits and vegetables from the WIC program for pregnant women and children under five,” Berg said. “So, they’re taking away healthier food.”

The WIC cuts would take away $1.4 billion in fruit and vegetable benefits from 5.4 million people.

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Big picture view:

The SNAP changes come as part of the MAHA movement and include more than 20 other states that will implement changes over the next two years.

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The Source:  Information in this story comes from WIC, SNAP and interviews done by Fox 13’s Danielle Zulkosky.

Hillsborough CountyHealth



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GALLERY: Barrett-Jackson ‘Super Saturday’ takes over South Florida Fairgrounds

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GALLERY: Barrett-Jackson ‘Super Saturday’ takes over South Florida Fairgrounds


The engines are revving for one final day of high-stakes bidding and family fun at the South Florida Fairgrounds.

Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach auction reaches its grand finale today with an action-packed “Super Saturday” lineup, promising to close out the weekend with a full slate of collector car sales, live entertainment, and fan attractions.

“Super Saturday,” presented by Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, officially kicks off at 8 a.m. when gates, food courts, and the exhibitor marketplace open to the public.

What to expect

  • 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: The Fantasy Bid presented by Dodge begins early, running in tandem with the automobilia auction in the arena.
  • 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Thrill-seekers can catch Dodge thrill rides on the Barrett-Jackson Performance Track.
  • 10:00 a.m.: New amenities open to the public, including the Stella Artois, Staging Lanes, and Food Court patios, which offer shaded seating and auction views.
  • 10:45 a.m.: The national anthem will be performed in the auction arena, signaling the start of the main collector car auction at 11 a.m.
  • Afternoon Entertainment: DJ sets run from noon to 5 p.m. across the various patios, and a detailing clinic by Adam’s Polishes is scheduled for 2 p.m. near the South Showcase.

For those unable to attend, the whole event will be livestreamed throughout the day on the Barrett-Jackson website and the HISTORY channel from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Today’s finale comes on the heels of a high-energy Friday that saw significant sales and notable celebrity interest.

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Star power was evident throughout the day, particularly with vehicles tied to the Busch family. A 1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible owned by Samantha Busch and a 1969 Oldsmobile 442 Custom Coupe were among the day’s heavy hitters, each fetching $159,500. Kyle Busch’s 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Coupe also drew a strong bid, selling for $143,000.

Other Friday highlights included:

  • 1968 Ford Mustang Eleanor Replica: $137,500
  • 2004 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Mamba Edition: $132,000
  • 1972 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Custom SUV: $126,500
  • 1957 Ford Thunderbird Custom Convertible: $121,000
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With a festival-style atmosphere and high-profile sales driving momentum, organizers expect a busy crowd for the final push at the auction block today.



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