The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - #BecauseMiami: Cover Up Cowboys

Episode Date: May 22, 2026

This week on Because Miami, Billy Corben talks to Florida state senate candidate Richard Lamondin as the environmental entrepreneur tries to convince potential District 38 voters why they should vote for him. Also, David Villano, editor of the Coconut Grove Spotlight talks about how the Grove is being swallowed up by the city of Miami and the county of Miami Dade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, Roy. Yes. I'm wondering, would you ever run for office? No. I'm glad you took a moment to think about it. Too many skeletons in the closet about it? Is that right? Is it when we just learn a little bit too much about you?

Did you have to take that moment to think, okay, what's the worst thing someone could say about me or know about me? Did you do that exercise in your head that quickly? Yep. I don't believe that. I feel like you've thought of running for like, you know, I don't know. A class president? No. No.

I ran for class president. president. Did you win? I did. I won by about, like, think 75% of the vote. I think I obtained. Yeah, it was really, really worth it. The thing that they don't tell you about that is that, like, 10 years later, you're, like, responsible for the class reunions. So it's like a lifetime job. Oh, I'm getting those messages right now. Yeah, as the president of the senior class. And I really, I think they can impeach me at this point because I'm sheer dereliction of duty. But I thought maybe you'd run for Prime Minister of Miramar or whatever they call that. I don't know what. what the position is. I haven't read the city charter in Miramar. No. But no, you never thought of running,

you never been so pissed with like just, I don't know, your trash pickup, painting lines on the street, just something that just got your goat where you're like, you know what, I should run and I should stop complaining and I should start doing something about it. No, I'll just leave that out to Luther Campbell. That's right. Luke is right. Have we had him on since he started? No. We had him on when he was thinking about running like two years ago, but we haven't had him on since he actually... Well, we had him on a couple months ago. Right, but not about... But that's before he officially dove in and had his candidacy.

Right. Up there and... So I'm always curious about this, why people decide to run for office, particularly when they're young, their young parents, it's no holiday. Happy for him. Richard Lamondin is an environmental entrepreneur. He is also a candidate for Florida state Senate in District 38, he is running against Republican incumbent Alexis Kaladayud, a name that may mean something to people who listen to some of the podcasts on this network. Richard, no relation to Tony Kaladuud, right?

I believe there is relation. Is there? What is that relation? I've been informed recently that they are siblings. Oh, no kidding. How about that? Yeah, how about that? Did you know that, Roy?

Yes. Richard, let's get into it. Why are you doing this? young guy, as I said earlier, I think you have a relatively young kid. Like now seems like a really bad time in your life and your child's life and your marriage to do this. So why? Yeah, you have to be a little bit psychopathic.

I got to tell you, for the record, I live in this district. So I'm going to be voting in this race. I haven't made any decision yet, but I will say I appreciate that honesty about your own psychological frailty in entering this race. The number one question I've gotten since I first, in first. for my friends and people who know me about running has been like, seriously, why would you want to do that? That's honestly what's part of what's messed up with our system. Right. Is that people think there has to be something wrong with you in order to make this

decision? Is there something wrong with you, Richard? Not that I'm aware of, but you'll have to bring my wife on for that one. Absolutely. No, I'd love that. But no, really? That's what we should start to do. Forget the candidates. You start interviewing the wives. I can't wait to get Cabella's wife on here. Cabella's gone wild. Holy moly. So tell me, What was the threshold here for you? Well, I'm born a raised here in Miami. For the last 13 years, I've built a company called EcoFi that fights the climate crisis by upgrading old buildings to save energy and water. I did that because 13 years ago, I felt that we weren't doing enough to make our environment more sustainable.

I saw that businesses were not getting into it. And I did something really sexy. I learned how to change a toilet to save water bills because 20% of all toilets are leaking. So, Billy, just like how politics is not sexy, I promise you, neither is going in your bathroom. swapping out your toilet. But that's interesting, though. We have a lot of old buildings down here, a lot of old infrastructure. Is that a problem? Like, leaky pipes, like, you know, obviously older buildings had different kind of showerheads that were a little more aggressive. So is there a lot of water waste in older buildings? Is that a real thing?

We waste is a country with a trillion gallons of water every year, just on water waste, not including leaks. I talk about 20% of all toilets leak. Here in South Florida, we obviously have the aquifer right beneath us, and we're dealing with saltwater intrusion. We're dealing with cooling canals at a Turkey Point that they never quite lined properly. So there's always salt in our drinking water. We have a huge amount of problems, but we built the company from my brother and I going door to door to nationwide across the country. So we operate in pretty much all markets across the U.S. They all have different problems. So accustomed to dealing with shit all day. And so that perhaps suits you for politics, particularly in the state of Florida. Why this race?

So I have four-year-old son now. As you mentioned, I am a father. And the one thing that caused me to get into politics is the fact that when I had him, I started thinking about what's the world going to be like when he gets older. It's going to suck, Richard. Spoiler alert. Sorry. It's going to suck. I'm an optimist at heart. I think it doesn't have to suck, but it's trending towards sucking. And I've looked around. I've seen the kind of dysfunction that's happened from local government all the way up to D.C. And I've tired of Democrats getting their ass kicked in

elections because they can't connect with voters in the way to win. They're so good at it, though, Richard. So good at losing the Democrats. It's been a deep frustration of mine for a long time. And after Trump won the 2024 election, I kind of felt the call. And I thought that if not now, then when. Initially, I was running for the U.S. Congress against Maria Salazar. And I switched over a few months ago to run for the state Senate simply because there's just absolutely absurd amounts of corruption happening there, whether if it's giving away Miami-Dade College land for the Trump Hotel and Casino, whether if it's over almost a billion dollars to put alligator Alcatraz out in the Everglades,

naming the Palm Beach Airport after the president when he gets the profit off the trademark, on and on and on and so the fact of the matter is we don't have people solving the issues up there and I got sick and tired of it. And it'll give your opportunity to spend less time with their family. So there's that. I'm reminded when Urban Meyer left the University of Florida, he said to spend more time with his family. And then like almost immediately got that job with Ohio State, I presume he was going to make a statement. So now I can spend less time with my family.

I don't know. I wouldn't want to miss my four-year-old kid's life spending any amount of time in Tallahassee. Not that lawmakers spend a lot of time in Tallahassee, to be fair. It's not like Congress, which is kind of in session. It's right. It's very much a part-time job. But to that end, Republicans have a super majority. The Democrats have been a non-entity in the state of Florida.

We've had single-party rule since the turn of the century. 1999, Jeb Bush is elected. I've been calling the Democrats for the last, I mean, more than a quarter of century, the Washington generals of politics. They are effectively controlled opposition that have to go up to Tallah, Alahassee either get nothing done or wheel and deal with some of the worst people and politicians in the state who literally tell us we have no money to do anything for schools or for the elderly or for children or for the infirm or the sick.

But we have a billion dollars to light on fire to build a concentration camp in the Everglades or give away a 300 plus million dollar piece of property to a billionaire real estate developer like the president. So a lot of disingenuousness. So why would you want to be a Democrat? Assuming you win. Why would you want to be a Democrat in the state Senate in Tallahassee? Well, the important thing to know is that this seat actually breaks that supermajority you talked about.

And why that matters is, unfortunately, in the minority, your first job is to make bad bills better, right? It's not very sexy. Right. But there's so many insane bills, whether if it's or actions that they are taking, whether if it's the fact that they demolish that crosswalk in Miami Beach or whether the fact that, you know, there's crazy stuff like recently, Tallahassee. You mean the colorful rainbow crosswalk? Yes, the colorful rainbow. The crosswalks are making us gay. The crosswalks are making us gay.

I never thought we'd get to call back to that card. I'm really happy. I'm really happy you brought that up, Richard. I appreciate it. Yeah, you could shout out your government in Tallahassee for making that one possible. Right. But the fact of the matter is, is that right now,

if we don't have people stepping up to deal with this issue, then we just get smacked with it. And having a four-year-old son, most of our education policy and what happens with our kids happens out of Tallahassee. One of the most messed up things to me is the fact that here in the state, you can't really send your kid to preschool without spending a rent. So roughly, for those of you who haven't had kids yet, take your time.

But it'll cost you about $5,500 to $2,500 a month to send your child to preschool before they hit public school age. That's totally out of reach. And that means that a lot of kids are not getting the kind of instruction they need to be successful here. And I think that that's honestly completely messed up. So what is it that for Florida Senate District 38th's current senator, Alexis, Kaladde. What is it that she has or hasn't been doing that you think you can improve on? Well, first of all, there's, because there's been a super majority rule for a long time, what I have noticed is there is a lot of fear. There's a lot of fear of pissing off the

supermajority. There's a lot of fear, honestly, in Democratic electeds that they can't mess up the powers that be up in Tallahassee. But there's also a complicity of silence, which comes from the fact of when you're building concentration camps in the Everglades, when you're stripping land away from Miami-Dade college students and resources, when you're letting the president profit off of things, when you're not dealing with the fact that we're paid teachers 50th in the country, we spent 40th per capita on students, and we're second or third in business bankruptcies.

When you're not doing that stuff and you're silent about it, there's a complicity to the issue that I've seen a lot. And my opponent is one of those people who has definitely, she's come up through the Republican ranks, basically been in politics her whole life, has never had to make a payroll, has never had to, put a child through school, has never had to deal the downstream impacts of this administration.

Has she ever even had a job outside of politics? I don't think so, but you have to fact check me on that. Yeah, well, I think this is part of the problem is that there's a lot of people. The Republicans are very good at this. I'll give them credit of sort of like bringing people up almost in a test tube to take on these positions. And then there's just a presumption amongst the rest of us that this is just the ruling class.

And these are just the people who go from interning at some state senator or some, you know, congressperson's office and then they just sort of like get elected themselves and there's never really any question about their competence, their experience, their capabilities for this position. And we just all take it for granted as opposed to someone. You are a small business owner and entrepreneur. You've created, grown a business. I presume you've had a payroll and hired people and had employees.

Yeah. And I've given paid parental leave and I've given paid time off, even hourly workers. And I've made sure that when parents, that when you get sick, that you're able to be taken care of. We have emergency medical leave. I've done things that a lot of Democrats have talked about as things that we need fundamentally in our system for a foundation. I've given health care to my staff and talked about how messed up that system was. This is all possible. So clearly, other than trying to ride a blue wave that presumably based on the fact that the president is not on the ballot himself, that he is wildly unpopular, that the state of the economy is wildly unpopular,

that despite what's happening this week with Cuba, it's very possible. It's very possible. that voters even in a South Florida district in a Miami district will be interested perhaps in voting for a Democrat for a change. You're still running against an incumbent who has her own record. So how would you distinguish yourself amongst not just Democrats whose votes you'll presumably get, but NPAs who will probably decide this election in your district? How do you distinguish yourself from Senator Kalati? I think it comes down to are you happy with what's coming out of Tallahassee. A wise man once told me that the supermajority's

got us in a chokehold, and the only way to break that chokehold is to flip seats. That wise man was you, Billy, by the way. I think I said it a bit more poetically. Less artful than that. Crami. I think. So let's talk about that.

So we have this supermajority in Tallahassee that's more concerned with fighting each other, that's more concerned with making sure that their donors get a million giveaways that you get every single year in the budget. This is an opportunity, one, to send a very clear message that we're unhappy. Two, to send people problem solvers

that are actually dealing with the issues that we talk about to fight for us. And three, to make sure that we are bringing more parity and breaking a super majority that is actively hurting people here, whether it's the corruption that we talked about, or whether it's the fact that right now, there's no clear way for our schools that are getting funded. They don't break out, for example,

where private school voucher money goes versus public school money, and it causes a lot of distrust in the sense. system. They don't talk about what kind of climate resiliency action they have or the fact that right now we have only $200 million in our emergency disaster fund on the eve of hurricane season because they yanked it all out to pay for the concentration camp in the Everglades. These are active things that unless senators are dealing with this, that we pay the price. So you're going with the classic, are you better off now than you were two years ago, four years ago, six years ago, eight years ago. And there was only one party to blame because only one party has controlled the state of Florida since not. 1999. Exactly. I think Titanic came out that year.

I forget. Yes. It was a 1990. Do you remember 1999, Roy? Yeah, I tried to party like it in the age was. Just like it. Roy, I would like to part of you in 99, but I was 12, I think. Yeah.

So was I. No, no. No, no. You went 20. I was 21. Did I turn 21? In 1999? I'm 38.

How are you? 70. I was born in 78. 15? I was 15. I was born in 84. I was 73. years old in 1990. I didn't know there was going to be math on the program today. No, I was 21 years old. Roy and I are of

the same class of going out. My first drink. I started drinking when I was 21 years old. Good for you. Yeah. Not earlier than that, huh? No, I didn't believe it or not. You're not trying to incriminate yourself there? No, no. What's funny though, too, is that like, why say that? Does it make me sound cool that I didn't start drinking until I was 21 years old? And I tried pot the first time in 2017. Does that make me sound cooler? You picked the wrong drug. That I've never done cocaine. You sound like a Gen Z. It's a little peculiar. I'm not going to lie. All right.

So, Richard, make your case because it's not just making it. You don't just want to say, you know, the incumbent sucks. The world is shitty. Vote for change. By the way, good argument. But also, you're trying to convince people that you are going to do better than she has done. You're going to do better than the Republicans have done. How do you intend to do that if you are in a minority?

Yes, you might break the super majority, but you'll still be in the minority party in Tallahassee, where everybody, as you said, is scared to piss off the majority. Yeah. So I think one of the big issues Democrats have had is that we've always been anti instead of four. The way I talk about what I want to accomplish there is in terms of freedom, because as you mentioned, first of all, this is a swing district with a lot of MPA and Republican voters that are unhappy. So I talk about things like the freedom to raise a family.

I have a four-year-old. How, if we can't have access to quality health care, by the way, they have not expanded Medicaid in the states, leaving over a million people underinsured. You can't provide help. Maybe they shouldn't get sick then, Richard. Have your thought about that? Yeah, it's personal responsibility there. Yeah.

Think solution. Be solutionary. There you go. Yeah. Don't get sick. Yeah. Just follow RFK and everything he does. God damn right.

The brain worm knows all, Billy. It's all. So the first is a freedom to raise a family. And the fact is you can't do it if you're always worried about whether you're going to find health care for your child, where are you going to put your child in school? Are you as a parent earning enough to be able to take care of your family? Second one is the freedom to afford to a freedom. a home. Anyone who is buying or renting or dealing with this market right now knows that it's

getting hard to make it. And the fact is that people are actually leaving Miami right now because it's so hard to make it and afford to live here. One of the ways you can do that is to make sure that we can build more workforce and affordable housing versus those big beautiful luxury towers. I know that you enjoy Billy so much. Love them. Can't wait for the Trump Hotel Casino and maybe a library. They'll have like a big golden statue for you to worship at. I'm going to be there on day one playing blackjack. I don't know what anybody's upset about. I'm very excited about it. I think it's a great amenity here to the downtown area. For sure. The last was freedom from corruption because I think the fact of the matter is is that there's, even though we have sunshine laws, this is a shady-ass state,

as you know, and the fact of the matter is unless you get us to go in and call out these things, like the no-bid contracts they used to bid it, like the many shenanigans that DeSantis and his predecessors have been up to, then we're going to keep being in the same spot because like, as you said. They said they have no money for improving our schools, for access to preschool, for expanding Medicaid, for so many issues that we care about. But they have money to spend a billion on that. They have money for DeSantis to get a nice security detail after he's done in office. But they don't have money for the people who actually need it. So that's why I'm fighting. Richard Lamond didn't find him at richard dot vote. Thanks for being here. Good luck.

Absolutely. One more thing I want to say too is we're doing a big kickoff. Bill, you're invited. May 26, Key Biscayne, Wet Lab, come by, 6.30 p.m. Yeah, it's like the last affordable place on the water you can get a beer. RIP to Shuckers. On Virginia Key, right? On Virginia Key, yeah, come out, it's open to the public, watch me cook, and we'll all learn more about the camp in there. For real? I mean, giving my speeches, Billy.

Oh, okay, yeah, like watch him cook. Yeah, that's it. Kind of cooking. Exactly. You got to get up with the lingo, man. No, I was hoping there was going to be food. There is going to be food as well. Is there punching pie?

Yeah, there's no paella for you, Billy. I'm sorry, maybe next time. Roy, has Richard inspired you to join the race? So you're running against Uncle Luke and Elijah Manley in the primary up there? No. Maybe next cycle. Borshead brings to the deli the taste of deep fried turkey. One bite and flavor takes over.

Perfectly seasoned and deliciously golden fried. A backyard tradition available at the day. Deli, presenting the Friars Turkey Breast only from Boar's Head. Discover the craftsmanship behind every bite at your local Boar's Head deli or deli counter. Boar's Head. Committed to craft since 1905. You can always tell when a new business trend shows up because suddenly everyone starts talking like they invented it.

Right now it's AI. Every company says they have an AI strategy. Every consultant says they have an answer. Meanwhile, most businesses are still out here trying to figure it all out. And that's why there's no. NetSuite Next. You probably already know about NetSuite, the AI-powered business management suite, trusted by more than 43,000 customers.

It securely connects your financials, inventory, commerce, HR, and CRM into a single source of truth. But NetSuite Next takes it even further. AI is built into everything you do. It services custom insights throughout your day. AI agents help solve problems and handle routine work, and when you have a question, you can simply ask it like you're talking to a colleague. NetSuite is customized for a wide range of industries so it supports the way your business works. Whether your company earns millions or even hundreds of millions, it's time for NetSuite Next, where your business meets AI.

For the first time ever, you can try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenues are at least seven figures, go to netsuite.aI slash DOB, built for every industry, ready for every boardroom. NetSuite.A.I. slash DLB. So my schedule gets a little chaotic this time of year. Most days I'm here at the Metal Arc Studios and then I'm heading straight to another broadcasting or hosting gig. And especially in this Miami heat, it's insane. And not the Miami heat, but the Miami summer heat. I've been trying to keep at least one healthy habit consistent.

And that's why I've been bringing Kachava's new travel packs with me. It's one less thing I have to worry about, which is great because I'm already spending enough mental energy, figuring out what shirt is acceptable to wear on camera or hosting or on the show that I'm not going to get made fun of for. So I just throw one in my backpack and I've got an all-in-one nutrition shake ready whenever I need it. It's packed with plant-based protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals, greens, probiotics, electrolytes, and more. So even when my schedule is all over the place, I know I'm getting something good in. It tastes great. It's easy to take anywhere and there are no fillers.

No nonsense. Take your daily ritual with you. Go to cachava.com and use code Dan for 15% off your first. order. That's 15% off your first order. That's Kachava, K-A-C-H-A-V-A-com. Codd-D-N. Tony, you know that moment at a party or at a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks. I know it well. It's usually when I show up. Everybody goes crazy. Yeah, you usually take all the credit for it, but it's because Tony usually walks in with Quarvo. Walking like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Quervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night. It has that effect on people.

It does. You usually take the credit for it. But again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering. Keep it quervo. Keep it quervo, baby. Roy, they say local journalism is, if not, dead is dying. And it's problematic, particularly in a town like Miami where there is so much corruption. It is a target-rich environment. and we need all the help we can get. The money metastasizes, the fickory metastasizes, and it's hard to keep up with all of it. I'm in the thick of it. I go to city commission meetings, but you got the county with a Miami-Dade has a $13 billion a year budget.

You've got 34 municipalities with their own budgets and unions, and many of them have their own police departments and their own mayors. and their own city councils or commissions. And Miami, the city of Miami is the biggest of them with nearly a half a million population. And that's why I spend a lot of my time there. And it's the largest municipality. So it affects all of our lives.

It's the namesake municipality. The county stole the name actually from the city of Miami back in like 95, 96. It was originally Dade County or Metro Dade County. And then they decided to rebrand. And also all of us who drive through this county, we tend to have a lot of business or or at least fly over the city of Miami. So it's hugely consequential to our lives. Miami is so big.

And so I would argue ungovernable because there's so many people and there's so many neighborhoods. And the oldest, I would argue, most famous or arguably important of those neighborhoods is Coconut Grove. It's an extraordinary magical place that's always wanted to exist as its own city or municipality or village. But has unfortunately been swallowed up by the. the mammoth that is the city of Miami. And it is currently home, not for long, to Miami City Hall in the legendary historic Pan Am building at Dinner Key Marina. A lot of history. Cogna Grove, the West Grove is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the county. It's actually older than the incorporation of the city of Miami itself. It's where the Bahamian community that literally built

the city with their bare hands settled. And now generations later, some of those folks still live there. And David Villano has been a journal. in Miami since 1986 when he started at the Miami News. Since then, you've seen his byline through the decades in Miami New Times, Florida Trend, Mother Jones, the Miami Herald, the Sun Sentinel. He is now the editor of the Coconut Grove Spotlight. For the last two years, it is a non-profit, independent local news organization with a full-time volunteer leadership team.

David, among them, while they pay their journalists, David does a lot of the writing himself and a lot of the editing himself and gets paid nothing because he is a groveite, as they call them. So this is a real labor of love for you. And let's start there, because you do some of my favorite kind of journalism there, David, you do public records journalism, you do accountability journalism, and you talk about where a lot of the nearly $3 billion budget of the city Miami is going or not going. So why this project for you? Why Coconut Grove Spotlight? At this stage in your in your long career yeah so you know coconut grove has always had this independent streak that's no that's not news we've also had this culture of grievance that has gone back at what

101 years now you mentioned that we've always wanted to be our own independent municipality we actually were prior to 1925 when the city of miami annexed us uh we wrote about that a year ago if you're interested in looking at look at that up but we've always had this uh sort of counterculture uh community that has sort of marched their own drummer, so to speak. And we felt that when there was an opportunity to create a newspaper that would shine light on some of the issues that we care about, we would see if we could do that.

So we put together a group of volunteers like myself to see if we could put together a project and we were successful and raised some funds and dragging some people in who otherwise might be retired. And so we're really pleased where we are right now. And what I will say, it's not, even though the Coker Grove is in the name, we do more than just focus on Coker Grove.

We say we cover the Grove, but also the city of Miami's. That's why you'll see a lot of our reporting transcends really our village boundaries. And we look at things, as you mentioned, Billy, the city budgets, the spending, the salaries, that sort of thing. And why do we do it? I guess the answer is because really no one else is. The Herald wants what was in a position to do that kind of reporting.

Their budgets strapped right now. and they're not able to provide those kinds of deep dives into the kinds of small municipal issues that used to drive local journalism. So here we are. We're doing it on a shoestring budget. And we're just pleased that we have some readers who are happy to pick up a device and look at us a couple times a week. And so I think this is interesting for people all over the country because you don't really think about this where you probably live. District two, there's five districts in Miami, inexplicably, each about a hundred.

hundred thousand population. And if you're wondering how the commissioners represent those folks, the answer is they don't. It's actually impossible to do that. But district two is, correct me if I'm wrong, David, the sole donor district of the five in the city. Upwards of 70 plus percent of the revenue generated by the city of Miami comes through district two, of which Coconut Grove is kind of the centerpiece of, but features a lot of very famous neighborhoods that everybody all over the country will know. Brickle, downtown Miami, Edgewater, it goes right up the coast. So it's a lot of very wealthy people, a lot of very rich real estate and obviously beautiful scenery as well. So Coconut Grove is hugely consequential. It's also growing at, I would argue, an alarming rate in terms of population, in terms of density, in terms of construction.

And a lot of people moving from other places like New York are looking first and foremost in Coconut Grove when there's, looking in the city of Miami. A lot of them also live outside the city in Pinecrest, which is another municipality, Miami Beach, which is another municipality. But David, the budget stuff, which is important citywide, is uniquely important to your area because you guys pay a lot, 70 cents of every dollar comes from your district, which includes Coconut Grove. And one of the big issues right now is the so-called $450 million public safety bond initiative that the mayor, the new, Mayor Eileen Higgins surprised us with.

This is something she did not mention once on the campaign trail last year, did not run on public safety bonds, but now wants to put the city in debt to the tune of upwards of a billion dollars once the debt service is calculated over the 30-year lifespan of these. So this is a billion-dollar bond boondoggle is what I've talked about. She's leapfrogged all of her other campaign promises, Eileen Higgins, including fiscal responsibility, transparency, cutting the budget. And you have revealed that all of the opposite of that is happening. There's a bigger budget.

She's increased her own office's budget by nearly 30% in salaries. They're asking from tens of millions of dollars more in the budget this year. And having not provided any accounting whatsoever on the billion plus dollars in bond debt that the city still carries wants to do this thing. Talk to me a little bit about where the money in the city budget goes. How much of it already goes to public safety? And where does the community stand and feel about this? effort. You know, you mentioned D2 as being sort of the economic powerhouse of city of Miami, and it is. But I don't think our readers and the Cogn Grove Spotlight really see it that way.

They see it as this is public money. So whether you live in Overtown or Shenandoah or it doesn't really matter. And from our point of view, it's, there's a big pot of money. And we'd like to find out where it's going, where it comes from, where it's going. And that's really really been the real challenge for us is that we're just trying to do the kinds of things that we thought our elected officials were planning to do once they got into office. So specifically, let me refer to our D2 Commissioner, Damien Pardo, our Mayor Eileen Hagen, she mentioned. For both of them, the word transparency was very important in their campaigns.

And so I actually maybe naively felt that these would be partners with the Coconut Grove Spotlight and other media outlets to try to bring some sort of general understanding, an overview of how the city operates, how the decisions are made. You know, I guess our approach to the spotlight is that an informed citizenry can help make better decisions. And but my surprise, again, maybe I'm naive, but we really have not had those willing partners. So the kinds of things that we've been reporting on, the spending, the salaries, the portions of the budget to go which part of sliced and which part of the,

pie. That's all been stuff that's required a significant amount of digging and mostly through public records requests, which in my view is really sort of like the last resort for public information. It's where it's like there is actual a state statute that says the city must provide this information that they don't, you're in violation of they are in violation of state law. They could work with us a little bit and say, hey, you know what, we're going to help you get this. We're going to work through this problem with you, access information. We're going to explain it to you. But no, it's really forcing us to try to, you know, essentially use this legal challenge to get them to at least release information, which I must say most of the time on these sticky issues, they don't do it.

And we've reported in some of that. So again, I don't know if I answer your question, but I just say that this is more interesting than my question. And public records is something I'm uniquely passionate about because I can't do what I do without access to those materials and that information. They are called public records for a reason. But the government seems to treat them like this is their private proprietary information. This is being produced on our time, on our dime. These are our records, not their records. And they really do get very uncooperative and possessive about these.

And I want to ask you were struggling, it seemed. So you had gotten also, to be fair, like you said, it's last resort because you could just talk to the comms person, the PIO, the spokesperson, and just ask them questions and they can answer them for you. But they don't want to do that. They won't answer your questions. They'll ignore you. So you'll have to go on this chase for the actual raw data to be able to process it and answer the questions for yourself. I know you have finally got a hold of some of the salaries. But you were looking to find out not just the salaries, but the actual money that was going out the door.

at the city because people have salaries, but there's also overtime, there's bonuses, there's allowances. So you were like, that's all well and good that these people are contracted to make this amount of money, but how much money is the city actually spending? And you were having some trouble last I checked, getting a hold of what should be some pretty simple, straightforward quick books or accounting information. Yeah, we submitted those public records requests, and we were told that such records don't exist.

They don't know how much money they're spending. They have no record of how much money is going out the door. Is that what they're saying? They say that they only under Florida law are only required to provide a record if requested if the record actually exists. So what they're saying is they're not required to create the record. So does it records, I can't tell you if they're being disenged. That's fine.

And they don't have to do the spreadsheet for you, but they have to give you the raw data, which presumably exists. There's bank accounts. There's money leaving those accounts somehow. I was assuming you're correct that there would be an obligation on their end. If not under state law, then under the city's own media policies, which would require them to provide the information that we would be requesting. So when they told me the records don't exist, we asked them, okay, so help us find access

to the access to information. How do we go about requesting or how do we, who can we speak to to answer these questions? To our surprise, the Office of Communications was told to no longer engage with us on that line of questioning by the city attorney's office. And when we continue to press the issue, we asked the city attorney George Weissong if he could look into it. He promised he would, but then we didn't hear it again. Our efforts to reengage the city in our efforts to get what we're calling actual compensation or total compensation. Right.

I've been met with this legal response that they've been told not to engage with us. To be clear, this isn't about litigation. This isn't any protected or exempted record. You just want to know how much the city is spending. Is that correct? Yeah. And you asked do the records exist. All I do know is that in previous years as a journalist, my colleagues and I have all.

reports that have been printed in one fashion or another that show actual spending. And not to be, it's no surprise. There are, you know, those with union contracts that allow this sort of thing are typically the high earners. So you're going to see firefighters, police officers, occasionally managers. But those are the folks that typically can increase their salaries dramatically. And why it's an important policy issue for our readers and, of course, the residents of Miami and beyond should understand is because all of this impacts our pension spending. And we touched on that a little bit.

There was a pension issue on the commission agenda last week that passed with no discussion that will likely increase our pension payout to firefighters. There was no cost analysis prior to the vote. but that's the sort of thing that we feel that if we could get it on the agenda through some of our reporting, there might be some more informed decisions, some more informed comments from the residents before these kind of commission meetings. To be clear, a lot of people's ears glaze over when they hear talking about pensions and unions, but this is how cities go broke. This is how states go broke.

This is how governments go broke. We spend so much money every year paying people not to do their jobs anymore. I'm not suggesting they're not entitled to them, but I'm not. suggesting to transparency. We need to understand how, I mean, Carlos Jimenez is a congressman, by my count, he's got at least three public pensions. He gets paid by the city of Miami where he was a firefighter, a pension. He gets paid by the county where he was mayor and a county commissioner. That's a pension. And he's paid now as congressional pension. I mean, it's just we need to know where this money is going, and especially when the city is negotiating with all four of its

city worker unions right now in contracts that could break the city. We're running out of time, David, but I do want to ask before you go, you mention Mayor Eileen Higgins. You mentioned Commissioner Damien Pardo, who represents District 2. They very much ran on transparency, accountability. Damian Pardo thanked and praised the activists who demand accountability and transparency, who show up to meetings. They seem to have forsaken all of that and their constituencies. Have Damian Pardo and Eileen Higgins been trying to help you with the city,

with the city manager with the city attorney to get these public records? Well, my understanding is that the commissioner Pardo has a policy within the office that his staff will not engage with the coconut growth spotlight. So we routinely seek comment or information. And there's no response. We had a reporter working on a story last week on a very mundane subject, e-bikes. Well, it's not mundane if you've been hit by one. but he reported contact in the office 14 times with no success. Eileen Higgins, her office, the same.

We routinely asked them for information, including in advance of, and following the meeting last week about the budget, I'm sorry, the bond proposal. No response, not even, we'll get back to you. So I have to say that we're a little surprised at that response. I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed. And the thing about this, Roy, this bond thing, this is a $1 billion trust fund. And we don't trust Eileen Higgins yet or her new administration.

They haven't earned that trust yet. And they certainly haven't engendered it when they misbehave this way and deny legitimate journalists public records on how much money they're spending and what they're doing with our money. Always I say about Miami in Florida is that it rarely shocked. me, but regularly disappoints me. David Villano, coconutgrovespotlight.com. There's really fun work going on here. Even if you don't live in Miami, I think this is a real model for other journalists about the kind of stories you should be covering and the kind of public records you should be seeking

because, you know, accountability in public records journalism is more important, you know, now more than ever. So thanks, Dave, and thanks to everybody at coconut grovespotlight.com. Good luck getting this stuff. Thank you, Bailey. And that'll do it for this edition of Because Miami, Roy. Roy. Cocades.