The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - #BecauseMiami: Making of a Miami Mafioso

Episode Date: May 29, 2026

Today on Because Miami, Billy Corben is joined by retired Navy commander Phil Ehr. He is currently running for United States Congress out of Florida district 28 and will try to convince Billy and the residents of the district why he deserves the vote. And James Torres, president of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance, talks about how he regrets helping Damian Pardo being elected to the city of Miami commission as both men have had a very public falling out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Third time's the charm? Fourth time's the charm. I'm sorry, I lost count that. This guy runs for Congress again. He gets a free smoothie, I think. It's called persistence and resilience and, like, we're getting the damn job done. You are a retired Navy commander. You are running against Republican,

Carlos Jimenez in Is that still District 28? It's still District 28 running for the people And guess what, Billy? I had to show up looking like Rick Scott. Yeah, we were a little sore. I'm scared.

Yeah, we thought you were Jared Lido from the Masters of the Universe movie. I'm told us to get attention around this town, but I'll tell you what, I'm done with it. I'm off with that because I'm authentic Navy. I'm going to put on something that makes me comfortable here in this cold studio. That's what I like my civilian flight jacket.

Topgov over here. Topgov? Yeah, I don't know. that was a thing. What was that? Oh, that was that ridiculous commercial that Ron DeSantis did. Do you honestly believe that's credible? So, there you go. Looking good. Wait, was Rick Scott in the Navy? Why does he always wear that hat? He was in the Navy for one tour of duty on a ship that was dry docked for a while. Big difference. Dry dock meaning import, not operational as I did. My whole career has been operational and enlisted service and commission officer service in the air at sea and on command posts in wartime.

So you're saying it was in the Navy and never got wet? Is that what you're saying? Never got his feet wet. You could say that, and he tells a story about selling Coca-Cola for profit and thinking, wow, this is great stuff because I'm bringing something to the sailors. Well, what he did was he made a lot of profit off of the thirsty sailors who were doing a lot of work on the ship as I used to do. And, you know, there's a big difference with his brand of service in mind. He knew how to start bilking the system then. Exploiting the taxpayers early and making off like.

abandoned. He's a weird dude, Phil. Let's talk a little bit about you. You are running against Carlos Jimenez again. Yes. You previously ran against Matt Gates all the way up in the panhandle in District No, No. Grasios, Matt Gates. So what brings you down here for this race again? Well, what brings me down here to start with was because South Florida is a place where I've served. My first Navy mission in the Navy was the Mario Boat Lift because I love the diversity here. 1980. 1980. That's a long time. It was a 19-year-old. 19-year-old. old sailor on what people call a mothership these days, or the survivors have called a mothership. And it was just an inspiring, a really inspiring mission because we actually

saved people's lives at sea. We repudiated that cruel regime of Fidel Castro, and it was a bipartisan event, meaning Carter ordered it controversially. And the Republicans didn't like it at the time. Yeah. Yeah. And Republicans didn't like it at the time. But later on, the Republicans with Ronald Reagan embraced the Cuban American community as the rest of us and it's been a wonderful addition to our society. So for people who are unfamiliar with the Marial Boat Lift, you need only watch the opening of Scarface. That is the Marial Boat Lift.

Over the span of what, about six months, it brought about 125,000 new Cuban exiles to South Florida, nearly bankrupted, the four southernmost counties of South Florida, Monroe, Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach, and really changed kind of the face of South Florida forever. But what was happening is it. And you can call it bankrupt. You can call it an investment.

in the future and we're benefiting for that investment. Well, when you get 125, an influx of 125,000 new arrivals in people who don't necessarily have resources or they need food, they need education, they need water and clothing and shelter, and it's a drain on resources, but also, like I said, changed Miami in ways that I think are sort of unforgettable in culture and politics and have made quite an impact, I think, nationally. I always say the Miami of today is the America of tomorrow. But you also were literally pulling people out of the water.

You were boats that were probably overfilled with people because the Castro regime was forcing everybody who brought a boat over to take more people than they probably was probably their ship was seaworthy for. So you literally saved a lot of lives. Well, I was part of the teamwork that did that. Yes, I was a station on the mothership. So my personal role was receiving these folks on this ship. And there's this one scene that I stuck in my mind is this family. mom and a dad and two teenagers, like one 13-year-old child in whether maybe seven or eight. And the woman in this family was just looking around the big cavernous ship and thinking,

oh my gosh, I could see in her face the gratitude. And the relief for having been saved from capsizing and horrible deaths under the sea for herself and her family and her future. The Florida Straits are known as one of the world's largest cemeteries because of the people not just from Cuba, but from Haiti, from all over the Caribbean or Latin America. who have fled, in some cases, on ramshackle vessels for a better life, for freedom, for democracy, for capitalism here in the U.S. Opportunity. For opportunity to make a better life for them and their families and to enjoy the rights

that many people that we all have enjoyed that have given us the opportunities that this country has given us. And to that end, you have a predominantly, is it a predominantly still Hispanic or Spanish-speaking or Cuban-American district in 28? It's 70% Hispanic, about half of them Cuban Americans, and half from other ethnicities. And yes, yes indeed. And so we are connecting with folks on the basis of shared values of integrity and service. I have to wonder, though, because we started this conversation talking about immigration and the opportunity of America and people fleeing places like Cuba for freedom and democracy and opportunity here economically, politically, and otherwise.

But we are living in a different United States now than not. 1980. So when you had Ronald Reagan embrace the Cuban Americans, when you had the president of the United States, Gerald, I was going to say Gerald Ford. Now, Jimmy Carter. That's been well there too. Jimmy Carter, all the one-termers, you know. So, but you're in a different 28. You're in a district that really votes against immigration and against really, I mean, almost in a way to deport themselves. I'm a little confused politically what's going on here. But you're. You are traversing, you're out there, you're one of the most out there candidates. I don't mean out there like, like, like, in other space, you are who you talk to. It really depends. But I mean, you are ever present, omnipresent in the district at events, you know, challenging the status quo. What are you learning out there from people, from this immigrant community that you were trying to represent and how they feel about immigration?

Well, I'm learning that people are motivated by many of the same things. We are all motivated across the, you know, the. the demographics on the idea of freedom, on the idea of opportunity. And so those things are transcending. People are tired of being told what to do from central authorities, as it happens in county government. Third world banana republics, you mean? You mean like Miami County.

Yeah, right. Yeah, because Miami. Right. These types of things are corrosive to people's faith in our country. And so when I go to communities and I help fight neighborhoods against unwanted development or good management in county matters, what they are energized by is the promise of and my credibility at fighting corruption. It's the pay-to-play political environment around here,

both locally and in Tallahassee and in Washington, D.C., where I'm going, that needs to be fought. And someone like me, new to elected office, but having a record of integrity and service, we're going to make some changes. Okay, so you're going with the we have more in common than not. We agree more than we disagree.

By the way, I think that that's true, even in these kind of divisive and partisan and perilous times. What do people think about the representation by current Congressman Carlos Jimenez? By my count, I think is on his third public pension. Am I right about that? He was a firefighter and fire chief in the city of Miami. He was a county commissioner and county mayor, and now he's a congressman. So I think that's at least three public pensions. He's going to get four because he's served over five years in the United States Congress.

And so, yeah, so he's going to have all these things racked up getting the dole plus his influence in directing contracts locally to his family businesses. And that is part of the corruption that we're going to be fighting here. Every dollar, federal dollar that comes into Miami-Dade County is going to have federal scrutiny from your service. truly to make sure there's no correlation between developers and county commissioners. MCM, the company that actually built the FIU bridge that collapsed and killed six people, just innocent people driving by in their cars on Tamiami Trail as well as construction workers on top of the bridge. That was built by the cousins of Carlos Jimenez's wife, whose sons also worked for the company at various points. And they changed their name from, it's still MCM,

but it was like Magnum Construction Management to something, but it's still. still the same initials, and they get tens of millions of dollars in county, municipal, and state contracts to this day. It's a tragedy that really deserves greater diving into. And your audience should take a look what's going on in the morning side with this company. Oh, they're paving the park, aren't they? And there's a seawall that has this very controversially being built, and it's just wrong in the way that the county commission is awarding contracts to the Jimenez Syndicate. So this doesn't necessarily make you very popular, even amongst your own party, because it's one

thing to have to run against Republicans in a red district, but you seem to have to run against the Democrats as well. Well, I'm running against corruption. You know, that's just it. Bipartisan. Bipartisan. And again, I think I didn't actually mean to do that, but it kind of worked, I think. Is a slip of the...

If you say so. All right, so we're talking about bipartisan fissory. Yes, we are. And we're talking about bipartisan pay-to-play environment where the developers, you know, that party affiliation matters a lot in Washington, D.C. It shouldn't, but it does.

Same in Tallahassee, where there's been a one-party system up there ruling and preempting local control for a long time. And then here in Miami-Dade County, it's less of an issue. And the more relevant division is what group of developers are you with? Right. It's not red or blue.

It's green. It's not Republican or Democrat. It's the pocket party or the pocketbook party. Give me some muke. Some money. Absolutely. So to that end, though, there is a, I call them this cabal of consultants. Yeah.

Consultant Cabal. It is the kind of political grifters that have seized a hold of the, not just the Democratic Party, there are their own grifters on the Republican side, but. But there are some bipartisan grifters who I think are a cancer on the Democratic Party and are the reason or among the reasons why the Democratic Party has been a nonentity in this state since the turn of the century since Jeff Bush was governor, 1999. You've now, very late in the season, because you've been at this for a while, right, in this campaign. You need to build trust with folks. And yes, we've been at it building trust with folks. And you have just drawn a Democratic primary challenger in Hector Mujica.

who I understand is part of, well, I mean, he's being represented by Christian Ulvert. And Christian Olvert is a, as I was saying, a cancer on the party who has done more to diminish the stature and the power of the Democratic Party in the state of Florida for his own profit. And is now runs Republicans as well as Democrats and gets Democrats to endorse Republicans. But yet puts himself out there as some sort of progressive guru and Democrat vote whisper. and I think he loses, he may lose as much as he wins, but he never loses because ultimately he's getting that Green Party money. So what is going on in this race? Because you have to get through a primary now in order to get to a general election against Carlos Jimenez all of a sudden. Right. So there's so many things to say, Billy, about this. Let me just start with

say them all. Say them all. Christian Olvert has been responsible for the county commission turning red, specifically in the appointment of Ms. Lopez as county commissioners, when Eileen Higgins ran for the city of Miami mayor. I want to clarify this real quick, because this has been a Democratic talking point not only in the state, but all over the country and all over the world. And I get the Democrats need all the wins, all the Ws they can get in this town and in this state.

But to say that Eileen Higgins turned Miami Blue is simply not true because the county commission is still majority Republican. but what Eileen Higgins did do, to your point, is turn the county commission red. City commission. Oh, no, the county commission red, which is a... Blue. And the city commission is still red, dude.

What I'm saying is the Democrats won nothing other than Christian Olver now gets to hijack both the city budget of nearly $3 billion and the county budget of $13 billion. So what's better? What's better is we have a Democrat who doesn't give a shit about anybody who's already betrayed immigrants, environmentalists, and people of color at the city? Or is it better that we have a Republican majority controlling a $13 plus billion budget, which as we know, most of the Democrats are also Christian over clients? So they're stealing from everybody over there at the County Commission, too. I'm sorry, I'm going to get off my Billy Pulpit now. Well, you're right, because we're

coming in with these facts, and they are facts. You're reminding us all that it's not just a game of, you know, I lean won by 18 points in her majority. Huge victory. And that was the national Democratic Party's branding coming here locally and mobilizing some things to make her win. And it was that. It was great positive for Democrats across the country,

but it spoke less to local issues than it did to the national trends. Sure, but also, I mean, you're hopefully, I mean, you're going to count on national trends or a blue wave in the general if you make it against Carlos Jimenez. I always say Florida tends to be immune

to the sanity and reason that impact other other states i mean texas and georgia are more purple states than arguably than than florida is but talk to me about this primary this this secret this surprise primary well look uh my my democratic opponent has just been forced out or he fled at the u.s senate race then he put his hand in the air and he said oh where can i run and he looked at what's happening in district 28 south dade and the florida keys and it's it is turning more blue because people are tired of of of car Carlos, and they're also excited about yours truly and their own agency in taking back our federal government.

So this guy, this guy who lives in Broward, who lives in Hollywood, Florida. He lives in Broward. His residence is there. And he's running in Dade County. He's running in Dade County without any, you know, commitment to move his family into our district. For the record, that's legal. It's legal.

It's usually frowned upon. Yeah, it's frowned upon, and we're tired of that. Carlos Jimenez lives in coconut. Carpet bagger. Total. Right. And he, Jimenez, and Mojika, are carpetbaggers that are taking advantage and exploiting. They're not living the daily experience of the traffic here, of the watching these developments go up without the proper infrastructure that goes along with it, and the overall corruption, the encroachment into the Everglades that goes on and on and on, and we're tired of it. So for my primary, I'm going to tell, I am telling the people that we watch out for people who are outside who think we're going to be not living what you're

living, who are saying that they are more viable, and frankly, he is not. He's maybe resting on his Hispanic surname. My connection with the people across the board, including Hispanics, is stronger than his, and we're proceeding and we're taking them out. He is, he is hired this Christian Oval character who is a Republican operative, or who is, and who is resulting in turning the county Commission Red is cavorting with the Republicans of like of Vicki Lopez, cavorting with and Phil Levine, Jeffrey Epstein's BFF. Right, right. Phil Levine, who is on a host committee for Vicki Lopez until just recently dropped out.

You know, Billy, I've been fighting pedophiles my whole life. Matt Gates was my opponent in 2020. Now I'm fighting Carlos Menace's told the world that, oh, we should just move on, move on from the Epstein files. Well, that is completely, it's wrong and it's disgusting, and that my Democratic opponent and other senior Democrats who hire folks that have abided by this type of behavior is something I will always stand against. So I understand that your path to victory in the district is you actually live in the district, which your primary opponent does not, which your general election opponent, Republican Carlos Jimenez, does not and never has. And again, I don't know Hector Mujica. I don't know that I've ever met him that I can remember. I don't know what his motivations are.

I don't think it's unsafe to say what you were, I think, getting at earlier, which is that Christian Oliver may very well be helping to run him in this race to diminish you and to help the Republican in the race. Some quarters of the Democratic Party, you can see this in the national fiasco that is the report from the last cycle. But some just don't like military candidates. I mean, you can bring out, you know, Alex Finman or or Mark Kelly out in, in, in, in Arizona. But there's a lot here that don't like me for, for military reasons and because I'm an outsider, as you said. I have not come up through the ranks. Yeah. You're not a party mainstream.

Yeah. In the federal government. I'm coming up, you know, and you said my basis might have been that I live here. Yes, that is true. But it's also because I know how to. represent. I know what the issues are. And I show up. I show up in my body, in my mind, and in my problem solving, and leadership abilities. We are looking toward a future that is much better for South Dade, who's always been the bottom of the totem pole for resources coming from

higher authority, be it the county or the state or the federal government. And we can do a lot of change with hard, authentic representation. And I'm offering that to the people here. Well, so far, you're winning the jacket race in this primary. I'm going to extend an invitation to your primary challenger, Hector Mujica, to join me and to have the same conversation that we just had. And whoever wins the primary, I look forward to having a conversation about the issues that impact the district and what Carlos Jimenez has or has not been doing about those things. And it's cost, it's health care, it's groceries, its energy, its responsibility in the commitment of military forces. and it is the cruelty on the streets from the unprofessional immigration enforcement that's going on. It's these many, many issues that are eroding trust in government, and we are here to bring it back.

Phil Eyre, that is E-H-R-F-O-R-F-R-R-C congress.us. Thanks for being here. Good luck to you. Thank you, Billy. All the best. 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 head. heading straight to another broadcasting or hosting gig. And especially in this Miami heat, it's insane.

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He talked about Kovo coming to him for his support in her runoff. What is it going to take and can I offer you a position at the Omni CRA as a contractor making over $120,000? It was taken aback by that because I'm like, is this the right thing? Like this is doesn't sit. It was just weird. And if true, possibly illegal, which may be why Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office launched an investigation, which was transferred to Broward because of a potential conflict of interest. James Torres is the president of the downtown neighbor. Liber's Alliance in Miami, the DNA.

He was a two-time candidate for the District 2 commission seat back in 2023, first in a special election, then in a regular election. You might remember, Roy, we covered that quite extensively on this program. Yes, we did. There was a lot of songs about that, a Sabina Kovo song. Real catchy wanted that. That was actually a Christian Olvert puppet, Sabina Kovo. and she was running against Damien Pardo and lost.

And funny, the last time James Torres was here in the studio, you were here with Damian Pardo. It was between the general election and then the runoff, which was going to be between Pardo and Sabina Kov. You and I were both supporting Pardo at that point. That is something that we have in common. We have a lot not in common. I did not support you in either of your runs for commission. and we disagree quite a bit on quite a lot, but we did agree at that time that Damien Pardo was the best option in the runoff.

So we thought. In 2023. And since then, your appearance on this program, I would say, propelled Damian Pardo to victory by what, about 230 votes against Sabina Kov. It led to a criminal investigation of Sabina Kovo for bribery, which ended in no charges. I'm remiss to say she was exonerated because I read the closing. out memo by the Broward County State Attorney's Office, who had to take over, by the way, Roy, the Miami-Dade State Attorney, Catherine Fernandez-Rundell, had to recuse herself because of conflict of interest because she was also represented by Christian Olvert.

It's this incestuous cesspool of corruption. So Christian Olvert, who may have been a material witness, a potential accomplice, no one was sure at the time the investigation started. Kathy Rundle had to say, I can't investigate this because I'm investigating my own political puppeteer here. kicked it up to Broward and Broward has the most ludicrous, incompetent public corruption division. It makes Miami-Dade County state attorney look like we have a public corruption unit, but they

just, it's a woefully inadequate closeout memo. These are the same people that cleared Alex Diazla Portia and cleared Joe Corrojo of corruption. So you know they are not sending their best at the Broward State Attorney's office, public corruption division. But James, we are here because just last week. So James, are you currently running for office? I am not currently running for office, but I can tell you that every day that Damien

Parto sits there, I regret the fact that we put them in there. So you turned on him quick, and I want to get to that. Sure. But what happened last week, Roy, is this. A PAC, a political committee tied to Damien Pardo last Thursday and Friday started text blasting. I received it, and I don't live in the city, but I imagine people in District 2. received it, which is where Damien is the commissioner, where you previously ran theoretically

against him before you supported him. But this pack has been text blasting shit about James Torres, which by the way, makes me a little jelly. Not going to lie. No one's shit text blasting me, but it's a little wild because James isn't running for anything. He's basically a private citizen. He's a vocal private citizen who shows up to events. And we'll talk about the implications. of this, but the first one came out Thursday. And they're stealing my shit, dude. It says, Miami, a sunny place for shady people, James Torres.

And there you are, very unflattering, sinister-looking, black and white photo, some clip art of a sun with sunglasses crying because it's a sunny place for shady people. It says, they say Miami's a sunny place for shady people. James Torres, born and raised in Arizona, moved to sunny Miami to escape his shady criminal past. According to the Miami Herald in

March 2000, James Torres, was charged with endangering that life and health of a minor and aggravated assault. Yes, you read that correctly. James Torres was charged with endangering the life and health. I'm not laughing because it's funny. I'm laughing because they're repeating themselves again. Life and health of a minor and aggravated assault.

The same James Torres, who claims to stand up for downtown residents, was criminally charged with endangering the life of his child. So a third paragraph that mentions that. The next day, there was a second text blast with this artwork, similar message with different messaging. It says James Torres running from his criminal past. It's got some AI art of you, the crying sun again with the sunglasses, a police car, and you running across the country from Arizona to Florida.

I have to admit, I kind of dig this art. It says, everyone knows Miami attracts all kinds of people, including those trying to leave their criminal pass behind. James Torres moved to Miami in an effort to move on from his criminal history. According to the Miami Herald, and it's the same thing again that you are charged with endangering the life and health of your child and aggravated assault in March of 2000. The same James Torres, who now presents himself as a voice for downtown resident. was previously charged, et cetera, et cetera, and says that you are just Torres.

It's just another self-serving opportunistic Miami Politico hiding his criminal pass from downtown Miami residents. I will tell you that when you ran for office, I asked you about this. I'll give you an opportunity to address the substance of the text themselves because it's not factually inaccurate, but I'll let you address that. But what I thought was interesting about it is the punching down. You are not arguably a political rival at the moment. And I'm not so much worried about you.

You and me, we have thick skin. We can take it. But the chilling effect that this might have on free speech when you have a moneyed politician who has amassed a war chest, not only from private donors and developers and lobbyists, but also he has not been spending his $2 million in district discretionary funds so that he can basically amass a taxpayer war chest. for his reelection next year and start to legally make it rain on his constituents to buy their votes. It's a really compelling thing.

But I think it's wild that he's coming after you this way, which is why you're back on the show, mostly because I'm jealous. Don't be jealous. Let's answer the first thing that you're kind of alluding to, right, is the arrest. The whole thing, when you look at the Miami Herald article, right, because after I received the endorsement, they called me and said, hey, we need to address this. And I addressed it front and center, right? Because you were endorsed by the Herald?

Correct. That was endorsed by the Harold. So we addressed it. And at the end of the day, when you look at it, is, you know, that was quashed. You know, they did their research. They looked at it and they addressed it. But what does that mean, though? It was quashed.

You were arrested, right? No, it wasn't arrested. And that's the beautiful thing about this thing, right? It was simply the fact that I was going through a very bad divorced. My ex-wife decided to any opportunity as she had, she would call the court system and or the law authorities and say, he's doing A, B, C, or E, D. And, you know, we finally got hauled in to court in America County, and we addressed this, right? And the judge finally looked at it and said, look, you guys are disputing something that should not be disputed, right?

Here's the issue. You have joint legal custody, move on with life, right? So any acquisition that she made is what she was doing. So that's it. So it was not an arrest? What was it then? They say it was an arrest. No, it was the issue that I was brought in, I was summoned to come into the court.

and that was basically what it was. To address these allegations from your next? Correct. The only thing that I ever had that made an issue is where they claim false swearing, right? Because that's the other thing that came up. And I addressed that is that the fact when I purchased the vehicle, I had window tending in the vehicle. In Arizona at the time, you needed to have a permit. I did not have the permit.

And that's the way the vehicle was purchased. I was hauled into the court system and had to pay $185 fine. And all of this is well documented with the Miami Herald. If you look at the article, it was clearly addressed that at the end of the day, there's no there. So you're saying it wasn't an arrest. It was an accusation in a divorce proceeding. Correct. And then I find it interesting that if this was the case, why did Damien Pardo ask for my support to help him out if I'm such a bad guy, right?

So let's move on then. Why is he coming after you now? I mean, this was, this text blast went out at least twice on Thursday. Then there was a new one on Friday of last week. So what is why now? I mean, you turned on him early and quick. So talk about that. Why did you turn on him so quick after he took office?

And why is he coming after you now? Flash forward like what, like three years later? Three years later. So before that, I realized who he was early on, right, in terms of, you know, his policies and procedures for the district. When we had conversations, there were things that we asked for as a community. which was basically, hey, help us out, pick up the phone, anything that we need, right? Where the straw broke the camel's back early on was the whole thing with Jokaroyo that there was beef there as it relates to the park issue, the gym equipment.

I don't know if you would call some of that. Oh, out here at Bayfront Park. And Damien decided to go to Europe to go see the Euro Cup or whatever he went out to do over there. And I question them. And I'm like, these are two very important votes. You're going to allow Jokarroo to take a vote. and all of a sudden we're not going to have a voice in this thing. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened, right?

So it stemmed from that, right? And then it just kind of kept compiling, right? And where I look at it is the whole election scam that happened as well, that we're on the hook as taxpayers that were paying for that. So you mean last year, another thing we covered on the show extensively, last year Damien Pardo tried to cancel the 2025 election and postpone it to 2026, gifting himself and his colleagues an extra year in office in the process. Instead, it was challenged legally by Emilio Gonzalez, who, was running for mayor of the city of Miami last year, he won. And then there were multiple appeals that the city took on. But we're paying for it. Amassing hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney's

fees that not only the taxpayers had to pay to defend disenfranchising themselves, but now the city has paid over $150,000 in attorney's fees to Emilio Gonzalez for prosecuting that case successfully against the city. So that's what James is talking about. And then you go into another thing, right, the assault on our tree canopy, right? In District 2, he's just been literally allowing all these things to happen in District 2 as it relates to the trees, right? Help Me Howard, there was an article done by Help Me Howard that went to Morningside and literally called Damien Part of Aude and said, you said one tree when it's been thousands of trees that have been hacked throughout the entire district. So these things are close near and dear to me personally, right?

So I advocate for our community. And from time to time, I go into other advocates and help them out as well. that need to be done. And I think that's where this entire thing that Damien Pardo, with Alex Miranda and everybody else, that are ganging up and trying to create a false narrative. So Alex Miranda, I guess, runs that pack or is involved. And now, mind you, he also ran Damien Pardos campaign. Right. He was also tied to Ralph Rosado as well, right? Yes, he was Damien Pardo's political consultant, I think, on both of his campaigns,

and I imagine is going to be on his reelection campaign next year. I feel like there's a missing piece to the story here. I don't know what it is, but like, Is it really just over gym equipment, you know, like two summers ago in Bayfront Park? I think it has a lot more to do with just the gym equipment. It's I'm very vocal, right? I'm very vocal. I champion ideas for our community and addressing things. And he has very thin skin.

To me, he is the worst commissioner ever to take that position. Jesus. And on top of that, well, well, you know, you look at Joe Carollo. He makes Joe Carollo look like Mother Teresa. And let's look at that, right? Let's talk about that because Joe loves drag. Well, that's between Joe and drag, right? But when you go to City Commission and you've been there several times before and God forbid, you mention Damien Partle's name.

You tell me what happens there. It's called suppression, right? You experienced it. And those things are not right. He's unhinged. It happens that we have that clip queued up. And I want to play it because I think it's important to what I was talking about earlier, which is that I'm less worried about. You're clearly not going to shut the fuck up because you're, this text blast went out last week.

and you are here talking about it. But I'm concerned the message that that sends to the rest of the community who might not think that they have a voice or don't have as thick of skin. And they'll be like, well, if he's willing to send text blasts and punch down on a concerned citizen who's active involved in government, maybe you'll do it to anybody. Take a look at my confrontation with Damien Pardo at a recent city commission meeting. Finally, I want to thank you, Chairwoman, for your new moderate take on the unreasonable. reasonable ban on the public saying the names of public officials in public meetings.

Sometimes you get complimented. Sometimes you get criticized, but I think the flexibility is important, and I appreciate it. And shame on you, sir, for trying to censor us and silence us today. I know there's a policy not to mention a commissioner's name specifically, so they're not weaponized. And I think, I think that that should be followed if that's the policy. You're living proof that you don't change the system. The system changes you. And the system has changed him. It was pretty shocking to. see a commissioner who when he ran for office, we thought was going to be a voice of reason and sanity and accountability. And when he was sworn in, thank the activists, encourage us to keep staying

involved, encourage us to keep coming and speaking up and speaking out. And you should have been the kind of guy who was against that policy. The city commission has this insane unconstitutional policy that you cannot use the name of any individual commissioner or the mayor when you're talking about them. Now, of course, the enforcement of that is wildly selective because if you're complimenting them, they don't say anything. And then if you're criticizing them, suddenly they're like, oh, no, no, we had this rule. And like I said, it's wildly unconstitutional, has yet to be challenged but should be.

It's also at the county in Miami-Dade. It's also at the school board. It really, really needs the ACLU to sue the shit. out of these folks. But Damien Pardo should have been the guy that came in and said, we need to eliminate that policy. Instead, he's trying to use that policy as a force field to protect himself from public criticism.

And now he's using his PAC to go after you. So what's going on here? I can't really tell you what's going on, right? But when you look at it at face value is we know there was a poll that was taken recently. And it showed him very unfavorable. And I think, you know, it's called holding him accountable, holding his hands to the fire. And I think that's important. I don't think any advocates should give up.

I think the message should be very clear. If you come to a common goal on advocating, follow through, call them out. He is not the reformer. He is not the reformer. And I keep saying that and I push that. You go to my social media. You'll see that, you know, everything that he's done has not been for the better of our community. It's always been self-serving and self-interest for him.

And that's the wrong thing because we should be able to take our government. back and listen to government, right? And we're not doing that. He's running, right? James is running. You're totally right. So Damien Pardo is running. You've run for this seat twice in 2023.

I mean, and then next year, 27, Pardo is running for reelection. This is, and you've been, everybody figured as soon as you turned on him early that you were going to run against him in 2027. But this is a little early for him to start attacking you via text. I think his whole objective and this PAC's objective with these individuals is to try silence us, right? Anybody. But it's trying to do damage to you politically so you won't run against him next year? I think that's their mentality. But you're going to run against him next year. Well, what I'm going to say here, what I'm going to say here is once my decision is made, I will make that announcement with you personally on this show. Well, I'll invite Damien here.

I'll invite Zavinovado. Might as well. I'll invite Christian Overt. I'll invite it'll be a whole party. It'll be a whole party. But you have to look at one thing, too, that that's true to facts here, right? Is he is not who we thought he was. You and I both pushed him over the edge to get to where he's at. He came across as that reformer, as that individual that wants to change the city, but instead he changed himself, especially when you try to change an election, which is very unconstitutional. That's a problem.

Now they're trying to do it yet again, as you know, right? So I understand those things, but I don't understand his unhingedness of trying to do things, Billy. You'll remember last week, Roy, we had David Villano from the Coconut Grove Spotlight, And he said that they've contacted Damien Pardo's office 14 times in like in recent weeks or months with absolutely no response. And we're told that his office has a policy to not speak to the Coconut Grove spotlight, which is one of his most important constituencies in his district. So I stand by what I said to him at that meeting that you don't change the system. The system changes you. And he's certainly been a profound disappointment to all of us who thought he was going to be this anti-corruption crusader that he,

was elected to be everything he ran on he sort of has done a shift and I've been thinking Roy doing like some mini-docs online about him called the making of a Miami Mafioso because if you want to understand like what happens to you once you get

elected to office in this town he is living proof the how it started how it's going the videos of him running for office and after he was first elected as a real advocate for the people and what he's been saying in like the last year and a half or so, I mean, it's like 180 degrees.

And I'll add this to the mix. When we came to him on the Downtown Development Authority double taxation, the hostage tax, right? We pointed out all these inconsistencies of that specific agency, right? He turned his back on us, right, where we provided proof and documentation that downtown Brickle are the only places in the entire city of Miami where you're paying an additional tax levy. He's running, right?

He's totally running. But think about it. Think about it is when you bring something to a commissioner to address it, because as 60 years that this tax has been implemented, and he's the biggest cheerleader to the DDA went along what Ralph was out of. You've opened up a whole other can of worms that we'll have to get to at another time. But I will say, I think it's important that when you are a representative, that the people you represent set the agenda. And if you come to him with an issue that's not on his agenda, he is not interested. And that's not true. You're going to get a text.

You're going to get a text blast about you. James Torres, president of Miami's downtown neighbor's alliance. I feel like this is just the beginning of this conversation. James, he's running. He's totally running, isn't it? Yeah, there's a couple elections coming out. I mean, uh-oh. Oh, wow.

You know, there's the gavela issue. There's the Pardo, the Rosado issue. All these cans. Holy shit. All these cans are like a blackmole now. I think you're going to see, quote, unquote, a regime change there in next November. Oh, he's looking at the United States. the one-termers. A lot of one-termers.

I think there are going to be a lot of one-terms. In the words of Pastor Gregory Thompson, one-term, one-term. James, thanks for being here. Thank you for having you back again with Sabina Kovo and Christian Oliver and Damian Pardo. And Higgins. Can't wait.

Eileen Higgins. Can't wait. Cocanes. Tony, you know that moment at a party or 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 Quervo.

I'm 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 Quervo 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.