15-member committee has lobbyists, contractors
Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Anthony “A-Rod” Rodriguez is now leading the charge to strip away inefficiencies in the county’s bloated and Byzantine procurement system.
Yes, you read that right. The same Anthony Rodriguez who helped build the maze — and recently came under fire for awarding millions to a shady charity to put on an event in his district — has promised to guide us out of this mess with something he’s calling the “Special Task Force to Reduce Inefficiencies in Procurement,” or STRIP.
Because why not add a gimmicky acronym to a government boondoggle?
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The legislation establishing the STRIP passed unanimously May 6 and Rodriguez says, with a straight face, that the new task force will “overhaul the county’s procurement system to better serve taxpayers and encourage broader participation from vendors, including small businesses.
“Our current procurement process is bogged down by over 200 pieces of legislation and an average of 100 individual steps per request,” Rodriguez said in a statement after the legislation passed May 6. “For contracts exceeding $1 million, it takes over 349 days to procure. This inefficiency not only drives up costs but also creates an uneven playing field, favoring only those who can afford to navigate the delays.”
You could literally get pregnant, deliver a baby, and go back to work before the county finishes a big contract.
Unless, of course, you’re one of the usual suspects who already knows which back door to use.
Like A3 Foundation, a nonprofit with no track record, led by his close friend and former aide, Alexander P. Anthony, was awarded a no-bid, $8 million workforce contract. No paperwork. No competition. No transparency. Just one juicy, backroom-deal contract handed out like a candy bar at Halloween.
It doesn’t look like commission district funding for non-profits is on the list, however. According to the resolution passed in May, the STRIP is established “for the purpose of reviewing existing laws, codes, and procedures relating to the County’s procurement (including the procurement of goods and services, professional services agreements (including agreements for architectural and engineering services), public works and construction contracts, P3 agreements, leases, and concessions) and providing recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners for needed changes or improvements to such laws, codes, or procedures.”
And they have a lot of homework in order to dig deep into every clogged pipe in the procurement plumbing. They’re looking at everything. The endless delays. The “delegated authority” that lets the mayor’s office greenlight contracts without commission votes. The red tape that keeps small businesses locked out. Even the local preference policies that sound good but might be costing more than they save.
They’ll be asking whether procurement should work differently for buying toilet paper vs. building transit stations (spoiler: it probably should). They’ll check if the County’s online procurement portal is a relic of the dial-up era (also: yes). And someone even dropped the A.I. buzzword in there — because of course they did.
The task force’s objectives align with ongoing efforts to improve government efficiency, such as the Government Efficiency and Transparency Ad Hoc Committee, have already begun identifying areas for improvement across various departments, Rodriguez explained. STRIP “represents a focused approach to tackling one of the most critical aspects of county operations.”
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Rodriguez emphasized that the reform is not about adding complexity but about removing unnecessary layers that hinder progress. “By stripping away red tape, we can ensure that our procurement process works for the people, providing better value and fostering a more competitive environment,” he stated.
Oh, and this is Miami-Dade, so accountability for contractors is also on the menu. Which makes Ladra wonder: Will the task force have the teeth to actually bite someone, or is this going to be another toothless commission-approved chew toy?
Well, let’s take a look at the 15 members, who were all handpicked by Rodriguez himself. Commissioners were allowed to submit up to three names, but ultimately, A-Rod got the final say.
The group is supposed to reflect Miami-Dade’s glorious cultural flavor — you know, the political rainbow — and include people who know a thing or two about how contracts are actually handed out in Florida. In other words: Insiders. They won’t be paid, so of course it’s only for people with time, independent wealth, connections or ulterior motives.
The lucky winners are literally stakeholders:
Al Dotson Jr., a prominent lobbyist and managing partner, Bilzin Sumberg, Miami who has been named one of Florida Trend’s “500 Most Influential Leaders” in the state. He is the oldest of four siblings.
Aldo M. Leiva, an attorney specializing in information technology, data security and privacy, data breach notification and other data protection compliance. As a Cuba law/policy analyst, he has also briefed the U.S. State Department, lawmakers and presidential candidates provided analysis of Cuban trends to multiple universities. He also served as a board member of the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
Diana Mendez, a lobbyist and partner at Bilzin Sumberg where she represents clients “through all phases of the government procurement process, from identifying government contracting opportunities to bid protest litigation.” According to her LinkedIn profile, Mendez helps clients “navigate the legal and public policy landscape surrounding procurement opportunities.” She specializes in identifying government contract opportunities and holds clients hands through the bidding process. And she is the STRIP chair.
Erin Hendrix, a lobbyist and partner at LSN Partners, she leads the firm’s aviation practice. Does that mean she knows about the mess at Miami International Airport?
Jina Braynon, an international business consultant and managing director at Accenture, where she leads “innovative transformations partnering with state and local governments to execute comprehensive operational improvements that bolster efficiency and enhance organization sustainability.” Whatever that is. She is also the daughter of former State Sen. Oscar Braynon.
John Elizabeth Aleman, client account manager at Jacobs, a consulting firm that provides professional architecture and engineering services for the airport and seaport, was also a Miami Beach city commissioner from 2015 to 2019. She currently serves on the Board of Governors and Executive Committee for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. And she gets props from Ladra for resigning from the Miami Downtown Development Authority in 2020 after a power shift at City Hall, when it became clear that “working within the current political climate is untenable.”
Josenrique Cueto, the former deputy director and “chief project delivery officer” at the county’s Department of Transit and Public Works, now vice president of Real Estate Development at UniCapital Asset Management Group, a real estate development firm specializing in mixed-use projects.
Kenneth Naylor, president of development at Atlantic|Pacific Companies, a fifth-generation, vertical integrated real estate company with expertise in acquisitions, development, property management and investments.
Maira Suarez, senior vice president of Lemartec Corporation, which is a MasTec company — they have a ton of county contracts — who also used to work for Munilla Construction Management, which also has won a ton of county contracts and was involved in the building of the FIU bridge that fatally collapsed in 2018, killing six people.
Miguel De Grandy, a lobbyist and former state rep who did the hugely inappropriate and invalid redistricting for the city, later found by a court to be racially gerrymandered to keep the incumbents in office. De Grandy also admitted to intentionally putting Joe Carollo‘s house into District 3 and intentionally cutting Commissioner Miguel Gabela‘s home out of District 1 as a favor to former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla.
Rey Melendi, Chief Operating Officer and partner at 13th Floor Investments, a leading opportunistic real estate private equity firm in Florida. He oversees the development, construction, and operational asset management of the company’s investments. He is also former president of the Builders Association of South Florida.
Rudy Ortiz, founder and chief executive officer of CES companies, which specialize in construction management and program management of fast-track and large-scale capital projects and programs.
Victor Herrera, senior vice president of BCC Engineering, which helps clients connect resources to plan, deploy, and manage infrastructure projects. “It’s all city and county business,” Herrera openly admitted at the introduction meeting June 25. According to the BCC website, “his focus is on the expansion of the firm’s municipal market presence.”
Willy Bermello, one of the founding partners of Bermello Ajamil and Associates, a renowned and award-winning architectural and engineering firm, which has also won lots of big facility bids from the county. He is the task force’s vice chairman.
Carolina Vester, who rose through the ranks in the city of Coral Gables from lifeguard at Venetian Pool to deputy city manager, a position she was promoted to in February from parks and recreation, where she was deputy director since 2016.
Can you spot the many conflicts of interests? One of the participants even said “I think it’s developer corner over here,” at the first meeting after he introduced himself.
These are all very capable, qualified people. Okay, there are some qualified, capable people here. And certainly — the odds are there — some of them are well intentioned. But how do we know they are all going to do what’s best for the taxpayer’s wallet and not what’s best for their next bid on a multi-million dollar terminal project at the airport?
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Why do we need a fancy named task force to identify efficiencies in procurement anyway? Wasn’t this something that Commissioners Raquel Regalado and Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez, chairman of the Government Transparency and Efficiency Ad Hoc Committee, were already working to fix? Isn’t this what we elected them for?
And what is the difference between STRIP and GTEAHC, except that the Bermudez committee doesn’t have a nifty acronym?
Rodriguez claims STRIP is about helping the little guy — small vendors who can’t afford to wait a year for a yes or no. But the track record and the stakeholders suggest that STRIP might just stand for Slick Tactics Rewarding Inside Players. “I wanted this to be driven by the folks who do business with the county every single day,” Rodriguez said. In other words: the usual suspects.
“The idea here is not just to help the private sector and business, which is all of you guys,” Rodriguez said in his welcome statements at the first meeting. “But it also helps residents.
And let’s not forget the timing. With the 2026 budget hearings around the corner and rumors swirling about bigger ambitions for Rodriguez, this little reform parade might just be a campaign commercial dressed up as policy.
Still, the measure passed unanimously at the May 6 commission meeting, probably because nobody wants to be on record against stripping red tape. And maybe, just maybe, something good comes of putting a magnifying glass on what is a county swamp.
If anyone is actually looking. So far, there have been at least three Zoom meetings — June 25, July 2 and July 15. The task force’s first report is due 60 days after it was established, so mid August. Ladra will believe the reform when we see it.
This task force can be more than a STRIP show if it actually addresses the real problems in procurement, which is apparently not access.
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