Transcript of #BecauseMiami: Mayoral Clown Car

All right, we have some breaking news just into our newsroom. Miami City Commissioner, Joy Correo, has entered the race for mayor of Miami. Now, he has served as the city's mayor twice before already, the last time being in 2001.

It's a crowded field of people vying to be mayor of Miami. Thirteen candidates have qualified.

The Miami mayoral election will take place on November fourth.

The current mayor, Francis Fauréz, is term limited.

He's a wife, be her wife, be her. Yeah, that's Joe You know, the clown car is complete. We've got 13, lucky 13 candidates for mayor of Miami in an election that is really underway in a matter of weeks. Vote by mail ballots go out in October seventh or October eighth. The election, of course, is first Tuesday in November, and Miami will We have a new mayor on the upside.

Francis Juarez is term limited out after 16 years consecutively in office, eight as city commissioner, eight as a mayor.

Just absolutely put Miami into the ground economically with respect to, I don't know, everybody who lives in Miami, except for if you're a client of Francis Suarez, because he has over two dozen outside hustles and gigs. But at the risk of burying the lead, I don't think we did. This is your little Twitter account, little Billy. Joe Carillo is running for mayor again. Oh, God. I mean, Joe Carillo, who was the youngest city commissioner in the history of Miami in 1979, is now going to be mayor. The last time he was mayor It was havoc. I mean, the riots in the street, city leaders getting fired out of political retaliation, him, of course, getting arrested for domestic violence because... He's a wife be her wife be her. And Now, it might be happening all over again. It's like the Joker running for mayor of Gotham City. He is not alone in this town where we do not recycle our trash. We reelect it. Also running for office is Francis Suarez's father. Yes. Again? Who was also the mayor twice before in the city of Miami. These dynastic, multi-generational of political crime families we have here Xavier Suarez.

Xavier Suarez became the city's first Cuban-born mayor in 1985.

Miami's first Cuban-born mayor. The first Cuban-born mayor.

The first Cuban-American mayor. The city's first Cuban-born mayor. The first Cuban-born mayor of Miami. The first Cuban-born mayor of Miami.

Now, 40 years later, he's running again. I don't know if you heard, but he was the first Cuban-born mayor in the city of Miami. Should I play it again? Should I play the clip again? No, I'm good. Here's This is the crazy thing about it. He was the first Cuban-born mayor in Miami in 1985. But 13 years later, the last thing he did as mayor of Miami in 1998 was get removed from office for voter fraud.

A Florida appeals court has ruled that 5,000 fraudulent absentee ballots cast in the November fourth mayoral election for mayor Xavier Suarez should not be counted.

Swinging the election in Joe Corroyo's favor and returning Corroyo to office We proved what everyone in Miami knew that this election were won with a mast of absentee ballot fraud. Yes, that's right. The 1997 Miami mayoral election was Corroyo versus Suarez, or Suarez versus Correlio. Suarez won But then in 1998, after a lot of litigation, Joe Correlio was installed into office as mayor by a judge because of excessive absentee voter fraud, which included Manny Yip and his buddies down at the Cemetery, as Carl Hyerson called them, a A bunch of dead people, super voters, but dead, voting in Miami. A lot of Trump's mythology and demogogory about election fraud stem out of the 1997 mayoral election, one of the most corrupt and fraudulent in the history of the United States of America or Miami, for that matter. Only in the Banana Republic, baby. Only in Miami. It's all just a little bit of history repeating. What's even crazier, Roy, is that before Joe Correo was was the district 3 Commissioner for eight years. His younger brother, Frank Corroyo was the district 3 Commissioner for the eight years immediately prior. And guess, now that Joe Corroyo was term limited out as Commissioner and is running for mayor, guess who's running for Commissioner?

Frank Coroyo.

Frank Carollo.

I was just guessing there.

God, I love this show, and this is going to prove to be the craziest season ever. You know who else is running for mayor? Who's that, Billy? We had her on the show last week, Eileen Higgins, and this is what she had to say. You were quoted as having said that you would not meet with the Sierra Club as long as they employed Ken Russell, the former Miami City Commissioner, and one of your opponents for mayor. I did not say that. Now, I did not- Were you joking? Might you have said it in jest? I don't think so.

I don't think so. Matter of fact, I think Ken's put out a video saying that that was not true.

Steve Leidner is the conservation chair for the Miami Sierra Club. He is joining us now. Steve, Eileen Higgins says you're a liar. What do you say?

Well, I say that I stand by what I heard her say, which is that she would not meet with me or anyone from Sierra Club as long as Ken was in our employee.

Do you remember where she told you and when she told you that?

It was at a quarterly meeting of the Miami Climate Alliance. It was at the Dade Public Library, downtown public library at their meeting site.

You know exactly when and exactly where this happened. She She's saying it didn't happen. She doesn't remember if she said it in jest. Might she have said it in jest?

I didn't take it that way. I want to recant my answer. It actually was at the Miami Dade, one of their meeting rooms I forget what building. I think building two. It wasn't at Miami Dade Public Library. But no, I didn't think she said it in jest.

Okay, let's assume, let's give her the benefit of the doubt, though. Let's say she did say it in jest. Did she meet with the Sierra Club?

No, she did not I can't say it in Jess. She was serious. No, she never did meet with me. I wanted to discuss her vote in favor of incineration, which she has been a consistent proponent of Dade County moving forward, building an incinerator.

I want to talk about that in just a moment. But first, Roy, you remember at the end of that clip, Eileen Higgins, candidate for a city of Miami mayor, and now it turns out possible liar. She might have sat right here in this studio and lied to my face, but I've got the face you can lie to, so I can appreciate that. But at the end there, you notice what she said. She said that Ken Russell put out a video saying that this didn't happen. I didn't know what video she was talking about, but here's that video.

No, Commissioner Eileen Higgins did not get me fired from Sierra Club. What she did was not very cool or terribly ethical, but it does not rise to the level of Joe Carollo corruption. But let me go into this false accusation that she got me fired. I was a contractor. I have a small consulting Company. I was working on political strategy with Sierra Club to help get cities in Miami-Dade County, as well as Miami-Dade County, away from building the garbage incinerator. We were successful with many things, but the county commission, including Commissioner Higgins, voted to build the incinerator. And when the Sierra Club principals talked to Commissioner Higgins about this, she said, I would be glad to sit down with you and talk about the incinerator once Ken Russell is no longer involved. She did not use the words, Get rid of Ken Russell. When Sierra Club brought this to me, I resigned immediately, told them I didn't want to cause them any drama or difficulty in their efforts. They didn't accept my resignation, but my contract was organically ending at the end of July, just a few weeks later. So we finished out the contract.

It did not renew. It's not to say that it would have renewed but for Commissioner Higgins, but her pressure was not appropriate. I don't think anyone should limit access to their office based on political opposition, et cetera, things like that.

Ken Russell is joining us as well. He is a candidate for City of Miami, mayor running against Joe Correillo, Xavier Suarez, Hylene Higgins, and the rest of the clown car. Oh, I didn't mention Alex Dias-Leportia. Remember him? Got arrested a couple of years ago and was removed from office for money laundering and bribery charges that were later somehow dropped. He's running as well. Oh, come on, man. How many mug shots do we have in this race, man? But Ken Russell, former City Commissioner as well, and former, as it turns out, Sierra Club lobbyist, that video doesn't quite say or deny or disprove what it that I think Eileen Higgins was trying to mislead me, to believe. No?

No, she misled you that she didn't get me fired. What she didn't say is that she tried. So she wasn't successful is what she should have said the video said.

What you're saying is she didn't get me fired But she did, in fact, say what she said, or you did, in fact, understand or believe that she effectively threatened the Sierra Club to say that as long as... By the way, same thing Joe Correo did to a lot of the tenants of the Ball and Chain owners, the property owners, Bill Fuller and Martin Panilla on a Caggiocho, saying, Hey, as long as your tenants of these guys, we're not going to help you or we're going to try to shut you down. I mean, that was the same thing Eileen Higgins was saying, was saying, Yeah, as long as you employ Ken Russell, you're not going to get a meeting or access to me. You still believe that happened?

I know that it happened because I believe Steven. What I further believe is that Sierra Club ethically never considered firing me. I offered to resign. But what's more important is that they realized she is not ever going to come around on this issue because of her compromised position and the money she's received from FPL. They are a massive bidder on this incinerator, and she was on her show saying she is not open to listening to the other side. So my employment with Sierra Club, and I still help them completely off book and just happy to be available as a resource, because this This issue is so important for Miami Dade County, how our garbage is handled, and to build the country's largest garbage incinerator that would be a massive producer of carbon emissions and put it potentially in the... There's so many bad things. What's most important is her vote is what's important, not how she treated me. That's all rough and tumble in politics, and we can handle that.

Steve, let's talk about this because this is a multi-billion-dollar deal of great consequence economically, environmentally. As Ken Russell just said, we're talking about building an incinerator to burn billions of tons of trash, possibly in ecologically sacred areas. Also, show of hands, everybody out there. How many of you know a trans athlete? None of you do. It affects none of your lives. Let me ask you this, how many of you have trash, throw out trash, go to a trash shoot to throw your trash out into a dumpster, drag your trash can out to the curb twice a week, three times a week to have your trash picked up? This is an issue that affects 100% of us. While it may not sound sexy, let's be clear, there are billions of dollars of your tax money at stake. There is the future of our planet, our clean water supply here in South Florida, as we continue to grow by leaps and bounds, I would say, in an unsustainable way. Of course, if there is no place, what happens if the garbage truck stops showing up, Roy? What happens if- Mass hysteria. Mass hysteria, cats and dogs living together.

This is an issue that affects 100% of the people, things you want your local government to do. Provide public safety, have the lights go red and green, pick up our trash. Just the basics here. Steve, talk to me about this issue, how all this scandal has come up, which is this idea of incineration. Eileen Higgins has insisted, I'm sure you saw her interview, that that is the most environmentally sound option for what to do with the, again, billions of tons of trash we generate in Miami Dade County.

Yes, correct. Ever since the Durala incinerator burnt down in February 2023, the county has been trying to figure out how they're moving forward. They now plan to build the largest incinerator in the country, 4,000 tons per day. It will produce that much CO₂ being spewed into the atmosphere, exacerbating our already extreme heat events and sea level rise and strength of hurricanes, everything that climate is raining down on us. Incineration is the worst option for climate. Some of our commissioners think that landfilling is the better option, and that's not scientifically correct. Landfills do emit methane. Methane is a climate problem. Methane can be mitigated. There are ways to handle waste. So we take out the organic debris. Even if we didn't take out the organics from a landfill, landfilling is a better option than incineration.

So, Ken, I imagine you agree that environmentally, which the better option is. But also talk to me about the money. Let's follow the money here. What is going on? Who is paying who or donating to who what in order to get this pushed through? Why is Eileen Higgins taking this position that appears to be antithetical to what environmentalists and scientists believe is the better option.

The money is what creates what's called greenwashing, and that's where corporations don't use the green of money, but the green of environmentalism to wash over the bad things that they do. Using their money, however, they're able to influence politicians to repeat those greenwashing lies to make it sound environmental. And this idea that burning garbage will create energy so it's renewable. It's one of the worst ways to create energy, at least and dirtiest ways to create energy. And it's not financially efficient, but the money that's flowing, this is a multibillion dollar contract to span over 40 years to build this incinerator instead of going to newer and better technologies that are out there employed by other major cities like Austin.

Who can name names, follow the money? Who is donating to Eileen Higgins that you believe is persuading her in this?

Sure. Eileen Higgins has received substantial contributions during this garbage decision process from the company that writes the reports for whether or not this is environmental, as well as FPL themselves, who are the number one bidder on building the incinerator. Why does FPL want an incinerator? Because they're able to then turn a little turban, make some electricity, and call it renewable.

What is it, Steve, that people need to know about this? Because this doesn't seem to be a battle that the Sierra Club, the environmentalists are winning here. Is there overwhelming science on this? Is the jury still out? What should be happening here in Miami Dade that's not happening?

The jury is not out. As I said, incineration is the worst pathway forward. There are a number of options called Zero Waste Solutions that the county is in the process of adopting that can deal with our solid waste issues to a substantial degree. Composting alone reduces 50 to 70 %, diverts 50 to 70 % of our waste from our landfill. So there are many options. We could do more effective recycling. We could do a... Help me, Ken, here. Ken is the expert on construction and demolition debris, a mandate to divert that debris. It's substantial amounts of that goes into our landfill. So there are many options that the county could pursue. Actually, the county has hired a zero-waste contractor to advise them. But the county is only planning on letting about a million tons per year come under the auspices of zero waste. They're planning on diverting another million to the incinerator. That doesn't include the amount of waste that the municipalities generate. This is an unincorporated day. So, yeah, the Our commission is hell-bent on pushing this issue forward and building this incinerator.

Billy, we're not alone either. Sixty organizations and environmental leaders signed a letter urging the county not to do this and to seek the alternatives. The only one to listen, actually, was Daniela Libiancava, who reversed her position on incineration and came around to what we were offering. Other major municipalities like Austin already do this. They burn the same amount of garbage as we… I'm sorry, they handle the same amount of garbage we do without burning, and it is possible.

If it wasn't for reverse positions, Daniela Lovine-Cava wouldn't have any at all.

How about that? Roy? Steve, of course, we're worried about the methane when it comes to these landfills, but are we also worried about anything seeping into the groundwater?

Good point. Yes. Yes.

The generator produced a substantial amount of ash.

What doesn't go up the flu as CO₂ ends up as ash, and that ash has to go into a landfill. That ash is highly toxic, highly concentrated, and our landfills leak into our aquifer. Filling our landfill with incinerator ash is another very dangerous path forward.

Ken Russell, I'm going to give you the last word. I know you listened to that interview last week, so you're good enough to join us today live from your car. I'm guessing you're canvassing and campaigning for mayor. Was there anything else in just the last 60 seconds here you feel that you heard from Eileen Higgins that the record needs to be corrected or you felt was disingenuous, or in the cases we've been talking today, a flat-out lie.

Sure. No, she conflated composting and incineration as complete separate things. They are one and the in terms of they use the same fuels. But that's the science. What really matters to you here and to the voters is the beginning of your segment that they have a choice between the mayors of yesterday or the potential mayors of tomorrow. If they're considering between myself or Eileen Higgins, for example, they need to recognize these differences on ethical choices, on who's funding their campaigns, and of course, how they are on the environment. I'm putting my forth as the ethical champion of the environment, of housing, of all these issues that we care about. I'm going to keep chubbing along in this race, regardless of whatever political games get played. We're in it for the next month, and we're going to see.

It bears mentioning that one of Eileen Higgins' County Commission colleagues, Keonie McGee, on or about the same meeting in which they voted for an incinerator, had suggested in a roundabout way that now that the property, the Dade Collier landing strip, has been activated for other uses, in this case, the state's Alligator Alcatraz Immigrant Concentration Camp, that perhaps they could put the incinerator there because what concentration camp is complete without the ovens? What could possibly go wrong here? Ken Russell, running for Miami Mayor, Steve Leidner, conservation chair for Miami Sierra Club. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you.

Thank you, Billy.

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Florida's Department of Emergency Management is suing Trinity Health care Services because the state accidentally overpaid invoices to the tune of more than $5. 7 million. And when they asked the company to return those tax dollars, they claimed they got no response. The overpayments occurred in the spring of 2021, while Sherfilis McCormick was the CEO of Trinity, her family's company. She left the job soon afterwards to run for Congress and eventually won the seat formerly held by Elsy Hastings. But the Office of Congressional Ethics has been investigating her campaign finances, and she reported to them she got a $6 million raise from Trinity in 2021. Just days after Trinity was overpaid by $5 million, Sheryls McCormick personally loaned her Congressional Campaign Committee $2 million, and she reported making more large loans after that. I wanted to ask you about the investigation into your family's, but this is also part of her Congressional duties. Congresswoman, you're under investigation for the Congressional ethics for violation of campaign finances.

Hey. Roy. You know this takes place in-Roy. In your Congressional district. This is your Congresswoman, Sheila Scherfilis-McCormick.

Yes, I voted for her.

Oh.

Roy.

How could I know?

She's a Medicare huckster?

It's always Medicare.

I want to tell you something crazy. You want to tell me something crazy? What's that, Billy? She's running for re-election this year.

I will not be voting for her.

She's running against a young man named Elijah Manley, who is a very young man. How old are you, Elijah? Twenty-six. He's 26 years old. He is a public middle school teacher in Broward. If I understand that the Congress woman is suing you for defamation, libel, slander, all kinds of shit. You're running against her in Florida's 20th Congressional district, which includes Roy's house. First of all, what is this thing that happened here with this money? How did she get $5. 7 million in public money that she wasn't supposed to get?

Definitely in very nefarious ways, allegedly.

He's very careful now Roy. You notice, allegedly.

Very careful. He needs to earn my vote.

I need to earn your vote. That's right. But in 2021, during the COVID pandemic, the Florida Department of Emergency Management was given out contrast to many healthcare agencies, including small ones, to provide vaccines to various communities in Florida, including the Black community here in Broward County. One of those companies, Trinity Healthcare Services, which was being ran by then CEO Sheila Scherfus-McCormick, submitted an invoice for $57,000 to receive funding for providing vaccines to the community. The state accidentally misplaced a decimal and paid her out, I think, $5. 7 million.

Wait a second. This was a clerical error. She was supposed to get 57,000, and they sent her 5. 7 million.

This is office space.

Honest mistake. I mean, never happens to me, but they send this lady 5. 7 million. She's the CEO. She knows it's a mistake because presumably, she invoiced and signed off on 57,000. She gets this money, public money, our money, taxpayer money, and she realizes the mistake, and she returns it immediately to the state of Florida and the federal government, correct?

No, she keeps it. She pays herself out millions of dollars, and then she mysteriously drops millions of dollars into her congressional campaign in the special election. The special election, she won by five votes. Mind you, she ran for office twice before against Elsy Hastings and She ordered her income being, I think, around $60,000 a year and her financial disclosures and never raised more than maybe $50,000 to $100,000. It was weird. Everybody, including the newspapers, were asking, She just ran a few months ago and she was broke. Where did this money come from? I mean, suddenly you have millions of dollars that come out of nowhere. The people have a right to know where this money is coming from. And so she got sued. She got sued by the state of Florida. She just never returned the money.

I'm sorry, I won by five votes, and I was one of them. You were one of them. Roy. Okay, here's a woman who was making, approximately, according to, as you said, her disclosures, about 60 grand-ish a year. All of a sudden, she raises her salary to $5 million and then loans that $5 million to her congressional campaign to effectively buy... I said, By the way, that was a million dollars a vote she spent from Did you get that million, Roy? I did not. Okay. Then, though, Elijah, then the honorable Congresswoman pays the money back, right? The $5. 7 million that she knows she got mistakenly. She then pays that money back that she loaned her campaign back to the state and the feds, right?

No, it disappeared. Never to be seen again. She gets 19 years to pay it back.

I'm sorry. 19 years? So the state sued her, you said? That's right. They settled that she got this in one fell swoop and within days or weeks was moving this money around to buy a congressional seat. And yet she has how many years to pay it back?

19. Interest-free. 19 years to pay it back. Interest-free.

Now she's suing you, from what I can tell, because it's suddenly illegal, Roy, to criticize public officials or tell the truth about them. This is crazy. I read the lawsuit. I read her complaint. One of the things she says is that... Well, she says you're deliberately spreading malicious and false statements about her, resulting in reputational harm and public discredit, as if She needs your help to do that. This woman is a gou and a criminal. That's my opinion, allegedly.

This is what- Don't get sued.

This is what she... Here I am. Here I am. Come find me. Anti-slap. You will be paying my attorney's fees. You'll be transferring some money to my account. I'll tell you that right now. This is what she claims you've said that's defamatory. In a campaign video, you said, You can't fight corruption with more corruption or with representatives who are themselves under investigation investigation for serious ethical violations. What about that is untrue?

It sounds completely true to me.

She is corrupt. She engaged in shameful, unmitigated, overt corruption, and she is under investigation. Is she not?

House Ethics Committee investigation is still ongoing. It just found probable cause back in July. They continued an investigation that there was wrongdoing in that probable cause statement. They said it was likely she committed these violations. Fec investigation for massive campaign finance fraud, I mean, in the millions and hundreds of thousands of peace. There have been two criminal referrals, one to the US Department of Justice and to the Florida Attorney General's office, which we We'll hear what happens with that soon. But this is all stuff that's been publicly reported on. Everything I've been saying about this case, the stuff the media has been reporting on, Sunset, Miami Hérault, CNN, The Washington Post, Politico, other outlets, CBS 12. I don't know why she sued me for it.

I don't know why she sued you for it either. She further claims that you defamed her when you said in the same Instagram campaign video, took $5. 7 million from taxpayers and shows bad judgment on her part, followed by regular people don't get away with these types of crimes, and she was busy taking your money to chase power. What about that is untrue or defamatory or malicious or false?

I'll tell you what, it sounds to me like there's a politician who's afraid that her career is coming to an end, and instead of taking responsibility and accountability for her actions, she's lashing out on the community, on anyone that talks about. Instead of saying, I'm taking responsibility, I If I make a mistake, I did something, and maybe it wasn't a mistake. It doesn't look to be a mistake. How can you mistakenly take millions of dollars? When I wake up tomorrow and there's $3 million in my account from the government, the first thing I'm thinking is, Well, I know I didn't earn this money. I don't know why I have this money. I'm going to call the government and say, Hey, you sent me $3 billion. I don't want to go to jail. Take this money back. So you can't really mistakenly take $1 million.

Well, maybe that's your mistake, right? Last two things. First thing, this is not the first time she has tried this, in my opinion, unethical tactic against an opponent, and I believe an abuse of our court system as well.

She's tried this against a primary opponent about four years ago, the person she beat by five votes, Adele Hones. She sued him for a million dollars for pointing out the same as that thing. That case pretty much got all but thrown out. I believe this one will be thrown out as well because it is a clear slab loss. We have the First Amendment right to free speech, and it is coming upon her to prove that what I was saying was false. I can't prove that it's false. I can't prove that she didn't take the money. I mean, she has to prove that she didn't take the 5. 7 million, and the state agrees with me. I'm just reporting what the state has said in their lawsuit and what the House Ethics Committee is saying. Her own colleagues, Democrats and Republicans on the House Ethics Committee, have said this is what she did.

Elijamanley. Com. I'm going to give you the last word, 30 seconds to convince your constituent, Roy, to vote for you.

No, I'm voting for him.

I got to make sure it doesn't matter. Wait, that's it? Yeah, that's it. That's it?

Yeah. Am I going to vote for her?

I don't know. She's got the money, man. It's a million dollars a vote, she spent for your vote last time.

Yeah, well, she's got $300,000 per year for the next 19 years of payback.

So let me give him 30 seconds to convince everybody else to vote for him.

Well, thank you, Roy. And honestly, this isn't even about partisanship. This is about accountability in government. You should be able to trust your elected officials not to abuse power, not to bully their own constituents with lawsuits, but also not to take your money to chase power. That's not something I'm going to do. We should be focused on the cost of living, on affordability, on tackling the affordability crisis, these high rents, climate change. These are the things we need to be But instead, we have people in Washington who is focused on enriching themselves. That's not the type of person I am. That's not the background I come from. I come from a background of childhood homelessness, and I want to go to Washington to make sure that the people in our district, in our community, some of the poorest people in the country, are actually taken care of it. I hope to earn your support. I promise I won't be taking millions of task-paid dollars to abuse my position or sue any of my constituents.

You know what they say, Roy? We either need less corruption or I I need more of an opportunity to participate in it. That's what I'm doing. I need some decimal points and clerical errors moving around. For me, elijamanly. Com. Good luck to you, sir.

Awesome. Thank you so much. The U is back, baby.

Yay.

You sound really excited about it, Roy.

I am. Number two team in the nation, man.

Did you do any tailgating?

No.

Are you serious? No, it was hard.

What's that in the house?

When it comes to gators, I love to eat them then beat them. In that order. I love gator. Have you ever had gator? Yes. Not fried, though, because they always fry gator.

No, I never had baked gator. No.

Are you like sauté or grilled?

No. Seriously? No, it's always been fried. I would like to have more gator. If you're going to bring some in, that'd be great.

I'll bring some in. You got to season it right. You got to cook it right. Every Everybody always fries it. But to me, if you're going to fry it, you might as well be eating tilapia or chicken fingers. It doesn't matter.

That's the citrus forward.

Yes, citrus forward. Wow, that's exactly.

I can cook a little bit. Sure.

Maybe you should cook it. We should grill up some gator.

I wonder how that would taste.

You get it frozen at Wild Fork, which is not ideal, but you can get it at least, which is great because otherwise, it's pretty hard to come by unless you want to go hunting with it.

No, I'm good. But get some of that Badea orange pepper, lime pepper or lemon pepper.

Yeah, some Everglade Seasoning. Get that right. Oh, I love that. The citrus and the spice all at the same time. The tart and the spicy, spice and the tart. I'm hungry, man. Let's go for some gator. God damn it. Speaking of which, speaking of slippery, slimy swamp creatures from South Florida, Eileen Higgins was on the show as we were talking about. It's a cold thing to say. That's what we call that segue, Roy. That's right. Seamless transition is what that is. Well, another thing she said, because people have been blowing up my phone about this interview last week and pissed off. Someone called me a very politically active, concerned citizen, Miami resident who will vote in this election for Miami mayor. Their hand was shaking while they were talking to me on the phone, said their blood was boiling listening to this interview. When I asked Eileen Higgins about the city's attempt to illegally cancel the election and give themselves an extra year in office, and the fact that she stood down and said nothing and was silent. When Emilio Gonzales, the former city manager, now a Miami mayoral candidate, sued the city successfully and won to get the election reinstated and reenfranchized the candidates and the voters, I said, Why didn't you say anything?

And then all of a sudden, Emilio González wins the lawsuit, and you're sending out fundraising emails saying, victory for democracy, but yet you didn't say anything. Furthermore, I argued, you would have benefited from a one-year delay. I wasn't entirely surprised to see you sit it out. I don't understand. You'd have an extra year in office at the county, you'd have an extra year to fundraise, you'd have higher Democratic turnout in an even-year election than in an odd-year election. Billy, I would not have benefited in any way. The reason I'm running for mayor is the city needs fixing now. It does not need fixing next year. So this furious concerned citizen heard that on the podcast last week and called me shaking to say that they spoke to Eileen Higgins last June at the Goombay Festival in Cocoonut Grove in Miami, in the historic West Grove. Eileen Higgins told them, I don't care if they push the elections to next year. It's going to be better for me because I can easily win next year.

I'm just surprised. She was at the Goombay Festival.

We all went to the Goombay Festival. It's fantastic. It's a lot of fun. Great music, great dancing, great food. I recommend going. Were you at the Goombay Festival?

I was not.

Okay.

I wish I was.

You were busy up in-.

We don't have the Goombay Festival.

In Miramar? There's no Miramar? No. Maybe we should bring it. Well, the Little Bahamas in the West Grove is the oldest neighborhood in Miami. It's even older than the incorporation of the city because it's where the people lived who built- Built the city. The city of Miami. Eileen Higgins was there telling people, apparently, that I don't care if they push the election year because of exactly what I said to her on the show, which is that I don't blame you for sitting it out. You benefit from a year delay. You and your political puppeteer and campaign consultant, Christian Oldvert, this corrupt goule can run around shaking down businesses and vendors and contractors with the city and the county and lobbyists. It's just... And then she denies. She lied to my face over and over and over again. It's incredible to me. And by the way, these people calling me to fact check her are all Democrats. This is a non-partisan race. So this is not like there are people on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum who are calling her out. These are technically her people who are just sick and tired of the lies and corruption in this town.

Do we need to pivot from Francis Suarez and Joe Correo corruption to Eileen Higgins and Christian Elvert corruption? That really is the question. I will give Eileen Higgins and Christian Elvert an opportunity, again, to return to the show. We can go back.

What are you laughing at? What are you laughing at? Everything that you just said in this segment, that's really going to convince her to come back on this show.

She lied to me. Not only that she lied to me, but more importantly, she lied to our audience. No, I was listening. So it offends My tender sensibilities, my gamey-gator sensibilities. It really does. More importantly, from Ms. Miami on TikTok, she is an almost former Miami-Dade County employee. Remember, we've been talking a lot about the $400 plus million budget deficit, which they finally shored up and passed a budget this past week with all kinds of crazy pork and corruption in it, or lechon, as we call it here in Miami.

I'm hungry, man.

This is a very... It's like a Scorsese movie. It's like all food. You're just like, I'm starving. We got to go... This is pork and gator. We got to go eat. This woman is losing her job along with probably hundreds of other county employees. She's a little pissed off when she discovers that the county is also going to be funding FIFA World Cup for over $60 million. This is our Miami moment, Cocaine's.

I will be losing my job after September 30th.

I'm not going to lie to you all.

I had a certain respect for our mayor Miami Dade County until this happened. They go to tell us that we will be impacted by budget cuts.

Then I turn around and I do more research on to find out that my is funding the Royal Cup next year. I got cut from my job so a motherfucker could play soccer.