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Tourist mecca Ball & Chain and other food and beverage businesses have been told to stay closed.
Not so good when City of Miami officials are letting customers with cash in hand stream into its neighbors up and down Calle Ocho.
So, what gives? Is Joe Carollo back to attacking Cuban-American entrepreneur Bill Fuller’s businesses? Maybe.
In Carollo’s sick mind, he would think it was a masterstroke. Keep iconic Ball & Chain shuttered under the cover of COVID-19 to make the point that even during a pandemic his power can’t be stopped. Rubbing his hands together like the two-bit dictator he is, he might right now be contemplating the symbolic and real-world impact of such an act and laughing maniacally in an empty room and petting a white cat.
I wouldn’t put it passed him. At the height of the vendetta, Joe was caught on camera lurking behind Ball & Chain, trying to stir up complaints from residents living nearby the business. He even gave city officials a personal tour of alleged violations including some at Fuller properties.
Things got so bad that Fuller filed a lawsuit claiming Carollo was punishing him for supporting Joe’s opponent, violating his first amendment right to free speech.
As for the facts, Ball & Chain and some other locations that serve alcohol are licensed by the State of Florida to serve food and drinks. The question now is about how the City of Miami enforces its rules.
I can tell you that the enforcement so far has been confusing and at times arbitrary. I know of at least one business that markets its bar as a speakeasy and serves food as a quality operation. But let’s be honest – no one is there for the sliders.
In politics, perception is as bad as the real thing. In this case, it looks and smells like a sloppy, rotten Carollo special that he had his lackeys drop at the front door of Ball & Chain before knocking on its door and slinking away.
Crazy Joe just lost his legal challenge to stop his recall. Somebody needs to stand up and sue him and the City again, while he is on his heels.
The obvious problem is the City Mayor Frances Suarez. Has he abdicated his authority during this State of Emergency to the various commissioners? It seems so. Suarez has been arbitrary, out of sync with the Miami-Dade County re-opening phases and doing other odd things like cancelling the recycling pick-ups for all homes and apartment bldgs. No other municipality has done that. Trash cans are now loaded with plastic, paper, boxes etc. that the owners pay to be picked up in the blue cans. it’s no wonder crazy Joe can do whatever he wants, as do Ken Russell and Manolo Reyes. Hopefully the recall will go forward and this nut case can go somewhere else. Bill Fuller has the patience of a saint. He is going broke while Carollo is laughing it up.