Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Episode: #BecauseMiami: Miami's Next Mayor?
Date: September 19, 2025
Episode Overview
This episode dives deep into the dysfunction, corruption, and critical challenges facing Miami, both at City Hall and throughout county governance, through a wide-ranging, often pointed interview with Miami-Dade County Commissioner (and leading mayoral candidate) Eileen Higgins. Host Billy Corben, known for his incisive, sometimes confrontational style, presses Higgins on matters ranging from affordable housing and public corruption to campaign donors, city permitting, and her alliances with influential political consultants. Higgins pushes back and details her vision for a more functional, honest, and equitable Miami—while defending her own record and motivations.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Miami Politics: Corruption and Dysfunction
- Opening Satire and Critique: Episode opens with a biting musical satire and direct references to City Hall scandals, including bribery, money laundering, official misconduct, arrests, and failed attempts to postpone elections.
- Corben describes the political atmosphere as a "giant clown car full of frauds and cowards shitting on democracy" [02:00].
2. Eileen Higgins' Take on City Hall Corruption
- Campaign Focus: Higgins centers her campaign around rooting out corruption and restoring functional local government.
- "[When] City hall is filled with corruption... nothing gets done for the people." —Eileen Higgins [05:19]
- Impact of Corruption: She details how mismanagement and persistent legal troubles among city leaders cause delays and failures on city initiatives, like the Miami Forever bond and crucial infrastructure projects.
- Administrative Gridlock: Higgins stresses that "corruption ends up holding us back a lot from being the place we need to be" [05:19].
3. Permitting, Bureaucracy & the 'Special Treatment' Problem
- Unequal Treatment:
- Corben highlights how high-profile, big-money projects—backed by powerful campaign donors—are fast-tracked, while ordinary residents face “broken” bureaucracy and interminable delays for basic approvals [10:10].
- Higgins' Defense: She insists “the system of permitting is broken for everyone” but demonstrates—through personal examples—how Miami lags behind the county in efficiency.
- She secret-shopped the system, building a complex 12-story affordable housing project via county permitting in 107 days, versus 15 months for a simpler 8-story project in the city [10:34].
- Memorable Quote:
- "Time keeps people out of housing... Time is also risk when it comes to resiliency." —Eileen Higgins [11:38]
4. 2025 Election Controversy
- Election Postponement Attempt: The commission tried to postpone the mayoral election and extend its own term, an effort defeated in court by her opponent, Emilio Gonzalez.
- Critique of Higgins’ Role: Corben challenges Higgins for being “conspicuously absent” during the legal challenge, then sending a fundraising email tied to Gonzalez’s victory [12:40–16:12].
- Higgins’ Response:
- "I would never have benefited as a city of Miami resident by waiting for an election for another year. That is another year where things go badly for us.” [16:21]
- She argues her career has always been about “giving back,” referencing her Peace Corps and diplomatic service, and insists she is motivated by fixing Miami, not personal or political gain.
5. Immigration, Trust, and Public Engagement
- Immigrant Communities: Discussion of TPS (Temporary Protected Status) and 287G contracts with ICE, which impact Miami's large immigrant population. Corben brings up the issue of Camila Ramos, an activist forcibly removed from a county meeting [21:46].
- Higgins' Account: She clarifies she wasn't present due to federal meetings but agrees “What happened that day was wrong. She should never have been dragged out.” [24:04]
6. County Budget, Deficit, and ‘Sports Welfare’
- Fiscal Critique: Corben slams the county for approving massive subsidies to FIFA and the Dolphins’ owner while facing a $402M deficit and threatening transit hikes and service cuts for residents [25:13].
- Higgins’ Stand:
- She claims to have “told the mayor she should look into cutting the FIFA contributions,” pushes for funding vital services and community organizations, and contextualizes the budget mess as a function of a "completely changed government" with duplicated costs [26:08].
- “I would much rather have made sure that we recovered from COVID properly and had our CBOs activated.” [28:33]
7. Urban Zoning, Gentrification & Housing Affordability
- RTZ Development: Corben criticizes the RTZ (Rapid Transit Zone) as a lobbyist-engineered giveaway leading to over-densification and traffic, with little real benefit to ordinary people [30:08].
- Higgins’ Philosophy:
- “I will never ever believe we should have low density near a transit station... In order to get our housing affordability crisis [solved], we do have to build.” [31:42]
- She cites specific projects—like Magnus Brickell (mixed-income, near transit)—as models, touting support from lower-income residents for these developments.
- Disagreement Over Priorities: Corben argues most units are luxury and out of reach; Higgins insists on the value and necessity for housing diversity, sharing personal stories of people lifted out of homelessness [34:33–37:29].
8. Environmental Issues: Incineration, Composting, and Policy
- Alleged Sierra Club “Snub”: Corben asks if she refused to meet with the Sierra Club due to campaign rival Ken Russell’s employment there [38:31].
- Higgins’ Defense: She denies the accusation; states she is committed to best environmental practices, supports incineration for scientific reasons, and details her research and approach.
- “All of my colleagues made a popular decision; I stuck with science and the environment, and I feel good about that.” [41:38]
9. Her Sudden Mayoral Run & Representation
- Abandonment Accusation: Corben calls out Higgins for resigning mid-term, possibly leaving the county commission vulnerable to Republican takeover, and asks about possible deals with controversial politicians for her seat [42:10–44:47].
- Higgins’ Reply: She says the move is necessary for Miami’s needs, touts her responsiveness and record, and maintains “people are not telling me they... ‘we're gonna miss you on the commission’ but then they say ‘we need you as mayor.’” [44:20]
10. Campaign Consultant Controversy (Christian Ulvert)
- Corben’s Allegation: He calls Higgins’ consultant one of Miami’s worst-kept “corruption scandals”—an unregistered lobbyist who exerts massive unofficial power and facilitates pay-to-play politics [44:59–50:16].
- Higgins’ Defense:
- “He does not play any role in how I govern... I am a fully formed, functioning adult... I need a campaign consultant, not a lobbyist.” [46:42, 47:23, 50:16]
- She says Ulvert gives campaign but not political advice, and flatly states, "I have never, ever combined my campaign team with my work team." [50:55]
- Corben maintains bringing Ulvert to City Hall will perpetuate the same corrupt system.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
Miami's Corruption, Summed Up
- "The jokes don't only write themselves in Miami, they get elected here as well. In Miami, we're slowly sinking in the sea..."
—Political Rap Satire, [02:00]
On Why Corruption Matters
- "When you're dealing with a city hall that is completely involved in scandals... nothing gets done for the people."
—Eileen Higgins [05:19]
On Broken Permitting Process
- "Time keeps people out of housing... time is also risk when it comes to resiliency."
—Eileen Higgins [11:38] - “Some poor schmuck looking to build a fence has to wait years on end.”
—Billy Corben [10:10]
On the Election Postponement
- "Where were you? You were conspicuously absent from that entire process."
—Billy Corben [12:40] - "I never wanted the election to be next year, by the way. Who wants to be a candidate for two years? That's awful."
—Eileen Higgins [19:03]
Immigration and Public Trust
- "What happened that day was wrong... She should never have been dragged out. That was inappropriate."
—Eileen Higgins [24:04] - "How are people to have confidence that they are going to be able to freely and constitutionally engage with their government?"
—Billy Corben [23:37]
Fiscal Priorities & Sports Welfare
- "We're giving sports welfare by the tens of millions to the billionaires at FIFA... while talking about charging for Metro Mover and cutting services."
—Billy Corben [25:13] - “Cut it [FIFA budget]... put that money right back into CBOs [community-based organizations].”
—Eileen Higgins [26:33]
On Zoning, Density & Affordable Housing
- "I will never ever believe we should have low density near a transit station... This county is almost 300,000 units short of housing."
—Eileen Higgins [31:42] - "Most people cannot afford to live in these RTZ high density buildings. That’s just the reality of it. Am I wrong?"
—Billy Corben [34:41]
On Political Consultants & Corruption
- "Why should we let what I believe to be the worst, most underreported and underexposed scandal in Miami Dade politics... into Miami City Hall?"
—Billy Corben, on Christian Ulvert [45:06] - "He does not play any role in how I govern... I need a campaign consultant, not a lobbyist."
—Eileen Higgins [46:42]
The Stakes in Miami Politics
- "Are we better off now than we were four years ago? ...he [Ulvert] is going to be a problem at the city if we let him into the city."
—Billy Corben [49:38]
Important Timestamps by Segment
| Timestamp | Content / Theme | |------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:00 | Satirical Miami corruption rap & opening context | | 05:19 | Eileen Higgins: opening take on city hall dysfunction and corruption | | 10:10 | Corben and Higgins debate fairness of permitting system, donor influence | | 12:40 | Critique over election postponement and candidate positions | | 16:21 | Higgins explains career motivations, “giving back,” and desire for reform | | 21:46 | Immigration enforcement, activist removal, and government trust | | 25:13 | County budget deficit, “sports welfare,” and CBO funding priorities | | 30:08 | RTZ zoning, gentrification, and urban density debate | | 38:31 | Composting, incinerators, and Higgins’ environmental record | | 42:10–44:47| Allegations of abandonment, mid-term resignation, future of commission seat | | 44:59 | Christian Ulvert, political consulting, lobbying, and allegations of a "mafia swap" |
Tone & Style
- Conversation vacillates between pointed critique (Corben) and technical, at times passionate defense (Higgins).
- Satirical, irreverent Miami political humor contrasts with in-depth policy debate.
- Higgins maintains a pragmatic, technocratic tone in discussing practical governance.
- Corben frequently interrupts to challenge, fact-check, and clarify.
For New or Non-Listening Audiences
This episode offers a no-holds-barred look inside Miami politics, laying out the stakes and personalities vying to shape one of America’s most turbulent cities. The interplay between a combative interviewer and a mayoral candidate on the defensive creates a comprehensive, sometimes adversarial—but always revealing—portrait of the forces shaping Miami’s future. If you care about local democracy, affordable housing, government accountability, or simply enjoy high-octane political theater, this episode is unmissable.