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Billy Corben
The hypochal. The hypocrisy that I'm seeing here today.
Roy
With all due respect.
Billy Corben
With all due respect.
Roy
With all due respect. Stop surveilling me. She told me to shut up. So you're gonna shut up.
Musical Performer / Rapper
Hooga hooga, hooga, hooga hooga Owners on neanderthal in city hall dragging around his knuckles Miguel Cabela. Even with Carollo gone Carollo gone Miami's a up telenovela got my apples in his mouth spit him out, wanna be dictator furrow in his brow crash juvenile in snow. The way you can't do math makes me laugh maybe read a book or some time. Cabela. So much spending on your watch is curious Careless with the taxpayers dying Cabella crony at the front search your putts check his resume he's never run apart. What the. He's unqualified. Y Y yang yang yuga booga Miguel, you better hookah booga booga booga who you up there grunting at? All due respect on the day is talking that ooga booga way too hard to comprehend a word you said. Troglo dita eros un I open table Records can't be leaked yet.
Billy Corben
Don't be free.
Musical Performer / Rapper
But it's funny watching you on my tv embarrassing your constituency. My, oh, my. A woo. I love this town.
Billy Corben
It's good to be back here on because Miami.
Roy
Sure about that,
Billy Corben
Roy? You can't burn a bridge made out of stone, okay?
Musical Performer / Rapper
You sure about that,
Billy Corben
caveman? It's all caves. It's all caves these days. Ball bearings and caves. Welcome to Because Miami. We really had hoped that the corruption and dysfunction and nonstop construction in Miami was going to slow down with, like, the new regime and the new commissioners and the new mayor. But, man, oh, man, the Florida is off the charts. The Miami madness is out of control. I've already dropped an F bomb in the first, like, 10 seconds of the show. Roy is scribbling, scribbling, scribbling. Good to see you, Roy.
Roy
Yeah. I'm glad you feel that way, Roy. Thanks. Thanks, Billy.
Billy Corben
So later on in the show, we're gonna be talking about the Miami mess at the city with a friend of the show, Tomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. First up, though, some breaking news about a longtime character that we haven't talked about in a long time, Fabian Besabi.
News Reporter
A jury in Tallahassee found that Republican state representative Fabian Besabi sexually harassed two of his male staffers, defamed one of those staffers, and committed battery against both of them. Besabi, who Represents a district that stretches from Miami beach to Aventura, was ordered by the jury to pay the young men $450,000. One of the stranger aspects of the trial was Mesabi's decision to get rid of his attorneys and represent himself. And trust me when I say it did not go well.
Billy Corben
I was in Tallahassee for this trial for two out of the three days. It was absolutely wild. And this guy, you might remember, he's married to like the La Perla heiress. It's like this Italian lingerie fortune and they have a son. And yet he has this longtime boyfriend who's a Brazilian model who he lives with. Kind of a complicated double life that he lives, which wouldn't of any interest to me is personal life. And whatever arrangement he has in his marriage is between them. But it has kind of bled into his this sort of like duplicitous kind of two faced, like, I'm a conservative, family values Republican, but yet I'm also like living my life as an out gay man and now found liable by a jury of his peers in the state capitol of Tallahassee for sexually harassing these young men who were on his staff working as his legislative aide as intern. And this trial, as you heard Jim defeated from CBS in that clip mentioned, was unbelievable because Basabe, who is not a lawyer, he's a lawmaker and doesn't seem to know anything about the law, humiliated himself in front of the entire world by serving as his own attorney. And the test.
Roy
Never a good idea.
Billy Corben
Never a good idea. And the testimony that came out during the trial, both directly to the allegations that he was found liable for and additional allegations that weren't the subject of the trial but came out during the trial. Here are some of the. I don't want to call them highlights because it's pretty grotesque, but here are some of the highlights.
Trial Witness
Mr. Besabi, he slapped me with his right hand across my face. Representative Besabe was asking me about my penis size, getting his face right close to my neck and whispering my ear. He put his hand on my thigh and he made comments about sex with men. You whispered in my ear, I want all of that, but. And proceeded to slap my buttocks. And that's where the sports comment got brought back in, saying that there's less emotions involved with men when men have sex with other men and that men have higher sex drives. He also admitted that he was a bottom and was asking my preference of where I would lay when I went into Mr. Besabi's room. I observed Mr. Besabi splinting my friend and my friend looking at me terrified. I asked him what happened and he broke down crying. Mr. Bezabi told me that I was all up in that butt last night and your friend is really cute. I came to lying down. I had no clothes on and Fabian's mouth was on my penis. I felt poking in my rectum and I realized I was being raped.
Billy Corben
Fabian De Sabe, representative for Miami's House district, State House District 106 that incorporates pieces of Miami and all of like Aventura, Sunny Isles, Bal Harbor, Surfside, most if not all of Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Indian Creek, golden beach, parts of North Miami. It's a big on east coast, big influential, wealthy, powerful district. And he is running for his third consecutive term. And I think this is a noteworthy moment from the trial that has since gone viral in the last week or two. And you will note that we added some audio to it, but the pause itself is real and is in real time. Take a look. All right, so you were offended by these accusations. Have you ever been accused of drugging and raping anyone?
Trial Witness
I have a sidebar, your honor. So you good that Corona rejected I don't know how sidebar.
Roy
That's a yes or no answer right there in it.
Billy Corben
I mean, so first of all, he blinks 14 times in 10 seconds. That is like a 10 second gap. But hey, Roy, you want to try this out? Let's try this out on each other. Okay? Do you want to ask me first or do you want me.
Roy
You can ask me first.
Billy Corben
Hey, Roy.
Roy
Yes.
Billy Corben
Have you ever been accused of drugging and raping a man?
Roy
No. Hey, Billy.
Billy Corben
Hey, Roy.
Roy
Have you been accused of drugging and raping a man?
Billy Corben
No, Roy.
Roy
No.
Billy Corben
So I don't know. That was pretty easy, actually.
Roy
Yeah. Seems easier to me. Like he was going through the roller,
Billy Corben
sort of said, you know, So that is a man who is an elected republican representative for this community. Here's the thing. When he was running for reelection in 2024, Roy, he made a verbal contract. He put a video out. Because these allegations have been around for like almost three years now. We've been talking about them on this show. You might recall, in the immortal words of CBS Miami's Jim Defeat, I want
News Reporter
all of that, but.
Billy Corben
And the, you know, short, you remember, it's on the. It's on the stream deck. It's one of our carts.
Roy
So making sure it's not Michael Putney.
Billy Corben
So that's a bang, bang, snort, snort. I didn't have that as as bang bang, snort snort. So this is a video of small excerpt from the video that Fabian besabe posted in 2024. This video message is my verbal contract to you. Should any of these allegations ever prove true against me at any point in the future, I would resign on the spot and be held accountable. In the wake of the jury's verdict, I took to Instagram as I often do, Roy and I posted about the I believe 25 South Florida elected officials who had endorsed Representative Fabian besabe for his 2026 reelection campaign. This will be his third consecutive election. He won the previous two. And I posted these two dozen names and basically ask them two questions. Number one, what is the current status of your endorsement in the wake of the verdict? And two, have you ever attended one of Fabian's notorious pool parties at his Miami home which he named Shiloh? He named his house and I will tell you, I think the first and I welcomed everybody to join the conversation in the comments section. In the interest of transparency, let's just have this conversation openly right here. And the first and I think since then six officials have revoked, rescinded, withdrawn their endorsements of Besabe. But one was the first and I think the only tough to wade through all these comments. The only elected official who took to the comments section is Bal harbor councilman or council member. I don't know how the most appropriate title took to the comments on my Instagram and wrote endorsement polled and he should resign immediately. Which is of course what Fabian Besabi had promised to do if these allegations were ever proven true. But then he posted a second comment. To be fair, I asked two questions right? Roy and I have not attended any of those pool parties. Council Person Councilperson Councilperson Buzzy Sklar from the tiny town or village or municipality of Bal Harbor. This is just north of Miami Beach. There is this very ritzy village. It's a half square mile with a population of about 20 695% of whom are white. The average income is over like $70,000, which is more than double the national average. It's home to the world's most expensive and exclusive shopping mall and no blacks or jews allowed till 1982. So beyond the Needles Bal harbor. So Buzzy, thank you for being here. I know Buzzy a long time as a Miami beach guy as an entrepreneur and I don't really know you from your political life here. I do know that I don't know any entrepreneurs who are not brave and willing to take risks and willing to buck the, the trend. And I thought this was a layup, a gimme like this. Fabian Wasabi, how you know, where do you stand on. I wasn't judging anybody. You guys are elected officials, your jurisdictions, if you will overlap. I get that there has to be relationships whether you voted for him, supported him, whatever you guys are serving at the same time in the same place and you have to do business together, so to speak. But I thought it was pretty easy in the wake of this trial to
Buzzy Sklar
say like it was definitely, it was the lowest hanging fruit on any tree out there.
Billy Corben
But, but dude, you were like one of six. And by the way, the sixth one happened like just now. So like this has been a slow trickle.
Buzzy Sklar
Dude, being an entrepreneur, you have to be able to pivot. Sometimes you make mistakes, sometimes you make wrong decisions. You know, I always say it's like, you know, jumping out of a plane and building the parachute on the way. And that's sort of one of the reasons I got into politics. You and I go way back. As a matter of fact, I think I gave you an ego trip magazine many, many moons ago. You and Alfred, some of your first press on cocaine cowboys. That's how long we know each other. When you were really just a kid. Again, this was a really easy decision. There are some decisions in life that you have to think about and then some things that just should be automatic, at least in my opinion. And this was definitely one of those things that, that was automatic, especially with his couch sitting contract that he looked right at the camera and said, hey guys, I'm going to resign my position if I'm ever found guilty of this. So he basically made that decision for me.
Billy Corben
Right? It wasn't your idea, it was his idea. You disagreed with him. Yeah. Listen, I'm going to tell you one of the things those losers, the Democrats get right is that there does seem to be a self policing mechanism. I mean Graham Platner took a lot. He definitely pushed the threshold of what was tolerable in the party, but he's out. Eric Swalwell out, Self purging, self cleaning. I still don't understand why Al Franken resigned the Senate, but that's a thing that also really happened. And if it's not leadership that self policing, it's the constituency, you know, it's the voters, it's the base of the Democratic Party that would not tolerate this shit. If Abian Besabi was a Democrat, I'd be calling him out just the same. But the party by now would have expelled him. From the House, they certainly, certainly wouldn't still be running for reelection. So you are a Republican. So have you gotten any pushback from your party for taking the stand?
Buzzy Sklar
No, no, not at all. And in all honesty, you would hope the Democrats would do something about it, but nothing in life as we know is guaranteed. They've showed definitely a little bit of a track record of doing that, but then again, they've showed track record of letting people stay in positions a little too long. Also, I've got.
Billy Corben
You mean like Mitch McConnell? Oh, no, wait, he's a Republican, by the way, RIP Mitch McConnell, you know,
Buzzy Sklar
again, who basically is controlling the, the strings on that dude mannequin marionette.
Billy Corben
So let's be fair. In the interest of full transparency with the audience, we pre record this podcast. So who knows what state Mitch McConnell is going to be in by the time this thing. This thing. I mean, I mean, you know, go easy, bro. Pour a little sake out for Mitch McConnell. And I'm glad you're wearing the hat because I forgot to ask you in our conversation before this, I'm like, what are we plugging, Buzzy? What are we plugging? What's the business?
Buzzy Sklar
We're really not plugging it, I think, Billy, I think you've been around for a good, you know, dozen or so of my businesses, you know, so again, entrepreneur. That's again, just sort of why I got into politics also, you know, really just wanting to, with no ulterior motives, just wanting to make sure my community is well taken care of.
Billy Corben
I like what you said. Also, you know, about calling balls and strikes. I'll use that term, calling balls and strikes. But like, you know, you don't get to open. You don't get to open 12. I blew it, Roy.
Musical Performer / Rapper
Sports.
Billy Corben
There you go. Sorry, it was sports metaphor. So you don't get to open 12 businesses without, like you say, some trial and error. You say I called it right. I didn't call it right. I am curious. I do want to talk a little bit about Bal harbor politics. But I want to ask though, one final thing about this besabe situation. Are you surprised that more people have not been a little bit more forthcoming as you have and withdrawn their support? Is there some fear? Let me start there. Maybe that's fair. Is there some fear that if he is still the representative For House District 106 covers a lot of municipalities in Dade county, they might interpret him as having controlling some purse strings, bringing home the bacon for these municipalities, for these lawmakers? I don't want to call it political shakedown or extortion. But oftentimes that fear does come into play. Are people scared to speak truth to power?
Buzzy Sklar
You know, great question. I'm sure people are. Again, I think that's sort of where I differentiate myself as a politician. And I'm going to air quote politician, you have to have your own mind, you have to have your own guile, and you have to have your own ethics. And, you know, again, there's sort of no amount of money that you could sort of back that type of behavior. It really was shocking to me when you posted that. I actually was just getting off a plane. I got into my Uber, heading home, and I saw a notification come up and I checked it and I'm like, oh, this is the easiest thing ever. Boom, boom, boom. Like during my Uber ride. And for only 6 out of the 20 some odd people not to step forward because you tagged them all. So we know they all have Instagram or even just to pick up the phone and call you, send you an email. I, I thought this was the easiest thing ever. But again, I'm never shocked when it comes to political behavior from some people,
Billy Corben
but regularly disappointed as I am. So I want to ask this. Bal Harbor, I mean, you can count the number of traffic lights in your town on one hand. I think, is it that you guys have three now? You're growing.
Buzzy Sklar
Yeah, we are. We're getting huge. And we split some with Surfside on 96th street, so I'm only going to count those as you share.
Billy Corben
So. But there is a movement. We're seeing it with the federal government in D.C. we've been seeing it in Tallahassee in the state of Florida, where they want to centralize power, take it away from. In the case of dc, the states, you know, in the case of the federal government. In the case of the state government, Tallahassee, they want to take it away from local governments and municipalities, which to me runs seemingly counter to what Republican values are. And Republicans run the country. They run the state of Florida. But one of the major duty responsibilities that you guys usually have at the local level is zoning. I know people's eyes sort of glaze over and we start talking about that, but this affects every single person, what your local government does.
Buzzy Sklar
Yeah, we're a north south corridor. I mean, if you really think about it, the north south corridor runs through Bal harbor.
Roy
Yeah.
Billy Corben
On A1A. On Collins, on Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway.
Buzzy Sklar
Exactly. So be able to control our own. Zoning is unbelievably important because it's not like we could build a second story of streets above Collins and run it to mitigate traffic. So zoning and regulation of height and zoning, all those things become an integral part of local government decision.
Billy Corben
To be clear about this, this is like what zoning means is like you live in a residential neighborhood, for example, with single family homes. And if someone were to just buy a block, knock down these homes, and suddenly build some mega development or project right in the middle of your quiet little residential neighborhood, that's what zoning impacts. So, Buzzy, tell me a little bit about what's happening at Battle Harbor Shops. How is the state trying to usurp your authority to be able to control your own little community?
Buzzy Sklar
Well, there's a thing called the Live Local Act. And what the Live Local act does in principle is it allows for a certain amount of workforce housing to be built. And if you build within the formula of commercial property to your workforce housing, you basically do not have to go to local government for height restrictions. You could build as high as you want. Someone wants to put the twin towers on top of valhar shops, they have the right to do that. The problem is there's a lot of other things that impact that. So a lot of developers are now using the Live Local act to circumvent local government zoning regulations to basically build as high and as big as they want. And they're really missing. The purpose of what Live Local really is, is to bring workforce housing into neighborhoods. And there are certain areas where I think it works great. And then there are certain areas where it's such a confined neighborhood village or city that it really doesn't work great. And it's happening all over. I know it's happening at the Clevelander on Miami Beach. They want to put up a giant tower on Ocean Drive. There's a project in Doral. There's even one in Surfside at the little post office that used to be on 95th Street. They're trying to put a Live Local project there.
Billy Corben
And by the way, can we be clear, though, about this, this bullshit about affordable housing or workforce housing?
Buzzy Sklar
It's not really the percentage of workforce housing you have to put into the project, Billy, is so small, it's negligible.
Billy Corben
But also, but also what constitutes quote, unquote, workforce? It's like you have to make, what, $150,000 a year? Like, it's. Like it's not real affordable or workforce housing.
Buzzy Sklar
It's not. It's not for, you know, the janitor and the housekeeper, the fountain blue that really need local Workforce housing. You know, it's. I wouldn't define it as you said, as a true workforce housing because to me, that's the workforce. It was the guy that was, you know, working in my kitchen at B and B, you know, washing dishes, that's the guy that needs workforce housing.
Billy Corben
Is he going to be able to afford an apartment in Bal harbor at the new Bal harbor shops?
Buzzy Sklar
Not according. Not according to it. Because the way I think they do it again, please don't quote me on this, is I think they take an average of your minutes, municipality and a few areas around it. So to your point, you know, $70,000, you know, median income here in Bell Harbor. Yeah. You're not talking someone that's, you know, washing dishes in the back of a restaurant.
Billy Corben
What's funny is that all of this having been said, I still give Fabian Besami even odds on getting reelected. We don't look up on DraftKings what the odds are, but I'm telling you, I think it's even that this guy gets reelected in November for a third consecutive term. Do you know why? Hashtag because. Miami Irregardless on our way out the door. Thank you, thank you, councilman Buzzy Sklar from the great tiny town of Bal harbor village for joining us here. Of the village. It takes a village, Village we are a village. It takes a village of Bal Harbor. Follow him Instagram at Buzzy Sklar. Before we go, I'd like to make this. Can we dedicate. Can we dedicate a song? I feel like Delilah? Can we, can we dedicate this, this, this, this? Because Miami classic deep cut goes out to representative Fabian Besabi. Miami beach state representative Fabian Besabi is accused in a lawsuit of sexually harassing former intern and his legislative aide.
News Reporter
Besabi stated to his legislative aide, I want all of.
Musical Performer / Rapper
George Santos here and blush. Cause your grifting is too much. Ooh, baby. Miami's right wing queen. In Miami the fish marshmallow for who's elected and runs the show. And from inside your glass closet you're pushing policy blatantly anti gay, don't say gay. But you have a boyfriend and have a wife you love. Living a double fly harassing agents, not an ounce of class cause you want all of that. You want your intern's ass. You are the right wing queen. Lying front racist, end of scene right wing queen you get off on the sublovina. Yeah, criminal misogyny, you're dead. Filed for bankruptcy. So you got a lot for love sugar mommy, my dad's right wing queen.
Mike Ryan
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Roy
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Billy Corben
Sometimes the best conversations or interviews happen when I don't know where to start because there's just so much to talk about in the city of Miami and so much of what's happening here is emblematic, symptomatic, symbolic of the greater catastrophe that is American politics. And who better to talk to about that than friend of the show, Tomas Kennedy from the Florida Immigrant Coalition, who has been on the front lines of a lot of the here in the state of Florida and the city of Miami, Roy scribbling, Scribbling, Roy, that's four. Is that really four bombs today?
Buzzy Sklar
Yes.
Billy Corben
So the five. So, Tomas, a lot of us thought, you know. Well, not a lot. Not maybe not us, maybe not us, but a lot of people believe, you know, in watching all of the catastrophe of Miami during the Francis Suarez era with Joe Carollo, Alex Diaz, La Portilla, Tricky Vicky Mendez, the city attorney are Manuel Noriega, the city manager. We thought after that era was over that maybe shit would calm down a little bit with Pardo, with Gabella, the new commissioners, with Rolando Escalona, with Mayor Eileen Higgins. But things I think not only are as bad, but I would argue are worse than they were before.
Tomas Kennedy
Well, the meetings are starting somewhat on time. I guess that's the only marginal improvement.
Billy Corben
Yes, the meetings, the corruption starts on time now. Now in the city of Miami. That, that, that is. But again, arguably that is not an improvement. I always say the less they got done at the meetings, the more we'd win because the less they'd steal from us.
Tomas Kennedy
Some Florida politics has turned me into a libertarian of sorts. Less government, please.
Billy Corben
Less government.
Tomas Kennedy
Government to do less.
Billy Corben
It's.
Tomas Kennedy
Dear God.
Billy Corben
Well, it's kind of funny. Like we, we watched the. With this billion dollar bond boondoggle that Eileen Higgins, by the way, totally surprised everybody with she was sitting here on this show for a full hour in studio, never once mentioned that one of the first things she was going to do as mayor of the city was put the city in debt, basically double the debt of the city. $1 billion to $2 billion. Yeah, I mean, she never mentioned that. Talk about burying the lead. And you have five commissioners on that dais. Now, these are nonpartisan positions, but they are registered with political parties. They have affiliations. Three Republicans, two Democrats.
Musical Performer / Rapper
They have.
Billy Corben
And who are the, who are the
Tomas Kennedy
fiscal, fiscally responsible commissioners?
Billy Corben
The two Democrats, they were the fiscal conservatives. They were the only ones who sat up there. Christine King, I got to give, like she and I, you know, we have our issues. Hashtag because Miami. But I got to give credit where credit's due. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. She not only talked. Right. She voted. Right. And she.
Tomas Kennedy
She was great on the issue. She was great on this.
Billy Corben
She was a fiscal conservative. She sounded like my Grandpa, circa like 30, 40. Sound like a Reaganista or something. It was weird.
Tomas Kennedy
I mean, look, we were talking about this yesterday, right? I believe in the power of government to do good things. I believe in the power of government to spend on services for residents. What I don't believe in is again, a mayor who did not campaign on increasing the debt of the city by doubling. Doubling the debt of the city by over a billion dollars with no plan on how to repay it. As we're staring into the, you know, the abolition, the reforming, whatever you want to call it, of property taxes, which is a major revenue source for the city with no consultation on the community about the bond process.
Billy Corben
Meetings.
Tomas Kennedy
No meetings. Nothing. That's not how you do this. Right. And I think Christine, Commissioner Christine King was right on the money when she questioned a lot of this stuff and voted against it. She held strong.
Billy Corben
I mean, what else Gabella has transformed into worse now worse than Corollo. He's like Timu Carollo. And we need that cart. I was hoping to have it on the stream deck ready to go for this episode.
Tomas Kennedy
The.
Billy Corben
The Andrew Streeter ooga booga chant. You know, Tomas and I are going to sit at meetings now.
Roy
It.
Billy Corben
You know, and then just lay in the front row.
Roy
All right, don't get thrown out now.
Billy Corben
What do you. Come on for someone to get thrown out. What are you talking about? But this guy, like, first of all, he blocked me from Instagram just last week for telling the truth, for commenting. I mean, and not only dumb, probably illegal by the. Because this is not his personal account or his or his campaign account.
Tomas Kennedy
You should sue him.
Billy Corben
I might have no choice.
Tomas Kennedy
Yeah, he likes to sue. So I'm right back.
Billy Corben
This guy is suing. It's a frivolous defamation lawsuit against Elaine Devia from political cortadito. She's been on this show, a guest on this show for telling the truth. Truth about him in order to silence his critics and stifle dissent like some kind of third world tin pot dictator. Want to be like Fidel Castro. Like a. Tries to get me thrown out of city hall just for asking him good questions. Actually is defending police corruption. I don't even know where to start with this guy. Like. Like he was always a problem he was always unstable and unqualified. He's like a Jaguar parts salesman. He doesn't really. He doesn't really have the qualifications to be up there on the day is talking about. Talking that ooga booga. But to be. To be like, voting on multibillion dollar decisions. Just last week, they voted car salesman.
Buzzy Sklar
No.
Billy Corben
Jaguar parts salesman.
Tomas Kennedy
Okay, there we go.
Billy Corben
Okay, so. But he's up there negotiating, like, mega real estate deals. And yesterday, last week, they voted on another $150 million expenditure after already green lighting. A $70 million expenditure and $1 billion expenditure. I just don't.
Tomas Kennedy
Listen. This is a guy that almost literally came to blows with Joe Corrella during a meeting, which.
Billy Corben
Right.
Roy
And this is a good fight.
Tomas Kennedy
Yeah.
Billy Corben
Charged him. Charged.
Tomas Kennedy
Charged him to physically assault them.
Mike Ryan
Which.
Tomas Kennedy
Entertaining. I mean, sure, it was funny, but it's. It really is a disqualifying thing to do as a commissioner.
Billy Corben
Like assault and battery or attack tempted.
Tomas Kennedy
There's honestly some caveman.
Billy Corben
Hey, hey, Roy. We got him into it. I was afraid Roy was going to walk out after that song.
Tomas Kennedy
You know what?
Musical Performer / Rapper
You can't.
Tomas Kennedy
You can't be doing that. You can't be. You can't be assaulting, like, fellow commissioners or. Or charging at them. It's embarrassing.
Billy Corben
He was always a blunt instrument, but we sort of let it slide as entertainment because he was like our blunt instrument against Carollo. But that's a problem. Like, you have to hold everybody to the same standard. Like I said, he was always unstable and always unqualified. It didn't matter that he was, like, butting heads with Corello, because now with Corrio gone, he is worse than Correll. Waving dossiers around and threatening people and stifling dissent.
Tomas Kennedy
The Bayfront Trust as his own personal slush fund.
Billy Corben
It's exactly going out like, one of
Tomas Kennedy
a million dollars to random nonprofits.
Roy
He's a Jaguars part salesman. So he's like Chris Farley and Tommy Boy, dude.
Billy Corben
We have Cuba. This Roland Escalona, this guy 11 years ago was in communist Cuba, and now he is a sitting city commissioner making decisions about, like, multibillion dollar expenditures in the United States. Okay? If you look at his social media, look at his Instagram, 11 of his last 13 posts, which go all the way back to, like, May. It's over, like, two and a half months. Eleven of the 13 are about Cuba. They're not even about out the United States or my. He's like, march for Cuba. How about we march for Miami? How about we free Miami from this Insanity. Again, totally unqualified up there, doesn't know what he's talking about. We warned him that you can't trust the administration, you can't trust the city attorney's office. And he's just up there taking their advice. And by the way, he talks a good game, but it doesn't matter what you say. It matters how you vote. It matters what you do. And he's up there with the crocodile tears. When we were there on 287G. I hope you can bring the guy around on this, but the guy is, like I said, newly arrived to this country, basically, and he has not yet agreed to vote to end the 287G agreement in the city.
Tomas Kennedy
Yeah, look, I mean, I'm still withholding judgment on him there. I've met him.
Billy Corben
He's very new.
Tomas Kennedy
He's. He's very new. You know, I think he's under a lot of pressure. He seems like a perfectly nice guy, seems like a good person. You know, maybe I'm naive on the bond issue, I disagree with him fully. You know, and as again, I'm an independent, but I lean towards like what you might call the left or the progressive side or Democrats. Yeah, exactly. But again, I believe in the power of government to do good things for people. Again, I just want to read it. What I don't believe in is irresponsible spending in a city that has done multiple of these bonds where the money is allocated into unaccountable projects. Just to me, it's. Again, we talked about this already, but it's bizarre to see the three Republicans on the dais take this sort of fiscally irresponsible, unaccountable big government spending tack. So I do have to question that. But again, I withhold judgment and I hope that he, I think he's still a vast improvement from, from the person that previously occupied that chair which was in God We Trust.
Billy Corben
But here's the thing, so much better than that guy. Ok, But Joe Carrillo owes the city millions, possibly tens of millions of dollars in legal fees for a lawsuit that he should have been out of pocket for. And they allowed him to continue appealing all the way to the Supreme Court on the taxpayers dime when he should have been paying the entire time they gave him a credit card. And he owes the city millions of dollars. And instead of taking action against him and pursuing that debt, they all just voted 5 to 0, including Escalona, who was elected to stop the corridor corruption because Corrella's brother, you remember Frank Carrillo, was Running to take over his old seat, which had been taken over by his older brother. And he voted 5, 0 to give Joe Corollo $770,000 in taxpayer money to settle a lawsuit that Joe Carollo had brought against the city and should have been paying out of PO for his own legal expenses. It is an outrage. This city commission and this mayor and the city manager, the new guy, are out of control. They are absolutely reckless. Honestly, you've never heard me say this. I feel like the governor should come down and they should, like, take over the city, like, put the city into receivership. This governor, any governor, like, the city is completely out of control. Well, let me. Let's talk about this. Hang on. We're talking about the money and the fiscal irresponsibility. The city of Miami in the last week or two, we learned from Bloomberg News, Miami is now the least affordable city in the country for the first time in history, has surpassed New York, New York. The metro area of Miami, down here is the most unaffordable, least affordable, most expensive place to do anything. And there's also San Francisco, and there's expenses related to Miami that they don't even have in New York. Like, everybody has a car. So there's insurance, there's gas, there's like all kinds of.
Tomas Kennedy
I mean, I go to San Francisco all the time. I go to New York. I mean, at least there you can walk, you can take the train, you can take the trolley. You don't have that here. You really do need a car.
Billy Corben
So on top of the unaffordability, I mean, we went to dinner last night. I got crazy. I got two cocktails, basic tequila, pineapple. Got an appetizer that we shared with the table, and I got shrimp tacos.
Tomas Kennedy
Good.
Billy Corben
Three shrimp tacos. How much was yours?
Tomas Kennedy
I got three cocktails. A little much.
Roy
But you need it down here.
Tomas Kennedy
I do need it, yeah. Drowning my sorrows after that Bayfront Trust party.
Billy Corben
About that.
Tomas Kennedy
Yeah, we'll talk about that. $64 for three drinks, and that's on the cheap end, but $64 for three.
Billy Corben
Upcharge appetizer. Fried pickles, which I share with the table. Fried chicken, delicious. They were delicious. Shrimp tacos, which were very good. Three little tacos and two basic, you know, two ingredient cocktails with tip. 18, 71.
Tomas Kennedy
And we were.
Billy Corben
We were 71.
Tomas Kennedy
We're a black market. Like, it's. It's a.
Roy
Like they already make you pay the tip.
Tomas Kennedy
It's a shitty sports bar, you know, like, we weren't.
Billy Corben
It's not a shitty sports. But it's a sports basic.
Tomas Kennedy
It's a basic normal sports bar. It's just not a luxury bar experience.
Billy Corben
No like so like a proletariat joint, you know, it's a sports bar.
Tomas Kennedy
Like I shouldn't paint. You can't use that language in this
Roy
wants to mole in this game Comrades.
Tomas Kennedy
We go to black market comrades for three. Three drinks. Come on, man.
Billy Corben
Oh, by the way, your, your drink had one ingredient plus ice. I literally just somebody say ice.
Tomas Kennedy
I literally just had Jameson on the rocks and I did not use the word ice. I said big rock.
Billy Corben
Big rock.
Roy
One big rock.
Billy Corben
Rock big rock. Dwayne Johnson walked in. So my point here is that we have real problems. Nobody who lives in Miami, who built Miami, who has been in Miami can afford to be in Miami. We have government giving away sports welfare to FIFA, which turned out to be a bust by the way. We're now getting the feedback from the hotels who are like, first of all, there were fewer visitors to Miami International Airport this year than there were at the same time last year.
Tomas Kennedy
You can read this in the Miami Herald. This is not coming from me. A lot of the hotel operators, we're talking big hotel operators, Faena, like beautiful Miami beach, downtown Miami. They're saying we actually lost money. Not just because the hotel bookings weren't where we expected them to be. We lost out on bookings for conferences and events because people didn't come here
Billy Corben
because everybody avoided it because of FIFA.
Tomas Kennedy
So it actually cost people money and
Billy Corben
we spent then I think I've lost count, I guess at least 70. Cuz once you add up all the penny ante shit like Bayfront Park, FIFA fan fest, which they gave away for free.
Tomas Kennedy
Let's talk about yesterday. We're at the Bayfront Trust park meeting and these bozos said, you know what we didn't account for was in the rental agreement with FIFA for Bayfront park was the loss of revenue on the
Billy Corben
parking fees, which is their biggest revenue.
Tomas Kennedy
And what we brought up is that like actually there was no rental agreement to, to agree upon because you gave
Billy Corben
away the park for fanfare free.
Tomas Kennedy
So you, you don't even know what you're talking about. Not only was there loss of revenue on the parking, didn't even charge the rental fee that you're talking about here. You have no idea what you're voting in.
Billy Corben
They deprived the residents access to the park for like five weeks for setup, breakdown and fan fest. They lost the revenue from any concessions or parking at the park during that period. And they charged FIFA exactly $0.
Tomas Kennedy
And who brought that up at the meetings? Repeatedly at the very front Trust park meetings ahead of the FIFA.
Billy Corben
I don't know who exactly.
Tomas Kennedy
You and I, multiple times. And guys, we're leaving a lot of money on the table here.
Billy Corben
Why, why are we giving this multibillion dollar organization who is already getting 60, 70 million dollars in public money, why are we giving them free rental of. We all went for messi of our Central Park. It's so not only are we giving
Tomas Kennedy
them free rental, but we're cutting off re this while doing it.
Billy Corben
And the members, these idiots who voted for everything we were telling them not to do at the meeting this week were literally like, hey, you know, maybe we shouldn't be giving up. It's like unbelievable. Only you guys could have voted on this four months ago. Oh, wait, you did bend over for Beckham.
Tomas Kennedy
Unbelievable.
Billy Corben
Unbelievable.
Trial Witness
And.
Billy Corben
And I stood up and told the truth to Miguel Gabella got called a liar. He didn't. He didn't cite a single instance again in which I was lying.
Tomas Kennedy
You got, you got on the soundboard what you got called?
Billy Corben
Well, no, not just, not just that.
Tomas Kennedy
Billy got called a communist and a socialist in that order by Gabella was
Billy Corben
like, with all due respect, at the end of the day, Billy, you are a communist.
Tomas Kennedy
You're a socialist.
Billy Corben
You're a communist and you're a socialist.
Roy
That's what they said. Pick one.
Billy Corben
First of all, the guy doesn't even know what either of those words mean, let alone the difference between them. And incidentally, I don't think you can be those things in that order. I think it's the other way or I think socialism is the gateway drug into. Into communism. I don't respect you. What they're saying, what they're saying about you, what they're saying about me. I hear that you're a communist, you're a socialist, my guy, at the end of the day, at the end of the day, your guy, my guy, my guy, your guy. At the end of the day, with all due respect, with all due respect, at the end of the day, all due respect, I wasn't going deep enough with that. We don't have. So. So incidentally, we don't have any carts for Cabela yet.
Roy
Yet.
Billy Corben
We're going to have to have like a whole stream deck just dedicated to Gabella. So we have to.
Tomas Kennedy
That's a treasure trove right there for the soundboard.
Billy Corben
That guy is reckless. And I said, this is going to
Tomas Kennedy
beat us up a few Decembers ago
Billy Corben
when he first got elected, I said that this guy is going to accidentally get himself indicted because like he just doesn't know what he doesn't know. And there's so much hubris. And I think he, he may mean well at times, but I think he's his own worst enemy. A lot like Corroya. And I just think that I don't
Tomas Kennedy
think he means well at all. Not often.
Roy
You know, you wouldn't like him when he's angry.
Tomas Kennedy
I would not know. I don't know, man. Like the suing of journalists like that, that I just can't.
Billy Corben
But I feel like he gets talked into dumb kind of like Escalona, like he's not getting good advice. There's no better angels.
Tomas Kennedy
But Escalona, it does not act like that guy.
Billy Corben
Like, not yet. He's too new.
Tomas Kennedy
But see, I don't, I don't ever see a scalona charging another commissioner to try to beat them up. Like they're just like there's a, there's a character profile around Gabella that I saw from day one that I was like, I don't like that guy. Yes, that guy should not be a commissioner.
Billy Corben
There was always something a little. Yeah, there was always a screw loose.
Tomas Kennedy
And also, he's not the commissioner.
Roy
No.
Billy Corben
His wife is the commissioner. Yeah, Mrs. Gabella is the commissioner.
Roy
Well, that's how I usually go on marriages.
Billy Corben
And he. Well, no, she is everywhere. She is at every public meeting. She's interacting with staff. Her private Gmail address is like copied on emails from the district office for like meetings with constituents. She's basically a quasi public official. And I don't know, I feel like the city attorney needs to opine on this because that creates liability in the workplace.
Tomas Kennedy
There were six private security officers at the Bayfront Trust park meeting. And there were literally five attendees, including Billy, myself, James Reyes and two other people.
Roy
I don't trust Billy. You gotta have a lot of security
Tomas Kennedy
officers and Billy Corbin and a police officer that they off duty to just sit there and do nothing. And who was standing at a. Like there was literally a barrier between the Bayfront Trust board members and us. There's a barrier for some reason. And who was standing, sitting there, there recording by the way, with the security office?
Billy Corben
Commissioner Gabella.
Tomas Kennedy
Commissioner Gabella.
Billy Corben
The wife. The wife. The real, the real commissioner. So, you know, here's the thing. I think it's important.
Tomas Kennedy
Bizarre. It's weird.
Billy Corben
Well, it's important to note that there were like zero security guards before. I think it's important to note that we have gone from zero security guards to six police officer. There is metal detectors now.
Roy
Yeah.
Billy Corben
At the door with one security guard. You walk in, you sign in, you walk down the hallway. They've now moved the meeting to, like,
Tomas Kennedy
this is all taxpayer money, by the way.
Roy
Yeah.
Billy Corben
And there's now a second doorway where there's another security guard and then there's the big tall guy. So there's technically two security guards at their door. At that door. Then there's this weird barrier that Tomas was talking about where there's two more security guards, one on either side of that barrier. That's five. Then there was a uniformed officer who I presume was either either off duty and being paid by the taxpayers or on duty being paid by the taxpayers and not patrolling her area. And then there was the sergeant at arms, who is one of the highest paid officers in the room. That is eight. And again, security guards are long.
Tomas Kennedy
I counted officers, five attendees from the community, including Billy and me.
Billy Corben
There were more security guards and police officers than there were attendees at the meeting.
Roy
Yeah.
Billy Corben
The man's lost his guy goddamn mind. And that is if you're.
Roy
You're.
Billy Corben
You would argue he never had it to begin.
Tomas Kennedy
I would absolutely argue that.
Mike Ryan
Boo.
Billy Corben
God. Oh, God.
Mike Ryan
Boo.
Musical Performer / Rapper
Got.
Billy Corben
Oh, God. And I'll tell you, like, I really was hoping that we would make Miami boring again. I want government to be boring. I don't want to have to go to all these meetings. I don't want to have to. It's a drag, man.
Tomas Kennedy
And they're going to be worse when they're at the Inter Miami Freedom Party. Dark bullshit stadium.
Billy Corben
Boy, you have just. He is just. He has just opened up a whole new can of sports welfare.
Roy
Yeah.
Billy Corben
We're gonna.
Tomas Kennedy
The audience tell you what's happening with Miami City Hall.
Billy Corben
No, we're not. We're not talking about it this time. We're gonna save it. No
Musical Performer / Rapper
later.
Billy Corben
It's gonna go on fire.
News Reporter
Nope.
Roy
Nope.
Billy Corben
We're. No, we're not doing it in this episode. We're not doing it. We're not doing it. Oka. Oka. Oka. Oka. Cocaines.
Date: July 31, 2026
Recorded Live: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Host: Dan Le Batard (not present in transcript), with Billy Corben, Roy, and guests
Focus: Miami politics, recent scandals, local government dysfunction, and comic commentary on Miami’s unique flavor.
This "Because Miami" episode brings listeners into the wild state of local Miami politics in 2026, pinpointing recent scandals, city commission drama, and the city's spiraling out-of-control spending and dysfunction, all steeped in signature irreverence. Broadcasting live from Downtown Miami, the show features filmmaker/commentator Billy Corben, co-host Roy, Bal Harbour councilperson/entrepreneur Buzzy Sklar, and Tomas Kennedy from the Florida Immigrant Coalition. The panel rips into the hypocrisy and chaos of Miami institutions, dissecting the fallout from high-profile court cases, dire city governance choices, and the consequences for locals.
This episode captures the outrageous, at times hilarious, and always maddening state of Miami politics. It blends hard-hitting criticism and comic relief as it examines scandals, unchecked city spending, and the increasingly unaffordable reality for Miamians. Endlessly quotable and unfiltered, it is a must-listen (or read) for anyone tracking the fate of Magic City’s government and culture.