It’s Official: Annette Taddeo is Running for the County Council

It's been rumored for a while, now it's official: Annette Taddeo is going to run for the County Council in a bid to replace retiring local icon Katy Sorenson.

Driven by my commitment to community service, I am excited to officially announce my candidacy for Commissioner of Miami-Dade's District 8, an area that includes the cities of Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, Homestead, and unincorporated Southwest Dade. The open seat is being vacated by the Honorable Katy Sorenson.

Leaders emerge in the face of daunting challenges. I was inspired to run because I want to offer my talents as a successful small business owner and community leader to help steer Miami-Dade through the churning seas of unprecedented economic woes. I'm a fiscally conservative businesswoman who believes Miami-Dade government should slash wasteful spending, operate transparently and provide maximum value to the real bosses, the tax paying residents.

Jobs, crime, healthcare, education and “hold the line” are priority issues. I'm going to work tirelessly to create local jobs, reduce crime, advocate for affordable healthcare, and prioritize education. I will be a vocal champion of sustainable growth, green initiatives and the preservation and protection of our natural environment with a keen focus on the Everglades.

Unfortunately, I don't live in District 8, but it would be great if Taddeo, who ran a good Congressional campaign in 2008, got elected…although as a reasonable person she could be mighty lonely on the Commission (as was Sorenson, more often than not).

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35 Responses to It’s Official: Annette Taddeo is Running for the County Council

  1. Roly Castillo says:

    Tell me exactly what has Taddeo done for our community lately?

    I’ve never seen her behind a tractor or on a farm, let alone spearhead or support any green initiatives. Actually, I’ve never seen her in jeans, period.

    And if she starts doing these things now, don’t bother, we know why she’s doing it.

    The only thing I have seen Taddeo do is amass wealth and use that wealth to get into office and tout her appointments and “credentials” as a business leader. And you know what successful business people want more of? More business! And they are always hungry.

    All I see is a very wealthy, very ambitious person who wants to go to Washington through South Dade. A friend of mine just told me that she may want to have another shot at Ileana again after redistricting in 2012. This may be fine and good but don’t do it at our expense!

    Elect someone who understands our issues – someone from here!

  2. michael says:

    It’s obvious you’ve never met her, or you couldn’t possibly write that. Go talk to her. You’ll change your mind.

    And I don’t know if you meant it that way but the “someone from here” line sounds uncomfortably nativist. Half the people in Miami-Dade county were born abroad.

  3. question says:

    So, the above discussion led me to go to Taddeo’s website and click on and read “About Annette.”

    Under “Early Days,” it states (exactly): “Annette Taddeo was born on April 7, 1967 in Colombia. Even though she spent her first 17 years in Bucaramanga, Colombia, she is a natural born U.S. citizen (U.S. Constitution, Amendment 14).”

    Now, I like to think I know something about Constitutional Law and the 14th Amendment. And if I know anything, it’s that she is absolutely not a “natural born” U.S. citizen. I am neither a nativist nor birther but a huge fan of facts and don’t know if this means that she will try to run for President or simply that her website has the wrong Con Law I consultant.

    In any case, she is a naturalized U.S. citizen, but not natural born, correct?

  4. Keith says:

    According to her website, Taddeo’s father was an American citizen (and veteran) at the time of her birth in Colombia.

    Under the tenuous assumption that wikipedia is accurate, that makes her a natural born citizen. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law)

    (I would’ve substantiated further if I wasn’t in the middle of exam madness)

  5. Roly Castillo says:

    Please, wasn’t she seriously being considered for a position in Washington with President Obama right AFTER her loss to Ros-Lehtinen? And correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t she seriously thinking about running to replace Alex Sink as Florida’s CFO just this past February?

    The more I read about her, the more I conclude that she’s just going to use this important post as a launching pad for “bigger and better things.” Remember, redistricting takes effect in just 2 short years and what better way to position herself for a run to a new or redrawn Congressional district than from the perch of a cushy County Commission seat. A “coinkidink?,” I think not!

    She can go “office shopping” someplace else!

  6. michael says:

    If, like me, you think she’d be great in Congress, isn’t that a good thing?

  7. question says:

    Looking at theWikipedia link (Wikipedia is definitely accurate) leads to “Acquisition of citizenship” – “Through birth abroad to one United States citizen.” I don’t know the pertinent dates and number of years are and all of the varying rules in the article made my mind numb, but this is only for citizenship in general, right?

    Basically the question is whether to be a “natural born citizen” of the United States you must be born in one of the 50 states, except for specific situations like McCain, etc. At this point, even if Taddeo is truly “natural born,” I’d love some additional explanation about it from her. She must have needed a team of lawyers to figure this out.

  8. Roly Castillo says:

    To ‘Michael,’ Yes, I do believe she has good qualities and she SHOULD RUN – for Congress! In District 25. She would make a much better candidate against David Rivera instead of Joe Garcia.

    Look at all the positives – It’s an open seat, meaning everybody has an equal shot. ALL of the candidates for this seat are Hispanic. Democratic voter registration is up over the past 2 years in District 25. She can take advantage of the fact that the bulk of Colombian-American voters RESIDE in District 25. Even I can vote for her in District 25. Good Lord, I wonder who’s advising her!

    You very own statement declares – “If, like me, you think she’d be great in Congress, isn’t that a good thing?” – underscores the suspicions of sooo many people down here that she’s only running for the Commission so that she can then run from a position of authority to a new or redrawn Congressional seat in as little as 2 years when the new redistricting lines take effect.

    The people of Commission District 8 take their politics very seriously. This area is mostly rural and the least urban of all the 13 Comission Districts. Unless you have deep and long running roots down here, people will, naturally, suspect your motives. Let me give you some examples:

    Gene Flinn was one of the founders of the Village of Palmetto Bay before he became it’s mayor. Lynda Bell served in the Homestead City Council for 6 years before she became the first woman mayor of that city. Pamela Gray has been a long serving member of the County’s Planning Advisory Board, appointed by Katy Sorenson herself and is one of the founding members of ‘Hold the Line’ and Albert Harum-Alvarez has long been an environmental activist who has gone before the Commission to advocate for green causes. He even built his own ‘green home’ from scratch as a model for the rest of the County to follow.

    When was the last time Annette Taddeo was even before the County Commission itself. If you have to think about it, its too long…And too late.

    She should run for Congress. If not now, in 2 years. Just dont do it from a Commission Seat – people hate that!

  9. michael says:

    If she’ll do a good job on the Commission, I’d be happy to have her for a long or a short term.

    I’ve never heard of ‘people hating’ the idea that people run for Congress from a commission seat. I’ve rather heard the opposite — people often want their federal officials to have local politics experience.

    Which of the other candidates are you supporting?

  10. Roly Castillo says:

    Are you from Miami-Dade? When was the last time a Miami-Dade County Commissioner ran for Congress? Wanna know why? Because a Commission seat is meant to be a long-term post, not a revolving door.

    And I don’t know who you’ve been talking to but someone who uses their seat for a short-term stint as a springboard to other positions of power has always, always been a big negative, unless there’s a sudden death or retirment. Why?, cause it shows that the person is not serious about the post they hold, only about their own ambition. It’s a position of trust, not profit. Instead of becoming a ‘leader’ she becomes just like every other politician – a power hungry pariah.

    You asked me which other candidates I’m supporting. Although I have not yet made up my mind, I’m seriously considering between Gene Flinn and Lynda Bell. Why? Because they have both led their communities well, faced the voters, stood for election time and time again and they’re just following the natural progression of things – local commissioners and mayors go to the “County Congress,” State Representatives and State Senators go to the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate. U.S. Senators and State Governors go for the Presidency and so on…

    With her very strong business leadership background, she would be fantastic for CFO – and she was seriously thinking of taking this post just 2 months ago. It’s right up her alley and there’s no “learning on the job.” People from this district expect someone with a long and deep understanding of the issues affecting Distict 8. Remember, this is an agricultural district, not a business district.

    Annette Taddeo doesn’t have any ties here. Her business is not here, her bank is not here, not even her accountant is from here. What? No office space, no banks and no accountants in District 8? Are we just gonna dismiss the rest of the candidates who have long been from here simply because Annette’s claim to fame is to run against a popular Congresswoman and she has enough money to buy her own seat?

    I think not!

  11. michael says:

    I’ve lived in Miami-Dade since 1992.

    I guess if your litmus test is so very narrow that someone has to have their bank in the district to be eligible for county council, it’s not surprising we get the kind of crony council we’ve suffered from. I would have thought that living in an area constituted “ties” to it, but there you go.

  12. Roly Castillo says:

    Whatever dude, if you at least do not understand the reasoning behind my arguments, that’s okay, I’m sure that the rest of the voters of District 8 will agree with you. Here’s a little hint – the blogs are destroying her and those are just the liberal ones!

    The fact that you call it the ‘County Council’ and not by it’s proper name, the County Commission only shows how out of touch you really are and that you’re still longing for ‘Annie’ to go to Washington.

  13. question says:

    michael, can you weigh in on this “natural born” citizenship issue?

  14. michael says:

    My understanding of the ‘natural born citizenship’ issue is that the majority view is that the test is whether you had citizenship at birth. Citizenship at birth can be acquired in a variety of ways, including being born in the USA, and having a US citizen parent regardless of birth location. There can be some special cases that create complexities and for which there may be less consensus (e.g. was the Panama canal zone ‘in’ the US; what to do about children who acquire citizenship by law after birth, but without requiring naturalization), but those two cases capture most of it.

    There is a (small) minority view which tries to create distinctions based on the grounds on which you acquired citizenship at birth, arguing that some statutory grants effective at birth don’t count the way constitutional ones do, but I don’t think the courts have ever bought that, nor should they.

    There is a fringe which suggests (tongue in cheek?) that the method of birth is what’s relevant, i.e. that Cesarean births are not “natural born” and/or that clones would not be.

    I think everyone agrees that persons who require naturalization to become US citizens are not “natural born”.

    More than that, deponent sayeth not.

  15. Roly Castillo says:

    My own maternal grandmother was born in Barranqilla, Colombia during a business trip by their parents back in 1908. Both of my maternal great-grandparents were American citizens. One, natural born, Grand Rapids Michigan, the other naturalized after the Spanish-American War (Puerto Rican). My grandmother was never considered “natural born.” Just an American citizen born to American parents.

    Maybe she claims to be “natural born” because her father was a WWII veteran and anyone born to American vets overseas, automatically becomes United States citizens.

    Anyway, I don’t see this as an issue. It’s not like she’s going to run for president or anything like that. I consider “natural born” anyone who is born in the United States its territories, embassies and military bases around the world. Anybody else derives citizenship from their parents or are naturalized.

  16. michael says:

    Your grandmother was not “considered” to be “natural born” by whom? (This is just my curiosity, as at the end of the day neither your opinion, nor my opinion nor the considerers’ opinion, will weigh heavily compared to the courts’ opinions.)

    Incidentally, we had a go-round on in this issue on this very blog back in 2008. Have a look at Is McCain a “Natural Born Citizen”?.

  17. Roly Castillo says:

    The United States Government. The Immigrantion and Naturalization Service to be exact.

  18. michael says:

    Now I’m *really* curious: in what form did this INS determination take? How was it communicated? Did they tell her she could never be President (which AFAIK is the *only* legal difference between the ‘naturally born’ and the naturalized other than some rules on revocation of citizenship for fraud in the citizenship application)?

    Is there any chance you might be confusing the rules for passing on citizenship to foreign born children* with the naturally born clause in the constitution? (There was for many years, and for all I know may still be, a rule that restricted the ability of persons born abroad to pass on their citizenship to their foreign-born children unless various domestic residency requirements were met.)

  19. Roly Castillo says:

    I don’t know any of this because I was only 20 and 22 when my grandparents passed away in 1990 and 1992, respectively. All I know is that my grandmother derived her citizenhip status from her parents when she was born. They never claimed she was a “natural born” just that she was an American citizen when she was born because of American-born parents.

  20. question says:

    interesting, i’m in awe of the fact that you probably just typed all of that from your head rather than going to any source……if only i can be like that for any random issue someone asks me about in ten years

  21. Roly Castillo says:

    I’m sorry, but I do not understand what are you are trying to say?

    I’m just stating the facts as I know them in regards to my deceased grandamother’s American citizenship status, as it was told to me by her and my parents. Nothing to be in ‘awe’ about. If you think you have memory problems yourself, I do suggest you consult a physician.

    Now, If you are referring to my other comments, well, that is easy. I consider myself a well-informed voter who prides himself in the fact that he has never missed a single vote since I became eligible to vote back in 1985 and have no intention of slowing down. I am well read with over 500 books in my library (this helps in the memory department) raging from history, biographies, political issues and analises and I was a former Deputy Registrar for the Elections Department.

    The biggest threat a politican can ever have is a well informed and conscientious voter.

  22. Just me says:

    Serious questions have emerged on the blog today:

    Is Annette Taddeo’s ambition to serve her community insidious?
    Is “Roly Castillo” a troll?
    Is “question’s” awe directed at Roly or Michael?
    Will Roly’s grandmother run for president, but be denied the chance after the birthers have their way with her?

    Tune in next time for answers to these questions and more!

  23. Keith says:

    Those are some serious and complicated questions.

    All I can say is it’s a good thing Annette Taddeo doesn’t have a Certificate of Live Birth issued by Hawaii. Then we would really have a problem.

    Furthermore, since Professor Froomkin (the “dude”) is so out of touch that he actually referred to the “County Council” instead of the “County Commission,” I think we really need to reconsider the veracity of this blog.

  24. question says:

    my comments have been directed toward Prof. Froomkin concerning the legal issue so it’s no wonder you have no idea what is going on and continue to write emotionally charged paragraphs…..re-read the whole sequence, then my comments, put them into something called, wait for it, oh yeah — CONTEXT. repeat until you understand.

  25. Keith says:

    Question, I’m a little confused by your last post. Was it directed at me?

    If so:
    (1) – I’ve only posted twice, and wouldn’t call either of them emotionally charged. I’d accept that I’m a smart-ass or not particularly funny, but I’m having trouble with emotionally charged.

    (2) – My last post was meant to be entirely sarcastic, which, incidentally, was not directed at you, except for “those are some serious and complicated questions,” which was my facetious agreement with what I presumed was your own sarcasm.

    (3) – Context? Repeat until I understand? Huh?

    To avoid future confusion, I’m temporarily retiring from writing sarcastic posts. Please clarify and set me straight if I’m completely misunderstanding you.

  26. Keith says:

    After re-reading, it looks like I actually did read out of sequence and that question’s last post wasn’t directed at me.

    I apologize for the confusion. I’m chalking it up to sleep deprivation, and refraining from further posts until finals are over. (I’m thrilled that my cognitive abilities are apparently degrading just before exams. I think I’ll be turning in early tonight.)

  27. question says:

    no worries Keith, you’re great…I love that you went to Wikipedia for information…..in the future I too will make clear the recipients of my sarcasm, in this case, Roly, and now to just me, yes Roly is a troll…….the idea that prof. froomkin is out of touch for saying council instead of commission makes me laugh endlessly and sick all at the same time……

  28. Roly Castilo says:

    How typical, when you don’t have a credible argument to counter mine, you resort to name calling – Nice! I expected more from attorneys and wanna be legal professionals! “But there you go.”

    For all the aforementioned reasons, Annette Taddeo should run for Congress – in District 25. I am a resident of District 8 and I WILL NOT vote for her because I am convinced that she is simply using this position to launch a future Congressional run in just 2 years.

    We are more important than that. We deserve someone who will treat this seat with respect – by staying there and not moving on in just one term, or worse, sooner.

    My vote will go to either Palmetto Bay Mayor Gene Flinn or Former Homestead Mayor Lynda Bell.

  29. michael says:

    I’m going to guess — I don’t know — that AT doesn’t live in FL-25, but rather in FL-18, which is why she ran there. Generally, voters at all level (county commission or Congress) prefer someone who lives in their district, although for Congress it’s not actually a legal requirement. Suggesting someone run in an district they don’t live in doesn’t strike me as realistic for most people.

  30. Roly Castillo says:

    Ron Klein, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the later Calude Pepper do not/did not live in the districts they represent/ed. And the voters don’t seem to mind at all.

  31. michael says:

    That’s interesting. Pepper had been a Senator, so he’s a special case, but I wasn’t aware of the other two. I wonder if this is something specially Florida? Or have times changed that much?

  32. Roly Castillo says:

    Claude Pepper was, indeed a U.S. Senator – nickname “Red Pepper” before he entered the House of Representatives in 1963. I figure since the law does not require a representative to actually live in the district he/she represents, its a moot point. however, he did have long standing ties to the district, that why I think people didn’t care or made an issue of it.

  33. Just me says:

    I don’t think congressional district lines matter to many people in south Florida due to how they are drawn. Just look at Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s district. It is crazy! It takes four hours to drive from one end to the other. But yet Dade County still has 5 districts that reach out into various other counties.

    I live in District 18 (Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s District), but feel a greater sence of community with people in District 21 (Lincoln Diaz Balart’s District) than with poeple living three hours away in Key West in my “home” district. So, who cares whether my congressman lives in my District.

  34. anonymous says:

    Did anyone see Annette Taddeo last night at the UEL forum? She was atrocious. I wouldn’t even vote for her to walk my dog. She had no idea what she was talking about and was stammering the entire time.

  35. Roly Castillo says:

    A few things I have to get out of the way first. True to the moderator’s early comments about me earlier on this blog, I had never met Annette Taddeo before. I did last night. She WAS very nice, I have to admit. She’s taller than I thought she would be. Very professional looking. Very businesslike.

    But I had absolutely no idea what kind of night I was in for. I was literally taken aback at her level of ignorance on the issues. I mean, I almost felt sorry for her. I’m serious about this. She was horrendous!

    Now, in all fairness, the UEL people DID NOT have their act together at all. The program was over an hour late in starting and that damn microphone! It was sooo bad that if I was heading the UEL orgnization, I would demand that the Rusty Pelican reduce my total bill by a few hundred dollars – Yes, the microphone situation was that bad!

    Anyway, although there are a few ‘nutjobs’ running, like the Rabbi and Jason Cullen (I knew what to expect from them). Needless to say they did not disappoint with their foolishness. Gene Flinn, Pamela Gray and Lynda Bell did very, very well. I was very impressed with their respective presentations – particularly Lynda Bell. But this must be said about these last 3 – they actually answered the questions they were given.

    But Taddeo was ALL OVER THE PLACE last night. She stammered quite a bit (maybe because of the microphone, I don’t know) but she went on and on about things that had no relevance to the subject at hand. One thing that annoyed me quite a bit was the fact that she would bring up an interesting subject like the County’s watershed study and as she began her statement, she would stammer and go on to something else!!! Really annoying!

    The only real thing I was really able to absorb is her support for adding 2 more at large Commissioners to the current 13. On this subject, I’m totally against her position. We have 13 politicos there now who can’t get anything done and she wants to add 2 more to that pile? Really?! 2 At Large Commissioners means that they would run Countywide – can you imagine the amount of $$$ they would have to raise to get elected to THOSE seats? Think about it for a moment. It’s tatamout to a County Mayoral race. Prompting people to ask – who’s the real mayor of the County? Plus all the extra bureaucracy they would bring? Quite frankly, the idea is preposperous, especially during these times. Local governments all over the country are cutting back in almost every service they provide and here we have “Ms. Clueless” actually proposing to expand it! Ridiculous!

    I think Taddeo is a nice person but she did a much, much better job while running for Congress. Maybe that’s just it – she’s not a ‘local candidate’, she’s a Federal candidate. She should stick with that because by the performance she gave last night – local issues are simply way over her head.

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