#BecauseMiami: Cover Up Cowboys

Richard Lamondin, a Miami-based environmental entrepreneur and father of a four-year-old, is running for Florida State Senate in District 38 not because he’s a political insider, but because he’s tired of a system where one party has held unchecked power since 1999. He argues that Florida’s Democratic Party has become a 'controlled opposition'—silent in the face of corruption, from giving away Miami-Dade College land to a billionaire developer to spending $1 billion on a controversial Everglades 'concentration camp.' Lamondin’s campaign centers on three freedoms: the freedom to raise a family (with affordable preschool and expanded Medicaid), the freedom to afford housing (by prioritizing workforce housing over luxury towers), and the freedom from corruption (by exposing shady contracts and demanding transparency). His message is clear: the status quo is failing families, and the only way to break the Republican supermajority is to flip seats. Meanwhile, David Villano, editor of the nonprofit Coconut Grove Spotlight, reveals how local journalism is fighting back against municipal opacity—using public records requests to expose how $450 million in bond debt is being pushed without transparency, even as city officials refuse to engage with reporters. The episode paints a picture of a city where accountability is buried under bureaucracy, and where real change may come not from politicians, but from citizens demanding to see the numbers.