Mark Twain and the Miami Beach Penthouse: Dispatches from the New Gilded Age
If Mark Twain were alive today, he’d likely be banned from half the condo boards in Miami Beach. His wit would pierce the shine of the glass towers now casting longer shadows over our waterfront, and his warnings would echo through commission chambers—if only they’d let him speak past two minutes.
I’m reading the new biography “Mark Twain,” by Mike Chernow, and it’s like opening a time capsule that somehow feels eerily current. The original Gilded Age, a term Twain helped coin, wasn’t just about robber barons and railroad tycoons—it was about the erosion of democratic norms under the glitter of wealth. Sound familiar?
“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.”
— Mark Twain
“Bosses of the Senate,” political cartoon by Joseph Keppler, 1889.
Today, we’re watching local control dissolve like cotton candy in a sea breeze. State preemption bills flatten community voices, while luxury developers promise “world-class” amenities as a substitute for actual public interest. In Miami Beach and beyond, neighborhoods are being refashioned not for the people who live in them—but for those who’ll fly in for three weekends a year.
Twain would recognize the characters: the smiling speculators, the backroom deals, the bureaucratic doublespeak dressed up in planning jargon. He might chuckle grimly at our modern Gilded Age—until he’d see how real the consequences are for working families, renters, overtaxed infrastructure, and the soul of a city.
But Twain was also a believer in calling things by their true names—and in the power of regular folks to punch above their weight with truth and tenacity.
“We’re not against progress—we’re against surrendering Miami Beach to people who don’t live here, don’t vote here, and don’t care what gets bulldozed. This is our home, not a hedge fund.”
— Daniel Ciraldo, Candidate for Miami Beach City Commission Group 1
So here’s our job: tell the story clearly. Name what’s happening. Laugh at the absurdity when we must. But show up. Speak up. Vote like your neighborhood depends on it—because it does.
The good news? This isn’t our first Gilded Age. And the last time, when things got too lopsided, people pushed back. Reformers, muckrakers, and small-town organizers pulled the country back from the brink.
We can do it again—armed with humor, history, and just enough righteous outrage to make Twain proud.
About the Candidate
Daniel Ciraldo is a longtime advocate for Miami Beach, former Executive Director of the Miami Design Preservation League, and a candidate for City Commission – Group 1. His platform focuses on transparency, preservation, and community-first policies.
All views and policy positions expressed on this website are those of Daniel Ciraldo, candidate for Miami Beach Commission, and do not reflect the views of any organization, endorser, or client with which he may be affiliated.
Because he is a powerful force behind historical preservation and will stand up to developers while protecting our city and state against overdevelopment.
Daniel has been a superb leader of MDPL, and will be an equally terrific addition to the City Commission. He is principled, smart and deeply loves his hometown of Miami Beach. He will be a commissioner who will always keep the needs of residents uppermost. I enthusiastically endorse him for City Commission.
Because he is such a great guy and community leader!
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Over the last several months, Miami Beach residents and neighborhood associations have been met with a pattern of complaints and sharply worded allegations from recently elected Commissioner David Suarez. These filings and statements—often framed as ethics concerns—have cast a cloud over the work of volunteers who give their free time to improve and protect our neighborhoods.
Miami Beach is in a zoning crisis not seen since the 1970s. The Florida Legislature has taken away one of our most powerful safeguards — the residents’ right to vote on major development increases. Until Tallahassee stepped in, any significant zoning change beyond current limits required voter approval. Now that protection is gone, and neither the City of Miami Beach nor key civic groups have challenged this loss in court.
