Who are the new Biscayne Park commissioners?
Three candidates were elected to the Biscayne Park Village Commission on Tuesday in a close race.
Laura ‘Betsy’ Wise, a 50-year-old divorced mother of twins running in her first election, won a four-year term as commissioner. She received the highest number of votes — almost 30 percent of a total of more than 2,200 votes.
Wise said she is looking forward to fostering a spirit of collaboration and excitement in the village but knows there may be challenges ahead.
“Frankly, I’m anxious because I know I will be the target of the negativity that has plagued the village in the past, but hey, I used to be a standup comedian. I’ve been heckled before, I can take it,” Wise said.
Born in Coral Gables, Wise graduated from Ransom Everglades and was a bartender on South Beach. She lived in Los Angeles and worked as a standup comic before returning to South Florida.
Biscayne Park is a small leafy bedroom community with no commercial property and a population just over 3,000, nestled between Miami Shores and North Miami. The candidate with the most votes serves four years; the second- and third-place candidates serve two years.
Daniel Samaria, 64, came in second with 24.39 percent of votes. Samaria previously made two unsuccessful bids for the Biscayne Park commission. A Marine Corps vet who spent six years serving on the village’s Recreational Advisory Board, Samaria now owns his own pest control company and he wants villagers to be more involved in village ventures.
Samaria said he was surprised by how close the race was. Like Wise, he was also concerned about negativity in the campaign climate.
William Tudor, 48, came in third place with 23.49 percent of votes. Tudor is the only candidate with political experience. He was first elected in 2016 and spent a decade as a U.S. Marshal. He wants to spend more money on road improvements and hire a full-time public works employee.
Jared Susi, 32, brought in 22.24 percent of the vote but failed to win a seat as commissioner. The village manager, Krishan Manners, said they do not anticipate a runoff election.
Susi was born and raised in North Miami Beach. He now works for his family’s construction company full-time. He believes the village could cut its costs by outsourcing more services, as it did with waste pickup. He wanted to bolster Biscayne Park’s reserves, which were depleted after Hurricane Irma.
Manuel Espinoza, 67, withdrew his candidacy on Oct. 23, after the ballots were printed. Espinoza is a controller for a Broward County property management company.
This story was originally published November 6, 2018 at 9:37 PM.