Power shift in Miami-Dade politics: New mayor, new commissioners, new agenda

Term limits knocked a decade off the average age of a Miami-Dade commissioner on Tuesday as five new board members promised a fresh approach to local government hours before the county inaugurated its first female mayor, Daniella Levine Cava.

“Madame Mayor, Madame Mayor, Madame Mayor,” said Kionne McGhee, 43, the new District 9 commissioner in South Miami-Dade and the outgoing Democratic leader in the Florida House. “With your permission, later on my daughters would like to take a photo with you, because this is a moment where glass ceilings have been shattered.”

The coronavirus pandemic stretched the swearing-in ceremonies into a full day’s activities, with commissioners taking oaths individually in chambers restricted to their guests and then sterilized before the next ceremony began.

Five of the new board members won open seats made vacant by term limits approved by voters in 2012 and only now forcing retirements. The average age of the commission on Monday was 66. Now it’s 56, dragged down by McGhee and four other newcomers in their 30s and 40s.

“We, the new class of county commissioners, have a lot in common. We grew up in a Miami that was divided and violent,” said Raquel Regalado, 46, replacing 71-year-old Xavier Suarez, as the District 7 commissioner, representing the southern Miami area. “The diversity that now makes Miami famous did not exist when we were growing up.”

Like Suarez, Regalado’s father, Tomás Regalado, used to serve as Miami’s mayor. He administered the oath for his daughter, a candidate for county mayor in 2016.

Levine Cava doesn’t represent a generational shift. At 65, she’s just a year younger than the term-limited mayor whose nine-year tenure ended at midnight Monday, Carlos Gimenez. She opted not to use the commission chambers for her swearing-in, and the larger inauguration event at the Adrienne Arsht theater highlighted other themes of change.

The grandmother of two is the county’s first female mayor, and the first Democrat to win the office since Alex Penelas in 2000. She campaigned as the Democratic standard-bearer in county politics but pitched her administration as one of unity and consensus building.

“We are united by a common need to stand together against a deadly virus,” Levine Cava said after taking the oath of office. “One that we can only overcome by working to protect and care for one another.”

She asked for a moment of silence for the nearly 4,000 Miami-Dade residents who died from COVID-19 this year. She said she wore white as a nod to the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s recognition of women’s right to vote. She called the COVID pandemic an “unprecedented” health and economic crisis.

“I am ready to confront this crisis and lead our community in this difficult chapter,” she said in an address that switched between English and Spanish. “Although we face great challenges, I am filled with optimism.”

In her address, Levine Cava announced the appointment of a senior executive at Jackson, the county-owned hospital system, to be her administration’s chief medical officer.

Dr. Peter Paige will continue his duties as chief clinical officer at Jackson, while taking on the new role in the Levine Cava administration, according to representatives of the hospital and the mayor’s office.

Jackson relies on the Miami-Dade commission for funding, and Jackson executives were part of the group advising Gimenez on his pandemic response. In her campaign, Levine Cava was critical of Gimenez for not closing businesses sooner in the spring and reopening them too soon in the summer.

Levine Cava said Paige will help the county “ensure our pandemic response is driven by data and science and not politics. ... Dr. Paige will help provide the trusted expert voice Miami-Dade has been missing to ensure a more effective response.”

The wealth divide in COVID’s spread was part of René Garcia’s swearing-in speech as the new commissioner representing Hialeah and Miami Lakes in District 13. Garcia, 46, is replacing Esteban “Steve” Bovo Jr., 58, who was term-limited and lost to Levine Cava in the mayoral race.

“Why are African-American and Hispanic communities so disproportionately affected by COVID? Why? Because of the lack of access to primary-care physicians in those neighborhoods,” said Garcia, a former Republican state senator and partner in a consulting firm that represents healthcare companies. “That, my friends, needs to change. And we can do better.”

A sixth commissioner, incumbent Joe Martinez, also took his oath for a second term Tuesday. The other incumbent reelected, Eileen Higgins, couldn’t attend the ceremony because she’s in isolation after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

Oliver Gilbert, 48, went from mayor of Miami Gardens to representing the city and surrounding areas as the new District 1 commissioner, replacing Barbara Jordan, 77. He ticked off a list of problems needing action, including a transit system needing expansion, stagnant wages, gentrification, a sewage system under a court-ordered improvement plan, and violence “that prevents houses from becoming homes, because in a home you feel safe.”

“I assume that everyone did the best they could with the cards they were dealt,” he said. “But what we have is: Now, and together. Now and together, we unleash the potential that will grow this community for generations.”

Keon Hardemon won his District 3 seat representing Miami while serving as chairman of the city commission. The 37-year-old replaces rival Audrey Edmonson, 67, who endorsed other candidates in the race. That made Hardemon the only new commissioner to win without the endorsement of their predecessor.

Hardemon thanked the “naysayers” during his speech, and the lawyer who grew up in Liberty City said his victory was a win for people still struggling with injustice and unequal opportunities.

“This inauguration is for every inner city child that is told that he is never going to amount to anything,” he said. “It is for the young men who are harassed on the streets every single day and feel that they have no redress.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 8:19 PM.