Who will be the next Miami International Airport director? More than 100 people applied
More than 100 people applied to become Miami-Dade County’s next aviation director, a position that puts the person in charge of the county-owned Miami International Airport.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava makes the final hiring decision on who gets the plum job, which paid more than $400,000 when Lester Sola held the position between 2018 and 2021. Levine Cava asked for Sola’s resignation in June after some setbacks related to MIA contracting decisions that she was unable to get through the county commission.
The deadline to apply arrived Aug. 15, and the applicant list Miami-Dade released this week includes several names considered by insiders to be leading candidates for the position. Some of the names not on the 115-person list were telling too, since they seem to eliminate would-be candidates that attracted some internal buzz as well.
Among the applicants:
Ralph Cutié: Levine Cava picked him for acting director once Sola departed, a promotion from his regular position as assistant director for facilities management and engineering. A 30-year veteran of county government, Cutié joined the Miami-Dade payroll in the 1990s working for the transit department.
Tina Millan: A project consultant who used to work at MIA, Millan was part of the county team that helped revamp the North Terminal renovation project after it faced delays. In the private sector, she’s worked on airport projects, including as senior vice president of aviation at WSP. She’s also the daughter of former county commissioner Natacha Seijas, who was removed from office in a 2011 recall election.
Joseph Napoli: He was chief of staff at MIA under Sola’s predecessor, Emilio Gonzalez, and followed him to Miami as a deputy when Gonzalez became city manager. Now Napoli is a city manager himself, at Cooper City.
Also on the applicant list, as confirmed by the mayor’s office Monday, are two MIA executives: Maurice Jenkins, director of information services, and Robert Warren, assistant director for business retention.
The mayor’s office confirmed two other notable names as well: Bruce Kaplan, a former Miami-Dade commissioner who resigned in 1998 after reaching an agreement with prosecutors over allegations he falsified a financial disclosure form; and Carlos Jose, a former MIA executive who was briefly suspended and then transferred to the county’s Information Technology department in 2017 after a Miami Herald report on corruption involving an employee he supervised.
Two notable names that got some buzz as potential candidates but didn’t apply are: Mario Rodriguez, a University of Miami graduate now running the Indianapolis airport; and Miguel Southwell, a former deputy director at MIA who later served as general manager at the Atlanta airport.
Levine Cava hasn’t said when she’ll announce her pick for aviation director, which also oversees other county-owned airports, including Opa-locka and Miami Executive.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 5:16 PM.