Jorge Exposito, former Miami Beach commissioner, dies at 63

Former Miami Beach commissioner Jorge Exposito may have been too nice for politics, as his colleagues and loved ones put it, but he cooked a mean rabo encendido.

Exposito passed away on Friday after battling lymphoma. He was 63.

Born in Cuba in 1955, Exposito fled with his family to the United States in 1962. He spent his childhood in Southern California, then moved to Florida to attend the University of Miami, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science and met his future wife, Alina. He worked as an insurance executive and played an active role in his Miami Beach community as a member, then president, of the Bayshore Homeowners Association.

Following an unsuccessful run for commissioner in 1992, Exposito served on the commission from 2009 to 2013, when he lost his reelection bid to criminal defense lawyer Michael Grieco. He most recently worked as risk manager for the City of North Miami Beach.

“Being a commissioner wasn’t about prestige,” Paul Exposito said of his father’s public service. “It was about an efficient way to help as many people as possible.”

This generosity even extended to workers Exposito met at Publix and Walgreen’s: He helped one find an apartment and helped another file an insurance claim after a car crash, his son said. The neighborhood’s stray dogs were beneficiaries, too. He’d never turn anyone away, said his wife, Alina.

“More than once, I would see Jorge with a dog I didn’t recognize,” former City Manager Jorge Gonzalez said of Exposito. “If I was a dog, I would want to go hang out at his house.”

Two of Exposito’s signature projects as commissioner were the overhaul of the Bayshore Municipal Golf Course, known as the par-3 golf course, and revamping Miami Beach’s convention center district. After Exposito left office, however, the commission replaced the $600 million renovation attempt with a new proposal.

As multiple colleagues recalled, when Exposito’s employer at the time gave him an ultimatum, asking him to resign from the commission to keep his job, Exposito quit his day job.

“Jorge put his public service above himself and above his personal interests,” Gonzalez said.

While commissioner, Exposito was a member of the finance committee and a proponent of fiscal responsibility. He was especially dedicated to helping the elderly and LGBT communities.

“He was in the housing facilities for the elderly making sure their meals were proper for them, making sure that the facilities were proper for them,” said Alex Fernandez, who works in County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa’s office.

Fernandez and Exposito met in 2009, when they were running for separate seats on the Miami Beach commission. Fernandez recalled seeing Exposito give a boxed lunch to a campaign worker for another candidate standing in the heat at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens polling place. Exposito could see past the politics, Fernandez said, calling him “the definition of public service.”

Exposito was a talented chef known for his Cuban cuisine and his barbecues. Rabo encendido, an Oxtail stew, was among his favorite dishes.

“I don’t know where he learned these recipes, but he had them all committed to memory,” his son Paul said. He was also a doting grandfather to his grandchild, Vincent.

“He was my best friend, the best husband in the world. He spoiled me,” said Alina, his wife. “Not a day went by that we didn’t say ‘I love you’ to each other, and for that I’m very grateful.”

To his family, including Alina, he was known as papa.

Former Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower said what she’ll remember most about Exposito is his smile. “He was a very gentle soul,” Bower said. “There was not a mean bone in his body. He was all about love.”

A memorial service will take place at noon Wednesday at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Miami Beach, 3716 Garden Ave.

The family asks those who wish to make a contribution in Exposito’s honor to donate in his name to the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 8:34 PM.