Miami Beach will pick replacement for resigning commissioner, not hold election
The battle is on for a soon-to-be-vacant Miami Beach commission seat.
On Wednesday, the City Commission decided to appoint someone to fill Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez’s seat when she resigns on Jan. 3, rather than hold a special election.
But even before commissioners made a decision, potential candidates had been quietly lobbying elected officials for weeks. Some commissioners said they’d gotten calls or visits from multiple contenders.
“There are already people lobbying for this seat, making appointments with all of us at City Hall,” said Commissioner Michael Góngora. “There are many rumored names on the street that would like to be in there.”
The most important qualification for candidates? Several commissioners said they would favor a replacement who promises not to run for a four-year term in November 2019. Instead, they want someone who pledges to leave office after serving out the remaining months of Rosen Gonzalez’s term.
“I think that whoever we choose should be required to take it as a fill-in member,” Góngora said. “I don’t think that we should be appointing somebody to get a leg-up in the election,” he added.
Rosen Gonzalez resigned earlier this year in order to run for Congress after a recently expanded resign-to-run law forced her to choose between her city post and a long-shot congressional bid. She submitted her resignation in April, but she doesn’t officially step down until Jan. 3.
After Rosen Gonzalez’s resignation takes effect, the City Commission will have a month to appoint someone to fill her seat. If commissioners “fail or refuse” to fill the vacancy, according to the city’s charter, Miami Beach would hold a special election, which would cost more than $300,000. If no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the city would have to hold a runoff, which would bring the cost up to at least $600,000.
Elected officials balked at the price tag, citing the cost as their main reason for wanting to appoint a replacement. Commissioner Mark Samuelian noted that by the time the city holds a runoff election, the new commissioner would only be able to attend a handful of meetings before the November election. “That’s a huge investment if you talk about someone who is going to be here less than six meetings,” he said. “That’s like $100,000 a meeting.”
The City Commission decided to appoint a replacement at its Jan. 23 meeting. In the meantime, commissioners asked city staff to advertise the vacancy so that interested residents can apply, although they left the details of the application process up to the city attorney.
One possible candidate? Rosen Gonzalez, who joked about the possibility of getting reappointed during her farewell speech on Wednesday and hinted that she plans to run in November.
“Who knows? I may be back sooner than you think,” she said. “Maybe the commission will hear this speech, fall in love with me and reappoint me to serve out my term. And if they don’t, that’s okay. There’s always an upcoming election to look forward to.”
(In a text message, Rosen Gonzalez said she won’t make a decision until May when she finishes her Ph.D.)
Some Miami Beach residents have been urging elected officials to put Rosen Gonzalez back in office, arguing that they should honor the wishes of voters who elected her in 2015 before the state law was amended to force elected officials to resign in order to run for federal office. Rosen Gonzalez finished third in the August Democratic primary for the seat vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Rosen Gonzalez doesn’t have many allies on the commission, however, and has only a slim chance of convincing her colleagues to reappoint her.
But while her reappointment is a long shot, elected officials could opt for another former official.
Commissioner John Elizabeth Alemán said she would favor a former commissioner or administrator who could “hit the ground running” rather than spending months learning how City Hall works. “I wouldn’t want them to burn through half of this opportunity just getting up to speed,” she said.
One former commissioner already actively campaigning in City Hall is Joy Malakoff, who served on the commission from 2013 to 2017 but decided not to seek re-election after suffering a serious back injury.
Malakoff, a retired banker, told the Miami Herald that she has spoken with each of the commissioners individually and that she would commit to not running for re-election. Malakoff said she would use the remainder of Rosen Gonzalez’s term to ensure that the $439 million general obligation bond program, which voters recently approved in order to finance public safety, infrastructure and parks projects, “is off to a strong start.”
Former Beach commissioner Saul Gross, who served for two terms between 2001 and 2009, said he would also be interested in the job. Gross said he was contacted by a commissioner several months ago who asked if he would consider being reappointed.
“I would serve if they asked me to, but I’m not campaigning for it,” said Gross, president of the real estate company Streamline Properties. The former commissioner said his priorities would include making sure development “didn’t get out of hand” and helping small businesses.
At least one former Beach official doesn’t want the job. Although one commissioner joked on Wednesday that former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine was interested, Levine told the Herald that he’s not. “I think they have a phenomenal mayor right now and they definitely don’t need two mayors sitting on the commission,” he said.
Although the commission has yet to fill Rosen Gonzalez’s seat for the remainder of her term, candidates are already entering the race for the November election. Steven Jay Meiner, a lawyer, and Rafael Velasquez, a former commission candidate, have filed paperwork to run for Rosen Gonzalez’s seat.
Last year, Rosen Gonzalez accused Velasquez of exposing himself and trying to force her to touch his genitals while the two sat alone in a car. The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office decided not to charge Velasquez, saying there was not enough evidence to prove a crime took place. Prosecutors also decided not to pursue Velasquez’s counterclaim that Rosen Gonzalez made up the incident and filed a false police report in order to further her congressional campaign.
This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 3:27 PM.
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