After impasse, Miami Beach Commission picks Joy Malakoff to fill vacant seat

Miami Beach selected former Beach commissioner Joy Malakoff on Wednesday evening to fill a vacant seat until the November elections.

Although Malakoff was appointed by the City Commission, the selection process wasn’t any less dramatic than a citywide election

Thirty-eight people from all walks of life applied for the 10-month job, which opened up earlier this month after Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez was forced to step down in order to comply with Florida’s resign-to-run law. The applicants included doctors, lawyers, engineers, retirees, a pharmacy student, a 27-year-old Microsoft employee and a former member of the National Guard.

While some had experience serving on neighborhood associations and city boards, Malakoff was the only former commissioner in the running up until Wednesday and was widely expected to win.

Then, on Wednesday morning, Saul Gross, another former Beach commissioner, threw his hat into the ring. That led to a deadlock at the commission meeting after three commissioners cast a vote for Gross and three for Malakoff. When the tally didn’t budge following a second round of voting, Mayor Dan Gelber suggested drawing lots.

But some commissioners balked at the idea. “The easy thing is to take the name out of the hat,” said Commissioner Micky Steinberg, urging her colleagues to make the choice on their own without resorting to chance.

Another commissioner, Michael Góngora, asked the city attorney if Malakoff could serve one half of the term and Gross the other. The answer was no.

The impasse ended an hour into the discussions when Steinberg switched her vote to support Malakoff. She said she wanted to spare the city the $300,000-plus it would cost to hold a special election. The final vote to appoint Malakoff was unanimous.

Gross told the Miami Herald that he had waited until the morning before the meeting to apply in order to avoid the nastiness that often accompanies political contests.

“Truthfully I did not want people shooting at me until the last minute because I know how these things go in Miami Beach,” Gross said. “The shorter period that you’re a target, the better.”

Malakoff, who submitted her application in December, did not escape attacks.

Fliers criticizing the former commissioner were mailed to some residents and secretively distributed at a popular residents meeting known as the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club, where all of the applicants had been invited to speak the day before.

Security camera footage shared with the Herald showed political consultant Randy Hilliard — known as the “Prince of Darkness” for his work running negative campaigns for local politicians — leaving a stack of the fliers at City Hall. The fliers did not include the name of the entity that paid for them, instead listing the address to City Hall.

The mailers accused Malakoff of accepting a “juicy $50,000, unadvertised, no bid” city contract in February 2018, shortly after she left office.

The City Commission did authorize the city manager to negotiate a consulting contract with Malakoff in 2018 to help Miami Beach convince residents to vote for a general obligation bond program on the November ballot. That required commissioners to waive an ethics rule that would have compelled Malakoff to wait longer before working for the city. But the decision sparked controversy and Malakoff was never awarded the contract.

Hilliard did not respond to a request for comment and it wasn’t immediately clear who had paid for the mailers.

Malakoff, a retired banker who served on the City Commission from 2013 to 2017, decided not to run for re-election in 2017 after suffering a back injury. But when the opportunity to serve for 10 months presented itself last year, Malakoff decided to apply.

“I need no training as a commissioner,” she told elected officials on Wednesday evening, vowing to support current initiatives rather than advocate for major policy changes.

The selection process could have been even more dramatic.

Rosen Gonzalez resigned last year in order to run for Congress after changes to the state’s resign-to-run law forced her to choose between her city post and a long-shot congressional bid. She submitted her resignation last April, but didn’t have to step down until Jan. 3. Rosen Gonzalez initially considered applying for her old seat.

She told the Herald in early January that she had decided against it, however, because she couldn’t promise not to run for a four-year term in November. Several commissioners had previously said they wanted an appointee who would pledge not to run again. (Malakoff has promised not run in November.)

Rosen Gonzalez said in a text message that she also felt the selection process was “obviously not a clear and transparent process” because “rumor has it that commissioners have already chosen Joy Malakoff.”

“So much for democracy,” she added.

In December, elected officials decided to appoint an interim commissioner to serve out the remaining months of Rosen Gonzalez’s term, rather than holding a costly special election. If they hadn’t reached a consensus by Feb. 2, however, a special election would have been automatically triggered.

The competition for interim commissioner drew far more candidates than a typical Miami Beach election. Some applicants said that was because they wanted the opportunity to serve on the commission without the hassle and expense of running a citywide campaign. But that’s not to say there was no campaigning. Many of the candidates sought meetings with commissioners, who were flooded with calls and emails in the weeks leading up to the decision.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated that the mailers were legally required to include the name of the entity that paid for them. Mailers sent prior to an appointment, rather than an election, would not fall under the state’s legal definition for electioneering communications.

This story was originally published January 23, 2019 at 8:54 PM.