Miami Beach attorney named interim city manager, first openly gay city executive

Hailed as a “trusted adviser” to the Miami Beach Commission, City Attorney Raul Aguila was appointed interim city manager Wednesday.

Aguila, 58, will run the city government for the next several months while the city hunts for candidates to replace the outgoing Jimmy Morales, who will leave his job Friday to work in the administration of newly elected Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

Aguila’s appointment, which takes effect Saturday, was officially a unanimous vote. Commissioner Ricky Arriola motioned to appoint another candidate, Fire Chief Virgilio Fernandez, as his preferred choice. Commissioner Micky Steinberg initially indicated support for Fernandez but maintained she was open to all candidates. Both voted to appoint Aguila.

In all, five senior-level city employees applied for the temporary position as the city’s top administrator.

Aguila’s $314,908 base salary, which is more than Morales’ $305,736 salary, will remain unchanged as Aguila switches jobs, a city spokeswoman said. When the city appoints a permanent manager, Aguila said he will return to his role as city attorney. In the meantime, Deputy City Attorney Rafael Paz has been promoted to city attorney.

Aguila is Miami Beach’s first openly gay city manager, according to the city. His appointment means that five of the 10 city leaders and senior officials who sit on the City Commission dais are openly gay men. The others include Commissioners Michael Góngora and David Richardson, City Clerk Rafael Granado and Paz, the incoming city attorney.

“For the first time in [Miami Beach] history, we have an openly gay manager, city attorney and city clerk,” Aguila said in a statement. “It’s historic.”

Aguila, who enrolled in law school at 19, graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1985 after completing his undergraduate studies at Florida International University.

He joined the city’s legal department in 1993 and has served under 6 different mayors, including the late Seymour Gelber and his son, current Mayor Dan Gelber. In 2014, Aguila was unanimously appointed city attorney after working for two decades as an assistant city attorney. Prior to his stint in Miami Beach, he briefly worked for Monroe County as an assistant county attorney.

He plans to retire as city attorney in March 2022 after his contract ends.

Commissioner Michael Góngora, who made the motion at Wednesday’s meeting to appoint Aguila as interim city manager, said Aguila’s experience working directly with commissioners on proposed legislation made him the ideal choice for the job.

“I made the motion to support Raul Aguila as interim city manager because our city needs stability at this time and someone with broad-based knowledge of how our city works to steer pending projects forward,” Gongora said in a statement. “Raul has been with Miami Beach for over 28 years through six different mayors and is nearing the end of his distinguished career, and I believe him to be our best choice as interim manager.”

Aguila will assume the emergency powers commissioners granted to Morales during his declared COVID-19 state of emergency. Since March 12, Morales has used his unilateral decision-making authority to impose curfews, business closures and alcohol-sale restrictions. City law allows the manager to wield his emergency authority for a 72-hour period, but the commission has regularly extended Morales’ powers.

Following Wednesday’s vote, Aguila told commissioners that he would rely on public health experts to make policy decisions related to the pandemic. He also affirmed that he did not intend to apply for the permanent city manager position.

Assistant city managers Eric Carpenter and Alina Tejeda Hudak, and Chief Financial Officer John Woodruff, have said they will apply to replace Morales. The city is nearing an agreement with firm Ralph Andersen & Associates to conduct the city manager search.

City leaders expect the process to last about six months. Before Morales became city manager in 2013, interim City Manager Kathie Brooks served for about eight months.

“I hope to be able to leave things perhaps a little better even for our new manager so that he or she can hit the ground running,” Aguila said. “I look forward to being able to go back to being city attorney but in the meantime there is work to be done, and I hope to be able to work with the team over there and meet with them as early as tomorrow to hit the ground running.”

The other candidates for the interim position were Fernandez, Code Compliance Director Hernan Cardeno, Public Works Director Roy Coley and Assistant City Manager Mark Taxis.

Of all the candidates for the interim and permanent city manager position, Coley is the only one who lives in Miami Beach. Aguila lives in Coconut Grove and Morales lives in Coral Gables.

Arriola, who has been a frequent critic of the city’s COVID restrictions, said he has “extremely high regard” for Aguila but supported Fernandez for the job because of his emergency-management experience. He said he deliberated until late Tuesday night about who to choose, but settled on Fernandez because navigating the pandemic with a vaccine around the corner is the “most urgent matter facing our city.”

“I can make the case for any one of these candidates,” he said.

Gelber, who said the city has an “embarrassment of riches” among its senior-level staff, said Aguila’s understanding of city operations made him a sensible choice.

“He is a trusted adviser to the commission,” Gelber said. “He’s been on the dais, and he’s watched all of the issues.”

Miami Beach’s form of government gives commissioners the authority to vote on policy decisions, but the city manager is responsible for carrying the laws out and running the city.

Morales, who recommended Fernandez or Taxis be appointed the interim manager, said Wednesday that Aguila knows more about Miami Beach than almost anyone in City Hall.

“I will make myself available at any time to assist. Phone calls, Zoom calls, I’m just across the bay,” Morales said. “Not that Raul needs it.”

This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 12:54 PM.

Martin Vassolo

Miami Herald

305-376-2071

Martin Vassolo writes about local government and community news in Miami Beach, Surfside and beyond. He was part of the team that covered the Champlain Towers South building collapse, work that was recognized with a staff Pulitzer Prize for breaking news. He began working for the Herald in 2018 after attending the University of Florida.