Rosen Gonzalez headed back to Miami Beach Commission, Fernandez elected after runoff
Three years after giving up her seat on the Miami Beach Commission to run for Congress, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez has fought her way back onto the dais as voters in Tuesday’s runoff election chose her over opponent Raquel Pacheco to fill the city’s Group I seat.
Voters also elected Planning Board member Alex Fernandez to the Group III seat on the commission.
Rosen Gonzalez, 48, won Tuesday’s low-turnout runoff election with about 55% of the vote. Fernandez, 35, defeated investor Stephen Cohen with about 60% of the vote.
Tuesday’s runoff elections were held for both races after none of the candidates received more than 50% of the total votes during the first round of voting on Nov. 2. Commission terms last four years.
Rosen Gonzalez, who was first elected in 2015 but resigned to run an ill-fated congressional campaign in 2018, is filling a seat vacated by term-limited Commissioner Micky Steinberg. Her victory follows an unsuccessful comeback attempt in 2019.
“Tonight was an important victory for the residents of Miami Beach,” she wrote in a Tuesday night statement that also congratulated Pacheco for her campaign and Fernandez for his win. “I am deeply appreciative of their confidence and intend to exceed their expectations.”
The Miami-Dade College professor and community activist, who has used her political influence to successfully oppose development projects on city-owned land, said she would give residents an independent voice on the commission.
But Rosen Gonzalez’s activism — and in-your-face brand of politics — have earned her enemies on the commission, as the sitting mayor and two commissioners supported Pacheco’s campaign. Rosen Gonzalez, who has committed gaffes and fought ethics complaints since she was first elected, said she felt like she was up against the political machine of the city’s leaders and the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, whose leaders rebuked her in September when she falsely claimed to be Hispanic.
At her victory party, Rosen Gonzalez said she hoped she could repair the relationships with her political opponents and move the city forward together. She thanked her supporters and the volunteers who worked on her campaign, clinking glasses of champagne with them.
“We were up against the meanest, nastiest machine. It was a lot of negative energy coming at us. The attacks were vicious,” she said. “We had a different kind of machine. We had a resident machine.”
Rosen Gonzalez cast herself as the more resident-focused candidate, saying she had no paid campaign consultant and fewer resources than Pacheco despite raising more money and spending more. Pacheco, who was the subject of repeated attacks from Rosen Gonzalez and her supporters in recent days, has said it was Rosen Gonzalez who contributed to the negativity in the race.
Rosen Gonzalez was endorsed by former city commissioners and former Mayor Matti Bower, who also advised her campaign. Rosen Gonzalez campaigned on improving public safety in South Beach and across the city with increased police staffing and “zero tolerance” enforcement of even minor crimes. Another key pillar of her campaign was preventing the sale of the North Shore Branch Library.
Fernandez will join her on the commission, succeeding term-limited Commissioner Michael Góngora. His campaign centered on tackling crime in South Beach with increased police and code-enforcement staffing and limiting short-term rentals.
Fernandez works as a legislative aide to Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa and has served as chairman of Miami Beach’s Police/Citizens Relations Committee.
Fernandez made a late entry into the Group III race. He filed to run in September after a judge ruled that Góngora, who sued the city challenging its term limits, could not run for reelection. Góngora endorsed Fernandez, whom he once defeated in a bitter 2009 commission race. Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava also endorsed Fernandez.
Fernandez, a former Miami Beach commission aide, campaigned on his experience drafting legislation and first-hand knowledge of the city’s planning and policing challenges.
“I am so grateful for the trust placed in me by the community,” Fernandez wrote in a statement. “Today’s victory is a message that residents want a cleaner, safer, and more resilient Miami Beach. My commitment is to honor their wishes by serving with integrity, accessibility, and a mission to do good.”
Among the issues facing the new commission will be how to enact new alcohol restrictions after voters approved a non-binding referendum calling for a new 2 a.m. last call for alcohol sales citywide, with exceptions to be determined by the commission. Pacheco and Cohen did not personally support the referendum, but said they would follow the will of the voters.
Rosen Gonzalez said enacting new alcohol restrictions and improving public safety will be a key priority for the commission. She said she believes that she, Fernandez and commissioners Mark Samuelian and Steven Meiner will form a four-person “resident majority” that may help prevent the North Beach library site from being sold to a private developer. She said Meiner and Samuelian supported her campaign unofficially, although they did not publicly endorse her. The three other commissioners, including Gelber, supported Pacheco.
“We want to make sure that Miami Beach is safe, we want to respect the will of the voters,” she told the Herald. “We have a lot of challenging legislation coming before us. I’m going to be there for the residents because I want them to feel safe in their neighborhood.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 8:51 PM.
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