Miami Beach commissioner faces criminal probe. Did she try to ‘interfere’ in election?
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is investigating whether Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez improperly used her position to try to interfere with an upcoming election, the Miami Herald has learned.
Multiple sources familiar with the probe said investigators will seek to determine whether Rosen Gonzalez used her office to try to hurt the campaign of Sabrina Cohen, one of five candidates in a Nov. 8 election to fill a commission seat previously held by Mark Samuelian, who died of an unexpected illness in June. Rosen Gonzalez is endorsing Samuelian’s life partner, Laura Dominguez, for the seat.
Elected officials are generally allowed to support candidates for office, but Florida law bars them from using their “official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election.” That typically means they cannot use city resources and staff for election purposes.
Violating that law is a first-degree misdemeanor.
In response to the Herald’s request for records related to its investigation, the State Attorney’s Office cited an exemption from Florida’s public records law for any “active criminal intelligence information and active criminal investigative information.”
State Attorney’s Office spokesperson Ed Griffith would not confirm or deny the existence of the investigation, citing the office’s standard practice.
Rosen Gonzalez said she has not been interviewed by the State Attorney’s Office but did not reply when asked if she was aware of the investigation.
Records obtained by the Herald show that Rosen Gonzalez’s legislative aide, Monica Matteo-Salinas, requested records from the city clerk in late July regarding contracts between the city and Cohen’s disability rights nonprofit, the Sabrina Cohen Foundation. After receiving the records, Matteo-Salinas shared them from her city email account with Dominguez, who was widely known to be exploring a run for office at the time and announced her candidacy days later.
Cohen had announced her own candidacy the day before Matteo-Salinas requested the records.
Asked why her legislative aide was sharing documents with a potential candidate for office about the candidate’s prospective opponent, Rosen Gonzalez said in a text message: “The last I can remember, Laura Dominguez is a Miami Beach resident who, like any other resident, has the right to request a document.”
Matteo-Salinas could not be reached for comment.
Some targeted legislation
The same day Rosen Gonzalez’s aide asked for documents on Cohen’s foundation from the city clerk, records show the commissioner also sought to create legislation that would require candidates for office to disclose the names of donors to their foundations. Without mentioning Cohen, Matteo-Salinas asked City Attorney Rafael Paz to draft language to that effect.
The language ultimately was not included in Rosen Gonzalez’s broader proposed ordinance related to disclosure of business interests, as Paz said it would “implicate First Amendment issues as we are more limited in our ability to regulate the activities of candidates for office.” The ordinance would strengthen existing legislation requiring elected officials and city employees to disclose business relationships that could pose a conflict of interest.
The proposed ordinance appeared on the city commission’s Sept. 14 meeting agenda without any language pertaining to candidates. The item was not discussed at that meeting and was deferred to a meeting in October.
“All of this research was about transparent government,” Rosen Gonzalez said.
Cohen’s foundation has received support from the city of Miami Beach and a variety of local developers and philanthropists. Last year, the city commission voted to match up to $2.5 million in donations to the foundation to support construction of a recreation center for people with disabilities.
Rosen Gonzalez told the Herald there appears to be an “elections plot to divert attention away from the fact that Sabrina Cohen currently has a deal to get 2.5M in matching funds from Miami Beach, and most of the donors to her foundation are developers, lobbyists, and Miami Beach vendors.”
“That is a serious conflict of interest, and something the residents of Miami Beach need to know,” she said.
Cohen declined to be interviewed for this story but said in a statement: “While some discouraged me from entering the race, I chose to ignore them because I am committed and focused on serving Miami Beach.”
Rosen Gonzalez has a history of political controversy, though she has never faced criminal charges. Last year, she garnered headlines for falsely saying she was Hispanic in an interview about her city commission campaign.
In 2019, she said in a campaign email that a history of ethics complaints against her could be attributed to her willingness to express unpopular opinions, writing: “Without comparing myself to heroes, it’s interesting that throughout history, anyone with a differing position, from Galileo to Gandhi to Nelson Mandela, was dismissed by either throwing them in jail or having them killed.”
Cohen defends foundation’s city ties
Cohen, the commission candidate, addressed concerns about her potential conflicts of interest in an Aug. 5 letter to the city clerk and attorney, saying she had learned about inquiries by “a sitting commissioner” regarding her foundation’s relationship with the city.
In the letter, Cohen said she would follow the city attorney’s direction if she is elected, “including recusals from any official actions or divestments of any interests, if warranted.”
The Sabrina Cohen Foundation has an agreement with the city to store beach wheelchairs and other equipment related to Adaptive Beach Days, a program that helps people with disabilities visit the beach and enjoy the ocean. Separately, Cohen said the foundation has not yet received funds from the city as part of the $2.5 million matching grant agreement for the recreation center project.
“We do not believe this Agreement, which is designed to promote inclusion and beach access, creates any conflict or prohibition regarding my candidacy for City Commissioner,” Cohen wrote.
Cohen’s letter also addressed past donations to her foundation, saying “it has been suggested” by others that the donations could run afoul of Miami Beach’s campaign finance laws prohibiting contributions by active city vendors, real estate developers and lobbyists.
The foundation’s Capital Campaign Committee includes Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins, developer David Martin and architect Kobi Karp, according to its website. Its listed donors include the city of Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, developer Russell Galbut and the family foundation of billionaire philanthropist Norman Braman.
Paz, the city attorney, responded to Cohen’s letter by thanking her for her “commitment to addressing any potential issues relating to the Foundation,” and said the city has “routinely addressed similar issues for members of the City Commission who, prior to being elected, were involved with organizations that had contracts with the City.”
Paz added that the city’s campaign finance laws would not apply to contributions made to Cohen’s foundation before she was running for office.
Political divisions
Dominguez, Samuelian’s life partner, told the Herald she did not discuss Rosen Gonzalez’s proposed legislation as it was being drafted and only learned about it “after the fact.”
“This appears to be a politically motivated attack,” Dominguez said in a text message. “Kristen is [proposing] legislation to require the disclosure when city officials have business relationships with people who are making money off city projects. I don’t believe this is election related.”
Dominguez did not immediately respond to an inquiry about why Rosen Gonzalez’s office had provided her with records of Cohen’s contracts with the city.
Rosen Gonzalez was first elected to the Miami Beach City Commission in 2015. She resigned to run unsuccessfully for Congress in 2018, then lost an election to return to the city commission the following year before defeating Raquel Pacheco in a runoff to return to the dais this past November.
Rosen Gonzalez is not on the ballot in the upcoming election.
The race to fill Samuelian’s commission seat reflects the city’s political divisions. Cohen has the support of Gelber and Commissioners David Richardson and Ricky Arriola, and her campaign is led by political consultant Christian Ulvert, who previously helped facilitate Gelber’s political rise.
Dominguez, meanwhile, is being supported by Rosen Gonzalez and Vice Mayor Alex Fernandez.
Miami Herald staff writer David Ovalle contributed to this report.
