Five candidates compete for open seat on Miami Beach Commission in Nov. 8 election
Five candidates qualified to run for the Miami Beach Commission seat that came open when Mark Samuelian died in June. The winner will serve until 2025, when Samuelian’s term would have ended.
If no candidate receives a majority of the votes on Nov. 8, the top two finishers will go to a runoff Dec. 6.
Among the candidates is Samuelian’s life partner, Laura Dominguez, a digital marketing professional who had worked as Samuelian’s campaign manager and treasurer.
Her competition includes Sabrina Cohen, a disability-rights advocate and real estate agent; Stephen Cohen (no relation), a real estate investor who runs a community Facebook group; Isaiah Mosley, an environmental scientist who works for a Miami-based engineering firm; and Mitch Novick, an activist and owner of the Sherbrooke Hotel in South Beach.
Concerns about crime
Public safety and crime are a top concern for at least four of the candidates — and a hot-button issue for Miami Beach voters, even as data show crime rates have generally trended downward in the city in recent years.
Dominguez, Sabrina Cohen, Stephen Cohen and Novick have each highlighted the issue.
“We do have a crime issue across the beach, both in numbers and in perception,” Dominguez told the Miami Herald Editorial Board in an Oct. 10 interview. “So many people are saying that they don’t feel safe.”
“We definitely have a crime problem,” Stephen Cohen told the Editorial Board.
Sabrina Cohen said officials need to “make residents feel safe again.”
Mosley did not attend the Editorial Board interview and could not immediately be reached for this story. His campaign website focuses primarily on environmental preservation and flooding impacts from sea-level rise.
While Dominguez, Stephen Cohen and Sabrina Cohen all pointed to increased resources for police as part of the solution to public safety concerns, Novick said the city should focus more on reshaping the party atmosphere of South Beach and not simply “throw money” at police, particularly regarding what happens on Ocean Drive.
“We’re not going to arrest our way out of this mess,” he said. “The message must be, ‘The party is over, kids.’ ”
Other candidates agreed the city’s entertainment district should be changed, with varying approaches.
Dominguez said she supports an evolution of the area into an “arts and culture” district — a concept touted by Mayor Dan Gelber that is in the early stages — and taking a targeted approach to the 2 a.m. last call for alcohol sales that voters approved last year in a non-binding referendum.
Last call should be 2 a.m. in largely residential neighborhoods, Dominguez said, but remain at 5 a.m. in other areas.
Stephen Cohen agreed, adding that the entertainment district needs “much more policing.”
Sabrina Cohen said she supports a more comprehensive 2 a.m. rollback. “The residents have clearly spoken,” she said.
In some ways, the election could be a referendum on Gelber as he enters his final year in office in a divided political climate.
The mayor is throwing his weight behind Sabrina Cohen, who runs a foundation that has partnered with the city and local leaders to improve accessibility in Miami Beach and is looking to build a recreation facility for people with mobility challenges.
Cohen was effusive in her praise of the mayor and expressed support for ballot questions regarding the Deauville Hotel site and the Lincoln Road area, initiatives Gelber and others have endorsed.
“I’m a great supporter of Mayor Gelber,” Cohen told the Editorial Board. “I respect him. I know he believes in Miami Beach and its future. I think he’s great.”
Dominguez is endorsed by Gelber’s political rival, Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, who opposes the Deauville and Lincoln Road items and says the mayor is too friendly with developers. Still, Dominguez said she’s “supportive” of Gelber.
“I like Mayor Gelber, and I think he’s doing a good job,” she said.
Stephen Cohen said Gelber is “doing a fair job,” but that he can improve in some areas.
Novick, meanwhile, said the mayor is “a nice man, but he’s done a lousy job in my neighborhood.”
Campaign finances
Despite relatively strict campaign finance laws in Miami Beach that prevent developers with active projects in the city from donating directly to candidates, money still plays a major role in city elections.
Among the commission candidates, Dominguez is leading in reported campaign contributions with $163,000 through the end of August, including a $50,000 loan to her own campaign.
Dominguez also filed paperwork saying she is soliciting contributions to a newly formed PAC, Coastal Communities Matter, whose contributions include $10,000 from the owners of The Standard hotel and a combined $20,000 from entities connected to developer Rishi Kapoor.
Sabrina Cohen’s campaign has reported about $30,000 in contributions, including $1,000 donations from billionaire philanthropist Norman Braman and his wife, Irma. Cohen is also chair of a PAC, Miami Beach Residents for Progress, that has reported nearly $30,000 in contributions, including another $10,000 from Braman and $12,500 from a PAC chaired by Cohen’s campaign consultant, Christian Ulvert.
Novick and Stephen Cohen are largely funding their own campaigns, records show. Cohen reported a $28,000 loan to his own campaign, and Novick reported a $50,000 loan.
Mosley has reported a $1,500 loan to his own campaign and no other fundraising.
Sabrina Cohen has faced questions about whether her role leading a nonprofit, the Sabrina Cohen Foundation, might pose a conflict of interest. The city of Miami Beach agreed last year to match up to $2.5 million in donations to the foundation, and the organization’s past donors have included Braman and several high-profile developers.
Ulvert told the Miami Herald that Cohen’s campaign is not soliciting donations to the foundation, and that Cohen paused direct fundraising efforts earlier this year due to “higher projected expenses” for the recreation center project. Ulvert said she is hoping to secure federal funding to close the gap.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office has opened an investigation into whether Rosen Gonzalez, the city commissioner, misused her official position by requesting records of Cohen’s contracts with the city and sharing them with Dominguez. Rosen Gonzalez also explored legislation that would have required candidates to reveal donors to nonprofits they control.
This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 12:47 PM.
