Voters elect familiar faces, newcomers to local government in Miami-Dade
While races for president, Congress and county mayor took top billing for Miami-Dade voters on election night, residents of more than a dozen municipalities also made their selections for who will represent them in their own backyards.
The mayors of North Miami Beach, Doral and Medley retained their positions Tuesday night, while voters added new faces to the elected boards of Aventura, Opa-locka and Palmetto Bay.
In South Miami and Miami Beach, voters signaled their opposition to the over-development of their cities by rejecting ballot referendums that would lead to the redevelopment of the Miami Beach Marina and make it easier for elected leaders to approve zoning changes in South Miami.
Voters in Miami Gardens elected a new mayor, and those in Key Biscayne approved a bond proposal that would fund up to $100 million in resilience projects on the barrier island.
Races in Cutler Bay, Doral, North Miami Beach and Palmetto Bay will head to runoff elections.
North Miami Beach
▪ Mayor Anthony DeFillipo and Commissioners Michael Joseph and McKenzie Fleurimond defeated their challengers and will remain in office: The race to replace outgoing Commissioner Phyllis Smith, who was term limited, isn’t settled yet. Daniela Jean and Margaret “Margie” Love will go head-to-head in a runoff Nov. 17 after taking the top two spots in a six-person race but failing to capture the majority of votes needed to win the seat outright.
The election was, at least in part, a referendum on two major decisions by city leaders in recent months. DeFillipo’s challenger was Bruce Kusens, a resident of the Eastern Shores neighborhood who ran to voice his opposition to parts of a proposed $1.5 billion redevelopment of the Intracoastal Mall.
DeFillipo has supported the project, voting in favor of it at a meeting last month. But he changed his tune two days later, moving for the commission to reconsider its approval and vote again in early November.
Joseph and Fleurimond, meanwhile, were both challenged by longtime employees of the North Miami Beach regional water utility, whose operations were privatized in 2017 until the city commission voted this past August to transition back to city control.
Their challengers, Antonio Ortega and Liliya Spektor, both opposed the city’s move to entirely abandon the deal with Jacobs Engineering less than halfway through a 10-year contract. More than 170,000 people across multiple cities and unincorporated areas of northeast Miami-Dade rely on the North Miami Beach water utility.
Aventura
▪ In a race that featured plenty of controversy and bad blood, Rachel Saltzman Friedland defeated incumbent Gladys Mezrahi: Friedland, who received about 50% of the vote, led all candidates in votes received in the Seat 5 race. Joshua Mandall finished third in the Seat 5 race.
In the city’s Seat 1 commission race, incumbent Linda Marks coasted to victory over Barry David Silverstein.
None of the candidates called for major changes to operations in the northeast Miami-Dade city that’s home to one of America’s largest shopping malls and has one of the county’s lowest property tax rates, but tension between Mezrahi and Friedland added unexpected fireworks to the campaign cycle.
Mezrahi, an events planner and marketer born in Colombia, was first elected in 2016. Friedland, an attorney and first-time candidate, pulled in endorsements from high-ranking Democrats including U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried.
Biscayne Park
▪ Incumbent MacDonald Kennedy was reelected to the Village Council, knocking off the other incumbent, William Tudor: Kennedy will be joined on the council by newcomers Arturo Jose Gonzalez and Judi Hamelburg, who received the second- and third-most votes in the election. Hamelburg is a physical therapist with experience on community boards, and Gonzalez is the Florida director of operations for a parking service.
Candidates in Biscayne Park all had ideas hoping to ease some of the political drama that has led to high turnover of village staff and left Biscayne Park without a manager for months. For all the candidates, a lead platform point was filling the manager role.
Biscayne Park has no political districts, so the three candidates with the most votes out of the six who ran for village commission were elected. The candidates included two incumbents, Tudor and Kennedy, who’ve been on opposing sides of the commission, as well as an array of newcomers and a former commissioner hoping for their shot to clean up the mess left behind from more than a year of political drama.
Kennedy prevailed in his bid for reelection, but Tudor lost his seat landing in fourth place on election night.
Cutler Bay
▪ Former councilman Michael Callahan, who stepped down from Seat 2 on the town council, was elected vice mayor: For most of the seven candidates running for town council their main goal was to preserve the close-knit hometown feeling that residents love about Cutler Bay. The candidates running for council reflected a unity on issues, overwhelmingly agreeing on ideas such as limiting development and preserving the environment.
Callahan has served on the town council since 2016. The current vice mayor reached the term limit. Callahan, a facility manager and contractor and has a background in theater and the arts, defeated newcomer and relatively new Cutler Bay resident David Zoll and a third candidate, Sean Salazar.
Callahan’s bid for vice mayor left Seat 2 on the council open. It attracted four new candidates, including paralegal and lifetime Cutler Bay resident Suzy Lord, probate and guardianship lawyer Debbie Waks, architect Jose Rodriguez and healthcare worker Melyssa Sueiro.
Lord and Rodriguez will head to a runoff Dec. 1 after neither received a majority of votes.
Doral
▪ Incumbent Mayor Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez and Council Seat 1 incumbent Claudia Mariaca defeated challengers: The suburban city in west Miami-Dade, a growing residential and commercial hub, will have one new member on the five-member City Council. Candidates sparred over the pace of real estate development in the city and the traffic congestion that comes with it — concerns that are framed by financial recovery for proprietors who have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bermudez, 58, faced and defeated challengers Emmanuel “Manny” Sarmiento, president and CEO of the Doral Chamber of Commerce and telenovela actor Victor Camara.
For Council Seat 1, incumbent Councilwoman Claudia Mariaca, 46, won reelection over challenger Rafael Pineyro, 36.
Vice Mayor Christi Fraga, who is running for a seat on the Miami-Dade County School Board, is vacating Council Seat 3.
The race for the vacated council seat, between real estate agent Oscar Puig and logistics professional Juan Carlos Esquivel, will head to a runoff Dec. 8 after neither received a majority of votes.
Medley
▪ Mayoral incumbent Roberto Martell was reelected for a third term: Town Council incumbent Ivan Pacheco joins Martell for his third term on the council. But incumbent Griselia DiGiacomo lost her seat to newcomer Yesensia Martinez after serving on the council for 13 years.
With a residential population just over 1,100 Medley brought out a candidate pool of 11 people vying for a seat. Six candidates, including the two incumbents, competed for two seats on town council with an annual salary of about $54,000. Martell defeated challenger Lily Stefano who lost the mayor’s race in 2016 and stepped down from her seat on the commission this year to run for mayor. Another three candidates ran in a special election for Stefano’s vacant seat.
Lizelh Ayala, whose father currently sits on commission, defeated Karina Pacheco and former commissioner Carlos Benedetto for the vacant seat.
If Pacheco had won she and her husband would have become the first known husband and wife to simultaneously serve on the same elected municipal board in Florida. Karina Pacheco previously ran and lost in 2018 while her husband was on the council.
Miami Lakes
▪ Tony Fernandez and Marilyn Ruano won elected for two council spots: Fernandez, who runs an information technology firm and was endorsed by Mayor Manny Cid, defeated defense attorney Nayib Hassan for the seat vacated by Nelson Rodriguez, who ran unsuccessfully for state representative.
Marilyn Ruano, an incumbent commissioner and a critic of Cid, narrowly held off challenger ray Garcia by less than 200 votes. Garcia, a political newcomer, received Cid’s endorsement.
Candidates in Miami Lakes ran on similar platforms in the conservative stronghold in northwest Miami-Dade: limited spending and decreasing traffic in a suburban community assembled out of cow pastures in the 1960s. They all opposed the reopening of two bridges to vehicular traffic over I-75 at Northwest 154th and 170th streets in a battle with neighboring Hialeah over connectivity between the two communities.
Opa-locka
▪ Veronica Williams and John Taylor were elected to the commission, defeating incumbent Sherelean Bass: The northwest Miami-Dade city of about 18,000 people is a majority Black community laboring to emerge from financial calamity and years of scandal stemming from corruption at City Hall.
Candidates all acknowledged the work to be done to get Opa-locka’s finances in order and the issues that need the most attention: ailing roads, deteriorating utility pipes and problems with water bills.
From a field of eight candidates that included one incumbent, old-guard politicians and some fresh faces, Williams and Taylor emerged as the top two vote-getters. They will join the five-member City Commission after knocking off Commissioner Bass.
Williams, 45, is assistant principal at Miami Jackson Senior High. Taylor Jr., 31, is a youth pastor at his family church.
Taylor’s family has a legacy in Opa-locka — he is the son of former mayor Myra Taylor.
Palmetto Bay
▪ Steve Cody was voted in as a council member, but the race for vice mayor is headed to a runoff: The race for two spots on the Palmetto Bay village council surfaced five colorful characters, including a seasoned politician, a lobbyist and consultant with a long history of political scuffles and even a candidate who has proudly never attended a village council meeting. They all hoped to serve in the $12,000-a-year job representing the village of about 24,000 people, situated on the shores of Biscayne Bay.
Cody — a suspended lawyer, children’s book author and political consultant — defeated incumbent Councilman David Singer by about 500 votes. Singer originally filed to run for vice mayor, but switched to Seat 2 in March.
The three candidates who ran to replace John Dubois as vice mayor are air-conditioning salesman and artist Alan “AlJohn” Farquharson, former village manager Ed Silva and active resident and lawyer Leanne Tellam.
Although Tellam led all vice mayoral candidates in votes received, she and Silva will head to a runoff Dec. 1 after neither captured a majority of the vote Tuesday evening.
Pinecrest
▪ Anna Hochkammer and Shannon Del Prado win two seats on village council: For the four candidates running for two unpaid seats on the Pinecrest Village Council, maintaining status quo in the picturesque village of about 18,700 residents was the goal.
“Pinecrest residents are happy in Pinecrest,” Del Prado said. “It’s the duty of the council member to safeguard that.”
Del Prado ran against former accountant and substitute teacher Laura McNaughton for Seat 3 on the five-member village council. Current village council member and one-time state Senate candidate Anna Hochkammer ran against longtime resident and community activist Harry Speizer to defend Seat 1.
Three council members are elected to represent specific residential areas (Seats 1, 2 and 3) and must reside in their district. A fourth council member (Seat 4) and the mayor are at-large positions, and may reside anywhere in the village. Seats 2 and 4 were not up for election this year, and Mayor Joseph Corradino was reelected without opposition.
Sunny Isles Beach
▪ Incumbents Larisa Svechin and Dana Goldman both won reelection on the Sunny Isles Beach City Commission: In Seat 1, which represents the northern district, Vice Mayor Svechin defeated newcomer Justen Fischer. Seat 3 incumbent Goldman defeated longtime rival and neighbor Greg Capra for the second time after defeating him in 2016. She also faced a third newcomer, Fabiola Stuyvesant.
The race for Seat 3 was filled with negative attacks against other candidates, especially between Goldman and Capra. The feud between the two dates back to 2012 with a lawsuit in their shared condo association where Capra has served as president for 12 years. Capra repeatedly called Goldman a “nightmare neighbor.” Goldman called Capra obsessed with her, and labeled his campaign for city commission as a “revenge fest.”
Priorities for candidates haven’t changed much since the two incumbents were elected four years ago. Most candidates touched on their concerns about the traffic in Sunny Isles Beach, particularly along Collins Avenue, the main north-south artery that runs along the beach, and limiting development on the west side of the city.
Municipal ballot referendums
Voters in several cities, from Miami Beach to Doral, decided on a series of ballot referendums in the November election.
▪ In Miami Beach, voters rejected the proposed redevelopment of the Miami Beach Marina: A key ballot referendum tied to the controversial Marina park project, which called for the sale of public land and air rights for the construction of a 385-foot condo tower at the project site, was defeated by less than 800 votes.
Although voters approved two other referendums directly linked to the proposal, the failure to secure majority support for all three ballot questions killed the deal, City Attorney Raul Aguila said.
Developer David Martin’s real estate firm, Terra Group, spent $410,000 on a voter-outreach campaign, which featured testimonials from Mayor Dan Gelber and paid consulting from State Rep. Michael Grieco, who represents Miami Beach in the Legislature.
Voters approved two ballot proposals that would allow developers to build more densely than currently allowed under zoning rules and a third that would allow the Wolfsonian-FIU museum to expand onto two adjoining South Beach retail lots owned by the university’s foundation by increasing the museum’s allowed density.
▪ South Miami voters opposed a ballot referendum that would loosen land-use restrictions and supported one to move the city’s general election from February to November: Residents narrowly voted against a measure that would make it easier to pass zoning changes, by requiring approval from only four out of five commissioners. The current City Charter requires all five commissioners to vote for a project before it’s approved in most areas of the city.
The second question residents overwhelmingly voted to change South Miami’s general election from its current date in February to the same day as national elections in November. Proponents of moving the date suggested it would increase voter turnout and decrease the election cost to the city.
Commissioner Josh Liebman, who sponsored both ballot questions, has been pushing for these changes, but both have been continually barred by other commissioners. Differing opinions on the two questions came from the citywide divide between progressive development and traditional preservation of residential areas.
▪ In Key Biscayne, residents voted to allocate up to $100 million in funds from the bonds for a variety of resilience projects to protect natural resources and upgrade infrastructure: Voters approved the VKB Resilience General Obligation Bond Referendum which will be used for projects like roadway elevation, the creation of an offshore breakwater, sand and seagrass mitigation and undergrounding utilities.
▪ Voters in Doral voted on six ballot questions: They voted to change the minimum qualifications candidates for city manager and city attorney must meet, cleared the way for the future sale of naming rights to city-owned property and expanded the role of the Office of Charter Enforcement.
Voters also rejected referendums proposing to change the election to a plurality vote happening in May and having the Charter Commission Review meet every six years.
▪ In Palmetto Bay, voters decided on seven ballot referendums: They approved measures that will prevent the village from decreasing the size of public parks and prohibit elected leaders from giving orders to village staff and require a 4/5th vote for the elected board to buy, sell or lease public property worth more than $25,000. They also approved a measure that will require the village manager to publish monthly reports about the state of the village.
Voters rejected measures that would have lowered the vote threshold needed for residents to expand the enrollment of nearby private schools and created single-district seats for the elected village board.
▪ In Surfside, voters approved ballot referendums that will restrict the sale or lease of town-owned property and require commission and voter approval before the town may incur any debt exceeding 15% of the town’s average property tax revenue if the debt cannot be paid off within seven years: On a third non-binding ballot question, voters signaled to the town that they are in favor of removing its utility poles and moving utility lines underground.
▪ In Bal Harbour, residents voted for an amendment to the charter to increase the height limit of single-family homes to take into consideration the state or federal base flood elevation: The approved amendment will require the maximum height to be measured from the flood base, so as the base flood elevation increases, the height limit will also grow.
Miami Herald staff writers Joey Flechas, Samantha J. Gross and Aaron Leibowitz contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 11:01 PM.
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