Daniella Levine Cava for Miami-Dade County mayor | Editorial

Although supporters and opponents alike might call Daniella Levine Cava liberal, the seat she seeks, mayor of Miami-Dade County, is nonpartisan. And the vision of a Miami-Dade County that works for far more people than it does now is neither liberal nor conservative. Rather, it’s pragmatic, compassionate and fiscally responsible.

Which is why the Editorial Board likes her vision best for the next phase of Miami-Dade County’s future.

She faces several strong opponents in the race, the most formidable being former county mayor Alex Penelas, who has raised the most campaign funding. Xavier Suarez and Esteban “Steve” Bovo, her commission colleagues also are vying for the seat.

Two other candidates, newcomers Monique Nicole Barley and Ludmilla Domond, though earnest, should become better informed on local issues and more community engaged. They are nowhere near ready to take on the job of running the $9 billion complexity called Miami-Dade County government.

Though Levine Cava, who has represented District 8 since 2014, is facing challengers who have served in elective office longer than she has, her professional background as an attorney who founded the Human Services Council in Miami-Dade, helping low-income families, clearly will inform her priorities as mayor, with a comprehensive attack on the causes of the county’s gross inequalities.

Her focus will dig deep, touching people where they live:

“Business: expanding a small-business accelerator that she launched in her district, using federal and matching private-sector funds. This is vitally important in a community in which small businesses are its backbone — even more so as she would have to lead through and after the coronavirus pandemic, which has permanently shuttered so many of them.

“Affordable housing: Levine Cava advocates creativity, having worked to pass legislation that requires 25 percent of proceeds from the sale of some county-owned properties to go to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Commissioners adopted her proposal requiring Community Redevelopment Agencies with housing plans to build mixed-income housing. She also has been a proponent of land trusts, which use a funding structure to help homeowners build equity, reduce construction costs and assure affordability over the long term. And she sees the value of “rent-to-own” housing to allow residents to build wealth and slow, she says, “Black flight.”

“Transportation: Levine Cava says public transportation must be a first resort, not a last resort.

“Criminal justice reform: Levine Cava stands ready to conduct a community audit of Miami-Dade Police policies and practices. We think this is the most necessary and fairest way to cut through through the emotion and rhetoric surrounding police use of excessive force. Learning what police can and cannot do and holding them accountable based on facts, not just videotaped bad behavior, is essential. Only then, can realistic reforms be realized. She also supports a charter amendment proposal prepared by a local coalition of 26 organizations,” to create an independent review panel, which, though approved by the commission recently, was vetoed by Mayor Carlos Gimenez. Such a needed panel would have more than a fighting chance with Levine Cava in charge.

She’s come out on the losing end of issues, too. She will have to be a strong coalition builder with a commission that, barring runoffs, will see at least five new commissioners after the Aug. 18 election.

Penelas remains a dynamic candidate, wooing voters with his list of solid and enduring accomplishments from his previous tenure from 1996 to 2004: helping secure universal pre-K, expanding the airport and seaport, pushing to make discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation illegal and creating of an independent police-review panel.

Some members of the community still feel the sting of his overselling the half-penny transportation tax, which subsequent elected officials misused; his abandonment of Al Gore at a critical time in the 2000 presidential election; and his persistence in doing developers’ bidding, trying to turn the hurricane-destroyed Air Force Base in Homestead into a private airport, despite the potential environmental impacts on the two national parks nearby.

However, he has parachuted into this race after more than a decades’ absence from the public stage. Where’s he been? Yes, he has been at work as a successful real-estate investor, but his major opponents have been in the trenches as public servants during that time.

That’s why we’re calling for a fresher, more recently engaged voice to ascend to the mayor’s office.

Suarez, too, touts what he’s done as an elected official, as Miami mayor, then as a county commissioner. He has solid, practical proposals, but we are somewhat concerned about him and his son, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, leading these two large entities at the same time. We think that’s too much power in the hands of one family, too cozy — though it would obviate the hissing match between the city mayor and the current county mayor. We think a good, healthy back and forth between unrelated leaders can lead to more beneficial results for the populace overall.

Candidate Bovo took the reins early in his time on the commission as a transportation leader. In the age of COVID-19, however, he has shown himself to be less a man of the people, and more a public servant narrowly focused on tightening the county’s purse strings. He has positioned himself as the alternative to the “liberal agenda.” It’s as unfortunate a use of the term as is Levine Cava’s subtle positioning herself as a Democrat. And when Levine Cava proposed legislation that would require private county contractors to extend seven days of paid sick leave to their employees, Bovo, knee jerking, compared it to policies implemented in Cuba. This, as the coronavirus pandemic raged. In fact, however, what Levine Cava proposed already is required of federal contractors. It makes sense, as does she.

We would expect Levine Cava to govern with integrity, to surround herself with a staff and advisers who put the well-being of county residents and businesses first — they are not mutually exclusive. We would expect Levine Cava to bring her wealth of experience — as a service provider, an attorney and an innovator — to the job. The Miami Herald recommends DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA for Miami-Dade mayor.

This story was originally published July 26, 2020 at 6:00 AM.